A/N This is the first Monday upload, every other chapter has been prewritten and posted the same day as AO3. Anyways, please see AO3 publishing for full Author's Note. Happy reading :)

Early Wednesday morning, Gohan rubbed his eyes to help wake himself up. He slept well throughout the night; but he was excited for training, so he woke up earlier than he expected. Even Dende was still asleep, wrapped around him sleeping soundly. Gohan began slipping away from his hold, and Dende whined when he felt Gohan pull away from him.

Dende sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Where are you going?" He asked sleepily.

Gohan leaned down to the bed to speak quietly with Dende. "I'm training with Mr. Piccolo today."

Dende hummed quietly as he felt his eyes start to close. "It's so early, can't you sleep an extra hour?" He was getting a good rest, and Gohan moving woke him up. Dende was a morning person but only when he woke himself up. Waking up when he didn't want to just made him cranky.

Gohan smiled slightly. "Sorry if I woke you, but I have to get dressed and warm up before I start training. I have a feeling Mr. Piccolo won't be easy on me." He pulled the covers over his friend. "Try and get more rest, I'll see you later today."

"Okay." He muttered before turning over. "Good luck training."

With that Gohan went to shuffle through his suitcase and slipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Dende sighed as he rolled over to look up at the ceiling. He was still tired, but he felt awake for the day. He'd never be able to go back asleep in this state, it was frustrating. He pulled the covers off of him and crossed the room to Cargo's bed. "Cargo, scoot over." He whispered, pushing his brother over.

Cargo groaned in protest before moving over in this bed for Dende to lay down with him.

Dende slid into the bed behind him and pulled the covers up to continue his peaceful sleep.

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Later on in the morning, Dende woke up again more refreshed than earlier. He glanced over, finding Cargo hunched over his desk drawing in his sketch pad. "Good morning." He greeted his younger brother.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Cargo replied, not looking away from his sketch.

"I slept fine. How did you sleep?"

"I slept okay. I had a lot of dreams last night."

"About the green planet with three suns?"

Cargo shook his head. "No, somewhere else. It was like a greenhouse in the shape of a dome." He said and handed Dende his book to show him.

Dende studied the sketch. "This is the garden from Capsule Corporation."

Cargo blinked in surprise. "Capsule Corporation? You've been there?"

"Gohan's family is friends with the owner. We visited a few days ago." He explained looking over the sketch again. Strange that Cargo was having dreams about the place he just recently visited. Perhaps Cargo had the same familiar feeling as him. "It's beautiful in person." He commented, handing the book back over to his brother.

"It was beautiful in my dream too, that's why I had to sketch it. Weird that I dreamt about a place that I've never been to, but you've been to."

Dende sat up in bed. "Dreams are weird like that. What was weird about being there was that it felt familiar, nostalgic in a way."

"Like it was home?"

Dende looked over at his brother. "Exactly like home. Like a place we had forgotten about, or didn't stay long at."

Cargo continued his sketching. "That is weird." He agreed. "Capsule Corporation sounds nice. It must be big if there's a garden this big inside it."

"It's huge. Bulma, one of the lead scientists, is incredibly smart. She was able to make a—" He stopped himself. As much as he wanted to tell his brother about his findings, he didn't want to be bombarded with questions that he didn't have an answer to.

"What did she make?"

Dende shook his head and pulled the covers off of him to get ready for the day. "Nothing, forget I mentioned it."

Cargo gave him a disapproving look. "Seriously Dende? When have you ever kept anything from me?"

Dende held his hand up in annoyance. "Don't make me feel bad about it, please. I'll tell you when I'm ready to talk about it."

"Have you told father? Or Mr. Popo?"

"No."

Cargo hummed in reply. If he wasn't the first to know about something, Dende always told Mr. Popo or their father. Whatever Dende was keeping to himself must have been serious. Naturally it made him concerned about his brother's wellbeing, but he knew Dende would only be more irritated if he pressed the issue. They could very well end up in a screaming match over it, and it was too early in the morning to cause such a commotion. Maybe he could read it in his journal when he wasn't around, it would certainly satisfy his curiosity.

"Are you just going to be sketching today? I was going to visit Korin for lunch if you wanted to come."

