Chapter 17

It felt like someone had stuffed his mouth full of cotton balls. He fought to open his eyes, but when he realized how hard that was going to be, he almost gave up and sank back into oblivion... His mouth though... He couldn't stand that awful sensation on his tongue, needed consciousness in order to fix that feeling. Slowly, slowly, he opened his eyes – man, it was way to fucking bright in here. He held them open just a slit until they adjusted to the light, then opened them a little more and a little more until he could focus on the room around him without being in pain. This had to be CC, it looked like he was in one of the guest rooms, but he didn't remember coming over here... He felt really weak too, and flexed his muscles, finding his body stiff and achy... Wondered, as he gave a long feline stretch, how long he'd been asleep for. The feeling in his mouth wasn't cotton, he was just really thirsty apparently. There was a pitcher of water sitting next to the bed. He wasn't really sure it was for drinking, but it smelled like it was just plain water, if a bit stale and lukewarm, so he downed it all. That was when his Dad burst into the room. He dropped the pitcher in surprise.

"Dad!" he yelled and practically jumped over to embrace him as Goku did the same.

"Wait, am I dead?" he said seriously, his face confused.

"Dead? No, of course not! You have been asleep for two weeks though; there's a few things we'll need to talk about of course" his Dad said softly.

"Oh, ok... When did you get back? Why was I asleep? Where's mom?" he started firing off questions. Goku just looked at him, his turn to be confused now, as Bulma, Trunks, Goten, and Vegeta entered the room.

"You don't remember what happened?" Goku asked him in that still soft voice, and the smiles on everyone's faces faltered a little.

"No, what do you mean? What happened?" he asked.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Goku returned his question with one of his own. Gohan blushed, and his eyes flicked to Trunks, then down to the floor. He started to frown though, and sniffed the air purposefully. Then got up, walking over to stand in front of Trunks with his arms crossed.

"You're not Trunks" he said with some venom in his voice, "Who are you?" Goten's eyes teared up silently as he watched his crazy brother from the back of the group. Trunks didn't answer him, just shook his head and watched him for any sign that would mean he needed to get the now crying Goten out of here. Goten's open weeping drew Gohan's attention, and his eyes went wide, staring at Goten less than tactfully for a few moments. He looked back to his Dad, who had tears running down his cheeks as well – this was really starting to freak him out...

"What's going on here?" he said shakily...

"Just answer your father, idiot." Vegeta growled.

"Well, uh, the very last thing? Going to sleep at home I guess..." he said blushing again.

"Ok, what day was it?" his father prompted as Vegeta rolled his eyes. (Was it just him, or did Vegeta seem shorter than normal?)

"Um, I'm not completely sure, I don't know if it was after midnight or not, but it was probably close-" Gohan was cut off by Vegeta growling.

"Just tell us what the last significant day you remember was, moron."

"Vegeta" his Dad said with a warning tone in his voice. It seemed odd that Vegeta listened to him and shut up...

"Well – the last thing I remember that you would probably consider significant is defeating Cell" he said as he glared at Vegeta. It was strange, but he could have sworn that Vegeta paled and looked kind of wobbly, but everyone knew the Prince of all Saiyan's would never do a cowardly thing like pass out. His Dad however, was not royalty, and slid off the edge of the bed hard. Gohan just stared at him laying on the floor as the crying boy who looked just like him rushed to his side. Wait, was that boy pregnant? He hadn't really seen the lower half of him behind the fake Trunks and Vegeta... He backed away unconsciously until he bumped into Bulma, who had been leaning against the wall for support. She blushed, and that's when he realized he was wearing nothing but his underwear. Well, come to think of it, they didn't look like his underwear... That glance down made him feel like he might pass out as well. His body was different! He still felt like he was him, but he was so tall – not just taller, bigger and more defined, like an adult... Holy crap, how had he grown so much in two weeks?! He stopped staring at his hands, and looked up at Bulma.

"What's going on? What happened to me?" he asked quietly. She just stood there, looking completely lost – she must not know what was happening either...

"Where's my mom?" he asked. Still no response from anyone. Goku was awake again now, still sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed while that boy was curled up in his lap. The fake Trunks was over there too, stroking the boys' back with their tails wrapped together. Tails? That must mean the boy was part Saiyan also. Why did this faker and the strange pregnant boy get to have their tails?

