Disclaimer: Do not own

"Piccy-san! Piccy-san! Where are you? I know you've been following me ever since that giant monster came from Capsule Corps, and you've been sitting outside my window at the hospital! You weren't there when I set that small fire, and you kinda felt bad because I hurt myself, and when I got out you-"

"For the love of Kami will you shut up," Piccolo yelled. Gohan heard Piccolo's voice from behind, and turned around. He looked up and saw Piccolo standing on top of the bar.

"Piccy-san," Gohan cheered. A sweat drop appeared behind Piccolo's head. "Can you come down here for a second?"

"Why can't you come up here?"

"I would love to, but because I pulled out a bone, any strain on my body hurts." Piccolo sighed. He hated being seen in public. He floated down so he was face to face with Gohan.

"What do you want?" Piccolo wasn't pleased.

"Take me to Dende." Gohan was determined. "But you have to carry me there, bridal style."

"No." Was the flat out answer.

"Why?" Gohan whined.

"Why do you need to see Dende so badly?"

"Why did you flat out say no without asking?"

"He is the guardian of this planet. He saw you fighting and has been following you since then. He knows who you are." Gohan wasn't expecting that answer.

"So…take me to him."

"No."

Gohan frowned.

"Fine. I'll tell Chi-Chi that you'll here, and you volunteered to help me paint," Gohan said. Piccolo didn't move. Gohan opened the door to the bar. Piccolo assumed Gohan was lying, until he saw her inside the bar. "Chi-CHIIIIIII!"

The door closed, leaving Seymour and Chi-Chi alone.

Piccolo grabbed Gohan before he say anything. The last thing he needed was Chi-Chi telling him how to paint. Whatever Gohan needed, Piccolo hoped that it wasn't big. So he pulled Gohan as hard as he could, and quickly took off in the air.

Bridal style.

"You don't say this to anyone," Piccolo said. Gohan had his arms wrapped around Piccolo's neck. "Why do you need to see Dende?"

"Well, I was hoping he could heal my broken rib, and my arm if possible," Gohan said. "I have things to do, and I'm in a bit of a rush to get them done."

Piccolo looked down at Gohan. There wasn't much time left.

"If you can convince him to. He's not happy with me knowing your secret," Piccolo admitted. "I've been dodging him ever since Hirudegarn appeared."

"Because of me?"

"Why else?"

"Has he told anyone?"

"Not that I know of."

Gohan assumed that Piccolo only kept his distance from Dende to protect him. Of course Dende would find him. Once he felt his power level, Dende had to find him. Assuming the facts, Gohan could see Piccolo returning to the Lookout. Dende would know who he was, and Piccolo needed to do a lot of convincing to keep Dende quiet. Sadly, the Earth's guardian didn't like hiding secrets, and Piccolo asked for some time.

Gohan could bet a lot of money that Dende wanted to see him, and Piccolo being, well…Piccolo, asked for some time. There was a time and place, and Piccolo wasn't ready for Gohan and Dende to meet. He wanted to delay everything.

But why?

"If Dende wanted to see me, why didn't you tell me," Gohan asked. He had forgotten that Dende could follow him after the fight.

"I first had to convince him not to tell the others first," answered Piccolo. Oh yeah, there was that too.

"Hey Piccolo?"

"What?"

"I can show you the world." Gohan sang.

"I will drop you."

"Shining, shimmering, splenDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-"

Piccolo dropped him.

Gohan made sure he held Piccolo around the neck tighter than he did before. He remained quiet during the flight to the Lookout, and curled up much closer to Piccolo. Piccolo kept a neutral expression on his face, and questioning how Gohan turned out the way he did. He knew the back story with Gohan's new family, but that difference of a change?

Gohan was a completely different person. He did a full one eighty. The person who raised him, Mu-Ma and TJ, changed everything Piccolo knew about Gohan. It worried Piccolo. If someone else found Gohan, if he crashed somewhere else, would he be an enemy? He was so easily influenced, so quick to change. How much weight was Gohan carrying on his shoulders?

