Rose had told him not to interfere with her battles with monsters. It was one of her most important rules, and one of the rules Goku protested the most. The seven year old wanted more than anything to fight alongside her, but she had adamantly told him to stay away. He didn't get it. Why couldn't he help? He had been learning from her for years, and his power had increase ten fold. Surely he was strong enough to help, right? He thought so anyways…that is until one particular day.

It had started like any other. Rose had gotten him dressed and ready for breakfast before they began his morning training session. They were half way through it when a rumble came up from the ocean. They watched as a giant orange lobster-spider hybrid rose up from the ocean. As they watched it crawl onto the beach, Goku smiled in excitement. This was his chance to prove himself! Rose, however, was less than excited. Her visage became very serious and her brow knit together in determination. "Goku, get back to the temple," she said stoically.

Goku's shoulders fell in disappointment. "Aw, come on!" he cried, "It's right there! I can help!"

"Goku, I said, no!" she stated firmly, turning to him. Her stern expression surprised him. He nodded and then began to jog back to the giant statue. Rose turned and summoned her shield before charging at the beast.

…

Goku huffed as he watched the fight from the top of the temple statue. His tail swept back and forth in annoyance, resting his chin on his grandfather's magic bo staff as he looked bellow. Why couldn't he help her. He was strong. Much stronger than the average kid his age! He could probably knock that beast on its back! So why was she treating him like this?

He continue to watch as Rose and the Gem monster exchanged blows. At least the fight was interesting. Rose dodged the massive claws and used the beast's weight to her advantage. Goku cheered as the pink gem used her shield like a boomerang and cut off one of the monster's spiny legs. The monster roared in pain, stumbling slightly. The roar of pain quickly turned to rage as the beast tried to swing at her with its massive claws. Goku gasped as one of them snagged her dress. The monster swung her back and forth like a rag doll, slamming her against the ground before flinging her across the sand. Goku stood up in panic as the lobster creature crawling towards her. He was angry. How dare that creature hurt her! He had to protect her. As the monster was almost upon her, he jumped down from the statue, bow staff in hand.

"Power pole extend!" he cried as he fell. The staff grew in length until it was closer to the size of a lance. He slammed it onto the monster's head as he came down upon it. The beast stumbled. Its largest claw flew into the air and knocked Goke to the side. Once it regained its balance, it turned to Goku, hissing in anger.

As Rose got up, she watched in horror as the creature charged towards the young Saiyan. Her eyes flooded with anger as she lunged at the beast. It loomed over the boy as he got up, claw raise to bring down directly on him. He looked up at it, eyes wide. "Stay away from him!" Rose shouted, slamming into the side of the beast as hard as she could. The force caused both gems to fly into the side of the cliff with a large cracking sound as a schism formed up the side of the cliff.

Goku looked on in awe for a moment, grinning from ear to ear. His grin faded, however, when the schism got larger and reached to the top of the cliff. It turned into a look of horror as part of the cliff broke off from the top and fell on top of the gems, crushing them with a loud POOF!

"ROSE!" Goku cried running over to the pile of rubble. "Rose? Rose! Are you ok?" he called as he began to dig through the rock dirt, "Please be ok! I'm sorry! I'll never interfere agai-" He froze and his eyes grew even wider as he saw among the rubble a pink gem exactly like the one on Rose's stomach. His heart dropped as he stared pink stone. "R-rose?" he whispered as he reached out with a shaky hand to pick it up. It felt cold as he touched it, and suddenly his whole body felt cold. This was a dream. It had to be. Why else would there be no body? Yes. This was all just a horrible dream, and soon he would wake up and could run to her for comfort. He waited. One minute. Three minutes. Five minutes. Nothing happened. "Maybe if I pinch myself…" he thought, still in denial. He reached to his arm and did so...but still he did not wake up. But he was determined wake himself up. He had one last option. He grabbed his own tail…and bit it. Hard. Although pain skyrocketed up his spine and he fell face first into the dirt, he did not wake up. He couldn't. He looked at his own pained expression in the stone. This was real.

As that realization sunk in, that's when the tears came. First one. Then two. Then the floodgates opened and he broke down, curling up into a ball and hugging the gem to his chest. His tail curled around himself as he sobbed. His beloved mentor and caretaker was dead...and it was all his fault. If he had just listened to her, maybe things would be ok.

