Night fell, and Piccolo made his way into Gohan's bedroom, depositing Jade on the bed for her to climb next to Gohan. The boy smiled weakly at the cat and then looked up at Piccolo.
"How are you feeling, kid?" he asked.
"Tired. Sad," Gohan answered tonelessly.
Piccolo nodded. "It's time for you to sleep now anyways."
"Stay with me?" Gohan pleaded, pushing the covers back. Piccolo sighed and settled next to him, remaining in a sitting up position. Gohan flipped the blanket back up to his chin and cuddled up against Piccolo's long legs. "G'night."
"Goodnight."
Morning came early at Capsule Corp. Piccolo had been on high alert since Trunks' feeding at the sun's rising. He listened as Bulma went back to bed and how a half hour later, Vegeta exited the room, and then the house. Moments later, his ki was up and it was obvious he was training. An hour after that, the smell of coffee permeated the air, making Piccolo slightly nauseous, and reminding him of that venture to Namek those years ago. A distinctly meaty smell mingled with it, and made the air almost acrid. Gohan finally started stirring after that, nuzzling up against Piccolo. He opened his eyes blearily, and rubbed the sleep from them.
"Is that bacon I smell?" he asked tiredly.
Piccolo perked up. "Are you hungry?"
"Mm, a little, I guess," he replied, shrugging.
"I'll go get you some."
"Thank you."
Piccolo ventured downstairs, looking for Bulma and the source of the smell Gohan had referred to as bacon. He found her in the kitchen, balancing Trunks on her hip, stirring something sizzling in a pan.
"Pic-Pic!" Trunks cooed happily. At a year old, the baby was already familiar with names, something Bulma had said was unheard of at his age. Vegeta reassured her, telling her that Saiyan babies matured very quickly, much faster than a human. At the baby's words, she turned around.
"Good morning Piccolo!" she greeted. "Need something?"
"Gohan wants bacon. Whatever that is."
"He wants to eat? Oh good! Here, this is fresh! Lucky he smelled it before Vegeta," she rambled happily, handing Piccolo a plate with a few strips of bacon on it. "If he wants more, just let me know. I have some cereal, I can make him some pancakes... whatever he wants, really! I can make Vegeta go to the store."
"I am not going shopping. That's your job!" Vegeta said, entering the room with a towel to his face.
"Da! Da!" Trunks gurgled.
Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Vegeta. Or Father. Father. None of this 'Da' bullshit. We've been over this."
"We've been over this, Vegeta. He doesn't understand."
"BULLSHIT!" Trunks practically screamed, clapping his hands.
"Well that's just great. He understood that, Vegeta!"
"The one time he actually listens to me!"
"Da! Da! Krin? Krin?" Trunks said now, his voice talking on an inquisitive tone.
Vegeta and Bulma both visibly deflated. Vegeta merely shook his head and left the room.
"He's been asking for Krillin ever since...since it happened. Just... every time he sees Vegeta, he asks. I know one day he'll stop, and I don't know if I'll be happy or sad when that day comes."
"Da! KRIN?" Trunks shrieked, causing both Piccolo and Bulma to wince.
"Honey, Krillin isn't with us any longer," Bulma said wearily.
"No Krin?"
"No. No Krillin."
"Da?"
"Yes, your dad is here. Somewhere." At that moment, Vegeta walked back in, no longer in his training clothes. "See, there he is! He wants you, Vegeta."
"No."
"Vegeta, I swear to god, would you just sit with him while you eat? He won't cause you any trouble. I just have to run a couple errands. Unless you'd rather yourself?" Bulma said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Vegeta lifted his lip at her before stomping to the table and sitting down, rapping his fingers against the surface of the table. Bulma huffed, setting Trunks in his high chair beside Vegeta and going to stove. She filled a plate with bacon and a bowl of cereal, placing them in front of Vegeta. He greedily dug in while she handed Trunks some dry cereal nuggets and a strip of bacon.
"Just keep an eye on him. I'll be back shortly. Piccolo, I'll be up to check on Gohan when I get back," Bulma said.
Trunks' head shot up at the mention of Gohan. "Goa? Goa! Goa!" he began to chant.
"Yes, Gohan! We'll see him later, okay? Okay. Bye Trunks! Momma will be back soon!"
