Author's Note: Going back to basics for a bit while I wrap up this final semester before I am completely free from academia for the rest of my life (other than basic continuing education stuff for being a history teacher). I've been working for…well honestly at this point over a decade on what sorts of story beats and arcs and growth would do Gohan justice as a character while still allowing him to hold onto his gentler side. So often the end point for a lot of non-romance genre stories with Gohan as a focus treats his fight with Cell as his peak. As the goal to be chased. That's not what I find so commendable about Gohan. Gohan is at his best when he is fighting out of fear for other people (not himself), when he is fighting because no one else can in that moment. We see frustrating and undeveloped or abandoned aspects of this during the High School, Buu, and Superhero movie character beats. So my goal here is to develop that position and then…push that Gohan. And we'll see where he ends up.
Chapter 1: Reflection
"The Cold Empire does not die with us," The horned figure of King Cold stated as he stared up, one armed, defiantly at Son Goku, blazing Super Saiyan aura active as he charged up a final blast.
"Those who remain will come for your blood eventually, even if just to say they defeated my killer for their own ends."
"Then I will just keep getting stronger. Until you stop coming for my friends, family, and home."
Gohan, slightly bruised and battered in the distance from a fight against Frieza just before his father appeared with some strange new teleportation technique, shuddered. There was something extremely serious and arrogant about his father in this form. Something he'd rarely seen from his typically happy-go-lucky parent.
A final burst of blue ki shot out of Goku's hand, erasing the head of King Cold from existence. Goku was comfortable giving second chances, but not thirds. The Cold Empire had taken their second chance and used it to come attack his home.
Frieza was similarly headless off in the distance, although admittedly the triple team of Vegeta, Piccolo, and Gohan had not initially needed Goku's aid until King Cold had stepped in to even the odds slightly. Without Super Saiyan they had not been able to handle both tyrants, Vegeta lay unconscious off in the distance as testament to that, Bulma attempting to wake him without a Senzu Bean now that the battle was finished.
Tien Shinhan, Yamcha, and Krillin were themselves resting nearby, having taken on the majority of the rank and file soldiers as the larger fight occurred.
Powering down to his base form, Goku staggered slightly, and his son ran over to check on him.
"Daddy!" Gohan cried, "Are you alright? I…I am so glad you came back. I did my best but…I was so scared to fight Frieza again." The seven year old boy sniffled slightly.
In his strange looking clothes Goku kneeled down to hug his son, burying the boy's head into the scarf-like collar.
"I'm sorry, Gohan. You never should have had to do any of this. This was my fight, they came looking for me. I just wasn't close enough for the Instant Transmission when they first landed." He was still getting used to the new technique, and currently teleporting across star systems was difficult. Though he could tell that once he got a hang of it there would be no issue.
Goku remembered as a boy always loving a good fight, but those were not the kind of fights Gohan was having. Goku got to fight in tournaments, spar and train without his life being on the line, and so many other more fair and casual fights. Even those happened at twice Gohan's age as well. He truly regretted Gohan losing his childhood to Raditz and all that came after. He simply didn't understand how to say that out loud. So he just told Gohan he was sorry and gave him that hug.
The dam burst inside Gohan's little heart, his crying moved on to full sobbing as he clutched to his father's chest.
"I'm here now, Gohan. I will always do my best to be here for you. I'm so sorry I haven't always." Goku had lost his family so young he had trouble putting himself in Gohan's shoes. But he knew how devastating that first few months after losing Grandpa Gohan had been for him. He'd felt lost and confused, and there'd been a few dinosaur attacks that he hadn't known he was strong enough to handle. He had been, but he remembered a fear and uncertainty that he didn't feel after he met Bulma and started the journey for the Dragon Balls.
"D-Daddy?" Gohan's quivering voice came up from the embrace and Goku looked down at the top of his son's head.
"Yeah?"
"W-what do you think he meant? About other people coming to kill you?"
"Oh…uh…"
"Damnit, Kakarot!" A voice echoed out, Vegeta had awoken, "You stole my vengeance from me again!"
"Let's ask the expert I guess?" He picked Gohan up easily with one arm and strode over to the disoriented but still cursing Prince of Saiyans.
"The big one…Frieza's father, said something about the empire not dying? What did he mean?" Goku honestly felt clueless. Yes, Frieza always had a bunch of soldiers but the whole 'Empire' business felt weird to him. He'd never seen them with anything more concrete than a few ships, at least the Red Ribbon Army had had bases he had been able to stumble onto and fight.
"Che…" Vegeta spat a bit of blood out and onto the ground, "He probably meant his oldest son and disappointment, Cooler. Not as strong as Frieza, which is why Cold favored the younger, but far more cunning and ambitious. He rules over the Cooler Force. Calling the holdings of the Frieza Force an empire is…egotistical. King Cold and later Frieza forced most of the known universe into paying tribute, but with their deaths and defeats Cooler likely won't even hold onto the fraction that he currently controls of that."