"I'm sorry…" he whimpered to the gem in his hands, "I'm so sorry!" Silence fell over the area. All that could hear was the soft sound of the child sobbing and the ocean waves. Then, he heard a siren. He looked up to see an ambulance driving down the street. As Goku watched it, an idea came to mind. Hospitals were where people went to be healed. Maybe if he took her there, they could fix her up! Her gem was still in one piece after all. Goku got a hopeful smile as he chased after the vehicle.

…

Goku glared at the building. He didn't like hospitals. Not one bit. All those doctors and their needles made him shudder. But he just had to go in there. If there was any chance of saving her, he had to do this. He stucked in a deep breath and marched into the building.

As he pushed through the doors, he quickly noticed a desk with a lady sitting at it, filing her nails. Goku ran up to the desk and lept up onto it, startling the woman. "M-may I help you?" she asked, eyes still wide in surprise.

"I need to see a doctor immediately," he stated, "It's an emergency!"

The woman gave him a concerned look. "What's wrong?" she asked.

The little boy held up the gemstone. "My mentor got crushed by a rock, and now she's stuck like this!" he cried, "You have to do something! Please!"

The woman blinked at him slowly. "Sweetheart," she said just as slowly, "That's just a rock. A very beautiful rock, but still just a rock. I don't know what kind of trick someone's pulling on you but-"

"She's not just a rock!" he snapped, "She's Rose Quartz and she's the best fighter to have ever lived! You've gotta help her! You just gotta!"

The woman stared at the boy in front of her. He was obviously nuts. There was no way she could help him with his problem. At the same time there was no way she could just let that boy back onto the streets he could hurt himself or others! There was only one thing to do. "Sure!" she chirped, faking a smile, "I'll get someone to help you! You just sit down in one of those chairs and someone will be right out! Everything is going to be fine."

Goku's eyes lit up and he hugged the woman before hopping down and sitting in one of the waiting room chairs. He smiled down at the gem in his hands. Rose would be back before he knew it!

The woman at the counter pressed a button on her radio and spoke into it quietly. "Yes, I need someone down here from the psychiatric ward. I think they have a new patient," she whispered.

Despite her whispering, Goku, with his powerful Saiyan hearing, heard every word. "What's a psychiatric ward?" he thought, brows scrunching together.

After a few minutes a couple men in labcoats exited an elevator and began walking towards Goku. One of them knelt down infront of him, smiling. "Hello, young man," he greeted gently, "how are you doing?"

Goku didn't answer, but simply shoved the gem in his face. "My friend got hurt and ended up like this. Can you help her?" he asked.

The two men exchanged looks before the doctor in front of him nodded and stood up, taking the boy's hand. "Sure, now you just need to come with us," he said, "We have to run a few tests on you before we can-"

"Tests?!" Goku questioned, pulling his hand away. His tail tensed from where it was still wrapped around his waist. "But I'm not sick!" he protested, "My friend is the one who needs help! Are you going to help her or not?"

"Little boy, we just need you to come with us," the other said, placing his hand on his shoulder, "We're not going to hurt you, we just want to-"

"Get off of me! Let go!" the tiny Saiyan yelled, grabbing the man's hand and throwing him across the room. Everyone in the waiting room stared in shock at the seven year old, jaws almost touching the floor. "If you're not going to help me, then I'm leaving!" he announced before running out of the building.

Goku felt his heart sink again as he thought frantically of what to do next. Where else could he take rose to get her fixed? What did Rose do when he was injured? A lightbulb light up in his mind as he knew what he had to do. "The healing fountain!" he thought, "Rose's fountain can fix almost any injury! Maybe it can fix her too!" With that, he raced off back to the temple.

….

Rose's fountain garden was one of the most beautiful places Goku had ever seen. It was so peaceful and serene, and just standing in it usually made him feel warm inside. Now it just made him feel guilty. It felt so empty without her with him. As he stepped up to the edge of the fountain, he couldn't help but feel nervous. What if it didn't work? It had to work. Any time he was sick or injured, one little dip was more than enough to fix him up! It should be able to fix her too, right?