He should have been there, Piccolo kept thinking. He should have stayed with Gohan after Cell took Goku's life. At the time, Gohan seemed pretty good. Cell was gone, the dragonballs were collected, and the wishes were granted…sorta. Piccolo was too distracted with Shenron, and Goku refusing to wish back, that he forgotten to check on Gohan.

If he did, if he stayed with Gohan, things would have been different.

Maybe…

Gohan has mentioned before that life without Goku was difficult. He never went into full detail, but life at the Son house wasn't easy. Gohan mentioned Chi-Chi being…distracted, but never went into full detail. Piccolo never experienced relationships. He didn't know how it affected the family.

Piccolo squinted his eyes. Gohan still held on tightly as they flew. There had to have been something he could have done. While in flight, Piccolo decided to talk about it.

"What made you decided to run away," Piccolo asked. The grip around Piccolo's neck loosened. "You know you can tell me kid."

"I know I can, but…" Gohan breathed slowly. "I was a kid. My dad didn't want to come home after you accidently kill him. Go figure. We've been through this before Piccy-san."

"There's more to it."

"Of course there's more to it. I don't want to talk about it."

"I'll drop you."

"It all started when I was four years old. My uncle kidnapped me. I was then kidnapped by a green alien. I was left to survive six months by myself," Gohan said. "When I turned five I learned that I had to survive on my own while being chased by a saber tooth tiger."

"You pissed him off."

"I stole his food because I was hungry! I wasn't proud!" Gohan held onto to Piccolo tighter. He knew his friend would drop him in an instant. "But that's where it started. Seeing my dad fight Nappa, knowing I wasn't strong enough to save you…I couldn't save anyone. It became frustrating. When I was strong enough I got cocky, and in the end I fucked up. I was a kid…I didn't know better."

"I don't understand why you never talked to me."

"In all honestly, Mr. Piccolo, you know nothing about father and son relationships."

"Even though I don't it still shouldn't stop you from talking to me."

"Are we going to do this here?"

Piccolo stopped flying.

"We are going to do this here," Piccolo answered. Gohan didn't speak. "We have all day kid."

Gohan remained silent for twenty minutes.

"Alright fine. You're just going to hear the same shit anyway," Gohan yelled. He really thought what he told Piccolo when they first met would hold him over. Apparently not. "The first time we wished Goku back to life after Namek, he didn't want to return. When Cell killed him, he didn't want to be wished back. Do you have any idea what it feels like? Your own father not wanting to be home? Then you have your mother doing her best to be strong. She kept breaking, and I watched as she picked up all her broken pieces. There were days where she wouldn't come out of her room, all because Goku wasn't there. You feel hopeless."

Piccolo waited to see if Gohan would say more, but he didn't.

"So taking off solved everything," Piccolo asked.

"Yeah, actually. Well besides the car accident and me dying, but everything that happened after the Cell Games was just so…peaceful. I felt real bad leaving Chi-Chi, and I didn't feel so great letting Cell kill Goku, but I had this support from complete strangers. I've been living in a hamster cage for so long that when I was able to escape, I felt freedom for the first time." Gohan chuckled. "I'm having the time of my life Piccolo."

"You still haven't answered why you didn't try and talk to me," Piccolo said. He looked down at Gohan.

"I knew if I talked to you, I wouldn't be able to take that leap off the Lookout."

It wasn't a leap really. When Goku said he wasn't returning to life, Gohan stood up, turned around, and faced everyone. They were looking up, as if they could see Goku. No one saw him standing there, arms stretched out, looking at everyone. He closed his eyes, and fell. Gohan didn't open his eyes until his back hit the ground. The sky was bright, no longer darken by Shenron. He laid there, waiting.

Specks flew away from the Lookout. Not one noticed him there lying on the ground. The village below noticed him, and wondered if he was still alive. Gohan got up, dusted off the dirt, and walked away. He walked for days, ignoring his hungry stomach and tired eyes. It started to rain, he continued on.

It wasn't until he felt his body giving up. He walked down a street, made a right, another right, and walked in a circle. He fell, landed in a puddle, and when he looked up he saw a house with the front light turned on. The gate was opened on the chain-link fence, so Gohan crawled until he no longer felt the rain.

He was awoken when he felt someone kick him. That was followed by someone hitting the ground.

