Back to normal chapters. I don't know how long the next few chapters are going to be but I want to get to the thing(TM) so if things go according to plan we should get there in 4ish chapters and finishing up the Cell saga in 5. That's assuming everything goes according to plan, but I can hope.

thewittywhy: Thanks! ^.^ The highest of compliments

nadia4245: Idk man Radish seems fine to me

guestyperson: le thank

Qinlongfei: Yeah, it was orginally only gonna be one, then two, but it kept getting longer and he had a lot to deal with so I kept it up
And yes, me likes the irony.

By the time chamber opened, I had managed to regain my composure. I'm sure my eyes were still red and I felt tired, but I was satisfied enough for the moment to have stopped sniffling.

It was embarrassing enough to have cried in front of Piccolo or Raditz, but if Trunks had seen me like that? So embarrassing.

If it were Vegeta I'd never recover.

But eventually, the door did open and Trunks emerged first. His hair was longer and tied up, and his clothes were a bit torn.

Vegeta, looked exactly the same. His clothes were a bit tattered, but other than that, absolutely nothing to note.

"Hey, did we miss anything?" Trunks asked, which seemed redundant.

"Things have gotten worse since you went in. But hey, you're looking stronger!" Goku replied.

Trunks kinda smiled at the praise. I can't imagine he's gotten much of it in the last year.

"You lasted a whole day in the chamber. I have never known any who could last that long," I started as Mr. Popo was suddenly in the room again. Where does he come from? I swear I can never hear him coming.

"Ah, yeah. We probably could have come out sooner. Father insisted on using up the full year, even though it only took him a few months to-"

"Quiet," Vegeta harshly interrupted, "I will take care of this mess Kakarot. You don't even need to attempt the training, I'm sure you wouldn't survive it. Besides, I'd hardly need the help."

"I don't know how strong you think you are, Vegeta, but you are underestimating the enemy, again," Piccolo stated, at which Vegeta only chuckled.

"While you were in the chamber, Cell absorbed one of the Androids! He is way stronger than anything I could have imagined! You have no idea what you're up against!" Tien insisted.

"Yes yes, that seems to be said with every new enemy, now doesn't it? It doesn't matter. I'll take care of this mess, and if you're lucky I won't turn on you next."

Trunks frowned.

"Vegeta, you'd have had to at least triple your strength to-," Goku paused as Vegeta's smirk did not lessen, "…you have then. Haven't you?" A grin began to grow on Goku's face as excitement grew behind his eyes.

"Look, it doesn't matter how strong you think you are," Tien continued, "it does nobody good to underestimate-"

"I think he could beat him."

Every eye in the room turned to me. Even Vegeta looked surprised.

"Uh- you?" Tien asked.

"Sure. He's had a year to train so why not? As Cell is now, at this moment, I wouldn't be surprised. Of course that's assuming Vegeta isn't stupid enough to make things worse, which, is also likely."

Vegeta scowled and didn't dignify my words with a response.

Not that it mattered since Bulma somehow managed to fly up here with her plane.

Wasn't it like, a thing that you couldn't fly to the top of Korin's tower in Dragon Ball? Let alone The Lookout.

Bulma defies the laws of the world because Bulma.

She climbed out of the plane and I wasn't even surprised to see her carrying Baby Trunks at this point.

"Hey guys! I-" she cut herself off, sporting Trunks.

"What happened? Have you grown? Your hair's so long!" She began to fuss.

"Ah, I was in the hyperbolic time chamber. I was in there for a year, while out here only a day had passed. I was training with father."

"Oh," she said as if that were a normal thing to happen, "wait so, you spent a whole year alone with Vegeta? Wait, why didn't your hair grow Vegeta?"

"Not that it's any of your business, A pure Sayain's hair does not change from the moment they are born."

"Oh, heh, guess that makes sense," Goku grinned.

"Uh, either you're lying and there are some exceptions or Raditz must have had a real rough time doing anything until he was like, twelve at least," I interrupted, because Raditz's hair was just so long that that entire concept just didn't make sense. Obviously, Vegeta's and Goku's hair didn't grow. That'd be really easy to notice. but it can't be a constant trait. Literally only because of Raditz.