Cargo looked back at his brother. "Probably. I'd go if he was making frog legs, but I think he's making fish, so you can go without me."

Dende pushed the door open, smiling at the smell of fresh grilled fish. "Hi Korin. Hi Yajirobe." He greeted before closing the door behind him.

"Hey kid, you're just in time. We just finished lunch, made your favorite. Are you hungry?" Korin asked, coming from behind the kitchen counter.

Dende nodded as he made his way to the dining room table that Yajirobe was setting up.

"Where's your twin?" Yajirobe asked as he continued setting the table.

Dende sat down in his usual spot. "Cargo's busy."

"Your boyfriend busy too?"

Dende blushed at the question. "Gohan isn't my boyfriend."

"You sure? I mean the way you too argued yesterday kinda sounded like us." Korin said next climbing in a dining room chair.

Dende nodded. "I'm sure. Gohan is in a relationship. He has a girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Korin and Yajirobe both spoke in surprise before looking at each other. Yajirobe shrugged as Korin shook his head. "Kids these days. They're full of surprises." He said. "But no matter, I wanted to have some time with you alone to talk about what happened before your break."

"I heard you died."

Dende sighed at the brash comment. "Well I'm still alive Yajirobe, so obviously I'm hard to kill." He muttered.

Yajirobe shook his head as he began making his plate. "I knew college was crazy. That's why I never went."

Korin looked over at the swordsman. "You didn't go to college because you didn't finish highschool."

"Yeah, because it almost killed me."

Korin waved him off before turning his attention to Dende again. "From what I heard, a student lured you out alone and tried to sacrifice you, before ultimately sacrificing themselves. Not very normal student conflict. What exactly led up to that?"

Dende grabbed a small plate and the chili sauce to add to his plate. "It's a lot to explain. It started with me healing Angela, and she called me an Angel."

Korin looked uneasy. "You've been healing people in school?"

Dende had a culpable look on his face. Korin may not have been a guardian of his, but he was close like one. Their relationship was more honest than anything, and he appreciated his unbiased advice. While he was more spiritually vulnerable with Mr. Popo, he was emotionally vulnerable with Korin. "I've been healing my friends. People that wouldn't tell anyone else about my gift."

"Was Angela a friend of yours?"

Dende paused to answer. Out of all the people he's healed, Angela was the only one he had to warn not to tell anyone. They had classes together, they were in the same club, they had the same watering schedule, and they've even had their first, and now last, study session. But outside of that, it was rare for them to have conversations. He shook his head. "No, she was an acquaintance at best." He answered and used his chopsticks to grab a portion of the fried fish.

"Okay, so she wasn't a friend. I'm sure you've learned the difference between healing your friends versus healing acquaintances."

Dende nodded wordlessly as he dipped his portion of fish into the chili sauce. It was a harsh lesson to learn. "I didn't know she was struggling mentally…She alluded to discontinuing medication. She said that the voice of God was telling her that I was a witch, and for her to reach salvation, she had to sacrifice me." He looked away for a moment, trying not to cry as he restated his story. "She had me tied to a tree, and circled it with sulfur. She covered me in anointed lamp oil, she burned my book." Dende rubbed at his eyes. "I begged, pleaded, and prayed for my life. I wanted to help her, I wanted her to do the right thing, but nothing worked." He sniffled. "I wouldn't be alive if Gohan hadn't come to save me."

"What a hero." Korin commented. "It's nice you've got a friend like him to protect you like that."

"Even though he's got a girlfriend." Yajirobe muttered.

Korin slapped his arm with his paw, which made the swordsman yell in pain. "How has the recovery been from your experience?"

Dende grabbed his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his eyes. "It could be better." He admitted. "There are days where I feel like I'm starting to move on, and others where I feel like I could never be the same."

Korin shrugged. "Well things won't be the same. Things are never the same after grief and loss, but it doesn't mean it won't get better. It'll be different, but better."