Vegeta could tell exactly what Gohan was staring at with such jealousy, so he reached over flicked the end of Gohan's tail as it was waving angrily behind him. He jumped a little at the sensation, eyes widening to see his own furry appendage behind him. He cried out happily and grabbed onto it, hugging it to him like a, well, like a small child would do. Fuck. Vegeta put his hand on Gohan's arm, trying to find the right words to tell him he was 27, not 11, and that he had apparently forgotten the last 16 years of his life in a comma of sorts, which Vegeta had brought on by knocking him out to keep him from burning himself and/or the planet up... Yeah, this was going to take a minute...

"You got your tail back too Vegeta? I guess I really did miss a lot, huh?" Gohan said with a grin as he noticed Vegeta's tail wrapped neatly around his waist. He should probably do that with his too, maybe in a little bit – it felt too good having it back to let go of just yet. Vegeta actually grinned back at him, and patted his arm a few times before letting his hand drop. Man, what had gotten into him? He decided to try asking one more question, even though nobody seemed to want to answer any of them, but he had to try.

"Hey Vegeta, did Trunks go back to his own time already?" Vegeta actually responded to him, not verbally of course, but he did slowly nod a 'yes'.

"Oh, ok then... Hey, does anyone know where I can find some pants?" he tried to ask cheerfully.

"Is that why you said he wasn't the real Trunks, Gohan?" said his Dad from the floor, gesturing to the fake Trunks.

"Yeah, I guess... I said it 'cause it's true, he's not him" Gohan frowned.

"He is Trunks, Gohan, that boy is my son," said Vegeta, "But he is the one that was a little baby when you were 11, not the version of him from the future."

"When I was 11?"

"Yes, you're 27 now Gohan..." Vegeta's voice sounded funny without the growl in it...

"I guess that makes sense... Sorry about that" Gohan said as he turned to Trunks, eying him a lot less suspiciously now, "you look just like him, I guess you would, right? I didn't mean to offend you." Trunks just nodded at him, but at least he was acknowledging his presence.

Bulma had pulled a pair of men's pants from a drawer across the room, and was gesturing to him with them.

"Thanks" he smiled at her. As he took them from her hand, he had a strange sense of deja-vu, and frowned down at the material... Something about Bulma and pants flitted through his mind. He closed his eyes, trying to catch the thought, it seemed like it had been something really important at the time... He eyes opened and he squinted at her.

"Bulma, did... did you give me an ultrasound once?" he asked quizzically, still holding the pants between them. She didn't so much answer him as shout for joy and throw herself into his arms, wrapping him in a tight hug. Everyone was smiling and laughing around him. Man, what was the big deal? His Dad and Trunks and the other boy came over and gave him a big group hug. Only Vegeta was standing to the side not touching them, which seemed perfectly normal to Gohan, but then his Dad's tail unwound from his waist and wrapped around Vegeta's arm, pulling him into the hug too.

It was a lot easier to make himself explain the current situation to Gohan knowing that his memory loss wasn't permanent. The things he had a hard time believing he would remember on his own eventually. Like that he and Chichi weren't together anymore, and that all the males in his family could give birth. He had remembered who Goten was a few hours later, running into the room and scooping him up into a big hug, both of them crying profusely. There was still a lot he didn't remember at the end of that day, but if it kept coming back to him this quickly, Goku figured he would be ok fairly soon. He started making a habit of asking him at dinner what he had remembered that day, trying to keep track of his progress. After the two weeks had passed, and he got an answer of "masturbation" with a wink, he figured that was Gohan's way of telling him that he didn't need him to help keep track anymore.

A month had passed since Gohan had woken up, and he basically had all of his memories back now, except for the day in between Goten's birthday and getting knocked out... He still stayed at CC at Bulma's insistence – he could tell they were still concerned about him. He had asked about his job, and Bulma told him not to worry about it, if he wanted to work again when he was ready, she had a couple of jobs at CC that he would be perfect for. Later, he had hesitantly asked about his apartment, knowing the state that it was in when he left it last. His Dad and Vegeta got real quiet for a moment, then Dad had stood up and excused himself, saying he'd be right back. Gohan sighed and looked at the ground, afraid to meet the condemnation he knew would be in Vegeta's eyes.

His dad returned pretty quickly, and handed him a small bag, saying that this was all that had been salvageable. He opened it and found the small gi he had worn in the Cell games wrapped around his picture of Trunks. Well, it had more people in it than that, but he had always thought of it as his picture of Trunks because it was the only one he had. His chest constricted as the last memory he was missing came back to him in a rush. The anger at seeing Goten touch this picture, the fear in his little brother's face, the countless nights of binge drinking, trying to dull the pain of being hollow and worthless... He sobbed on the floor with his Dad's arms around him for a long time.