Vegeta was squinting as if he was also first thinking about it. Which, he knew Raditz when they were younger, so either he never noticed, or never thought about it before.

"Is that a blood stain?" Trunks suddenly asked, pointing to where uh, -she- was originally laying.

"The triclops was half dead when he got back here. A Senzu Bean is the only reason he's walking."

Before anyone else could respond Raditz was walking up with an explanation. Hands in his pockets and not making eye contact with anybody.

With the exception of him side-eyeing Tien, as if daring him to contradict what he said.

Tien said nothing.

…

Anyway-

"Hey Radish does your hair grow?"

Raditz blinked, "uh, yeah. Why?" He glanced at his absurdly long hair as if that was obvious.

I looked up at Vegeta, who now had that angry frustrated look he did.

"Uh, so, is there a reason you came all the way up here mom?" Trunks refocused the conversation.

"Oh yeah! I figured the fight with Cell's gonna be tough, so I made you guys some new combat suits."

She opened a capsule to reveal a sectioned-off box.

"There are multiples in several sizes so you should all be good."

Vegeta immediately grabbed his, with Goku and Trunks following.

No one else moved towards it.

"This is the best thing you've ever created," Vegeta said.

Trunks frowned.

"What about the rest of you? I made enough for everyone."

"I am a Namek. Not a Sayain. I refuse to dress like one." Piccolo glared at the box.

"I refuse to dress anything like Vegeta. Not after all he's done," Tien agreed.

"…I'd rather not," I muttered, still remembering how uncomfortable the outfit was on Namek.

Surprisingly, it was Piccolo who disagreed, "you're going to be in the time chamber for a while. It might be best for you to have some sturdier clothes."

"Please, there's hardly a point. I doubt the child could last ten minutes let alone an entire year in there. Especially considering that Cell won't be a problem until now I get to him." Vegeta said.

Ah yes. The ultimate motivator. Aside from the already present absolute fear of Cell, now I can add spite.

I grabbed an outfit in my size but didn't put it on. One, because there was no way I was changing out in the open, and two, there was no way I'd wear it more than absolutely necessary.

Vegeta denied the offer of Instant transmission-ing to Cell and took off. Trunks followed after him, Goku handing him a couple of Senzu Beans for the fight.

"Well Gohan, it's about time for us to start our training," Goku said.

I looked back at the building. Despite the spite and the fear I still wasn't looking forward to it. Training with only Goku was one thing, but adding a room of existential dread? Does not sound ideal.

Still, I nodded. I didn't have a choice in the matter, not really.

Gohan was the one who was supposed to beat Cell after all.

I still had no idea how I'd get strong enough to do it.

Sure, maybe my jab was enough for Vegeta to actually just kill Cell, but I doubted it. It was Vegeta. Ego rules all and whatnot.

I just needed to be as strong as canon Gohan was once he got out of the chamber. I don't necessarily need Super Sayain 2. I should be able to pull it off as long as Goku doesn't give Cell a Senzu. It'll be fine.

I just need to get as strong as Gohan coming out of the chamber.

That's all.

I can,

Probably do that.

It'll be fine.

We departed and Piccolo gave me an extra normal Gi. Which is great. Less time I'd have to wear the Sayain outfit.

Wait. Oh no. My backpack was still at Roshi's. My sketchbooks. I'd have absolutely nothing else to do for an entire year.

This is gonna suck.

Every second out here was wasted, however, so there was no point in delaying the inevitable and we headed for the door.

Mr. Popo opened the door and light shone from within.

Going in was almost painfully bright, helped absolutely none by the white walls and floors.

That was nothing on walking to the edge and seeing nothing but an empty white void as far as I could see in every direction.

"It's everything that's terrible about space but worse."

At least space didn't want to blind me. Granted I could actually breathe in here, but that didn't help when the air was so hard to breathe. And this was still the living area, did it get worse out there? Or was it just constant?

It was hot, and it felt like everything was pressing in on me tenfold.

"I don't want you wandering off out there Gohan. You could get lost pretty easily if you're not careful."