Dende listened to his words as he grabbed a portion of rice with his chopsticks. Korin was right, things wouldn't be the same, but he was ready for things to be better. Grief was a draining experience, and left him feeling hopeless. As distracting as the break was, the moment he was alone with his thoughts he was back in the cycle of grief. He was still in disbelief that something like that could happen to him, angry with himself about how he handled the situation, and was starting to think that if he was successfully sacrificed, Angela would still be alive. "Everything feels so far away from me. My friends, my family, Kami. I've been hoping that the thread I've been hanging onto is at least the hem of His garment, but I'm not even sure anymore."

Korin continued eating his lunch. "I'm sure losing your Book of Kami has taken a toll on you, and I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you do realize that it's you moving away from everything? Not the other way around?"

Dende was trying not to take his advice the wrong way, but it just sounded too accusatory for him not to. "What do you mean?"

"If you find yourself far from Kami, you should know that He's not the one that moved. Saying that you feel far from Kami sounds like you blame him for what's happened to you. Do you feel like Kami has forsaken you?"

"No, of course not."

"Then why do you feel like he's far from you?"

Dende didn't have an answer. He felt far away because he didn't have his own Book of Kami. He felt far away because he hadn't recited his morning prayer anymore. He felt far away because he was starting to journal less. Dende's thoughts began to click together. All of these reasons for him feeling far away from Kami, were his own fault.

Was it the grief pulling him away from his faith, or his own volition?

Korin finished his plate of food before sitting back in his chair, patting his full, furry stomach. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, kid. Straying away from faith is common in grief, but your faith is your strongest asset. Some completely lose faith in the process of grief, but you shouldn't. Don't let distractions pull you away from your faith. Get back to reading the Book of Kami, and find your faith again. When you do, you'll realize how fast everything comes back to you."

Later in the evening, Dende returned to the temple. His lunch with Korin was insightful. It inspired him to write in his journal at least. He sat in the silent sanctuary writing in his journal. He wanted to take his advice in reading the Book of Kami again as well, but he still hadn't felt comfortable using another book. Dende still missed his book. He missed how the cover's edges were starting to curl in from age. He missed the colorful highlighted text. He missed the bookmarked tabs that stuck out from the side.

Thinking about his Book of Kami distracted him from hearing the pulpit door open.

Gohan dragged his tired body through the door. What a day. He knew that training with Piccolo would be rigorous, but this was maddening. His training left his body riddled with cuts and bruises, leaving him sore all over. Even his clothes were worn and torn, he couldn't possibly train in these rags tomorrow.

Despite his long day, Dende was a sight for sore eyes. It was comforting seeing his friend after a hard day of training. "I didn't expect to see you down here."

Dende looked up from his journal, stunned at his friend's state. Gohan's disheveled hair, flushed face, and tattered clothing were startling, yet oddly arousing. Dende shook away the enticing thoughts, watching Gohan sit on the pew next to him with an aching groan. "Are you okay?"

Gohan closed his eyes and leaned his head back towards the ceiling. "Dende, I am in no way, shape, or form of 'okay.'"

"Right, I shouldn't have asked." Dende closed his journal and put it to the side before reaching out to Gohan. "Here, let me help."

He gently pulled his reaching hands away. "It's okay. Mr. Piccolo wanted me to heal naturally during my training with him, so I can't let you help."

Dende frowned. "I'm sorry. Mr. Popo made you dinner. Hopefully that will help with your recovery."

"It should. I'm starving. I don't want you to worry about me, I'll be fine. A hot shower should help too. Or maybe an ice bath. Probably both."

Dende held back a laugh. "Well I'm glad you at least made it through the day. I know my Uncle's training isn't easy."

Gohan shook his head. "Definitely not easy, but I need it. My dad's training isn't bad, but I feel like he can be too easy on me. Mr. Piccolo really pushes me, and I think I need that a little more." He said and stood up with another exasperated groan. "I'm going to go eat and shower before I fall asleep on the pew. I'll see you for bed."

Before Gohan could go any farther, Dende called out to him. "Since I can't heal you, we probably shouldn't sleep together. I have a tendency to heal in my sleep, so I'll have to sleep with Cargo."

"Oh, I understand." Gohan spoke with a nod. The news was a little disappointing. After a long day he was looking forward to having a warm body wrapped around him. Besides, he had gotten used to sleeping with Dende. It was always peaceful and left him feeling very refreshed in the mornings. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, sleep well."

