Gohan's Hidden Depths of Power - Chapter 6.
With the Dragon Balls reawakened after 130, they called forth the Namekian Dragon, Porunga, in order to grant their wishes. Everyone was there, including Master Roshi and his tenants. West City was abuzz over the sight of the thing, but due to it being in the direction of Capsule Corp. they put it down to one of their new experiments. They began to make their wishes, the Namekians being kind enough to let them go first. Dende had to translate the wishes into Namekian in order for them to work. First, they wished back Krillin's and Goku's spirit back to Earth, and the dragon had done so but only for Krillin. "... I can not bring the one named Son Goku here."
"What? Why?!" Gohan exclaimed in shock.
"Because he is alive! I cannot transfer the spirits of the living." The Dragon revealed.
Everyone was in complete shock at this revelation, believing Goku to have died on Namek, but began to cheer in joy.
They decided to go forward with reviving Krillin as the second wish, the Dragon did so, he also gave Krillin a body and his clothes as an added service.
"Alright! For the third wish, bring Goku here!" Bulma shouted to the sky and Dende translated it into Namekian.
"I cannot. He said he will come back on his own." Porunga reiterated.
Everyone was baffled by Goku not wanting to come back yet, but they had to accept it. "Dad's not coming back yet? Why?" Chianni asked her brother in confusion.
Gohan scratched his head "I don't know. But if I know dad, he must have a reason." Gohan tried explaining to her.
After Master Roshi made a remark that the Legendary Super Saiyan was afraid of his wife, the real strongest being in the universe, they went fourth with the third wish to bring one of the others back to life. Since Tien and Chiaotzu didn't want to separate, they decided on bringing Yamcha back and then the other two next time. As per Yamcha's luck, they had trouble finding him because he landed in a lake after being revived.
Gohan, Chianni and Chi Chi decided to head home afterwards and then make the long wait for Goku to return. For the next several months, Gohan decided to hit the books again and study, as well as spend time with his sister who was extremely happy to have him home again-He was happy to be home-He just wanted to relax his mind and body after the ordeal he had went through. Being out in the middle of nowhere and being homeschooled, he didn't have any friends around his own age, but with Chianni around he was contented, he grew to care for her deeply as his little sister and very protective, especially when they were playing outside.
When he was training with Piccolo for the Saiyans, the thought of losing his little sister to them made him push himself harder in becoming stronger. This feeling still persisted in him, along with protecting everyone else he cared about deeply, like his mother and grandfather. It felt like such a long time ago when he was whisked away by his evil uncle and then again by Piccolo, the latter of the two actually becoming his first real friend.
Gohan had begun to train again in secret from his mother after those six months, saying he was going out to play with Chianni. Well, he wasn't wrong mostly as he was spending time with her after their studies. He didn't want to leave her alone outside, either, so he just took her with him when he trained. Chianni wasn't really interested in actual fighting, but she wanted to train with him anyway so she could spend time with her older brother. 'She's like glue.' Gohan thought in amusement.
Gohan decided to see if she could learn how to fly as sort of a basic starter, she already had a strong Ki within her, granted she was half Saiyan like him, her tail was a clear indicator of that. Besides, who doesn't want to fly? It was in the morning on a Sunday and the two of them found a small clearing amongst the trees to train, an adequate distance from their home so that their mother couldn't hear them.
"What do we do?" Chianni asked in curiousness, whatever her brother did it must have been important, she thought.
"Uh... Well, do you want to fly?" Gohan smiled.
Chianni looked at him confused and then frowned "Fly? People can't fly... Can they?" She asked tentatively.
"You've never seen dad fly?" Gohan asked.
"No... He can fly?" She asked in surprise.
Gohan chuckled "Sure he can. I can, too!" He said happily and began to float off of the ground several feet.
Chianni looked up at him awe "Wow! Brother, you're amazing!" She looked up at him in admiration.
"Did you want to learn how to fly?" Gohan said as he landed.
"Yes!" Chianni smiled sweetly.
"Oh... Just one thing before we start." Gohan began and Chianni raised a brow at him "You can't tell our mother we were doing this, or we'll get in big trouble." Gohan warned, she nodded happily, agreeing to the terms.
"I won't tell a soul, I promise!" She said eagerly.
With that said, Gohan decided to teach her how to control her Ki first, as it was necessary in order to be able to fly. Forming a small ball of Ki into his hand, she look at it in wonder.
"Whoa... How do you do that?" She questioned in a stupor, looking into the ball of Ki.