Wordlessly I shook my head. He'd be lucky if I went out far with him at this point, let alone without.

…

Piccolo -

Piccolo observed the scene he was left with.

Vegeta was off to fight Cell. Gohan was in the time chamber with Goku. And Raditz had stalked back into the temple. Presumably back to where Shaylan's corpse was being kept.

Piccolo didn't know why Gohan wanted to keep the name Gohan, while Shaylan went back to her old name. And he didn't really care.

His name was taken from his father without much care, and he's put no real effort into finding the name he would have held if Kami and his father never separated. As far as he was concerned, it was just easiest to keep Piccolo, so why bother changing it?

He imagined Gohan felt the same.

He wasn't worried about Gohan in the time chamber. He did trust Goku not to screw things up too badly. He was, concerned, that Gohan might not be in the most productive state of mind. But he was sure it would pass.

The most pressing matter at the moment was Vegeta's coming fight with Cell. Gohan seemed confident that he was physically capable of beating Cell, and she tended to have an odd intuition about these things. Piccolo suspected there might be more to it, but she's already shared a lot with him and she wasn't obligated to share anything.

Still, even though the coming fight was the most important thing at the moment, Raditz's leaving nagged at the back of his mind. The man was upset. And though he seemed determined to keep things to himself, for now, Piccolo had no way to know whether that would last.

There was likely still time before the fight started. He would keep an eye out and return the instant it did.

He found the man pacing in the room adjacent to, Shaylan's.

The man didn't even acknowledge his presence, which was odd since even after three years he still avoided Piccolo's presence.

It didn't bother him. Piccolo was used to people being afraid of him, and unlike most, Raditz had a decent excuse for it.

At this point, the sudden apathy was more unnerving.

Though obviously, it'd be up to him to break the silence.

"And what, exactly, is this accomplishing?" He asked the still pacing man.

Still, Raditz didn't do much more than scowl.

"You are helping no one by doing nothing but pace around like a caged animal."

"You- you, would not be so apathetic if you knew-" Raditz cut himself off, glaring with a snarl before turning away again.

And on one hand, that was confirmation that Raditz wouldn't go telling people. But it was also a rather close cut-off.

"If I knew that was Gohan?" He decided to finish the sentence.

The Sayain froze in his tracks, turning to face him in a wide-eyed, somewhere between surprise and anger.

As if to curse his luck, that was the moment Vegeta got to Cell, and he had to return to the edge in order to properly watch the fight.

"As I said. You are doing nothing to help anyone pacing around in a rage."

He turned to leave.

"And you might want to consider showing this amount of care to the Gohan you've actually known for the past four years," he decided on being his closing statement.

…

We got situated and I had placed my limited stuff on my bed, tempted to immediately just curl up and sleep but I refrained.

No time to waste. We only had a year. A year to get strong enough.

"Well, first thing's first. We got to get you to Super Sayain," Goku said as if it was a casual thing. Like no problem, just gotta achieve a legend real quick, "you almost had it when you were against Cell, but you nearly collapsed from that, so we'll have to pay attention to your energy."

I blinked, "huh?"

"Hm? You didn't notice? Well, I guess you didn't actually transform, but I think that might have just been because your energy was so unfocused. You'll have it down in no time, I'm sure!"

…

Krillin -

Krillin stared down at the remote the entire time he flew.

Why did he have to be the one with it? Why was he the one who went off to collect it? Even Chiaotzu would have been a better choice. Chiaotzu would be able to push the button.

Why did he have to read those stupid blueprints?

He tried to ignore it. He tried to pretend like he just read it wrong and they were just based on real people.

But he knew that wasn't the case.

So he stared at the remote.

The remote that would kill them with a touch of a button.

One of them, he reminded himself, Cell had already gotten the other one.

He didn't know which one.

He didn't know which one would be worse.

It'd be so easy, once he found them.

Just, push the button. And done. No more Android.

Well, he'd still physically have to blow them up but, by then it'd be way more simple.

Right?

Just gotta, push the button.

One push, and they're gone.

How could it be that easy? That's too easy.

