Kappa Taicho

Gohan is so in character here. I can feel his inner turmoil.

Gohan will soon realize that his chibi mentor has done this once before-the whole he lived out in the wilderness all alone since he hatched thing. Gohan will be all like "I can't leave Mr. Piccolo out there all alone. I'll make sure to keep him company."

Wah! Im so glad you think so! Im always worried about if im being true to the character, so it brings me great joy to see I am. Those are his exact words and thoughts. Like, I was literally gonna write those exact words down. Still am.

Aldrizzt

I can't wait for the next chapter. Will Gohan stay with Chi-Chi for a short while? Or will he go look for Piccolo after he composes himself?

I forgot to ask this last time; will you use elements from the manga, or will you be following the anime?

Unfortunately, I'm only up to volume 4 of Dragonball, so im going by the anime whenever I branch off of Gohan and Piccolo...and whatever I think happened since sometimes im too lazy to review episodes-

Warnings: Kiddie romance. POSSIBLE graphic shota/underage self-service later on. Will stay rated T until I decide.

Sniffling quietly, the demi-saiyan let his not-mom tend to his wounds. He was perfectly capable of treating a couple of burns and scrapes all on his own, but he craved contact with his mom, even if she wasn't really his. At least not yet. Even now, she was insistent and forceful, but gentler all at once. He wondered what made her lose that calmer, sweeter edge in the future, and he could only hope it wasn't because of something bad.

Her moving away was what broke him from his thoughts, and he looked up hurriedly, swallowing hard and resisting the want to cling. He was a big boy! She gave him a reassuring smile and ran a hand through his hair before she walked out, gesturing for someone just outside the room to go inside. A moment later, a woman wheeled a cart into the room and he recognized her as the woman that had been talking to his little mother before he got caught. Staring curiously, he wondered what she'd brought until he caught the scent in the air.

"Food..." he was practically drooling, a dreamy look on his face before he blinked an shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin as the woman giggled. "Sorry...I haven't eaten in awhile," he said quietly, then the maid made a soft noise and quickly begun to dish out the food, propping him up against the headboard.

"Here, Sonny. Eat all you want. The Princess will help you however she can!" she said enthusiastically.

He cringed slightly, feeling bad for the lie he had spun as he begun to shovel some hot stew into his mouth. Unable to explain the real reason why he was clinging to Princess Chi-Chi and begging for his parents but also unwilling to simply bolt from her protective hold, he blurted out that there was a fire and he couldn't find them, and no, no he didn't know where in the forest they lived. It helped that his tears and feelings were legitimate, and that he actually didn't have parents at the moment, otherwise they would have seen right through him. He was a terrible liar, as Piccolo-san had often told him. It also helped the little Piccolo-san had effectively burnt his clothes to bits and ruined his arms. Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts, focusing on what was important right now.

FoodfoodfoodfoodfoodFOOD!

As he swiftly and efficiently begun to clear the cart of its contents, he could see the maid jump up and dash to the door out of his peripheral, either horrified at the display of a demi-saiyan going to town on food, or going to get more food to calm his obvious hunger. Hopefully she was getting more food, since he hadn't been eating like his daddy did, spitting food everywhere. They'd put more food than regular for one human child on the cart, but it was still not enough for him. He downed a bowl of rice then grabbed himself a bowl of noodles, slurping quietly but quickly, wrangling in his manners even though he felt starved.

He was done shortly and was sorely tempted to request more when the woman from before wheeled in another cart, followed by a man he hadn't seen pushing in yet another cart. Boy was he in heaven. He picked up his chopsticks and looked at the two with an overjoyed, wide smile.

"Thank you!"

Full and sated - for now -, the boy trailed after another worker. There were only three in total. The maid, the cook, and the adviser. It was just like this in his time, though the cook wasn't usually the one cooking anymore, so he didn't question it. He was following the adviser after the women had fretted over his ruined clothes, leaving the man no choice but to sort through the kings old things.

Gohan didn't think he could fit into anything his grandpa owned, no matter how small he supposedly got.

Surprisingly, the Ox-King was even smaller than him when he was younger, and it took them awhile to find anything, and even then it was still somewhat awkward on him. It was some Chinese garb Gohan was unfamiliar with, a deep purple and blue "hanfu" as the adviser called it. Wasn't good for combat, but he'd take what he could get. He stripped right there and with assistance was able to put it on. Immediately, the male brought him back to the women and demanded they do his hair as well.

Feeling guilty, Gohan submitted to what was sure to be torture.

It took over an hour for them the slick his bangs down then another half hour to braid it back. He didn't know why, but they were looking at him with varying degrees of shock and wonder.

"Do..I look bad?" He finally asked in confusion.

Snapping to attention, the maid shook her head and grasped his hands, "Oh no, no! You're handsome child!" She soothed before leading him off eagerly.

The cook dragged her eyes over to the adviser who had his eyes trained on a painting just down the hall. Then, his gaze flicked over and locked onto hers.

"Did the king have another child?"

Fed and clothed, his wounds tended to, Gohan was perfectly content and ready to face the world. Unfortunately, these people were less than willing to let an injured six-year old run off. If only he could get out of view for a little bit, he could fly off and never come back. But...he wanted to say goodbye to his mo- Chi-Chi. He wanted to say goodbye to Chi-Chi.

