The Power Within

(Just a quick little author's note. Firstly, I would like to clear up any confusion by telling you that this story takes place only a month or two after Gohan fought Cell, which means he is about 11 and is a SSJ2. There will be no Goku in the story. Also, I had this chapter completed a while ago but couldn't post it because I went on a school field trip for two days...there was no wifi! Thirdly, this chapter also seems unrelated, but I assure you that everything will be explained soon. Lastly, I'm going to be updating slowly but surely because although it doesn't seem like it, I do have a life. Anyways, I'm going to shut up now. Enjoy!)

The next day, Chichi and Gohan were slaving over some paperwork sent to them by the Ministry of Education. Gohan was completely lost in his thoughts; he had had a repeat of the same dream that had plagued him the night before, only this time he could have sworn the melody was…teasing him.

The chiming leaves swirled around him, dancing to the tune of the soft notes carried by the wind. When he looked up into the sky, he noticed many different coloured moons hanging like ornaments from the clouds. A strange sight.

The song was twirling around him, but when he tried to touch it, it flew out of his reach."Please!" Gohan cried out. He didn't know what the 'please' was for.

Soft laughter. Light chiming. A beautiful melody—

Gohan shook his head, trying to stop himself from thinking about the dream. Everyone had strange dreams once in a while...right?

"What, you don't want the intermediate course level?" asked his mother. "I know you're very smart, but since you've never played an instrument, I'm not sure if you're going to be able to handle the expert course level."

Gohan snapped out of his thoughts. "What? Oh…no, I'll be fine," he said. Chichi nodded and checked off a box on the paper.

"Alright, one more thing. Which instrument are you going to play? Hmm…" Chichi put down the paper. "We haven't gotten to that part yet. All that's left is to head over to the address they gave us and pick something out for you." She glanced at the address written at the bottom and wrote it down on a separate piece of paper, which she put in her pocket. She also pocketed the paperwork. "Since we don't have any other options, and Goku was the only one who could drive a car…let's take Nimbus!"

Gohan noticed the slight sadness that graced her features at the mention of her late husband and inwardly frowned. Ever since the death of his father at the Cell Games, she had tried to mask her sadness, crying only at night where she thought that he couldn't hear her. It bothered him that she was trying to hide the fact that this was tearing her apart. Gohan himself felt very guilty, depressed, and lonely after Goku's passing, but knew that the warrior only did it for the protection of the Earth. So, Gohan did the only thing he knew would make his mother happy: he smiled. "Okay!"

They boarded Nimbus and took flight, Chichi screaming at the cloud to slow down the entire time. A short while later, she pointed at a building in the distance. "That's it!" she yelled over the whipping winds.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

They landed Nimbus right in front of the building. Gohan waved goodbye to the fluffy, yellow cloud.

"Thanks again, Nimbus!" he said. The cloud flew off, and the mother and son entered the structure. As soon as they entered, they were immediately greeted by a store employee.

"Hello! Are you here to purchase an instrument or to rent one for a course?" he asked professionally. Chichi handed him the paperwork from earlier.

"Rent one. My son needs to pick out an instrument," she said. The man scanned his eyes over the paper for a second and then left, presumably to enter the information into a computer. After a couple of minutes, he returned.

"Alright. This way, please."

The employee led Gohan and Chichi to a variety of aisles: percussion, wind, brass…Gohan didn't like any of them. They were finally led to the strings aisle, where the young half-Saiyan stopped them.

"Wait! I think I might like something here," he said, examining the instruments. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the song in his dream. So intoxicating…it sounded like…

"How about this?" he asked, pointing to a violin. The store owner brought it down and gave it to Gohan.

"It has a beautiful finish, and the sound is crisp and clear," said the employee. "Try it out."

Gohan held the instrument as the man instructed him to, and slowly dragged the bow across the violin. It made a whining noise.

'It sounds like a human's wail,' thought Gohan in mild surprise. 'So sad and distressed…not like the melodious hymn in my dream at all.'

"Oh, it's wonderful!" exclaimed Chichi. "So beautiful."

Gohan handed the violin back to the store employee. "No, it's not…right. I don't like it," he said.

"How about the cello?" the man suggested. Gohan shook his head.

"No." He scanned the aisle once more before something at the end caught his eye. He walked up toward it and ran his hand along its side.

"A piano…" he whispered. Gohan looked at the worker. "What's it doing here? I thought pianos were percussion instruments."

The man nodded. "Yes, you're right, but they're also string instruments," he lectured. "A piano is a hybrid instrument. It belongs in both categories."

'A hybrid, huh?' thought Gohan. 'Just like me.'

"It emits a smooth, harmonious sound that rings throughout the area. Classical and modern; perfect for music lovers all around," the man continued. "Would you like it?"

"Yes!" the half-breed hurriedly said. "It's perfect. I love it."

Chichi smiled. "Well, it's settled then!" she said. The staff member whipped out a pad and wrote some things on it. He and Chichi spoke for a while, discussing delivery and pick-up issues. After a while, Chichi turned to Gohan.

"Okay, sweetie, let's go home. The piano and music booklet will be mailed to us in about a week. Right now, we need to find you a tutor," she said. They left the building and, after calling Nimbus once more, headed home.

A week later, the piano found a comfortable spot in the Son's living room, the music booklet resting on the music desk of the instrument (or is it the music shelf?). This piano was simply for practicing at home; to be taught how to play, Gohan needed to go to the tutor's house. The half-breed was currently on his way to the teacher's house via bicycle, because his mother insisted on 'being normal' and 'making a good impression'. Gohan was more worried about what the tutor would be like than how he got there.

