Gohan: Development of a Hero

This is a Dragonballz fanfiction.  To my eternal sadness, I do not own or in anyway profit from Dragonballz or any of the characters in this story.  This fic, as you can guess from the title, centers on Gohan, and begins right after the cell games.  It is an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Part 6 – The Birth

            Gohan sat with his head in his hands.  He was vaguely aware of a clock ticking, of time passing, of existence moving forward inescapably in its normal manner.  Other than that, Gohan couldn't have told anyone anything about his surroundings.  All he knew was that the time had come, the time he had been dreading.  His mother's time was almost up.

            Four and half months.  Bulma may have been correct in her estimate of how long a normal person would last, but she hadn't taken into account her patient.  Through sheer force of will, Chi-chi had held the disease at bay, buying every precious second in her desperate bid to save the child growing within her.  A part of Gohan, a small part, was proud of her for that accomplishment.  But the rest of him was still reeling from the horror of the past months.

            Gohan had watched as his mother's limbs, the arms that had hugged him so fiercely and the legs that had chased him so many times, withered as muscles died.  He watched her hair color slacken, and the tanned skin Gohan had inherited paled and grew tight over her bones.  Where once the most beautiful woman Gohan had ever met existed, a mere skeleton, a shell remained.  Gohan watched, and he fought not to weep endlessly.

            Bulma had done everything she could, and for that Gohan was eternally grateful.  She had worked like a possessed demon, trying to find safe methods to hold back the effects of the cancer.  She'd barely slept as she worked side by side with some of the greatest doctors of the age, racing to find something, anything.  And she'd waited as long as possible before performing this operation.  But she'd decided the time had come, to roll the dice and see if his mother's desperate sacrifice had worked.  Right now, she was removing Gohan's brother, before the inevitable.

            6 ½ months.  That number bounced around in Gohan's mind.  He'd read up, and now Gohan knew more about human anatomy than most doctors.  He knew that baby's whose mothers died with them still in the womb had almost no chance of survival, which meant removing the baby after Chi-chi died would be bad.  However, he also knew the odds of a baby that premature surviving, and they weren't great. 

Gohan had been tempted more than once to ask Sensei if his baby brother would survive.  But something always held him back, kept the question on the tip of his tongue, never to be uttered.  Maybe it was the fact that if the baby died, then Gohan's mother's sacrifice would have been a waste, every moment of pain she'd suffered would have been for nothing.  Gohan could not have lived with that fact, so he didn't ask.  Instead, Gohan hoped that the extra strength a Saiyan has compared to a human would increase his brother's chance.  It was the only hope he had. 

            Not that Gohan doubted Bulma's decision.  He trusted her in this matter implicitly, and he knew she'd waited as long as she could.  It had been two months since Gohan and Chi-chi had been forced to move to Capsule Corps due to her condition, and a week since Chi-chi had lost the strength to leave the bed.  If Bulma decided now was when the baby had to come out, then she'd waited as long as she could, got as close to the time of Chi-chi death as she could.  Gohan only hoped Goten would be okay.

            A faint smile came and went over Gohan's face as he thought of it.  Goten, the name of his brother, the being whose ki Gohan had felt developing.  It had been a struggle to come up with that name.  Gohan could remember his mother, Bulma, and himself battling it out.  Even Vegeta had put his two cents in, although only to make comments like, "no self-respecting Saiyan would be named Theodore" or "are you trying to make the brat weak before birth?"  Gohan wondered how Vegeta could argue given his child had a name of underwear, but he kept that thought private.  After all, Vegeta was one of the reasons Gohan was still sane.

            In a strange way, Gohan thought he might have earned the Saiyan prince's respect these last few months.  Or at least, his sympathy.  Oh, Vegeta never would flat out say anything sympathetic, but his actions spoke louder than words.  Vegeta had increased Gohan's lesson time, even sacrificing some of his precious training time to drill Gohan on the Saiyan language and culture.  This had puzzled Gohan, until he'd figured out Vegeta was trying to keep Gohan's mind off of what was happening, of the steady and sickening decline of his mother.  Gohan had been touched by the gesture, and had finally started to understand the Saiyan prince, if only slightly.

            The other anchor Gohan had latched his sanity and life onto was Sensei.  Gohan remembered the nights when no training had occurred.  True to his word, Sensei was always there, ready for the nights when Gohan simply couldn't train.  In those sessions, Sensei would tell Gohan stories, or he'd simply be a reassuring presence as Gohan wept.  It was the only place Gohan could vent his frustrations and let his sadness out, for he'd been as strong as he could, to do whatever he could for his mother.  Sensei had been there, had helped him get through those times in a way that was almost reminiscent of his father.

