Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters

New Beginnings

-One Year Later-

"Everyone, we have a new student at Orange Star High School. He got the best score on his entrance exam in school history."

In walked a boy with ebony hair that stuck up in a truly outrageous hairstyle. He was wearing red pants and a loose white shirt with the school logo pinned to the chest. At his waist was a book bag.

"Introduce yourself, then take any available seat," said the instructor.

"Hello. My name is Son Gohan." The boy's voice was friendly enough, yet he seemed very distant. He headed towards the only empty seat next to girl with short blonde hair.

As the lesson began, the girl leaned close to him.

"Gohan…that's a strange name," she giggled, "My name's Erasa, by the way. You're pretty cute." His outgoing seatmate was leaning a little too close for Gohan. Soon, they were shoulder-to-shoulder, with Erasa's hand on Gohan's forearm.

"Ah, don't waste your time on nerd-boy, Erasa," a muscular boy with long blonde hair interjected from the seat behind Gohan.

The energetic Erasa continued as if he had never said anything, "That's Sharpner, and this is Videl," she indicated the girl with black hair tied into two pigtails. "She's the daughter of the great Hercule Satan."

Videl was examining Gohan carefully, clearly waiting to see his reaction.

"Well, hello Erasa. Thank you for the compliment, but could you give me a little space? I'm feeling a little cramped. It's nice to meet you, and you too, Sharpner. You are right if by nerd, you mean I take my studies seriously." He turned to Videl. "Hi, Videl. Mr. Satan's your father, huh, you must have lived a very interesting life. It's nice to meet you as well. I'd be happy to talk with you guys later, but I want to pay attention to the lesson right now. Maybe at lunch."

Gohan kindly extricated himself from Erasa's grasp and turned to the teacher, leaving everyone confused.

What a nerd, thought Sharpner.

Videl was extremely puzzled. He's so weird. He responded to everything in order and doesn't seem flustered at all by Sharpner's insults or Erasa's flirting. And, it's like my father's fame doesn't even faze him. She kind of liked that he treated her like a normal person, but it was very strange. She didn't understand this new kid, and that, she definitely did not like.

I will figure you out, Son Gohan.

Unfortunately, she did not have much of a chance until lunch. Gohan was adamant on focusing his complete attention on the classes. Not even her death glare had any effect. All she got out of him was that he was homeschooled before he came to Orange Star. Luckily, Erasa invited Gohan to eat lunch with them. Videl used the time to interrogate the suspect…er, ask her classmate some questions.

"So Gohan, why'd you decide to come to school here?"

"Well, it's easier to get a scholarship coming from a real high school. Plus, I thought I should get to know some other kids my age," Gohan answered matter-of-factly. He sat cross-legged and set to eating his rather large lunch.

"You sure eat a lot bookworm," Sharpner put in, "How are you still so thin? You can't get much exercise with all the studying you do."

Gohan looked up and thought for a moment as he finished chewing.

"A fast metabolism," he stated simply, then went back to his food. He finished his huge sandwich within a minute and polished off everything else in another. The others could only look on in shock. When he finished, Gohan leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

"So, what about you guys? What do you guys do outside of school?"

Erasa exploded, "Shopping, of course! Oh, Gohan, you need to come with us to the mall after school today. It'll be so much fun. We can get you a whole new wardrobe. What you're wearing now is fine, but you would look so good in…"

Videl interrupted, "Ugh…Erasa, how about we do something else for a change. I don't think I can take another afternoon of you dragging us from store to store for hours on end."

"Oh, Videl, you're such a party pooper. It's fun."

"For you, maybe." Videl rolled her eyes.

"Heh, heh," Gohan chuckled softly. "I'm sorry Erasa, but I think I'll pass. I'm going to spend the afternoon at home."

"Let me guess, brains. Studying." Sharpner was quick to butt in.

"More or less."

"Where do you live, Gohan?" Videl blurted out. She was not done with him yet. The minute she said this, though, Erasa and Sharpner looked at her strangely, making her blush as she realized what it sounded like. "I mean…uh"

Gohan laughed. It was the greatest display of emotion they had seen from him yet.

"It's fine. I live in a small studio apartment a couple of miles from here."

"A studio? What about your parents?"

"My mom lives in the 439 mountain area with my little brother. That's too far away for me to get to school, so I got an apartment in the city."

Gohan had stood up as he said this. Before anyone could say anything else, he was gone.

What about his dad? Videl wondered.

Gym was the last class of the day. The coach was assigning the teams. Videl grunted when Gohan was assigned to her team. Clearly, no one wanted to be stuck with the 'nerd-boy.

"Here, Gohan," she told him, tossing him a mitt, "Go take right field. You know where that is?"

"Yes. On the right," Gohan replied and took his position. Videl was slightly embarrassed at her stupid question, but ignored it.

Luckily, at least in Videl's mind, the ball never came to Gohan that inning. As they went up to bat, however, she realized that she would have to let him go up sometime. So, she chose to rip the bandage of quickly, and sent him up first.

Sharpner was pitching. Alright, book nerd. Let's see you duck like a sissy. He aimed right at Gohan's head.

Gohan merely jerked back slightly as the ball whizzed through the space his head had just been.

"If you want to win," he shouted to Sharpner, "I suggest you aim in the strike zone."

Sharpner's eyes bulged. "I'll show you," he muttered and threw his fastest pitch right down the middle.

Gohan hit it solidly. The ball flew into the stands and he started to round the bases. Videl and Sharpner were floored. How could hit the ball so far? Nerds weren't supposed to be athletic, or strong. As he came into home, he still looked completely calm, as if his homerun had not been special at all.