Of course, he'd have to find the Androids first. The only place he could even think to start was around where Vegeta and Cell were fighting. Which was terrifying.

But he didn't have to fight Cell.

He just had to push a button.

That's all.

Just one button.

To get rid of a person.

To kill a person.

That's all.

With resignation and dread, he went to the island where Cell was fighting.

But there was no way the Androids would be there. There's no way they would risk staying so close.

But he had no idea where else to look.

But that was good.

If he couldn't find the Androids then neither could Cell.

That was good.

As long as Cell couldn't find them it'd be fine.

So why could he so easily see 16's bright green vest hiding behind some rocks?

Maybe, maybe they had separated. Maybe 16 stayed behind so that the other could get away. Just because he was here didn't mean the other was too.

He, still had to check it out though.

He floated down to the island, making sure he was under the cover of rocks and trees before getting any closer.

His stomach sunk when he saw a second figure being held in place by 16.

His heart went along with it when the figure had dark hair and not blonde.

He shook his head.

No. No that, that was probably better.

There was no way he could have pushed the button if it was her.

At least, and least this way, he could actually push the button.

To kill him.

To kill a person.

Who hasn't actually done anything wrong. Not really.

Who had years of his life stolen from some mad scientist and now has to be killed days after escaping so that some monster doesn't destroy everything and-

He just has to push the button.

That's all.

And he could have!

He could have pushed the button.

If it would have worked from that distance.

But he had to get within 10 meters for it to work.

So he had to get closer.

And that meant he had to actually be able to hear what he was saying.

"Let go of me Sixteen!" Android 17 was saying because 16 was quite literally holding him in place by the wrist.

Which seemed surreal, because Krillin had assumed that 17 was the strongest of the three of them.

But now that he was closer, he could tell why they were still here. With Android 16 being so heavily damaged it was probably difficult to get far. Especially without being seen.

Underwater was probably impossible due to the damage.

"He- it took her! It used her voice! I have to-"

"You are not strong enough to do anything. Neither of us are," Android 16 stated, and something fell in 17's face.

16 must have noticed too because the next time 17- Seventeen tried to break his wrist free, 16 let him.

Seventeen kicked a rock out of frustration, shattering it effortlessly, but didn't do anything else to leave. He just started pacing around. As if to think of something else to do.

He looked so- he didn't look like a child, but he looked so young, and upset. And so so human.

Just, just have to push the button.

That's all.

Why was this so difficult? It was just pushing one stupid button!

That's all he had to do!

So why couldn't he?

Damn it! This wasn't fair! He couldn't even kill Nappa back when this all started! He couldn't even kill Vegeta!

But now he had to kill some kid who was barely an adult? Who never got to live his own life?

But he had to. He had to, to save the world. He had to kill someone to save the world.

He had to kill an innocent person.

To save the world.

How? How could he make that decision? What right did he have? That wasn't, that wasn't fair.

He couldn't-

He couldn't make that decision.

Not him.

They should have sent someone else to do this because he couldn't.

And he didn't.

He stepped out into the open so that 16 and Seventeen could see him.

They noticed him and Seventeen's eyes instantly locked on the remote in his hands. It didn't really look like Gero's, but it probably didn't take a genius to figure out what it was for.

Seventeen's hands twitched and for a second Krillin worried that he might end up like Gero if he held onto the remote for too long.

So, he didn't.

He dropped it to the ground.

Seventeen's eyes followed it as it fell.

And continued to do so as Krillin kicked it over so it landed at his feet.

Krillin had no right to make any decisions over someone else's life.

Nobody moved for a moment. Then slowly, Seventeen picked up the remote.

Seventeen frowned as he looked up at Krillin and then back at the remote.

"It'd probably be pretty bad for the world if that thing managed to get to me like it did my sister."

Seventeen glanced back up to Krillin. He looked over to 16, and the squirrel the other Android had on his shoulders, and then back to the remote.

"But, unfortunately, I can't quite care about a world that I do not exist in."

Krillin flinched as the remote was reduced to scrap in Seventeen's hands.

"But yeah. You probably should have pushed that button."