She left then, leaving the Saiyan and Namek alone with the baby. Piccolo glanced at the baby, decided there was no way in hell he was staying in the same room alone with him and Vegeta. Taking the plate of bacon, he headed back up the stairs. Opening the door, he saw Gohan had fallen asleep again. He sat beside him, his weight shifted the bed causing Gohan to awaken.
"Here," Piccolo said, handing Gohan the plate.
"Thanks. It smells good."
"No it does not. Fresh water smells good, the dirt after a rainfall smells good. This, this smells vile."
Gohan smiled softly and took a bite. "Tastes okay. I dunno, I don't think I'm as hungry as I thought."
"You have to eat. You don't want to be hooked up to tubes the rest of your life, do you?"
"In case you forgot, I'm going to outlive Bulma. And Vegeta. And Trunks. Even you. I don't think there's going to be anyone around long enough to keep me hooked up," Gohan muttered angrily.
"You know that's not... Gohan..."
But Gohan wasn't listening. He set his plate down on the bedside table and lay back down, closing his eyes. Jade looked up at Piccolo worriedly before snuggling up against Gohan's back, purring loudly. Gohan sighed, ignoring the both of them.
"Gohan, no. You will not ignore me," Piccolo said tersely. When Gohan did nothing, he reached over and grabbed his shoulder, flipping him to face him. Gohan's eyes shot open, blue as a clear summer sky. He pinned the Namekian with his glare, a very thin veil of golden ki surrounding him.
"Goa!"
Both Piccolo and Gohan's head flipped to look in the doorway where Trunks was crawling in.
"Get back here, boy!" Vegeta's voice came as he trotted in. He took one look at the scene before, caught one sight of Gohan's eyes, and he bent down to grab Trunks, holding the baby clumsily to his chest with one arm as he pinned Gohan with a steely gaze. Trunks lost all interest in Gohan in that moment, looking up at his father in great wonder, before smiling and laughing giddily, wrapping his chubby arms around Vegeta's neck.
"Da! Da!" he squealed happily. He then returned his attention to Gohan. "Goa! Krin?" he asked.
Everyone in the room stiffened. Time seemed to stop. Vegeta acted first, running out of the room, Trunks in his arms. He came back quickly, without the baby in his arms, just as Gohan began to lose himself.
The thin veil of ki became full, his hair turned blonde, and he began to thrash. He ripped the IV out of his arm, knocking the stand over, rupturing the bags, fluid leaking over the floor. He began scratching furiously at himself, beating his body, slamming his head against the headboard. Piccolo moved forward immediately, trying to grab the boy's flailing limbs, anything to slow the assailment on his body.
"Gohan! Gohan stop!" he ordered. "Stop!"
"Get off!" Gohan cried, thrashing. Piccolo attempted to lay his entire body on top of the boy in an effort to still him, but Gohan merely pushed him off with a burst of energy. Piccolo hit the wall hard, spurring Vegeta into action. Knowing he was stronger than the Namekian, Vegeta transformed and pounced onto Gohan, only to meet the same fate. A ball of ki formed in Gohan's hand and he aimed it at his own chest.
"I JUST WANNA DIE!" he screamed.
Right before the blast unleashed, Vegeta grabbed his hand, extinguishing the little lethal blast.
"Piccolo, grab him!" Vegeta shouted.
Down the hall, Trunks was crying.
Piccolo pushed himself off the wall and jumped onto the bed, pulling Gohan's torso to his chest, hoping to deter him from trying to blast himself again. He closed his eyes as Gohan fought him, desperately trying to think of something to calm the boy. His mind wandered to the night Tsuki had calmed him.
His cheeks flamed with embarrassment at what he was about to do.
This had better work.
He grunted once to clear his throat and opened his mouth, finding the words and tune coming out surprisingly easy:
"Come little child,
I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment.
Come my sweet child,
The time's come to play
Here in my garden of magic."
His voice was deep and brassy, coarse and unpracticed. And somehow, miraculously, it calmed Gohan, same as it had when Tsuki had sung it. He wondered briefly if the words were enchanted by the goddess. Gohan seemed to melt into him, breathing heavily. Vegeta stared at him with a look of befuddlement. Even Trunks had stopped crying.
