I hope everyone had a very nice holiday season and are well into the New Year. I've certainly been busy, hence the long absence.

Gohan didn't wake until mid-afternoon the next day. Piccolo watched him carefully, attempting to wake him twice. On the third try, when he went to touch Gohan's shoulder again, Jade swatted at his hand and growled softly.

"Alright, alright. I get it," Piccolo conceded.

Vegeta came in around mid-morning, prepared to train. "He's still asleep?" he asked irritably.

"He's weak, Vegeta. Let him sleep," Bulma reprimanded from behind him. "And I may or may not have slipped him a little something to make him sleep a little deeper. He'll heal faster that way, and then you boys can train all you want."

"You drugged him?" Vegeta asked.

"Well... to put it bluntly, yes. I did. It was the right thing to do."

"Well then can you drug the brat so that he doesn't wake up so damn early either?"

Bulma swatted his shoulder. "He's a baby, Vegeta. He gets hungry. You can thank yourself for giving him your appetite."

"Hmph," Vegeta harrumphed. "Well then, fine. I'm going to start training. As soon as he wakes up, meet me in the gravity room," he said to Piccolo before leaving.

Bulma shook her head. "He is to eat something light before he trains, okay? If he collapses from exhaustion, you guys will get nowhere."

"I understand. When will he awaken?"

"Probably another hour. He needed this uninterrupted sleep. Dreamless, peaceful. When was the last time he had that?"

Piccolo shrugged. "He's fidgeted in his sleep as long as I've known him."

"And has he fidgeted at all during this sleep?"

Piccolo shook his head. "Not that I noticed."

Bulma smiled. "Excellent. Maybe this is what he needs, just until he's back to normal..."

"No."

"N-no? But, Piccolo-"

"I said no. Gohan doesn't want to be drugged."

"Piccolo, Gohan's just a little kid. He doesn't know what's best for himself."

"I wouldn't let him hear you say that. He may be young, but in his own way, he is wiser than us all."

"It will make him heal faster."

"Look. I don't know exactly what you keep putting in him, but it's changing him. He doesn't like it, and frankly, neither do I. If you can't respect his wishes, or mine, we're leaving. You didn't ask my permission, nor his."

"I was just trying to help..."

"Well stop trying. It isn't working. Do you understand? This is something Gohan has to work through on his own. I grant permission to keep him on fluids and nutrients for just another week. Other than, there will be no more of this other...shit."

"It's not shit. They're important medical advancements and I'm just trying to help him recover faster."

"And they both appreciate that, but Piccolo does have a valid concern."

Both Piccolo and Bulma whipped around to see the Supreme Kai sitting casually on Gohan's bed, petting Jade in his lap.

Piccolo relaxed his stance immediately. "Shin."

"And you are?" Bulma pressed, taking a very Vegeta-like stance, arms crossed over her chest.

"Excuse my interruption. I am the Supreme Kai. You may call me Shin, if you wish."

"Uh-huh... Piccolo, just how many other-worldly beings are you in touch with?"

"More than I care to admit."

Gohan stirred on the bed, let out a deep breath, and then opened his eyes. When he caught sight of Shin sitting on his bed, he smiled, sitting up. "Shin!" he said happily. Piccolo tilted his head to the side in confusion. Well, that certainly was the happiest he had seen the boy in a while.

"Hello Gohan."

"Why are you here?"

"Lady Tsuki sent me." He turned his attention to Bulma again. "Bulma, while the Lady appreciates all you have been doing for Gohan, as it turns out, what you are giving is actually causing his body to reject its newfound immortality. The fluids are fine; they are natural in his body. Anything else unnatural is causing the problems. The antidepressants, the sleeping medications, those must desist. He will heal much faster that way. Your heart was in the right place, unfortunately the science was not."

"Well, I couldn't exactly know that," Bulma muttered.

"Understandably so. Gohan is not a normal case."

"Now, on the matter of him training..."

"He has permission to do so, so long as he is under careful watch of his guardian."