He dropped the gem into the water crossing his fingers as he watched it sink to the bottom. A minute passed. Then another. But nothing happened. The boy sat at the edge of the fountain staring at it, still clinging to hope. Maybe it just took longer for worse injuries? He hoped that was the case. So he continued to sit and wait. And wait. And wait. Almost two hours later, he realised he had no choice but to accept the reality of the situation: Rose was gone.

He reached into the cool water and pulled the gem out. He slide down the side of the fountain wall before collapsing to his side, clutching the gem. He stared into nothing for a few moments. Then he began to sniffle. Then he began to whine. Soon enough tears began streaming down his face again as he broke out into a Saiyan sized fit. Birds scattered at the sound of his cries. He pounded the ground with his free hand, causing huge cracks to form in the tile and the fountain to spring a leak. He began shouting. He shouted at himself for causing this. He shouted at the corrupt gem for showing up that morning despite it not being present. soon he began shouting at nobody. He screamed how it wasn't fair. He begged and bartered about how he'd be a good boy and would follow her rules in the future. Most of all he kept repeating one word between his sobs "Why?"

…

The tiny Saiyan lay curled up against the fountain, having worn himself out from crying and had fallen asleep. Rose's gem lay beside him, gently illuminated by the evening light. All of a sudden it began to glow. Goku stirred in his sleep and awoke to see the gem levitating. He stared in wonder and confusion as it continued to rise. "Huh? Where are you going? Get back here!" he cried as he frantically tried to jump up and grab the gem. He stopped and his eyes widened as glowing figure formed around the gem. A very familiar figure. It flickered and changed shape for a few moments until it solidified and the light faded, revealing Rose Quartz.

Pure joy filled Goku's heart as she slowly floated back down to the ground. "ROSE!" he cried, hopping up. No sooner had she set foot on the stone tile than did Goku suddenly tackle her, wrapping his arms around her neck and snuggling his head under her chin. His legs clung to her just as much and his tail wrapped around her arm as she instinctively brought it up to catch him.

The tall gem stumbled back, nearly falling into the fountain from the force of the child's hug. "What the…" the tall gem sputtered in surprise, "Goku? What's going on? Why are we in my fountain garden?" The last thing she had remembered was being on the beach and having the rocks fall on her and the corrupt gem. She hoped it wasn't still on the loose. Suddenly, she noticed the wet spot forming on her neck and heard sniffling. She pulled him away from her with much difficulty to look at him and make sure he was ok. The boy's eyes were red and puffy, as he tried to reach for her again. "Goku?" she asked, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

He leaned forward and pulled himself back towards her. "Y-you're ok!" he blubbered as he once again began gripping her neck tightly.

Rose just gave him a confused look. "Of course I am!" she said, "My gem wasn't cracked, after all."

"B-but I," he sniffled, calming down a little, "I-I thought you were dead!"

Rose squinted at him in confusion before her eyes widened in horror and guilt flooded through her. She had forgotten to tell him. Oh dear Kami, what torture had that boy put himself through when she wasn't here? "Oh Goku, I'm so sorry!" she cried squeezing him tightly, "This is my fault! I should have told you sooner!" "A gem's body is made of hard light," she explained, "When we get seriously injured, we release that light to reform inside our gems. I should have explained it to you sooner. Oh Goku…"

"I was worried you were never gonna come back," he mumbled, relaxing against her as she stroked his back gently, "I'm sorry for breaking your rule…"

"Don't be sorry," she said, "I'm the one that should be sorry. You've put yourself through enough punishment today."

Goku hummed tiredly as he nuzzled her. "Hey Rose?" he asked, "Does this mean you're gonna be around forever?"

"As far as I know, yes," she responded. It was true. A gem could live for an eternity if they took care of themselves and avoided corruption.

"Good," he said with a yawn, "Cause then we can spend it together!"

She gave him a bittersweet smile. A gem could live for an eternity...but a Saiyan couldn't. "I hope so," she agreed, "Now let's head home and get you to a real bed, huh?" Goku nodded against her before closing his eyes and drifting off as she carried him back to the temple in her arms.

I feel like a bad person for putting Goku through so much pain, but at the same time I enjoy writing it too much to make to feel too bad. Plus I have much more emotional turmoil planned for him. Maybe not as bad, but it's definitely going to be a feels trip when we get to it. Tomorrow however, I have something much more fluffy planned! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or critiques! Have a happy monday guys!