"So we won't see a bigger army than this show up?" Goku asked, blinking, he didn't really know what tribute was but he was pretty sure it had something to do with gifting food to strong people. Maybe.
"Hardly, it'll be more likely Cooler and then his direct subordinates. A group similar but weaker than the Ginyu Force."
Goku frowned, "Well…okay, I guess we don't have to train too much then." His frown brightened back up into a smile, "Oh! You know what if we got you to being a Super Saiyan you could take out Cooler then you would be a better sparring partner!"
Vegeta's right eye twitched, "And why do you think I need YOUR help to become a Super Saiyan, Kakarot?"
The Earth-raised saiyan blinked, "Because I'm the only one that's done it? And I think I'm getting a hang of it so I might be able to teach you. Oh! And Gohan when he's old enough!"
"The brat? He's scared of his own shadow!"
"Gohan has been fighting enemies way stronger than him and not backing down!" Goku sharply retorted, he might be a relaxed guy, but he wasn't going to let Vegeta discount Gohan's achievements. He'd fought foes far greater than Raditz, who had killed Goku in the past, and at a far younger age than Goku had even defeated King Piccolo.
"Bah…" Vegeta grumbled, "But you are somewhat…correct. Training against strong opponents would be the best way to prepare for Cooler, I would not put it past him to consolidate his power and recruit some of Frieza's remaining stronger subordinates. On par with some of the lesser Ginyu Force members like Jeice and Burter."
"The…speed guys that were actually kinda slow?"
"No you idiot, the speed guys that were extremely fast for their power levels that you somehow blew past with your boost from almost dying and then training on the way to Namek!"
"Huh…weird."
Gohan started laughing at his father's blank expression, "I missed you, Daddy."
"Uh…I missed you, too?" Goku wasn't sure what had prompted that from Gohan but he knew the proper response at least. Early on in their marriage Chi-Chi had drilled into him that even if he'd only been out hunting for an hour the correct answer to someone you care about saying they miss you is to respond in kind, not to say, "I wasn't gone that long!".
"We'll need everyone to train." Goku stated after a few moments, "This Cooler guy sounds like he might not come with just one space ship of guys. It might be more like Namek, and as much as I am excited to fight another guy around Frieza's level, we can't let a bunch of his soldiers tear up our home!"
"I suppose the Namekian should join us, though the…humans," It sounded almost as if Vegeta had been planning to say something else, "Should prepare together for taking out the trash while we focus on the real fighters."
Nodding along with Vegeta's reasoning Goku squeezed his son tightly in his arms, "This…look Vegeta I am tired and I haven't seen my family in a year. We can do this tomorrow. Go…get a new shirt somewhere and we will meet up for training soon."
With that Goku lifted up off the ground with his ki and began flying his son home. To see his wife. Who was probably really really angry at him. Or worried. Or both.
The Prince of All (three) Saiyans looked down at his chest, where a single pink scrap of his former attire hung like a sash. He could definitely go for a wardrobe update, he begrudgingly admitted in his own mind.
And maybe one of those healing beans.
"WOMAN!" He called out, "ARE THERE ANY BEANS LEFT?"
"NOT WITH THAT TONE, MISTER!"
And so the protectors of Earth limped home only to have to anticipate yet another threat to come chasing after their home.
A less gracious individual than those who had bonds of friendship and battle with Goku might have seen all these conflicts as stemming back from Goku's initial arrival on Earth as an infant. Yet, the thought never crossed their minds. Goku was the best and strongest of them, and he had protected the Earth before and would again.
However, as they protectors of Earth disbanded to recover, unbeknownst to them, a new king was on his way to being crowned. Mark "Hercule" Satan was making his way through the WWO, World Wrestling Organization, and their minor tournaments. High on his own success, he began to lobby for the World Martial Arts Tournament to return.
But the former champions of the tournament were too preoccupied with thoughts of more invaders from space to notice.
"None of us mastered King Kai's training…" Krillin bemoaned to the other Earthling fighters, as they gathered at Master Roshi's island the following day.
"Goku truly is a prodigy to have learned the Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb so quickly," Tien Shinhan begrudgingly admitted.
"I'm not sure any of us could handle the strain of the Kaioken the way Goku can anyways," Yamcha sourly added.
"Well no, none of us are going to do his crazy times ten version," The bald former monk said, "But I think we could handle the normal version if we could master it!"
"So what? We continue with the exercises from King Kai? Or do we interrupt Goku's training to get him to continue teaching us?"
"Mister Kami might be able to help guide us in refining our technique and in practice even though he does not know the full technique himself," Chaotzu timidly interjected.
"That's an idea…we can definitely try! Plus the Lookout is a pretty solid location to train."
"Geez…more aliens. I miss when we were just fighting people with guns and a few clumsy robots."
"Yamcha, you hated fighting the robots."
"I mean yeah, but it sure does beat crazy aliens that can blow up entire planets!"