…

It took a frustratingly long time to get a hold of the Super Sayain. I ended up mostly focusing on my frustration over, everything, as the emotional trigger, but it's kinda hard when you're trying to be upset.

That didn't make it impossible. Just really difficult. After a few times though, it was easier to zero in on the feeling and activate it more on command.

To make a really complicated process sound simple, once I'd gotten used to the feeling of Super, the trigger became less of an emotional one, and more of me zeroing in on the back of my neck that sparked and nearly burned upon transforming.

It took a lot of work to get to that point. But I got there.

Being a Super Sayain was, exhilarating. I felt stronger. I felt like I could win. I felt like nothing could stand in my way.

A couple of spars with Goku knocked me back down to the appropriate peg.

It also heightened emotions. Namely the negative ones. All my frustrations over Cell, everything that's happened, even being reborn into this world at all bubbled up and I had to actively keep that in check.

It faded with time and practice, but never quite gone.

Usually, my tail would stay brown, unless I was actively using more energy than standard. If I were to push Super Sayain up to what was currently my height, it'd turn just as gold as my hair. Otherwise, just a normal tail.

Once I had gotten Super, training was great. I actively felt myself getting stronger as the days passed.

Until I wasn't.

At some point, I started to plateau. I was getting stronger, technically, but not at any significant rate. Not at any rate that would have me be ready in time.

But that's- that'll pass. Eventually, I'll start making progress again. I just had to, keep working at it.

And working at it.

And working at it.

Eventually, I'll start making the proper progress again.

Goku paused mid-spar.

"Hey! I think you're about overdue for a haircut. I can barely see you under there! Let's take a break and see what I can do."

I blinked, dropping from my stance.

While granted my hair was certainly getting long even for my tastes, I wasn't Raditz after all. Further than waist-length hair was a bit excessive.

But I also, really don't want my hair short. For obvious reasons I think. And I don't know how I feel about giving Goku that creative freedom.

Besides, that'd take time away from training.

So instead I walked back over to the living area and sliced through my own hair with my sword, leaving it back to just below my shoulders, bordering on mid-back in some areas.

It wasn't totally even, but whatever.

"Better?" I asked.

"Uh…yeah…?"

"Great."

I walked back over to train.

"Hey Gohan-"

I turned Super.

"Gohan?"

I fell back into training. Goku hadn't regained his soaring stance yet but that didn't mean I didn't have to practice. There was only so much time. Only so much time until the year was up.

Goku placed a hand on my shoulder, "son-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

My voice caught in my throat. For a moment all I could do was stare forward as Goku's hand startled back.

"O..Kay? I won't…hey, I think we should take a break. It's been a long day you know. You can't do much if you wear yourself too thin."

Which sounded ridiculous to me because when didn't Goku train? Half the time when I woke up in here Goku was already up and training.

But at that point. All I could do was nod. As long as he didn't question-

"Uh so, why don't you want me calling you son?"

"It's nothing. It's stupid. Just forget it."

"I don't really think it can be nothing if you yelled like that. And I'm sure it's not stupid."

"I don't- want to talk about it. It's nothing. Like I said."

"…ok…I still won't though. Call you that. Ok?"

Wordlessly I nodded. I felt frustrated, and embarrassed, by the whole situation.

"So! We'll take the rest of today and tomorrow to just-"

"What? Tomorrow? But- we can't, I have to-"

"Gohan, you're working really hard. I'm proud of you, but you need a break too you know. Can't get much stronger if you don't give your muscles time to heal. Besides, I could take a day off myself. Maybe even two-"

"What? No! We can't- I have to-"

"You have to?" Goku frowned. He looked back at me, and while I wasn't normally good at reading Goku, I truly could not tell what he was thinking.

"Gohan, you, don't have to fight Cell you know."

I froze.

"What?"

"I mean, you can if you want, but, I don't expect you to. We're here to get stronger, that's all, ok?"

And I could only stare at him, wide-eyed.

Because that should have been a good thing.

It should have been a good thing that Goku wasn't pushing me towards a fight because that was always one of the more annoying things about the Cell saga.

Except I had to fight Cell.

Gohan had to fight Cell.

