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.

Btw, from now on, when characters speak in Saiyago (the Saiyan language), the dialogue will be shown in Bold.

Part 21 - Uneasy

"You're doing great Goten. Keep it up!"

Gohan ducked as Goten intensified his attacks. They had been battling for quite some time; a fine sheen of sweat covered Goten's face, and he was gasping for breath. But none of that mattered; Gohan saw the fierce look of determination on Goten's face, and knew he would keep coming no matter what. Punches, kicks, ki blasts; Goten was going all out in his attempts to hurt Gohan. However, Gohan was no amateur; despite remaining near Goten's level to increase the challenge, he was still able to dodge or block everything Goten through.

As Gohan blocked a punch, he smiled. Goten's progress was excellent; his strength seemed to skyrocket after every training session. If he kept this up, Goten would reach Super Saiyan 2 in record time, a fact that filled Gohan with pride. His Saiyan side seemed equally proud; after all, by Saiyan custom the strength of Goten reflected on the strength of his bloodline, which was always a good thing. Still, his progress couldn't be only genetic; his power rose faster than almost anyone Gohan had ever seen. Vegeta, Trunks, Lime, Piccolo…even his father; none of them ever had strength increases like this. In fact, the only one who Gohan knew gained strength this quickly was…well, himself.

"MASENKO-HA!!!"

Goten scream brought Gohan's mind back to the fight. He turned to see one of his moves being blasted his way. Quickly, Gohan brought his own hands up and summoned his ki, "MASENKO-HA!!!" Gohan's blast erupted from his hands just in time to hit Goten's. The two discharges exploded on impact, creating a blinding light. As it cleared, Gohan saw Goten already speeding towards him. His grin widened.

When he'd taught Goten the Masenko blast, Gohan was a little surprised how quickly he mastered it. Goten seemed to absorb all the moves Gohan had with an ease that seemed…unbelievable. It was almost as if he were remembering moves he already knew instead of learning new ones. But that was impossible…right?

Focus Gohan he mentally chided himself. He shouldn't allow his mind to wander; it wasn't fair to Goten to be giving less than his best in their spars. It wasn't intentional; Gohan had found his mind wandering often, and always between two issues. The first was Goten's progress, and the second…

Gohan frowned as his thoughts inevitably turned towards his main problem, the issue that has been forefront in his mind for quite some time. Something was wrong; more specifically, something was wrong with his relationship with Lime. Gohan couldn't understand it, but in the last three months, he'd been growing more and more…anxious with her. It was subtle at first, so subtle that Gohan wasn't even sure specifically when it started. But now, it was apparent. Every time he and his girlfriend got together, a part of him seemed to be driving him to stop. He couldn't figure out what was going on, and it was slowly making him insane. What is happening to me?

A fist slamming into Gohan's jaw snapped his attention back, a fist that Goten quickly followed with a kick to Gohan's midsection. As Gohan fell, Goten thrust his hands back and screamed, "KAMEHAMEHA!!!" The ki shot from Goten and hit Gohan with unbelievable, shoving him inexorably towards the ground. Gohan gathered his energy and tensed; it was too late to dodge it and so he had no choice.

As the blast exploded, Goten landed softly on the ground and fell to his knees. He was breathing heavily, and he knew he couldn't stand. But it didn't matter. "I…got you big brother!" Goten gasped.

The smoke cleared, and Goten saw that his brother's clothes were torn in several places, and there was a slight trickle of blood leaving his mouth. Gohan forced a smile on his face; he hated to lose, especially because he was distracted. Such an event disturbed him greatly, but he had to hide it for Goten. "Congratulations Goten, you really got me!"

Goten laughed, but any response he would have made was prevent by the sound of clapping reverberating in the air. Goten and Gohan turned to see Sensei standing nearby. "Well done, Goten. I guess you showed your brother how much you've improved."

Goten beamed at Sensei, "Thanks Mister Sensei." Meanwhile, Gohan hid his surprise. Though Sensei had mentioned he would participate in instructing Goten, he did so VERY rarely. He would sometimes watch but he never, ever fought Goten. Instead, he would only offer minimal comments about Goten's form, and left the majority of Goten's training to Gohan.

Sensei looked at Goten for several seconds before he said, "Goten, why don't you go over there and rest for a little bit. I need to talk to your brother."

"Okay," Goten remarked cheerfully. He didn't really understand who this person was, but he trusted his big brother. Gohan said not to tell anyone about Sensei or ther time here, and so Goten didn't. Besides he was getting much stronger. Pretty soon he'll be stronger than TRUNKS! With that cheerful thought in mind, Goten moved away to recover his strength.