"You as well."

The next day, Dende was tending to his bonsai Ajisa tree that sat on the desk in his room. It was one of his most prized possessions. Ajisa trees were a very rare species of plant. So rare he felt like he was the only one on the planet with one. It was heartbreaking realizing that he couldn't take it to University with him. The climate in Central City was too dry, his tree would wither away in days sitting in his dorm room. He had no choice but to leave Cargo in charge of keeping it alive.

It was very risky. His brother could be very careless and forgetful when it came to things he cared about. However, he was very impressed with its state. It looked very healthy. The leaves were vibrant and smooth, and a few buds have sprouted to full flowers since he's been gone. He wanted to thank his brother while it was still on his mind to do so, so he went off to find him.

…

Dende found Cargo outside, laying down on the ground with his head poking just beyond the cliff's edge. "What are you doing?"

Cargo looked back. "I'm watching Gohan train with Uncle Piccolo."

Dende frowned in disapproval. "Cargo, he doesn't even let us watch when he's training alone. Give them some privacy before you get in trouble." He scolded.

Cargo shrugged as he went back to observing. "Suit yourself. Gohan is shirtless, so I thought you'd want to keep me company."

"Okay a few minutes of watching and then we should find something else to do."

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.

A few minutes turned into an hour. It was bad to watch, even worse that they were hiding on the cliff, but it was too mesmerizing to look away. This may be the only chance Dende had to observe Gohan's martial arts technique. Gohan seemed strategic in his fighting, and thought about his next move before executing it. However, his Uncle seemed to predict every move he made, but Gohan stayed resilient.

Piccolo didn't fail to be a strict teacher, they could hear him yelling instructions from their spot on the cliff. If Gohan failed to do a technique correctly, they would repeat the technique until it was perfected. Their training was consistent, no moments of rest in between. After a technique was perfected they would spar including the perfected technique.

"What are you two doing out here?"

Dende and Cargo looked back, finding their father standing behind them. The siblings glanced at each other trying to conjure up an answer.

"We were just getting some fresh air." Dende answered.

Cargo nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Who wants to stay inside when it's such a nice day today?"

Moori narrowed his eyes. "I think you've gotten enough fresh air for the day, both of your noses are blue from the cold. It's time to give Gohan his privacy and come inside."

Wordlessly, the two moved from their spot on the ground and followed their father inside.

"We're sorry for spying, father. We can go to Korin's to give Gohan privacy,"

Moori shook his head. "Too late for that. If you have nothing better to do than to spy, then you should fill your time studying."

Dende frowned while Cargo groaned in exasperation.

"But I'm on break from University, father. I was hoping it included a break from studying as well." Dende explained.

"And if Dende's on break I should be on break too, father." Cargo added.

"My words are final. If you didn't want to study then you should have found something more productive to do on your own. Study and summarize from the Book of Kami, you both need it."

"I don't have my Book of Kami anymore."

"You can share with Cargo. It'll be good for bonding."

Dende's frown turned into a look of disdain.

Cargo shook his head. "There he goes." He muttered.

"Father, sharing a book with Cargo sounds more like punishment than bonding."

"Excuse me—?"

"He only draws in it, he doesn't take care of it, and he's too distracting to work with. Can I please borrow your book instead?"

Cargo rolled his eyes. "You're so dramatic. Surely you should be mature enough by now to share a book with me."

Dende recoiled. "I should be mature enough? Do you even know where your Book of Kami is?

"It's sitting in the pew's cap rail, if you must know."

"Which proves you just use it for Sunday service and not throughout the week to study from."

Moori held his hand up to stop his boys from arguing. "You know better than to argue to make your point. If using Cargo's book is so dreadful to you, then you may use my book."

"Thank you father—"

"But you will both still share it."

"But father—"

"I'm done with the conversation Dende. As an older brother, you should know how to keep Cargo focused when studying. You two get along well emotionally, but fail to connect spiritually. You're working on it today, end of discussion." Moori scolded, and turned on heel to retrieve his Book of Kami.

As soon as his father left Dende screamed with his mouth closed.

Cargo laughed at the gesture. "What was that?"