That's how it always went.

And Goku always believed that Gohan could.

But now Goku didn't even believe in me.

I really must have failed.

…

Krillin -

Krillin looked down at Trunks.

The kid was still alive at least, so, it could have gone worse.

Trunks was doing fine. His newer form was a bit slow but he seemed to account for that.

But then Cell mentioned having killed Shaylan and, Trunks just snapped.

It was his fault in the end anyway. He never should have let go of that remote. Cell got to Seventeen anyway so what was even the point?

Oh goodie, he didn't kill one person and now he has the blood of the rest of the world on his hands. And one even more traumatized teenager.

Well, he could help with one of those problems at least.

He gave Trunks a Senzu Bean and prepared to deal with the fallout.

…

Nappa -

Nappa had tried to keep his kid calm. Sure, he felt the woman's energy fade, but there could be several explanations for that. Like Kakarot teleporting away. Or her just being injured or unconscious to the point that she couldn't really be sensed. Nappa still wasn't great at sensing when people got that low so, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable conclusion.

It didn't make Clover less concerned, but it did make it so he didn't have to worry about her bolting the second he took his eyes off her.

It's not that he didn't want to go help, but he had a kid to watch! Besides, he was self-aware enough that if the Namek couldn't do much with his power boost, Nappa's addition wouldn't do much more than take up a second or two.

And neither could his kid. He was super proud of her! A Super Sayain even! But she was when they all were beat by the Androids too. And they weren't strong enough to go against Cell. So she couldn't do much either.

He was a bit concerned that Raditz hadn't gotten back, but his energy was just fine when it blipped away so that was definitely Kakarot's teleporting thing.

Nappa had all but convinced himself that the woman would turn up fine, for the sake of his kid at least, that when Krillin and the Future Prince turned up and confirmed that she was dead, Nappa had to pause.

But obviously, his daughter was far more upset by the news. And he might not know how to be a father, and he might not know how to deal with a lot of the emotional stuff.

But consoling a grieving kid?

Yeah, he could deal with that.

…

Goku hadn't even wanted the full year.

He ended up wanting to leave two weeks early. I stalled a couple more days but-

Yeah. We left early.

I mean. I got stronger. Even after, that. But, it wasn't enough.

Like I remembered from canon, Goku had eventually suggested we try and stay Super Sayains as long as possible, and it was probably the best training, to have it as a default. But as we left, I didn't really see the point.

I still wasn't strong enough. Not even close. Maybe Goku was? He trained a lot. He'd just, have to be.

I still kept up the Super Sayain thing for show. The emotional state of it was lessened with practice. After a certain point, I could get back to a mostly normal mental state, assuming we weren't sparring or I got upset.

Upon stepping out of the time chamber, it was immediately clear something was wrong.

"What happened?" I asked before any small talk could commence.

And it was confirmed that Cell reached his perfect form.

I nodded, gaze leveling on Vegeta.

"Congratulations stupid."

And then I turned and left.

I walked to the edge of the lookout and off. I let myself fall for probably longer than necessary before flying.

I didn't have a destination in mind. Just, away.

…

I'd landed in a forest, settling on a rocky edge of a river.

I tried to control my breathing as I furiously paced.

My Ki flickered wildly, half my focus was on keeping up Super, and the other half was on not blowing a crater into the rocks.

That was probably why I didn't notice his approach until Piccolo was landing behind me.

"It doesn't matter you know. Nothing. Nothing I've done matters. What was the point? Of any of it? We still ended up here. With stupid Perfect Cell."

I didn't stop pacing as I spoke. Rocks cracked under my feet and I once again focused on reeling back my Ki.

"That has nothing to do with you Gohan."

"No? No? I should have, I should have done something. Literally anything to derail things. If I had done something different, I'd I didn't just freeze up maybe-"

"You couldn't have known this would happen."

"You would think that huh? But no, no no I should have thought of something-"

"Gohan."

"I had so much time. Why didn't I think of something else to do? I was so worried about what would happen if he did get to Perfect that I never thought about how to stop it. How stupid is that?"