"What the fuck," were the first words Gohan heard. He laid there, eyes closed, unable to move. Whoever tripped over him poked him, with a stick Gohan later learned. "Please do something to prove you're alive. I have no idea how I can explain to the police why there is a dead body on the front door again."

Gohan had very little energy, but to hear 'dead body' and 'again' in the same sentence made him realize that he had made a mistake.

"There better not be a dead body at the front door or else-" It was a lady's voice this time. She was quickly cut off, seeing him dying on their front porch. "He's breathing."

"Oh thank God! I almost got caught hiding the first one, and I don't think I have it in me to hide another body."

A horrible mistake.

"Get him in the house."

Gohan felt himself being picked up and carried.

"Do you see this kid's body? He's ripped!"

"Holy shit! I prayed to God for someone with a tight abs. I should have been more specific. I needed a man with tight abs, not a boy. He'll be old enough one day."

"You are a sick woman."

"He looks, what fourteen? I can wait four years."

Mu-Ma cried when he told her he was eleven.

He was placed on what felt like a couch. Someone's hand was on his forehead.

"He's burning up. TJ, get a towel and a bowl full of ice." He heard footsteps walk away. This felt like a safe place. "I also need a tall glass of whiskey. Just whiskey. Don't put any ice in to water it down. This is going to be a long day."

This wasn't a safe place no more.

Gohan stirred a little, surprising Mu-Ma. He managed to open his eyes, and barely managed to figure out what she looked like. He squinted, surprised at who he saw.

"You're so old," he said. The lady looking back at him, shocked. He thought he was going be yelled at. He was surprised when he saw her smile.

"I still have the energy of a twenty year old," she said as she brushed her fingers in his hair. Her fingers got caught on a knot. She tried to pull her fingers through, and gave up. "My name is Marie. What's your name?"

By now, Piccolo and the others had to be looking for him. Being as weak as he was, no one would be able to sense him, but he didn't know these people, so he didn't trust them.

And it was a good reason too.

The bowl of ice water was poured over him.

"She asked you your name," TJ said. The water was frickin cold.

"TJ!"

"I'll ask again. What is your name?" He was too cold to speak. "We are going to call you Susan."

"Does he look like a girl?"

"He looks like a pussy!"

"H-how do I look like a c-cat," Gohan shivered. TJ laughed. Marie hugged him.

"This boy is so innocent. We must keep him," she said. "You don't have to give us a name yet. TJ never does when he gets arrested."

"They should know my name by now."

"I must hold this innocent child. I will never hold something so pure like this ever again."

"I'm not innocent. I killed my father," Gohan said. He felt his eyes burning. If only he defeated Cell. If only he listened to his father. He would be home with his family, and not here with these people.

TJ sighed. He lifted up Gohan's legs, and put them on his lap.

"Listen, no matter what you did you are here now. We're going to take care of you. You can stay here or leave, but we'll be here. My mom will be here. I'll probably be in jail though." TJ's words were not comforting. What was stranger was that Marie never loosened her grip on him. He killed his dad, and she didn't move. "We'll take care of you."

"I killed my dad." Gohan had to repeat it. Maybe they didn't hear him.

"Such an innocent boy. I don't want to let go," Marie said, holding him tighter. Why were they being so nice?

"He smells," TJ said.

"The smell of an innocent child."

"No, that's pure BO. Come down this end and smell his feet."

"Such innocence."

The two were strange people.

They were especially strange when they made him live outside so they could adopt him. As an adult, he understood why they did what they did. As a child, he started to second guess everything.

EVERYTHING!

It worked out for the best. He had a new name, a new life, but what made everything perfect was meeting an old friend.

Gohan was walking back from the store. Mu-Ma asked if he could pick up some flour, because TJ needed it for some reason. So he got some flower, the leafy pedal kind, because he thought TJ needed it for his girlfriend. He was walking down a sidewalk, holding some flower in his hand, and noticed a family waiting outside a restaurant. One of them waiting looked familiar. Once he realized who it was, he smiled so big.

"Owen!"

The call of his name, Owen turned and saw Boss. Eyes wide, smile even wider, ran to Boss, They hugged, they laughed, they patted each other's back.

