starfox4: I'm glad you really enjoy it! Here you go!

Chapter 16: Breaking Down

Gohan opened his eyes and was relieved to find that he was still inside his grandfather's house, but he didn't expect to see a shadow move against the wall. He instinctively stood up and got into a guarding position, staying still while the shadow came closer. The shadow was about a foot away from him when he swung at it with his fist, hitting the person in the jaw with a punch.

"Ouch!" the owner's shadow exclaimed while falling backwards; Gohan then recognized his mistake when he realized that the shadow belonged to Future Trunks.

"Sorry Trunks," he apologized as he went over to help his friend up, taking a glance out the window on the way over and seeing that it was already dark outside.

"Uh it's ok. I was going to say for you not to worry about anyone else being here, I didn't alert them. I just wanted to see if you were ok. I came in and saw you sleeping, so I waited," Future Trunks explained while Gohan gave him a grin.

"Yeah sorry about punching you…" Gohan stated as he trailed off, not sure of what else to say.

"Gohan, is everything ok?" Future Trunks asked after a moment of silence, "You have been acting kind of different since when I left."

"Why does everyone have to say that?" Gohan mumbled miserably while tucking his knees against his chest. Future Trunks took this as a sign that he was uncomfortable.

"Everyone says that?" Trunks questioned while looking at him, earning a nod from Gohan.

"It's ridiculous; everyone now thinks that there is something wrong with me, but I would know if there was. They just don't understand…" Gohan said and then trailed off again, leaving the room in silence.

"I think I would understand, given the circumstances that have just happened and everything about my past…" Trunks said while looking over at Gohan, earning him a nod.

"It's just that they don't know what it feels like," Gohan sighed in defeat, wishing that everything was a lot easier to understand. They sat in silence for a bit, Gohan staring outside at the area around the house.

"Did that voice talk to you anymore?" Trunks asked after a while. Gohan was about to reply, but someone else did for him.

Yeah we talked. But seriously Trunks, you need to be more aware. I can hear your conversation, his other self said, making Gohan feel kind of awkward.

"Um, sorry about that too…" Gohan started, but his other self apparently was ignoring him.

What's to be sorry about? You had better get used to me talking outside of your head Gohan since it will be happening a lot now that the others know about me, his other self stated.

"Please don't tell me that you are going to do that around my mom," Gohan pleaded.

Uh no. That would be bad, very bad… his other self commented quickly, the scene playing in his head making him cringe a bit. Then he remembered that Future Trunks was still there.

"Oops, sorry again Trunks. It's just that the two of us usually get into a conversation and I can't really concentrate on anything else," Gohan quickly apologized but Trunks shook his head.

"It's ok. I can understand how hard that would be," the older Saiyan said in a comforting tone.

"Are the others still looking for me?" Gohan asked hesitantly after a few moments. Trunks' face turned from smiling into one of shock.

"Oops, I should probably tell them…" Future Trunks started to say, but Gohan quickly interrupted him.

"No!" he stated quickly, making Future Trunks look back at him with a worried glance.

"Gohan, they are worried about you. I just think it would be a good idea to…" Trunks started to say but then stopped. When Future Trunks had mentioned about telling everyone else, Gohan had started to shake with the sick and uneasy feeling that was returning. He sat on the ground and tried to block himself from the world, but that seemed quite impossible at the moment. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, seeing a blurry image of Future Trunks.

"It's ok, I wouldn't tell them anything of what happened in here," Trunks said softly, but Gohan shook his head again. Future Trunks sighed and sat down beside him, not saying anything for a while.

"Gohan, I really do want to know what's wrong. At least what you're feeling," Trunks said after a while with a defeated tone. Gohan looked back at his friend through a blurry vision.

"What do I feel?" he whispered as he stared at the ground, "I really don't know."

Gohan could tell that Trunks was getting uncomfortable by his friend's Ki, but he really didn't know how to explain everything.

"Gohan, I'll tell you something your future self used to tell me," Trunks said while Gohan looked up at him, giving him a nod, "You used to tell me that it's not good to bottle up your emotions, and that sometimes it's better when you talk about things to other people."

Gohan sighed; he knew where this was going. His father had often told him that, but even though Gohan had done that in the past, he wasn't really sure how to explain everything. He felt moisture start to pool at his vision again. He suddenly leaned against Trunks; the older boy letting him just lay there.

"How do I explain everything?" He asked, "There's so much more than what you know, what I know…"

He trailed off, feeling uncomfortable again. They sat in silence for a while, Gohan getting the feeling that Trunks wanted him to continue.

"I just feel lost sometimes," he started, feeling the tears slowly drip down onto the floor, "I know he died to save everyone, but sometimes I wish that I could just stop time and head back, change everything."

"Sometimes I feel that way too, that's why I came back into the past," Trunks said. Gohan nodded, feeling sick but wanting to continue.

"And other times, I feel mad at him. I usually don't know why. Maybe it's because he left or because I don't know how to really be a big brother to Goten, or it's probably because of that voice…" Gohan trailed off when he felt a bit of anger at everything.

Hey, why are you bringing me into this? His other self demanded angrily.

Be quiet! Gohan snapped, and besides, you hate him too!

His other self didn't comment back, Gohan not really being sure if Trunks heard that. If his friend had, Trunks gave no comment about it.

Gohan sighed, not really sure how to continue. Suddenly, he felt everything from the past year coming rushing towards him; all the emotions that he missed while in his coma.

"It's just not fair!" he shouted as he felt himself crying again, "I hate it! Why can't I understand anything? Why didn't I just listen to him? Why did I have to fail!"

Trunks, obviously surprised by his sudden outburst, let Gohan lean on his shoulder. Gohan just cried, wanting to get everything out. He knew he was shaking again, and that Vegeta would probably call him weak if he ever found out, but at that moment, he really didn't care.

And I guess I'll leave it off at that. I'm sorry that this was delayed, and that it was shorter, but it was more of a Future Trunks-Gohan bonding time, don't you think? Either way, Gohan is going to have some serious problems when he gets back, especially if Chi-Chi finds out about the whole thing. I would just like to know: how did I do with this chapter? I wasn't really sure how to approach it (even though it is important for everything later on, Future Trunks is going to play a HUGE role in later chapters). Either way, I hope you enjoyed it and please review! (Also, I'll have the next chapter up soon!)

-AnimeWolfGirl9