"Did I surprise you, Videl?" his voice was soft and even. He walked off without waiting for her answer.

After school, Gohan left immediately. He was on foot, and Videl decided to follow him and see what he really was up to after school. She stayed well behind, trying to use other buildings as cover, while still keeping the mysterious boy just within view. He finally stopped at a run-of-the mill apartment building after about half an hour, and disappeared inside.

Videl whipped out her cell phone and called the police chief, "What information do you have on a Son Gohan?"

"Hmm, hold on a sec." There was a pause. "Here we go. Son Gohan. Lives in the 439 mountain area. Oh, wait. He's dead. Ah, another Son Gohan. Not much on him. Lives in the Satan Apartment Building, number 102. No criminal record."

"I see. Thanks for allaying my suspicions, chief. Have a good day." She hung up.

So, there was another Gohan Son who lived in the exact place that this Gohan's family lives. There must be a connection. Son Gohan…Son, the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. Gohan even looked familiar. It was driving Videl crazy that she couldn't remember, and she didn't even know why she cared so much. She decided that she'd gotten what she could for today, and Erasa was expecting her at the mall.

After a torturous session of shopping, Videl went back to her house to do research. Dad was gone, as usual, so she went straight up to her room. She typed in 'Son Gohan,' but nothing interesting came up. Then '439 mountain area.' Lots of stuff about the geography, flora and fauna, etc. but nothing useful. Unfortunately, that was all she really knew, so she gave up for the night. She needed to get more information from Gohan.

Gohan sat on the floor of his apartment with his legs crossed. He had already finished his homework and studied on his own for several hours. After a small (by Saiyan standards) dinner, he stopped to meditate and reflect on his day for a bit.

The ki suppressor works like a charm, he thought. Bulma had planted the spherical device in his chest that effectively cut his power to that of a very strong human. It was pleasing to see the results. He had put a significant amount of his power into that hit, and while his home run was quite spectacular to his classmates, it was well within human capabilities.

Gohan thought back to that night, a year ago.

Bulma finished the operation and waited for Gohan to wake up. Once he did, a senzu bean fixed him up in short order. Gohan, with his Saiyan genes, soon recovered from the anesthesia and was very alert.

"Okay, Gohan. The ki suppressor is in place. This…" she held a small metal box in her hand. "Is the remote. Once we get the setting you want, I will lock this up in my personal vault underneath Capsule Corp. In addition, there's a code required to confirm any change. I will be the only one with the code or access to the vault, so it's completely safe. If you ever change your mind or want to change the setting, just drop by and let me know.

Gohan nodded.

"Good," Bulma continued, "Now, tell me how low you want to go."

"Somewhere within normal human abilities, not including Krillen and the other guys."

"Hmmm, how about I put you a little bit over the 'Savior of the World?' That way, you can easily pass as a normal human, but you'll still be strong enough to hold your own if you're ever in a tricky situation."

"That sounds fine. Will I be able to fly or sense energy?"

"Yes, you will retain all your abilities, but they will be significantly weaker. You won't be able to fly as far or as fast. But sensing ki takes very little energy, so that should not be affected too much."

"Okay. Thank you, Bulma."

Bulma sighed. "I still don't get why you're doing this, kid."

"Bulma, I already told you."

"Yeah, that doesn't mean I get it. There are other ways to get rid of nightmares, Gohan."

Gohan hesitated as the memories swept through his mind. "Not these ones," was his quiet response.

"Yeah? I'm not so sure." Bulma's voice softened as she finally relented. After all knowing him all these years, she really cared for the boy. "But I'm here for you, Gohan. I hope this works, for your sake."

A lot had happened since then. Gohan took a year to catch up on his studies. After six years, a lot of it was fuzzy, but he attacked it just as he had attacked his training. What time he didn't spend studying, he worked at Capsule Corp. He wouldn't take handouts from Bulma, with the exception of one of their fastest planes, so he could get to West City from his apartment quickly. He would never have been able to afford one of those within any reasonable time.

The nightmares did not disappear overnight. However, over the course of the last year, they had become much less frequent. Sometimes, he went for an entire month before again waking up screaming in the middle of the night. That reinforced his decision. He reasoned that eventually, the nightmares would stop forever.

His decision to go to high school once he was 18—not counting those years in the hyperbolic time chamber, of course—was largely due to his mother. She had always talked about him going to high school for the last year. Gohan figured she would be happy when she found out.

The first day had been unusual, to say the least. He wondered if all normal teenagers were as strange as the ones he had met. Erasa was so…bubbly and effervescent, with no sense of personal space. Sharpner was, well, Sharpner. And Videl. She never seemed to stop glaring at him like he was some sort of criminal. Then, she followed him home. Was that supposed to be normal?

Gohan let his mind relax as he started his meditation. This was one aspect of his training that he had not given up. While he no longer needed to focus on controlling his power, his mind and his emotions were another matter.

Thanks to those of you who pointed out that Cell spit out Android 18, not 17. If you look back, you'll see that I have fixed that little mix up.

As always, let me know what you think. I must confess that I am not a Dragon Ball Z trivia guru, so I might get a few facts wrong or just screw up something I actually do know. I've made an effort to get the details right, but I'm human. I appreciate any corrections.

Finally, as you can imagine, Gohan is meant to be a little different in this story than normal. I've tried my best to portray that, but sometimes it's hard to get the happy go-lucky personality (that I do enjoy) out of my head. Let me know of any slips where you think he breaks out of character.

Thanks, and enjoy!