            Gohan's face hardened behind his hands.  There were times when Gohan felt an almost irrational anger towards his father.  He wished his father could have been here, even though he was dead.  Gohan didn't want to be the man of the house, but his father had forced that role upon him.  For that, Gohan wanted to hate him, but he just couldn't.  Not when he remembered all the good times they'd shared.  So instead, Gohan was angry.  But in the core of his soul, Gohan knew the anger was misplaced, that his father was merely convenient, a better target than the nameless idea of fate or destiny or even inevitability.  The idea that gave his mother cancer and decided it was her time to die.  It may have been misplaced, but it made Gohan feel better.  Slightly better.

            Gohan's thoughts were interrupted when something latched onto his leg.  Gohan lifted his head up to gaze down at a patch of lavender hair and a gape-toothed grin.

            "Go'an" Trunks stated firmly.

            A faint smile made its way onto Gohan's face as Trunks started to giggle.  In the two months Gohan had lived at Capsule Corps, Trunks had seemingly attached himself to Gohan.  His name was even Trunk's third word, minus the 'h'.  Of course, the first word was debatable.  Bulma swears Trunks said "mom" first, but Gohan thought he remembered "dad" coming out first.  Of course, Gohan never mentioned that.  After all, Super Saiyan or not, Bulma would tear him limb from limb if he tried to dispute her son's first word.

            Gohan picked Trunks up, and set him on his lap.  "Hey Trunks.  How'd you get out of your crib?"

            Trunks giggled again, as he reached up and grabbed a lock of Gohan's hair.  He started to pull on it, hard, much to Gohan's discomfort.  "Trunks, please let go of my hair," Gohan pleaded.  Trunk's giggling increased, as did the strength of his pull.  Gohan tried to get his hair back, but Trunks had a grip of steel.  Finally, Gohan transformed into a Super Saiyan, causing his hair to shoot straight up.  It worked; Trunks was transfixed by the change in Gohan, and his grip loosened. 

Gohan smiled, and returned to normal.  "Worked like a charm."  However, as his hair went back to black, Trunks started to cry.  "Hey, come on.  Don't cry," Gohan tried, but Trunks continued to cry.  Gohan sighed.  I never should have opened this door Gohan mused.  He ascended again, and Trunks stopped crying.

"Brat, what are you doing?"

Gohan looked up to see Vegeta glaring at him.  He swallowed, and said, "Hey, he's stopped crying."

Vegeta walked over, and said, "Brat, Super Saiyan is the pride and legacy of your race.  It is NOT a child's plaything.  Give me my son."

Gohan handed Trunks to Vegeta, as Trunks squealed, "Dad!"  Gohan's smile widened slightly.  Although Trunks liked Gohan, he was definitely his father's son.

Vegeta's gaze went from his son to Gohan, as he snapped, "What are you smiling at, boy?"

"Nothing, I just…" Gohan began, but he trailed off as Bulma stepped out into the room.  His smile faded as he met Bulma's eyes.  Eyes that had suppressed tears in them, eyes that told Gohan the truth without any words being spoken.  The time had come.

Gohan strode into the room, and forced the horror and sadness to stay out of his expression.  His mother gazed at him weakly from her bed, as she met his eyes.  She held out a shaking hand, which Gohan grabbed quickly.  "Mommy…" Gohan whispered hoarsely.

"My little boy…" Chi-chi gasped.  Her voice was incredibly weak; Gohan doubted he would have heard it without his Saiyan hearing.  "I'm sorry I won't see you grow up.  I'm so proud of you."

"Mom, please, hold on," Gohan begged.  Even though he knew the time had come, he couldn't, wouldn't let go.  His mother wasn't going to die like this; she just couldn't.

But Gohan's desire wasn't to be granted.  Chi-chi gasped once more in pain, and managed one final sentence, "Pro..t..ect…G..Go..Goten."  As the last syllable left her mouth, the strength left her hands, and her head fell back.  A few seconds later, Chi-chi body disappeared.

Gohan sank to his knees as tears rolled down his cheeks.  He knew what had happened; his mother was being allowed to keep her body in the afterlife.  But that did little to comfort him as he dealt with the brutal fact that his mother was dead, and there was no way for her to come back.  Gohan had expected it, known it was coming, but he still wasn't prepared.  He doubted anything could have prepared him, so Gohan just let the sadness overwhelm him and fill him, as he gazed at the spot where his mother had died.

Gohan dimly became aware of a hand on his shoulder.  He looked up to see Bulma kneeling beside him, tears streaming down her face.  Gohan fell into Bulma's embrace, as they both cried for Chi-chi.  Finally, Gohan was able to stop crying long enough to ask, "Where is Goten?"