"It's so good to see you Bross," Owen joked. They pulled apart, both still smiling. Owen pointed to the family behind him. "They adopted me."

"It's about time," Gohan said. The family came up, and introduced themselves. They were not able to have kids of their own, and they didn't want to have a baby or toddler. They met Owen, who did his best to impress them, and adopted him.

When Gohan asked what Owen did, his friend explained that he took up juggling, and failed. The family watched his 'mad juggling skills,' His skills included dropping a ball, kicking it instead of catching it, and breaking a picture frame because of said kicked ball. He ended his performance with a bow. That bow won his family over.

"Been with them for six months now. Every other Wednesday we go out to eat." Owen noticed Gohan with a flower in his hand. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"My brother wanted some flower, so I got him some flower," Gohan said, lifting up the purple flower. "I don't know why he wanted some flower. You would think he would know what kind of flower he wanted, and why just one?"

Owen raised an eyebrow.

"Do you think he meant flour, as in a cooking ingredient?"

Gohan blinked.

"Oohhhhhh." That made a lot more sense, since TJ was trying to cook something. Gohan looked at the flower in his hand. "Here. You can have this, since our friendship is blooming."

A sweat drop appeared behind Owen's head.

"Thanks?" Owen took the flower. Even after all these years, Owen kept that flower. He had it pressed so he could have it forever. He kept claiming that he would get a tattoo of it, but never did. "Dude, we should exchange numbers, and hang out sometime soon."

"Totally!"

Owen spit in his hand, and reached out.

"Promise?" Not this again. Gohan spit in his hand, and shook Owen's.

"Promise."

He puked, right in front of Owen and his new family.

Piccolo landed on the Lookout, carefully putting Gohan on the ground. Dende was standing there, waiting. Gohan wasn't sure what to do, but being the brave man that he was, he walked towards Dende.

And walking towards Dende meant turning around and risking his absolute death jumping off the Lookout.

"You can't run from this Gohan," Piccolo said, grabbing the straps from the overalls.

"I wasn't running. I was planning on jumping," Gohan said, still attempting to pull away. Piccolo held him.

"You can't keep running from people you know!"

"I can run if I want to!"

"Why do always run away from everyone?"

"Because I'm not Gohan anymore!" His voice echoed. Piccolo released the grip on the straps. Gohan stood with his arms at his side.

"Then run," Piccolo said. Gohan had his back towards Dende and Piccolo.

"Okay." He spread out his arms, and allowed himself to be stopped by Piccolo once more. "I can't run if you don't let go of me."

"I'm not stopping you."

"Then…what?"

"I just wanted to give you a little push." Piccolo put his hand on Gohan's back, and gave him a push. Gohan screamed as he fell.

"Can he still fly," Dende asked.

"No."

Gohan held onto a pillar. Piccolo and Dende stood beneath him while Gohan sat on Nimbus.

"I wasn't going to jump you idiot," Gohan yelled. "I can't believe you pushed me! Why would you push me?"

"Can you let go of the pillar so we can talk," Piccolo said. Dende still couldn't believe the person hugging the pillar was Gohan.

"How do I know you won't toss me off the Lookout? I don't trust you!"

Piccolo floated up and met Gohan. Extending out his finger, Piccolo pressed it lightly on Gohan's chest. Gohan winced as Piccolo touched one of the stitches.

Frowning, Gohan released the pillar, and lowered himself on the ground. He met Dende on the ground, and folded his arms.

"Alright, what do you want to know," Gohan said. Dende held Kami's staff, and looked up and down at Gohan.

"You've…changed," the guardian of Earth said. Gohan huffed.

"People change when they get older. You got taller."

"I may have gotten taller, but I never changed who I was."

"What do you want from me Dende? Piccolo knows everything, Vegeta knows everything. I honestly don't know why you need to know everything!"

"Because I'm your friend," spoke Dende loudly.

"You watched me leave," Gohan yelled back. Piccolo turned his head towards Dende. The guardian lowered his head.

"Yes…that's true."