"A closed-mouth scream. Chiaotzu does it sometimes. He says it helps, and now I see how." Dende said before sitting on the pew.

Moori returned a moment later, handing Dende his Book of Kami. "I want you both working quietly. I shouldn't hear your conversation outside this sanctuary. Dende, do not argue with your brother, and Cargo, do not draw in my book. Do you understand me?"

They nodded in response.

"Good. I shall leave you to it." With that he left the two in the sanctuary.

Dende opened his father's Book of Kami. The bookmarked chapters reminded him of his own book, which intrigued him to read further. As he looked into the bookmarked chapters, he noticed something strange about the annotated text in the margins. "Have you ever seen anything like this?" He asked his brother.

Cargo looked over the notes with him shaking his head. "No. It looks like it's code for something."

"Or another language."

"Why would father know another language that we don't know?"

Dende continued flipping pages. "I remember when I first started university and I had my dreams. Chiaotzu told me I was speaking a different language in my sleep. Maybe we do know it, we just don't know that we know it." He looked over at his brother. "Should we try to decipher it?"

"Duh."

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.

Dende and Cargo spent the next few hours trying to decipher their father's annotations. They started with matching characters, and recurring characters. As Dende matched certain characters to certain letters, Cargo wrote the characters they solved separately. Dende read over the chapters bookmarked with annotations, hoping that would give context to the notes.

In time they were at least able to figure out that their names had been used in their father's annotations.

"Your name is in here a lot, more than mine."

"It probably means I'm the favorite."

"Shut up."

Dende chuckled. "I'm just kidding. Our names are mentioned together in one chapter, specifically in a chapter that takes place on the planet with three suns. Then after that, he just mentions me."

Cargo looked over at the annotations, pointing to the verses it referenced. "The chapter that has our names annotated is the chapter in which the beings of the planet are being killed by the Wintry Force. When they are first introduced, the henchmen kill the father of the tribe, and shortly after one of the children."

"And before they can kill the other child, he's saved by two foreign warriors. I know this chapter very well, it's my recurring dream."

Cargo sat back in thought. "But it doesn't really make sense. Why would he mention us in his notes referencing this chapter? Comparing us to slaughtered beings is rather morbid."

"That's true, but maybe it's for a bigger reason. We have a lot in common with this story. A father with two boys, just like our family. It would make sense that he'd compare us to this."

"But I still don't understand why. What's the bigger reason?"

Dende hesitated. He understood his father's annotations because they were similar to the recent ones in his book. It was strange knowing that his father could also very well know that the Book of Kami was a part of their past lives. He wondered why he never mentioned it. Writing notes in a different language could mean that he didn't want them to know, but now Dende knew, and he wanted his brother to know too.

Dende closed his father's book. "I have to tell you something."

Gohan finished his dinner after another long day of training. As sore as his body was, he could feel the training take its effect. He felt stronger, and Piccolo's methods and techniques were more strategic and effective than his own. He was enjoying the training no matter how hard it was or how hard Piccolo was on him.

After his thoughts on Piccolo, he arrived in the kitchen moments later with a flat box in his hand.

Gohan placed his last cleaned dish out to dry. "Good evening Mr. Piccolo, did you need something?"

"I just wanted to give you something. Your clothes are torn to pieces and the last thing I need is you training in your underwear. This should help." Piccolo handed him the box.

Gohan took the box and pulled the top off, revealing a purple fighting gi. He smiled. "It's perfect. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I'm spending tomorrow meditating so your body can rest from training. We will continue Saturday."

Gohan could have jumped for joy if he wasn't so dead tired. "Thank you so much Mr. Piccolo, you don't know how much I needed this."

"It was easy to tell. Strain won't help in training. Get some rest, you've earned it." He said and turned to leave him. "Good work today Gohan, I'll see you Saturday."

A/N The plot continues to move forward. Dende tells his Cargo about him being a Prophet, Korin reminds him to rekindle his faith and spirit, and Gohan gets his purple Gi. How exciting. We will see how Cargo is affected by Dende's news in the next chapter, and how Dende begins his rekindling with Kami. He also has to fix his relationship with Piccolo still, so a lot on the young guardian's plate. Thank you for reading, reviews are always appreciated. Until next chapter!