Bulma sighed. "Alright. I guess I'm outnumbered here. So long as it won't hurt him."

"It won't. I give you my word," Shin said honestly. "I must go now. Piccolo, Gohan, Lady Tsuki said that if you should need her, to beckon me. She is still very weak and is having a very hard time adjusting to everything."

"Got it," Gohan said, slipping out of bed and stretching.

"Understood," Piccolo conceded, nodding.

"Good. Gohan, you should be feeling rather well rested today, correct? Perhaps a touch stronger than usual?" Shin asked.

"I guess."

"Good. I apologize, Bulma, but Lady Tsuki had to interfere last night and remove your work so that Gohan's body could stop fighting itself. You can rest easy now, little Saiyan. Your body should be well-adjusted come week's end. Now, before I distract myself once again, I will take my leave. Goodbye."

He had faded away by the time Vegeta barged into the room.

"Would you stop inviting other-worldly beings into my house?" he snapped at Piccolo, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't invite them. They just show up."

"I'm going to grab something to eat and then we should probably start training," Gohan said, breaking the tension.

"It is around lunchtime. Come on, kiddo. Let's go make some food. Let me grab Trunks real quick," Bulma said, leading the still pajama-clad Gohan into the hallways.

Piccolo grunted and held his hand out. "Every time," he sighed, conjuring clothes onto the boy as he walked away.

"Oh... Thanks Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan's voice came. "Here, I'll carry him, Bulma. Hi Trunks! Ready for some lunch? Huh?"

"Goa! Goa!" Trunks squealed happily, and Piccolo could picture the smile on Gohan's face without having to see it.

"A shame he will never become a father. He would have been a good one," he said, more to himself than Vegeta. Vegeta made a noise that sounded like one of agreement, though could have been completely noncommittal. He walked out of the room, the Namekian behind him, and the two walked into the kitchen. Gohan was seated at the table next to Trunks' highchair, feeding him jarred baby food.

Trunks looked up at his father when he entered. "Da! Da! Krin?"

All eyes flashed to Gohan immediately. Piccolo could feel his body twitching, ready to move if Gohan even thought about harming himself. But surprisingly, nothing happened. Gohan's eyes glazed over and it seemed he stared past the wall until he shook himself and resumed feeding Trunks.

"I'm sorry, Trunks, but he isn't coming back," he then said softly.

"No Krin?"

"No, no Krillin. It's just us now. Your dad, Piccolo, and me. We're all that's left. Three warriors. Three. But we'll protect you. Nothing will get past us. Never again," Gohan said with finality.

Piccolo felt pride in his chest for his boy. Bulma stared at him with tears in her eyes, and Vegeta watched with a stoic expression. Gohan began to feed Trunks again, who gazed at him with utter wonder and love.

A look that Piccolo had seen on Gohan's face when the boy looked up at the demon king himself.

"What do you guys want for lunch?" Bulma asked finally.

"Anything," came the reply from both Saiyans.

"Hot dogs it is," Bulma said, turning to the stove. Vegeta brushed past her, causing her to wrinkle her nose. "Ugh, Vegeta, I know you're just going to go train and get sweaty again right after this, but when Mom and Dad get back from their vacation next week, you're going to have to do something about how you smell, or else Mom is going to chase you around with her perfume."

"Feh," Vegeta grumbled, plopping in the seat next to Gohan.

"Well, that's fine if you want to smell like gardenias. But don't come complaining to me."

"Bulma, Trunks is finished with this jar," Gohan said, handing over the scraped-clean container.

"Oh excellent. If you could, this is his other meal. It's squash, so you might have to get creative with feeding him... he gets it from his father."

"Not my fault it's a vile vegetable."

"You've eaten it more than you realize. Mom is an excellent cook. She's been hiding your hated vegetables in your meals since you got here. You know, for someone with a name that sounds so much like vegetable, you'd think you'd like them more."

"Oh, shut up, woman," Vegeta grumbled.

