Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ For the Love of a Child ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 4 )

"For the Love of a Child"

Disclaimer: Ok these are dull, go to the first page if you really have an urge to read these stupid things.

*Chapter 5*

A couple days after Goten's trip to Kenya, Bulma announced that a school group was going to be visiting Capsule Corp for a field trip. Trunks asked if Goten could come spend the day at school with him and I'd agreed. The modifications on Vegeta's gravity room had been finished last night and he declared he was going to go spend the day training. Having spent the night working off my own demons I felt no need to join him. Goten's little African adventure had given me an idea though and so I spent the day in front of my computer working on another novel for my publisher.

It was a little after 2pm when yawning, I pushed away from the table where I'd been typing and looked out the window. It was a nice day out so I walked outside to get some fresh air and give myself a break. Bulma's mother, while a complete ditz, definitely has a green thumb and the gardens around the house were beautiful. A hammock was hung in the shade of a giant maple tree and I flung myself into it and stared at the clouds rolling by. Watching the clouds was one of the few activities I'd participated in with my father that I'd passed on to Goten. I didn't bother trying to find shapes in the clouds this time though. I just lay there quietly watching them float and shift slowly until I felt my eyes grow heavy and allowed myself to drift into sleep.

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Bulma glanced at her watch when she heard a door slam somewhere and laughter coming down the hall. The school group had arrived later than expected and Bulma was still in the middle of her tour and explanation when Trunks and Goten raced in, laughter trailing behind them as Trunks ran to his mom and grabbed her leg.

"Nah Nah, I've touched base Goten, you can't get me now!" Goten stopped suddenly, his arms waving as he paused in mid chase.

"Hey Trunks, that's not fair, you didn't say your mom was base!" In response Trunks just laughed and stuck out his tongue. The students and teacher grouped around the model capsule Bulma had been explaining, all laughed causing the two boys to look up in surprise.

Bulma gently rapped Trunks on the head. "Trunks be nice. Hello Goten, did you have a fun time at Trunks' school?" Goten nodded his head enthusiastically and then grinned at Trunks while he skipped in place.

"Yep it was great. But Trunks got homework to do and I don't because I'm the guest." Sticking out his own tongue at the purple haired boy, he backed away laughing when Trunks went after him growling. Bulma caught him neatly by the shirt though and hauled him back.

"Homework?" She inquired, while more chuckles from the school group followed Trunks' groan.

"Ah mooommm!" Bulma just shook her head.

"Scoot. You can play some more after you finish it." Swatting him on the butt she pushed him out of the room and pointed toward the stairs heading up to his room. His muttered complaints were heard as he marched up the stairs.

Turning back toward the tour group, Bulma shrugged her shoulders apologetically before turning to Goten who had sat down in the corner of the room and looked to be trying hard not to yawn.

"Goten, do you want to stay here and help me?" Bulma asked the little boy. He studied her sleepily but then shook his head. Standing up and rubbing his eyes he asked, "Do you know where my Dad is?"

Bulma smiled and pulled him into a quick hug before pushing him towards the door. "The last I knew, he had gone outside to the gardens, you might try there."

Nodding his head he wandered out of the lab and headed outside.

Chuckling, she turned back to the group and was about to resume her tour when a blonde girl raised her hand, practically jumping up and down.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you had a restroom I could use?" A couple people in the class groaned but Bulma just smiled and pointed back out down the hall.

"There's one through that door, down the hall, make a left, walk past the stairs, turn right and it's at the end."

The girls eyes got wide and she seemed confused but was suddenly dragged away by another girl with black hair pulled into two pig tails.

"Don't worry, Erasa, I'll help you find it."

The girl giggled in relief and followed out the door.

"Gee, thanks Videl, that sounded really complicated."

Shaking her head, Bulma turned back to the group and directed their attention to the model that was sitting in front of them.

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"Geez, Erasa couldn't you have held it or something?" Videl was dragging her friend down the hall in search of the bathroom, while Erasa giggled behind her. Videl had to wonder sometimes how she had managed to wind up with such a ditzy friend. Loyal, but not too bright. They rounded the second corner when Videl saw the little boy Goten, sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway. Curious she walked over and crouched next to him.

He had his tongue pressed out between his teeth and appeared to concentrating very hard on retying the laces of his sneaker.

"Do you want any help?" She asked, it was obvious he was struggling. He looked at her but then shook his head before bending back down, determination written all over his face and shoulders.

"No thank you. Daddy says I have to practice and practice and then it will get easy." Looking up in triumph he grinned at the teenage girl beside him.

"See! I did it!" Videl smiled and helped him stand up.

"It sounds like your dad is pretty smart. Did you find him?"

The little boy, Goten shook his head and started walking down the hall. "No not yet, he's outside there." Pointing at a wall in front of them he looked at Videl and frowned.

"I just gotta find a door."

Videl burst out laughing. The kid sure was cute how he phrased things, great sense of direction too, if he knew the gardens were on the other side of that blank wall.

"I'll help you, how about that? We'll find your dad together."

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Goten wasn't sure why the lady was laughing at him. He knew his dad was right there, he could sense his energy, small because he wasn't training but definitely there. He didn't think Bulma wanted him to knock a hole in her wall though, and he was pretty sure his dad would get kind of mad too so he'd been stuck as to how to get on the other side of the wall. But if this lady wanted to help that was ok.

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Videl grabbed the little boys hand, and after dropping Erasa off at the bathroom they headed down another hall until they found a door leading outside. Walking around the building, Videl couldn't help but slow down and enjoy the sunshine and smell of flowers. The little boy beside her suddenly stopped though, bringing her back to the present. Looking down in surprise, the boy let go of her hand and put his finger up to his lips.