"You have to look deep within yourself and find you Ki, energy, and then bring it out." Gohan explained.
"My... Ki?" She questioned.
"Yeah, all life has Ki!" Gohan informed. Gohan instructed her to sit down and close her eyes then focus deep inside herself in order to find her Ki and then push it into her hands and then outside of her body. As she did this, Gohan stood in front of her, waiting patiently.
After a while she opened her eyes as she felt she was getting nowhere "It... Am I doing it wrong?" She asked.
"It takes some time, Anni. You'll get it. Just stay relaxed and focussed." Gohan reassured her. Gohan decided to take a seat and try some mental sparring as it could take a while. For him it didn't take very long, a few minutes he figured, so she should get it soon.
About half an hour later, Gohan opened one of his eyes to check on her when he noticed a slight shift of light on his eyelids and saw a small ball of light between her hands. "Hey! You did it, Anni! That's amazing!" Gohan said ecstatically.
Chianni look a little worn out but managed a smile "Thanks! It took a while... Sorry." She apologised.
"Hey, no worries. You're doing great. Now you can learn how to fly!" Gohan replied excitedly. Gohan began to show her the basics of using her Ki to float above the ground by pushing it beneath herself. It wasn't long before she was able float, so for the next few days she continued to perfect it and soon she was flying at a reasonable speed. Gohan decided after she was capable of flying sufficiently, he made the trip to go see his friend and mentor, Piccolo, who he had not seen for some time. Piccolo must have been training because his Ki was higher than normal, making him easy to sense.
Sensing out his Ki he pointed Piccolo out to his sister and they begun to land. Piccolo turned his head and upon seeing Gohan, he smiled. "Hey, Mr Piccolo! Long time, no see." Gohan greeted.
"Hey, Kid. Yeah, it has been a while." Piccolo agreed. He then noticed the girl hiding behind Gohan "Who's the girl?"
Gohan smiled brightly "This is my sister, Chianni!"
Piccolo nodded "I see. You mentioned her during your training." Piccolo acknowledged the young girl. She quivered slightly under his gaze and stuck behind Gohan, refusing to budge.
"Don't worry, Chianni, this is Mr Piccolo. He's my mentor and my friend, you're safe." Gohan reassured her. "Say Hi."
"H-Hello... Mr Piccolo." She said nervously.
"She learned how to fly in under a week. She's great!" Gohan said proudly.
Piccolo chuckled "What more could one expect of your sibling." He complimented. "So, you've been training her?" Piccolo asked curiously.
"A bit..." Gohan began to twiddle his fingers.
Piccolo knew this to be Gohan wanting to ask him something "What is it?"
"I was wondering if I could train under you again?" Gohan asked politely.
Piccolo looked at him surprised a bit at first, but he figured it was only logical after all he had been through, but asked just to be sure "Why do you want to train again?"
Gohan looked at Piccolo with determination "... I realised that after the Saiyans and Frieza, that I need to get stronger and stronger in order defend myself and others from any new threat that might come our way. Because I'm one of the few who can." Gohan explained.
Piccolo smirked "You're finally learning. Yeah, sure, come back tomorrow and we can get started." Piccolo accepted.
Gohan's eyes lit up "Alright, thanks Mr Piccolo!"
"How did you convince your mother to let you train, anyhow?" Piccolo asked curiously. Gohan simply gulped and lowered his head. Piccolo knew that to mean Gohan's mother didn't know "See you tomorrow, Gohan."
For the next few months, Gohan continued to train, most of the time with Chianni and sometimes with Piccolo when he needed a good sparring partner, all the while making sure he completed his studies for his mother. He trained with Piccolo while Chianni was studying as she wouldn't be doing much.
Gohan found a spot to rest in the shade of the trees and took a seat. He began to think of new ways to try and become stronger than he was now, to push through that next limit but he was having trouble-his father seemed to make it so easy. Gohan thought of ways he could become stronger than he was now-As it currently stood, he wasn't able to best his mentor, Piccolo-But he had made it a goal to become his equal. 'Father... I'll protect this world while you're away, I promise.'
"Brother, what're you thinking about?" Chianni asked him as he stared up into the clouds, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Oh... Nothing." Gohan smiled sheepishly at Chianni "Just having a break, but I think I'm rested enough now. Wanna meet a friend of mine?" Gohan asked.
"Oh... Sure." Chianni smiled.