Dende remembered that day. It wasn't one to forget. Gohan was sitting by the edge, turning to face the dragon. When Goku said he didn't want to come back to life, Dende looked over at the young man. Gohan stood up, his head looking at the ground. He slowly lifted up his head, and locked eyes with Dende.

Those eyes, Dende never forgotten them. They were in pain, so much pain. Gohan looked over the edge, then back at Dende. Not knowing what Gohan was doing, or thinking, Dende nodded his head. Dende assumed that Gohan wanted to leave, to go home, so Dende allowed him. The pain was still in his eyes.

"We've been through a lot Gohan," Dende said, walking towards the edge. Gohan looked over at Piccolo, and carefully followed Dende. He wasn't sure if Piccolo would push him off again. "When you ran off, I knew you wouldn't be coming back. I didn't stop you. I didn't want to."

They made it to the edge. Dende looked down while Gohan looked ahead. Dende continued.

"I knew you were safe, so I stopped following you. One day I went to check on you, and you were gone. Where did you go?

Dende looked at Gohan.

"How long did it take you to realize that I was gone," Gohan asked.

"I followed you for a year or so, every other month after that."

"I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you what happened, but you have to heal my arm, and my stiches. Healing anything else won't help." Dende nodded his head. "His name was Kyo. When I went to school, he was the first person that spoke to me…"

"Your hair looks really cool," Kyo said, touching the top of Gohan's buzz cut. Gohan wasn't sure what was 'cool' about his hair. It did grow out some when Marie and TJ adopted him, but he hated it.

"Thank you," Gohan said, knowing to take the complement.

"You're new here, but you look like a pretty decent person. My name is Kyo."

Kyo was shorter than Gohan with orange hair. With brown eyes, and dimples when he smiled, Gohan felt comfortable. He wasn't like TJ, who enjoyed farting in his face. Kyo came up to him, talked to him, and liked his hair.

"My name is Boss," Gohan said, loving his name.

"…Boss?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, sure! Hey, you wanna hit the pizza place down the road from here? I heard they have great pizza!"

"He was the first one to talk to me. He didn't care that I was the new, quiet kid."

"It's about damn time you found someone your own age," TJ said. The small family was sitting at the kitchen table. Marie and TJ made sure to get their plates filled before Gohan got a hold of them. He was still eating. "You gotta meet Seymour's kid brother though. He's about your age."

"He's in one of my classes actually," Gohan said, shoving more food in his mouth. "We talk sometimes. He's learning to play the bass."

"Why the bass? You would think he'd be more like Seymour and play the drums."

"Your band needs a bass player."

"I get it now. He still looks up to Seymour." TJ moved around some peas on his plate. "Ziggy is a good guy, wanting to be like his own brother."

"Kyo is really cool actually! He has this video game system, and he's teaching me how to play," Gohan continued, ignoring TJ. "Can he come over this weekend?"

"As long as you pass your test on Thursday," Marie said, pointing her knife at Gohan. "I will call your teacher to make sure you passed. I'm not going to have two high school dropouts in this family."

"You don't have to worry about me" confirmed Gohan. "I can pass that test with ease. I already learned algebra when I was seven."

"I flunked that test so bad because TJ gave me nighttime medicine for shits and giggle. I had to wait another weekend before Kyo could come over." Gohan lit a cigarette. "The next year we had a lot of classes together. We hung out a lot, I became friends with his friends, he became friends with mine, we all hung out like teenagers. We tried smoking, staying out late, and were being kids. I was having the time of my life. Then…everything we had together got destroyed. We were coming back from the movies, staying out late as usual."

"Oh man, I wish I had super powers," Kyo said, throwing some punches and kicks in the air. "I can fight crime, and save the world!"

"How can you save the world after nine at night," Gohan asked.

"If I'm a super hero, I'm sure my mom won't care what time I'm home."

"I can see it now." Gohan jumped on a park bench. "Satan City has a new super hero…Curfew Man! Fighting crime before nine!"

"And what about your mom? She's old, but man she has a good arm."

"For a short old woman, she's quick." Gohan jumped off the park bench. "Having super powers is cool. You can fly, shoot energy beams out of your hands…"

"How come you're not a super hero," Kyo asked. "You can do all of that. You can save a lot of people, you know?"