A look of deep sadness came over Bulma's face, and Gohan's eyes widened in horror.  "I'm sorry Gohan," Bulma whispered, "We waited as long as we could, and we're doing everything we can.  But, it was just too soon.  Goten isn't going to make it."

"NOOOO, HE ISN"T DYING!!!!" Gohan screamed.  He stood up, and used his senses to detect the baby.  There Gohan thought.  He could feel it, feel Goten's ki fading as he started to die.  And then Gohan was moving.  He was faintly aware of his ascension to Super Saiyan, of doors exploding as Gohan flew towards his brother.  He thought he heard someone call his name, but he ignored it.  Only one thought burned in Gohan's mind.  I will not let my mother death be for nothing!

And then Gohan was there, in the room where his brother was being worked on.  The doctors looked up and gaped at him, but Gohan didn't notice them.  Nor did he notice as the sheer force of his ki threw them back.  All Gohan saw was the baby lying on the mat; all Gohan saw was his brother.  Goten was small, and looked incredibly weak.  Gohan could see he was definitely underweight, and he barely twitched.  Slowly, reverently, Gohan picked Goten up, and held him close.

Without conscious thought or any idea what he was doing, Gohan found himself starting to use the mediation techniques Sensei had taught him.  Gohan had mastered the ability to enter Dreamscape using these techniques months ago; now he used them for a different purpose.  Gohan could feel his consciousness entering Goten's body, could almost see the ki fading and watch Goten's soul disintegrating back into what it was before birth.  And Gohan's rage grew.

"My mom is dead, my dad is dead, I am NOT GOING TO LOOSE YOU!" Gohan shouted, and then he acted.  Gohan poured every ounce of ki he had into Goten's body, supplementing his brother's weakening reserve.  He reached out and 'held' his brother's soul, he locked it in place, and he poured energy into it.  Gohan pulled from places in his soul he didn't even know he had, and he gave everything he could to his baby brother.  Vaguely, Gohan was aware of the room, of the doctors trying to get close to him, but he didn't care.  All that mattered was Goten.

Suddenly, Gohan found himself staring at the inside of Goten's body.  He wasn't sure how he did it; all Gohan knew is he was in Goten's body.  He could feel the places that weren't functioning, the organs that were too underdeveloped to work.  Gohan went to those places, and using his own ki and his knowledge of anatomy, he healed them.  He'd been receiving healing energy from Sensei for months; he modified the technique he'd learned to fix the broken places.  And it was working, Gohan saw.  The organs were growing, changing as Gohan's ki touched them.

Gohan felt something shift inside him, could almost swear he felt something shatter, but he didn't care.    He poured his ki, his love, his anger, everything he had into Goten.  He wouldn't let his brother die.

A bell seemed to sound within Gohan's mind, and his vision became bathed in light.  When it faded, Gohan was absolutely exhausted.  His sight was darkening, and everything was blurry.  But, it had worked.  In Gohan's arms wasn't an underdeveloped baby, small and dying.  Goten had changed.  He'd grown, and gained several pounds.  And he was healthy, Gohan could almost feel the health radiating off of him.  Goten looked up at Gohan, and their eyes locked for just a moment.  Goten seemed to smile; and then he started to cry.  For food, attention, clothing, Gohan didn't know and he didn't acre.  All that mattered to him was that his brother was crying, which meant he was alive.

Gohan looked up, and saw the bewildered and astonished faces of the doctors.  He handed Goten to one of them, and said softly, "Take care of him."  The doctor nodded, the look of shock never fading from his face.  Gohan turned, and rose on shaky legs to face Bulma and Vegeta.  Bulma was openly crying, and she seemed torn between joy and shock.  As for Vegeta, he had a rare look of disbelief plastered onto his face.  Gohan smiled, and said, "See Bulma, I told you he wasn't dying."  Then the strength left Gohan, and he fell forward.

"GOHAN!!!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

            Hey guys, here's the next part.  I know I skipped over the entire amount of Chi-chi's disease, but I didn't feel it was important to the story for that time to be 'shown'.  Instead, I felt it was enough for it to be mentioned as it was.

            Also, I want to apologize if I made any mistakes in my understanding of premature babies.  I am under the impression that both babies born this early and babies taken out of dead bodies traditionally have a very low survival rate, and are usually very messed up if they do survive.  If that is not the case, I deeply apologize and ask for someone to tell me the correct information.  I unfortunately cannot change the story, as my understanding of this fact was and is critical to this part and the overall story.  But I would appreciate the correction, will mention, and hope if I'm wrong it doesn't bother anyone too much.

            As always, read and review please.  The more reviews I get, the more inspired I tend to be to write.