'Hopefully mom didn't call another Mr. Shu.' He shuddered at the thought of the terror tutor. Although it was his first time playing the instrument, he was pretty sure that he could self-teach himself like with all his other schoolwork. And he didn't want to brag, but he was pretty sure that he had a natural talent for playing it, despite his lack of practice. The hybrid's fingers were impatiently wiggling on the bike handles, wanting to play the piano without waiting for someone to teach it to him. Maybe it was just an excuse to avoid another tutor, but the little warrior truly thought that he could play perfectly fine without any help.

Soon, the tutor's house came into view. The house was small in size and quaint in personality. It was located near the city but still in the mountain range. Vaguely, Gohan wondered if his teacher was a martial artist; after all, most people in this area tended to either be farmers or martial artists, and the boy certainly didn't see any crops. After double checking the address, Gohan walked up to the front door and knocked. A couple of minutes passed but no one answered.

"Is anyone home?" he called out, knocking again. This time, someone answered the door. The man was wearing a blue and white long-sleeved traditional top and baggy red pants. His hair was brown and styled into an afro, and the man was wearing glasses. It seemed very familiar…

'Oh crap! It's Mr. Shu!'

"Why hello there…Goken, was it?" said Mr. Shu in his stupid accent. "What a pleasant surprise."

Gohan blinked twice and then—remembering the manners his mother had drilled into him—bowed respectfully, grinding his teeth together as he did so.

"Good morning, Mr. Shu," he said. The man simply stood and stared at him, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Mmm, yes…," he eventually said, pushing up his glasses with one finger. He was clearly enjoying the respectful bow from Gohan. The Saiyan hybrid continued to bow, but then lifted his head and glared at the teacher.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" he asked accusingly. Mr. Shu stood still for a couple more minutes and then walked inside. Gohan followed him into what was seemingly the family room.

"So Goken, have you played the piano before?"

Gohan glared at him. "It's Gohan."

"Okay, Goken. Have you played before? Or did your abandonment issues get in the way? Mmm, yes, that brainless, brute father of yours never came back. Am I right?"

Another hard glare. Gohan clenched his fists to try to stop himself from shaking.

"Of course, I'm always right," Mr. Shu said, smirking when his pupil didn't retort back.

'Hmm…it seems like that mother of his finally tamed his violent urges,' he thought. The man walked over to the piano and took a seat next to it, gesturing to the piano stool.

"Come and sit. Oh, and control your anger issues; I wouldn't want you to break my piano," he said. Gohan, still clenching his fists, took a couple of deep breaths and took a seat on the stool.

'It's just for an hour. I can survive. I just need to breathe. Inhale…exhale…inhale …'

"Hello? Goken, are you listening? Hurry up and play! Do you want me to take out my whip?" yelled the terror tutor. Gohan let out a huge puff of breath as if he were a dragon breathing fire, and turned to glare at the teacher yet again.

"Gohan. "

"What?"

" My name is Gohan. Gohan. As in G-O-H-A-N. Gohan."

"Hmph, well…whatever you say, Goken. Just play the piano. Or would you rather be home waiting for your violent, deceitful, animal of a father to come back? Yes, those martial artists are all the same," he said, smirking. Gohan just 'hmphed' and brought his attention back to the piano, feeling the rage build up within him. His vision began to blur slowly and his energy steadily rose, but he didn't notice. All he could see behind his eyelids was the moment when Goku sacrificed himself during the Cell Games.

(Flashback)

'Hey, you put up a good fight, Gohan. I'm proud of you.'

(H-huh? What's he doing?)

'Take care of your mother for me. She needs you. Tell her I had to do this, Gohan.'

(Take care…of mother? Please don't tell me you're going to do what I think you'll do.)

'Goodbye, my son.'

(Daddy? DADDY? DAAAAADDDDYYY!)

(End Flashback)

Pure rage. That's all Gohan knew. He was rage and rage was him.

"—you deaf? I told you to pl—"

Gohan whipped his head around, fire in his eyes.

"You want me to play? I'll play a song for you!" he gritted out through clenched teeth. The hybrid was seemingly about to slam his hands on the piano, and Mr. Shu braced himself for the impact. Surprisingly, it never came; instead, he found Gohan's fingers resting lightly on the piano keys, his face contorted in concentration, his eyes closed, and his jaw set in anger. All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open and he began to play the piano with a swift, controlled ferocity that he never knew he possessed.

(Insert piano version of "Gohan Angers" here)

The hybrid's stiff yet graceful fingers were flying across the piano unconsciously in perfect tune. The song he played was thick with anger and sadness, emotions that the terror tutor had never heard being played on the piano before. Surprisingly, the boy's eyes were glassy. When the song was finished, Gohan took a deep breath, his eyes coming back into focus. He blinked twice and looked at his hands in astonishment. Meanwhile, Mr. Shu was cowering back against the wall.

"W-w-what…? B-but that's not possible! You h-haven't played before!" he stuttered. Gohan ignored him.

"H-how…is it possible? Goken?"

Gohan got up and glared at his tutor.

"My name is Gohan, and my father is not a brute! He's a great man. Remember that!" His aura flared dangerously around him for a second before he headed for the door. Mr. Shu didn't bother to follow him; he'd seen enough.

The Saiyan half-breed stepped outside and straddled his bike, fixing his eyes on his hands on the handlebars.

What happened?' he thought. 'I thought that I had a talent, but…this is ridiculous! How is this even possible?'

Planning on consulting Piccolo about it later, Gohan took off for home.

Well, there you have it. Review, please! I love reviews. :D Constructive criticism is welcome.