Gohan walked a few feet in front of Kyo.

"It sounds simple, but then when you save one life, everyone expects you to save everyone's life," explained Gohan. "Sometimes you can't save everyone, and when you're a super hero the bad guys go after your friends."

Kyo caught up with Gohan.

"I can fend for myself. I've taken some self-defense classes. I won't die that easily."

"Dark humor. Irony at best. It was a joke, and Kyo was the punch line."

Kyo got a head start, trotting over to the corner of the street. Gohan shook his head, wondering if he would be able to steal a cigarette from TJ. His older brother was learning that his younger brother had pick pocketing his cigarettes. TJ started to count his cigarettes, writing down how many he had left in the pack.

TJ yelled at Gohan a lot, telling him to buy his own pack. Gohan was too young to buy his own pack, and if he gave TJ twenty bucks is brother would buy him a pack, and keep the change. There was no way Marie was going to help support his new addiction.

Looking around, Gohan noticed Kyo running to the corner of Orange Street. Car tires squealed not too far away. Gohan watched as a red car drove by, Mustang he assumed, windows rolled down. Kyo disappeared around the corner, the car right beside him.

Gohan heard gun shots.

He ran, the car drove away, and when he reached the corner he saw Kyo lying on the ground. Kyo's ki disappeared.

"Kyo," Gohan said. He noticed blood coming from the body. He slowly walked over, legs shaking as he walked. Once he reached his friend, he put two fingers on Kyo's neck. There was no pulse. "Kyo?"

"I couldn't do anything. I knew if I powered up, someone would find me. I called the cops, I called Mu-Ma, and the only thing I had of Kyo was what his ki felt like," Gohan flicked off the ash off of his cigarette. "I copied it, made it my own. It was the only thing I could do to remember him."

Dende looked at the world below him.

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend," he said.

"Well, considering a lot of people I cared for died, it was just another scratch on the wall." Gohan flicked his cigarette off the Lookout. "Goku didn't even recognize me, and Vegeta had to second guess who I was. Everyone dying around me sucks, but my time is coming as well."

"We can stop you from dying."

"I'm okay Dende, really I am."

"Are you going to tell them?"

"We'll see what happens." Dende nodded his head. The two stood in silence, Piccolo stood at a distance listening to everything.

Dende put his hands on Gohan's arm. Once that was healed, he carefully put them on Gohan's chest.

"I healed only what you asked," Dende said, removing his hands from Gohan's chest. Gohan jumped up and down a few time. He tapped his chest.

"Oh this is so much better," he said, removing the bandage from his arm. He moved his wrist around. "Thank you Dende."

"Promise you'll come and visit when you can?"

"I promise." That was a lie.

"No he won't," Piccolo yelled from a distance. Son of a bitch.

"Yes I will," Gohan yelled back, still lying. Dende put his hand on Gohan's arm once more.

"It's okay. You can't fly anymore, but I'll be sure to come see you," Dende said, smiling as he looked at the ground.

"Wait, what?"

Before Dende could answer, Gohan hovered. A sharp pain hit his chest. Gohan immediately fell to the ground, his right hand clutching his chest tightly, knees on the ground. His breathing was stressed, carefully inhaling and exhaling. Piccolo casually made his way over, arms folded in their usually fashion.

"You're last fight took a lot out of you kid," Piccolo said. Gohan was able to catch his breath, and stood up slightly disappointed. Flying was enjoying. He could keep his power level down, fly slow, enjoying the birds flying near him. Now that was gone.

"I'll adjust," Gohan said quietly to himself. Worst case he could…borrow…Nimbus. No one would know he was missing. "I need to get back at the bar. I'm going to repaint Mu-Ma's house, and break down some walls. I'm going to use Chi-Chi's help!"

Dende was taken back.

"Your mother doesn't know who you are, but you are still hanging around her," Dende asked carefully.

"She's still my mom, even though she doesn't know that."

"I'm glad."

Gohan wrapped his arms around Piccolo's neck, and jumped into his arms.

"My Piccy-san!"

"I have no issues dropping you," grunted Piccolo.

"That means you're…falling for me!"

"I don't want to be friends with you anymore."