When he thought he had finally cried himself out, he pulled away from the comforting grasp.

"What happened Gohan?" his Dad asked softly.

"I... I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about that yet..." he whispered.

"I don't feel comfortable removing the ki suppressors from you until we're sure it won't happen again son" his Dad informed him with equal softness.

"That's fine" he replied, trying to end the conversation.

"Was it losing someone?" his Dad pressed on. Gohan's eyes went wide, and he got even paler than he had been from crying.

"While you were unconscious, Vegeta said your symptoms could have been caused by something going wrong with a bonding... Even though we didn't find any marks on you, I think that's what it was, wasn't it? I can tell now when I look in your eyes that you're mourning, aren't you?" his Dad said. Gohan couldn't speak, his emotions seizing in his throat. He moved his head up and down slowly, but he couldn't bring his eyes up to meet his Dad's...

"Why didn't you say anything?" his Dad kept pushing. Gohan shook his head from side to side now with a grunt.

"Gohan..."

"Because it doesn't matter now, ok?" he finally spoke in an angry shout, "It was a long time ago, and he's gone now, so just – just don't, ok? It doesn't matter anymore..."

"Of course it does, if there was someone that you loved that much, why did you hide it from me?" Goku asked him.

"You were dead! What was I supposed to do?" Gohan said, bitterness filling his voice, "I was fine... I had it under control... … until... until all you guys started pairing up... … I never had a problem pushing the pain down until it was constantly being thrown in my face that I'm going to die alone."

Goku was shocked into silence. Gohan got up and started to leave the room, but Vegeta's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Was the bond complete and he died? Or did it just not work properly on a human?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It's important that we understand the details of what happened in order to help you boy." Vegeta scowled.

"No. It's not yours to know, it's personal" Gohan was getting upset again.

"Don't be such a cowar-*Thud*" Vegeta was interrupted by Gohan's fist in his mouth. It hurt more than he would have thought with Gohan's ki suppressed so low.

"Gohan!" His Dad jumped up and grabbed him; really to shield him from Vegeta's counterattack more than anything else. The switch had already been flipped though, and Gohan screamed in his face as he held onto him.

"Get off of me! Get away from me! Leave me alone! Fuck you Vegeta!" Goku held onto him tightly until he finally quieted, resting his head on his father's chest... He rocked him gently until his breathing slowed and evened out.

"I think he's asleep" Goten's voice came from the doorway, peeking around a wall. Goku nodded and scooped him up, carrying him to his room and tucking him into bed like he was a small child.

"He's still unstable" Vegeta confronted him in the hallway.

"I know."

"He's getting worse. Last time he just sat there, now he's ranting and attacking people"

"I know. But just for the record, he attacked because you were being an ass – I think we just pushed him too hard."

"If he can't even deal with the stress of 'discussing' his problem, we are not going to be able to help him with it."

"Hey, we have to try!" Goku said angrily.

"Do you even know what that entails at this point?" Vegeta countered.

"No, ok. What?" Goku glared at him.

"He needs to be made whole again" Vegeta said, rubbing his temples.

"Made whole?"

"If the bond he had was broken, or even if it just didn't take right to a human, he needs to be re-bonded in order to gain his sanity back – this will continue to get worse until he dies. Statistically, he should have died right away, but maybe being half human lessened the effects? I don't know for sure on that end, but I do know it cannot go on like this." Vegeta lectured him.

"Ok, what does that re-bonding thing mean? Have you seen it work before?"

"I have seen it work..."

"And? What is it you don't want to tell me Vegeta?"

"I will have to bind him to me" Vegeta said, "that will override the previous incomplete one."

"Why you?"

"Because Trunks is too young and inexperienced to deal with two mates."

"Mates! You're going to mate with him! But you belong to me..." Goku was horrified.

"It's either share or watch your son die, Kakarot, you choose" Vegeta laid it down none too gently. Goku was ashamed that he actually had to think about it. His love for his son won out though, he would never be able to live with himself if he knew he'd had a chance to save his son and had turned his back on him.

"Ok. Ok, let's do it then – we'll just have to all live with it as best we can, but at lease we'll all live" he said wearily.

"I don't normally do this, but I'm going to ask you one more time, Kakarot, are you sure about this?" Vegeta stared him in the eye.

"Yes, I'm sure. Let's get this over with, I don't want him to suffer any longer than he has too."