"How'd you know that would work?" Vegeta finally asked.
"I didn't. The goddess... she did it once before."
"Do you make habit of singing often?" And the snark was back. Piccolo raised his lip at him, but made no retort, smoothing Gohan's hair instead. It crackled under his touch as it was apt to do in his ascended form. He rested his hand on the boy's forehead, willing a calmness into him, causing him to descend. Vegeta watched warily for a long moment before descending as well. He came nearer to the bed before sitting heavily on the edge. Gohan's eyes were closed in sleep.
"So... we have a suicidal Super Saiyan on our hands. One stronger than you and I put together," he stated.
"He's not suicidal."
Vegeta snorted. "Are you delusional? Did you not see what just happened? He nearly sent you through a wall. And then he tried to blow his own chest away!"
"Shut up! It's just the medication Bulma put him on or something. He's just a kid!"
"A kid who's done more than his fair share of killing. He killed one of his own best friends!"
"Speaking from experience?" Piccolo asked dryly.
"That's different. I'm a hardened warrior. He's lived a soft life," Vegeta retorted shortly.
"I'd hardly call his life soft."
"He has had friends and loved ones his whole life. Yes, his parents died. But he's had Krillin, Bulma, you. A goddess protects him. I'm not saying he has not had hardship, but I am saying he could have had it worse. I had Frieza. He had you."
"I was his Frieza. I was not always caring towards him."
"Do not compare yourself to Frieza. Frieza never showed me love, no matter what I did for him. He may have... cared..." he practically spat the word out "sometimes, when it was convenient for him, but it is not the same. Not even close. I killed my friend because he was a threat to me. You love this boy. Would do anything for him. But he has a very serious problem, and I do not want to be the last Saiyan. We must keep the line strong."
"You seem to know a lot about this," Piccolo said skeptically.
Vegeta lowered his head and stared at his hands. "I had an older brother. Tarble. He was kind, gentle, definitely my mother's son. It did not please my father. On his first mission as a twelve year old, he cornered the leader of the army of who they were fighting. Apparently, the man begged for mercy, and my brother showed it. The man stabbed him, quite literally, in the back. Everyone...everyone but my brother and Nappa were killed on that mission. Naturally, my father blamed the disaster on Tarble. He was isolated, hated by everyone. But I, just five at the time, loved my big brother."
"What happened?"
"Tarble couldn't take it any longer. The day after Frieza took me away, he killed himself. Twelve years old. I don't even know if his soul made it to the Heavens. That day Gohan brought my mother to me, she never mentioned him. So I will never know. Perhaps those who take their own lives do not get to go to the Heavens." He sighed heavily and stood. "Do not let Gohan be another Tarble."
And with that, the Saiyan left, leaving the Namekian only with a sleeping boy and his racing thoughts for company.
Okay, so this is super short, I know. But it needed to be cut here. Okay, so let me explain a few things.
1) I know most of you are going to say, "Gohan would NEVER be suicidal! It's not in his character!" BUT, in the anime, Gohan never killed any of his friends. We know he is highly emotional, and at this young age, I think something like this (killing Krillin and then being made basically immortal) would possibly break him.
2) How could Gohan have killed himself if he's immortal? Well, as stated earlier in the story, Gohan will only never age. But he is not immune to attacks. He can be killed.
3) Tarble is younger than Vegeta in the cannon. I know. But obviously, this story is NOT cannon, so I took some liberties.
4) And finally, I know this is what people are going to have the most issues with, Vegeta comes off as quite soft in this chapter. Do not get me wrong, I KNOW Vegeta is a hardass. It's made very evident in the anime. BUT, I have just killed off Krillin, who Vegeta grew close to, despite his efforts of not wanting to (and I do think I will make a short companion story to it, similar to Of a Friendship, but featuring Vegeta and Krillin instead of Vegeta and Jeice. I think it will help you guys understand their relationship in this story). That, and we know later in the anime that Vegeta cared for Gohan, at least on some level, because when he thought Buu had killed him, he apologized to him for not being there to help. We don't know when this affection started, so I started it here. And as for his "friendliness" with Piccolo here, well, it was a warrior-to-warrior talk. He knows Piccolo won't tell anyone.