Frowning softly, he didn't notice the teenage girl come up behind him until she was already kneeling in front of him. She tapped his chin and he looked at her, letting her examine him thoroughly.

"They were right...You do look a lot like papa when he was little!" She said in amazement, "We could be related!"

Gohan frowned harder and glanced around nervously, "A-Ah no..im not related to a beautiful princess like you, Ms. Chi-Chi," he said quickly, knowing flattery distracted his mother more than anything.

Giggling, the girl put a dainty hand to her chest and smiled at him, "If my hand wasn't promised to someone else, I'd snatch you up quick! You're so cute," she teased.

Urg..gross.

Gohan made a noise in the back of his throat, trying to think of a way to get out of here. "P-Princess! I have...I have family in West City! I can go there..and get help," he said, wincing at his own stuttering and hoping she didn't see through him.

"West City? That's far..hmm..give me a second sweetie," she darted off and before Gohan could take the chance, she was back, holding a little sack. "Take this, okay? It should be enough to tide you over."

Gohan peered at her suspiciously, "Why...why are you just letting me leave?"

"Because I know you're not walking," he must've looked surprised because she laughed and continued, "Everyone in the kingdom saw you fly in! It's not the strangest thing we've seen. But, I want you to stop somewhere for the night, okay? Even if its just someones house! It'll be dark in a few hours, so don't go flying at night!" She wagged her finger.

Gohan just continued to gape even as she planted a kiss on his forehead and waved goodbye, her attendants rushing her off back inside the castle.

He guessed she was already desensitizing herself. In a world where the Earth's president was a dog person, an evil green alien that paraded around as a demon king killed people, and your fiancée was a monkey-tailed powerhouse who killed said demon king, you had to get used to these things.

Once again, Gohan wondered what had changed his mom so. She was much calmer and accepting as a kid then when she was older. What had happened?

He sighed knowing he would never know and then begun walking from the Ox-Kingdom, peering in the bag. It was a bunch of various candies and some money. He wasn't too sure what he was gonna do with the money, but he immediately started eating some of the chocolate in the bag. He never got to eat candy.

"Mom used to be so cool," he huffed to himself and then rose from the ground, shooting off in a random direction.

Piccolo didn't like him and he didn't know anyone else that he could pop in on. He could always go to Kame house and try to become Master Roshi's apprentice, like his dad did, but he was worried if he ever did get back home, he'd be scarred. Krillin and Yamcha would be there, and he even sensed Tien and Chaotszu, but he'd be the youngest and they'd be "years ahead of him." He wouldn't look forward to being ditched because they didn't think he was trained, since its not like he could show up fully capable of handling anything the hermit threw at him ten times over. There was also just the woods. Its not like he didn't know how to fend for himself. But he didn't want to..he liked being around people.

But its not like he had a lot of choices.

"Hey! You okay?

Blinking, Gohan realized he was crying and that he couldn't see. Stopping, he rubbed furiously at his cheeks and eyes to get rid of the evidence. Immediately after he could see he looked up to see who could possibly be talking to him in mid-air.

His breath hitched and he looked into a face he could only describe as his own. Wide sparkling grey eyes stared at him with concern, expression one of open childish curiosity. He was a little tanner and roughed up, and half naked, but the resemblance was unmistakable. If the face wasn't enough, the spiked palm tree hair spoke volumes.

"Man! You're flyin'!" The boy whistled in amazement, leaning forward on his little orange cloud until there was barely any space to breathe between them, "You know, for somebody that can fly, you don't look too happy. I love flyin on Nimbus!"

Gohan just stared numbly.

"Somethin' the matter?" the boy frowned slightly, poking him in the nose.

"Eep!" Startled, the demi-saiyan lost control and let go of his ki concentration, dropping down in the air but quickly reigning himself in. That didn't stop the familiar stranger from laughing and plucking him up and dropping him in his lap securely. Belatedly, the demi realized the boy was not much bigger than he, even though he was more than twice his age.

"Haha! Be careful there!" He grinned, "You could've went splat! Im Goku, who are you?"

"I...Goh-" he bit his tongue immediately. He couldn't give his real name! That was his Granpa Gohan's name! He had to think of something, and quick. "Goh..en. Gohen." Gohan didn't think that was a real name in any place, but it was the best he could think of.

If he was put off by the name, he didn't say anything, "Nice to meet'cha, Gohen! How can you fly? You should teach me!"

"O-oh..its..its just controlling your ki-

"Ki!? You know bout that? How old are ya?"

"...Six.."

"Hmm...know how to fight?" He asked eagerly.

Unable to help himself, Gohan grinned. Same old, same old. Nice to see that hadn't changed. "Yes, I can fight."

"Maybe you're who 'm lookin' for!" He grinned broadly, "Didn't think meant another kid! Im always fighting big guys, so this'll be fun! Will ya fight me?"

"I don't..think that's such a good idea!" He squeaked, knowing he far surpassed his mini father here, "Im just a little kid! You'll beat me up!"

"Hm! How bout you get first hit? If it don't hurt, you don't have to fight me. If it hurts, I know you can do it! Small doesn't mean weak, kay?" He grinned broadly.

A grinning Son just wasn't something anyone could resist, not even another Son. Grinning back widely, Gohan nodded his head slightly and Goku hooted, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy and zoomed off on Nimbus to find a clear spot to battle in.