Once Goten was out of earshot, Sensei turned to Gohan. "Alright, what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked, trying to play innocent.

"Don't bother," Sensei commented, "I know you never would have let Goten get you like that intentionally. I also know the only way for it to happen accidentally would be if you were really distracted. So, what is on your mind that has your concentration so scattered? Maybe I can help."

Gohan sighed; he figured it was only a matter of time before someone noticed, and he was kind of glad it was Sensei who did. After all, Sensei was really the only one who Gohan could be honest with and hold nothing back. Plus, Sensei generally had really good advice, and Gohan could use some help.

"I'm not sure if you can help," Gohan commented.

"Try me, and we'll see," Sensei replied instantly.

"I've just been feeling…uneasy lately," Gohan began.

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything. I've trained you in several mental exercises; the aura sensing, the way to block your scent, the refined ki detecting. All that training I've given you over the last 5 years had made your mind rather…sensitive to evil kis. It's possible you're detecting an evil being nearby," Sensei offered.

"No, that's not it. I've been uneasy…around Lime," Gohan stated.

"Oh…" Sensei remarked heavily.

"It's been getting progressively worse over the last three months, and I can't figure out what is causing it," Gohan added.

"Describe this feeling. Maybe I can give you a better idea of what it means," Sensei suggested.

"It's like…like every moment I spend with Lime is wrong. As if a part of my mind is screaming at me to be doing something other than dating her. And it's not some sort of conscience thing; with each passing day the feeling gets stronger. I just don't understand it…" Gohan explained. He trailed off when he saw a look of sad resignation pass briefly over Sensei's face. "You know something, don't you?" He demanded.

Sensei sighed, "Possibly…"

"What is it?" Gohan asked. A flicker of fear flashed in his soul as he saw the hesitancy in Sensei's face, a look Gohan rarely saw.

"First of all, I want to state that I know almost nothing about women," Sensei offered.

"Why?" Gohan wondered.

"…let's just say their very rare in the future," Sensei finally replied. He took a deep breath, and said, "But while I don't know a great deal about the other sex, I know quite a bit about Saiyan instincts and what they're supposed to do."

"What do Saiyan instincts have to do with my problem?" Gohan questioned softly. He felt dread begin to rise in his soul, and knew this answer wouldn't be good.

"Gohan, you know that every animal from the smallest creature to humans has instincts, right?" Sensei questioned. When Gohan nodded, he continued, "With Saiyans, our instincts are about 10 times more advanced than humans. To be honest, I think we have the most powerful and impressive instincts in existence. They are why we are such great fighters, because the fighting instinct is within us…as is the instinct to mate."

"What are you saying?" Gohan asked softly.

"I think your Saiyan instincts have decided that Lime is not a good mate for you," Sensei stated bluntly.

"WHAT! That's absurd," Gohan shouted.

"Perhaps, but regardless of the absurdity, I think that's what happened," Sensei interjected, "I don't know what made it come to that decision; it could be anything from your age to a change in her scent to some small event. But something has made your instincts decide that Lime and you are not destined to be Life Mates. Once it reached that conclusion, it began to push you to drop her and seek another mate, rather than spend time in activities it feels won't lead to anything. As you ignore it, the push gets stronger, until…"

"Until what?" Gohan asked coldly.

Sensei's face took on a very sad note as he concluded, "…until you break up with her."

"I won't let myself be controlled by some based…Saiyan remnant," Gohan snapped.

"Gohan, you can't fight this," Sensei added, "It's a part of who you are, as integral as the Super Saiyan in your genetic makeup. I wish that it wasn't so Gohan. I wish it was simply a matter of time, and then you'll get over it. But it isn't, and you won't. The uneasiness will get worse and worse the longer you fight it. This is one fight you can't win"

"BUT I LOVE HER!" Gohan shouted fiercely.

Sensei gazed at him for several seconds before saying, "You probably think so. But if you really did…you wouldn't be having this problem."

Gohan winced as he grasped as his last hope, "But you said you don't have experience with women, so it could be something else."

Sensei hesitated, "Yes, but I don't think…"

"NO," Gohan interrupted, "It must be something else!"

Before Sensei could respond, Goten came bouncing up, "I'm rested now. You ready for round 2?" he asked eagerly.

Gohan glared at Sensei for several moments before saying levelly, "Yes, I am." Sensei said nothing; he merely backed up and watched as both Goten and Gohan powered up. As the fight began, Sensei's words ran through Gohan's mind. He's wrong. Gohan thought fiercely. He has no experience with women; he just didn't want to admit it was something else. He's wrong.

He has to be wrong.

TO BE CONTINUED…