Gohan snickered and began the task of trying to get Trunks to eat his squash. As soon as the little one got a whiff of it, he wrinkled his nose and made a noise of complete displeasure. He turned his head every time Gohan tried to bring the spoon to his mouth, clamping his mouth shut.

"Of, come on, Trunks. It's yummy! Mmmm!" Gohan tried. "No? Oh yeah, well, here comes the airplane! Nearrrrrrmmmmmm!" he said, waving the spoon in a hovercraft motion. Trunks ignored it, still. "Um..."

"Oh my god, give it here," Vegeta snapped, snatching the jar and spoon from Gohan. He jabbed the spoon towards Trunks' mouth. "Now you listen here, brat. Eat your food!" he snapped. Trunks cooed happily at the attention from his father and eagerly took the food from the spoon, making a face as he did so, but swallowing anyway.

"He has him trained, he just doesn't know it," Bulma said softly into Piccolo's ear as she handed him a glass of water. "He'll scream and scream in the middle of the night sometimes, and won't quiet for me, until Vegeta stomps in and takes him. Quiets him right up, and he goes right back to sleep."

The timer beeped.

"Oh, food's done! Vegeta, the usual?" He grunted, begrudgingly giving Trunks another spoonful. "Alright, and Gohan? What would you like on yours? I have ketchup, mustard, relish, onions..."

"Just ketchup and mustard, thanks Bulma."

Bulma served up the food, piling an obscene amount of food onto both plates. Vegeta abandoned feeding Trunks and began to gorge himself, Gohan following suit. Piccolo made a face, having not missed this aspect of Gohan's normal schedule at all. The two finished at record pace and stood from the table hastily.

Bulma sighed. "Don't make yourselves sick..." The trio walked out the door to the gravity room. "Honestly, you'd think they'd puke all that up," she said to herself as she busied herself with making Trunks finish his hated squash.

Piccolo dodged to the left as Vegeta's fist flew past where his face had been a nanosecond before. He quickly caught his other fist in his hand and thrust the prince away. Vegeta simply rebounded and kicked the Namekian in the gut.

Gohan was into the spar at that moment, giving Piccolo a second to catch his breath while his student beat back Vegeta. Vegeta barely moved out of the way of a hefty kick from the kid before throwing a blast at him. Gohan brushed it away with a flick of his hand, and Piccolo could see the genuine anger on Vegeta's face from where he stood.

"Break!" he commanded, before the Saiyan could retaliate rashly.

It was no secret. Gohan was the strongest of the three, and that irritated the prince beyond words. Piccolo was always wary of the fact, careful to keep the spars between the two easily managed. But he knew that soon he'd have to let them spar in their ascended forms, and then there'd be little he could do god forbid Vegeta had a temper tantrum.

Gohan's feet touched the tiled floor. "What? Why?" he asked, barely sweating, breathing easily.

"Going too fast for you, Namekian?" Vegeta chided.

"No, he's going too fast for you," Piccolo shot back, unable to stop himself. When it came to Vegeta, Piccolo found he had a hard time reining himself in from the verbal war that always seemed to follow the prince wherever he went. Piccolo moved to turn away and barely ducked in time to avoid a weak blast shot at his head. "Oh yeah, real mature..."

"We're not going to get very far if you two keep acting like this," Gohan sighed. "I know you don't like each other, but can we forget that, just for the year? Something's coming to kill us all, so your hate is really misplaced. You can go back to each other's throats when this is over, but I need you on my side until we beat this thing. Please?"

Piccolo deflated immediately. "I do believe some of Tsuki's wisdom transferred into you, along with her life.

"Probably." Gohan shrugged. "Regardless, please?"

Piccolo nodded. "Yes, we can be civil. I'm sorry, Gohan."

Vegeta mumbled something incoherent, but did nothing to suggest the negative.

"And maybe we should spend more time on fighting together, rather than against each other. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

And this time, both Namekian and Saiyan were in the affirmative.