"Gohan-"

"Now it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I think of something I could have done. It's too late. Why didn't I stop and plan for it before? Three years. I had three years and the best I could come up with was maybe something would turn up? What's wrong with-"

"GOHAN!" Piccolo grabbed my shoulder, turning me to I was facing him. I blinked, finally noticing the frustrated tears in my eyes, "What are you talking about?"

I blinked, breathing hard. I backed away, holding my palms over my eyes as I shook my head.

I collapsed into a sitting position on the ground, my hair fading back to black.

"I don't- I don't know-" I cut myself off, taking a breath, "I don't know how- I have to find the right way to- well, no there is no right way to explain it but-"

Piccolo sat beside me, glancing down at me before staring into the river, "there are not many things you could say that would change my opinion of you."

"I'm not- I'm not worried about that. Not really. It's- I don't know. I- I just don't know how-"

"Is it something dangerous?"

"No? I mean, not really? If I screw up badly enough it could be, I guess, but like, it by itself isn't."

"If it isn't dangerous, then you don't have to explain if you do not want to."

And I frowned. Because, it wasn't that. At this point, this might just be the only time I could explain. I'm certainly never gonna bring it up again if it gets dropped.

I shook my head.

"…ok so, hypothetically. What if, what if you knew some things that were going to happen. But a very specific version of things. And if you changed stuff, then things might not go the way they were supposed to. And what if you knew, that in the end that if things went the way they were supposed to, things would turn out alright. But, like, you knew you weren't strong enough for that to work."

Piccolo didn't answer for a moment, before nodding.

"I think that, that would be a very difficult situation. Hypothetically. I also think that that would explain why you were so nonchalant around the Androids."

Neither of us spoke for a few moments.

"When you say knowing things that were going to happen, for how long do you mean?"

I fiddled with a staid I found on the ground, "from the beginning? Kinda I mean, some things have changed. Raditz wasn't supposed to come back. Vegeta was supposed to kill Nappa the first time they showed up. Kinda saved him on accident. Uh, I'm pretty sure Ocari was supposed to just go back to Namek because I had no idea who he was before I met him. So, Gohan wasn't supposed to meet him I guess. And it isn't perfect, I've forgotten a lot, and sometimes things just happen that I just, don't know. It's...a thing. I guess."

"And when you say Gohan, you mean…"

"G-Gohan," I pointed at myself, "the Gohan who was supposed to, be. I- I took his place. And I don't know why, or how."

Piccolo nodded, and there were a few more moments of silence.

"Is that why you had befriended me? Because you already knew how I'd turn out?"

"Uh, well. I can't say we wouldn't have become friends. I mean, I can't imagine only having one person to talk with for a year and not becoming a little close. But, knowing definitely helped, I guess, technically.

The twig broke in my hands. I reached around to find another one.

"Yeah it, definitely helped. Because despite having wanted to kill his father you had ended up befriending this sweet, kind little boy. One who was practically scared of his own shadow before anything started and grew to be brave, and just wanted to protect the people he cared about, and wanted to be a nerd. Who liked animals and didn't really like fighting but would anyway, and was the strongest for, for years after Cell. And I can't do that. I can't do any of that. I'm not strong enough. And I can't be as smart as him. And I can't be as kind as him. I- I just can't."

"…we'll, I don't know all the context. But I do know that you still took the time to be friends with me. And, you've saved a couple of lives, in the changes you've made. Neither of which deserved it. That's fairly kind. That Clover girl wouldn't have been born otherwise I assume."

"No, I was, really confused the first time I saw her."

"Right. Look, Gohan. No one expects you to fight Cell. I'm sure Goku will manage it just fine."

"But he's not supposed to. He s supposed to fight first and then after Gohan is supposed to-"

"Gohan, I don't know what was supposed to happen, in what you know. But Goku has faced worse odds in the past. I'm sure he'll get us through this all the same."

I wasn't convinced, but I didn't really have any other arguments either.

I was just, tired.

Uh, fun fact, in the Broly movie flashback thing, Raditz's hair is significantly shorter. Which was honestly kinda disappointing because the image of baby Radish just crawling along with four feet of hair trailing behind him is really funny