"Icaruuuuuuuuuus!" Gohan called out. Soon enough a young, purple dragon came flying to meet them. Gohan began to pet his trusty friend as he cooed. "You haven't met but this is my sister, Chianni!" Gohan introduced. Chianni was taken back a little by the playful dragon but soon warmed up to him as she realised he was gentle.
As the days continued onward, Gohan had decided to take some time training by himself so that he could focus on pushing through his limits and perfecting his techniques. But... He came into a problem one day when he came home from training and tried to sneak away to his room. Being so engrossed in what he was doing, he hadn't realised what the time was and came home late, even missing dinner.
"Gohan..." He heard his mother say in a low voice from the kitchen as he tried to sneak past and up the stairs without making noise.
Turning his head towards the kitchen, he was the silhouette of his mother standing there with her hands on her hips until she flicked the light on. 'How long has she been standing there...?' Gohan gulped. "H-Hi, Mum..." He said with his head down in guilt.
"You've been going out later and later in the day now. You've been fighting again, haven't you?" Chi Chi looked at him with a firm glare that sent shivers down the young boys spine.
Gohan stood there with no excuse coming to mind "Yes... Well. Not fighting, just train-" he didn't get to finish when his mother cut him off.
"-What have a I told you about fighting?! I won't allow my son to fight like some hoodlum! No doubt you've been hanging out with that thug, Piccolo, too?!" Chi Chi said, fuming.
"Piccolo isn't a thu-..." Gohan retorted. Gohan had dreaded his mother ever finding out about him training again. He could barely get a word in.
"No, Gohan! I won't take your excuses! I let you go to Namek, but I won't let you fight as part of some gang! What on Earth could you need to fight for anyway?! You're still a child!" His mother stressed.
Gohan's patience reached boiling point "Because I want to protect Chianni!" He fired back and lowered his head again as he stared at the ground "... I know I'm just a child, but I also know I have the power to protect people and I can't just ignore it. I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to her when I know I could've done something to prevent it!" He clenched his fists.
"I want to protect everyone, so I have to train and become stronger-" Gohan noticed an uneasy silence as he continued to ramble on and then looked up at his mother who hadn't said anything in response "M-Mum?" Gohan questioned in worry as his mother continued to looked at him with a pensive expression. 'Did I say something wrong?' He then noticed his mother had begun to cry "Mum? What's wrong?" He asked as his worry became worse. What he didn't expect next was a small smile on her face.
"Oh, sweetie..." His mother said simply and knelt down to his level, gathering him into a tight hug. Gohan wasn't really sure what was going on, his eyes going wide in surprise. His mother sighed "Well... You have been keeping up on your studies, regardless, so..." His mother paused "Fine." She finished.
"W-Wha?" Gohan stuttered, not sure what he was hearing.
"I said 'Fine'. You may continue to train." His mother conceded. Chi Chi broke off the hug and placed her hands on his shoulders "I think it's good that you care about your sister so much, you two have been inseparable since she was born. I was just so worried about losing you that I failed to see reason. I'm sorry. I guess it was useless to try and stop you from fighting. You have your fathers fighting spirit. But you must promise me something..." Chi Chi looked at him sternly and Gohan nodded, still shocked at what was happening "You better train very hard so that you become the strongest, then I don't have to worry so much about you and Chianni." She ordered.
Gohan's face lit up in happiness as he hugged his mother "Thank You, mum! And I promise to keep up on my studies, too!" Gohan promised.
Little did they realise there was a little girl standing in the living room, watching the exchange in the dining, having been woken up by Chi Chi's yelling "Brother...?" She said faintly as she listened in on the exchange, but decided to head back to bed quickly before she got into trouble for being up.
An entire year had passed since the incidents on Namek, Gohan continued to train with Piccolo, his power continuing to grow at an exceptional rate. It wasn't long before he gave Piccolo trouble. The only thing keeping him above Gohan in the fights was his superior intellect and fighting experience. To Gohan this felt like he wasn't pushing himself hard enough and continued to try and become better. But he wasn't far from becoming an exceptional fighter like that of his mentor and Piccolo knew it...
Gohan and Piccolo's fists clashed against one another's over the plains north of Gohan's house, causing a plateau near them to buckle and crumble. Piccolo smirked and Gohan smirked right back at him, the two broke off the stalemate and began to trade blows in an all-out brawl. Piccolo extended his arm to grab Gohan's leg and brought him closer to deliver an elbow to his stomach that sent the hybrid careening to the ground. Before Gohan could hit the ground in an unceremonious mess he flipped and landed on his feet, ignoring the pain in his gut to fire a Ki blast at Piccolo.
Piccolo slapped the Ki away and prepared himself as Gohan charged towards him. He threw a chop to the boy, intending to hit flesh but met an afterimage. Gohan appeared behind Piccolo and Piccolo spun around predicting Gohan was behind him, knowing exactly what he was trying to do then sent a Ki blast of his own at him, but he wasn't expecting to hit another afterimage as Gohan reappeared and began to lay into Piccolo's stomach with strong, deft blows to take advantage of the opportunity he was given, knowing how hard it was to get one. Gohan ended to combo with a hard kick that sent Piccolo to the ground, but it wasn't over for the former Demon as he sent a Masenko Gohan's way.
Gohan retaliated with a Masenko of his own and the two beam collided causing an explosion to rock the area. Gohan took the initiative and charged forward ready to throw a punch when his dad... His DAD... Appeared in front of him and he socked him square in the jaw. He wasn't wearing his usual Gi, but some strange clothes Gohan had never seen before.
Gohan stood there frozen in place "D-Daddy...?" He questioned his sanity. Piccolo was almost equally as stunned "G-Goku?!"
"Ouuuuch! Ow. Man, that was smarts!" Goku said in a garbled tone as he rubbed his jaw and tried to ease the pain. Goku finally noticed his stunned audience "Oh, hey, it worked!" Goku said in joy.
"D-Dad? ... How? I-Is that really you?" Gohan stuttered.
Goku chuckled at his son "Of course it's me, silly!" He exclaimed.
Gohan leapt at his father, giving him a hug "You're finally back!" Gohan exclaimed with joy. He didn't how his father just popped out of nowhere, just that he was here.
"It's good to be back!" Goku replied in equal measure.
Piccolo frowned at, well, all of what was going on "Forgive the intrusion on your little family reunion, Goku. But how did you just appear out of nowhere? More importantly: How did you survive Namek's explosion?" Piccolo questioned.
Goku smiled with a nod and the two others began to listen closely "To answer the first question, I have to answer the second. I managed to escape using one of Ginyu's space pods that they had left. I didn't have time to choose a location so I hit some buttons and took off without any idea of where I was going. I crash landed on a planet called Yardrat. The locals were really friendly, enough to nurse me back to health and they even gave me food!" Goku said happily "I also learned how to use a handy little technique from them, called Instant Transmission, so now I can teleport anywhere in an instant... So long as I can lock on to a body of Ki." Goku said proudly as he rubbed his nose with a finger.
"And that's how you managed to get here so quickly?" Gohan asked.
"Uhuh. Check this out!" Goku exclaimed as he placed two fingers to his forehead and waved as he disappeared, shocking Piccolo and Gohan. Goku then reappeared with large sunglasses on his face.
Piccolo looked stunned "Aren't those...?"
Goku chuckled "Yup, yup. Master Roshi's sunglasses!"
"I see..." Piccolo mumbled.
Goku then looked around at the two of them, noticeably having cuts and bruises on each other "Gohan. Have you been training?" Goku said with a big grin on his face.
"Yeah, I've been training for the last six months." Gohan replied.
"Wow! That's great!" Goku said with excitement "Gee, I can already tell you've gotten stronger. That punch hurt a lot for starters!" Goku said as he rubbed his cheek.
Gohan looked apologetically at his father "I'm sorry, father..."
Goku waved it off "Hey, no problem! But I suppose I should go catch up with Chi Chi and Chianni." Goku suggested. "You gonna come?"
Gohan looked at Piccolo for a moment before his mentor nodded his head "You should go spend some time with your family." Piccolo reassured "I'll be here if you need me."
Gohan smiled at him "Alright! See you later, Mr Piccolo!" Gohan said his farewell and then Goku out his hand on his shoulder before they disappeared.
Footnote: I suppose I should explain why I gave Gohan a little sister. A few reasons;
1. I had planned on having another family member from the start I just couldn't add them when I started it.
2. I always felt bad that Gohan never had someone around his age he could relate to.
3. It will be interesting to see how Gohan develops with a younger sibling and this does give him one more reason to continue his training in order to protect them. Gohan is kind of a bum like that with training in the main series.
4. Let's be honest, Chi Chi would never agree to Gohan training again unless for a reason such as this.
5. I don't want to make Goku OOC. And I can't explain why for spoiler reasons.