"Shhh, I think he's sleeping."

Videl looked up and then she saw across the garden, a hammock was swung between two trees. She could make out the figure of a man with dark hair lying inside it. Nodding down at the little boy, she watched as he tiptoed closer. He seemed to study the man briefly before reaching up on tiptoes and stroking the man's face. The figure in the hammock moved and then arms reached down and lifted the little boy up and pulled him into the hammock.

Videl watched for a few minutes more, but it looked like they weren't going to move, so she turned and headed back towards the building. She was almost back to the bathroom when she realized she has lost her communicator watch.

"Damn, the strap must have broken. I know I had it during the tour because I remember checking the time, I must have lost it outside somewhere." Turning back the way she had come she headed back outside.

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Vegeta took a break from his training to wipe the sweat dripping off his face and studied the readouts on the wall. He didn't make a habit of checking the statistics on his training, but he was curious due to the recent modifications. Studying the information before him he stopped at a time entry and swore softly. Somebody had come in last night and used the room, but that couldn't be possible because the gravity level was registered as rising to 375, which was higher than even Vegeta had managed at this point. He was currently working around 250 and he could only manage that while in the form of the ascended Saiyan. The damn thing must be malfunctioning, but the levels could only be set from inside the room once the doors had been locked. Could it be possible that Kakkarot's brat had used the room? Vegeta shook his head and quickly tapped out of the program and shut down the gravity. It would be absolutely humiliating if that brat was able to train under 375 times the normal gravity. The only option was to wait and see. He'd keep an eye on the room tonight and see if anyone came to use it after the others had gone to bed. Satisfied with this solution, Vegeta toweled off and left to go find Bulma about dinner.

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Bulma had finished checking on Trunks when she bumped into Vegeta in the hallway. After reassuring him that dinner would be served at the same time it always was, in a half an hour, she headed outside to see if Goten had managed to find Gohan.

She had been angry at first, when she first saw Gohan standing there in that kitchen. Now she was just sad. He was so different from the bright child he use to be. She remembered him sitting up on his father's shoulders laughing at the world. Nothing seemed to be able to dampen his spirit back then. Now he was so hard and cold. She had only seen him smile once and that was a moment she knew she wasn't suppose to have seen.

She had gone to make sure Goten was settling into Trunks' room alright. She had stopped at the slightly open doorway when she heard soft voices inside. Through the door she could see Gohan cradling Goten in his lap, slowly rocking him back and forth. For that brief moment his eyes looked tender again and a smile played across his face as he looked down at the little boy in his arms.

She had left and pretended to come back down the hall later when she heard Gohan starting to leave the room. As he came out of the door she saw his face was closed and cold again. All trace of compassion and love erased. After checking on the boys she had gone up to her own room and cried.

Vegeta hadn't understood and she didn't know how to explain to him that she wept for the young man Gohan had become. She wept for the little boy he use to be. And she wept because somewhere deep inside him, he at least had enough warmth for Goten and she feared that was all that kept Gohan together.

She knew about his nights in the gravity room. She had been up late one night working on a project she wanted to finish and heard him going in and hours later, she saw him come stumbling out. She had waited another night and witnessed the same process over again. She didn't know why he was doing this to himself but it was pretty obvious it wasn't a new routine. She hadn't told Vegeta because she knew he would want to confront and fight Gohan. She also knew he couldn't win. In some ways, Gohan truly frightened Bulma, but in other ways she couldn't help but think that deep inside he was just a little frightened child who was hurting very badly. She wanted to help him but he had shut himself away from the rest of the world and wouldn't let anyone in.

Bulma found Gohan in the garden lying in the hammock with Goten sprawled out on top of him. Gohan's arms were wrapped around Goten, cradling him close. Bulma knew Gohan loved Goten very much. She knew he had taken excellent care of him despite all odds. He had always been very mature for his age and even at twelve he had seemed so much older.

The first time Bulma heard Goten call Gohan `daddy' she hadn't really been paying attention. The second time however, she had felt a strange twisting sensation inside her. Watching them together though, she realized that Goten was right. Gohan was his dad, in spirit, if not by genetics. While Bulma would always love Goku and cherish her memories of him, she had to admit to herself that he wasn't the most reliable parent. He had been the best father a boy could ask for, when he was around. And frankly, he wasn't around much. His final decision to not be brought back after the Cell game must have been horribly crushing to Gohan, who already felt responsible for his father's death. Chi Chi's own death soon after must have felt like nothing short of betrayal. Bulma wouldn't have been surprised if Gohan had wanted nothing to do with the newborn baby he was faced with. But he had taken him and raised him, and obviously loved him very deeply.

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Videl was searching the ground around some bushes when she saw Bulma Briefs come out to the garden and walk over to the hammock. Not wanting to be seen crawling on her hands and knees in the dirt, Videl tucked herself behind the bush to wait for the woman to go back inside.

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I know Bulma is standing there watching me. I can also tell she's worried about something. Probably me, which I don't want to deal with. I doubt I can just tell her to go away and stop fussing though. Maybe if she gets whatever it is that is bothering her, out of her system she'll go get a new hobby. Like flower arranging or something. I do not enjoy being considered somebody's `pet project' whether she realizes that's what she's doing or not. Sighing I opened my eyes and stared up at her.

"You might as well get it out Bulma. What is it?"

"You make a great dad Gohan." Now that wasn't what I expected her to say and I shifted in the hammock to get a better look at her.

"Thanks."

She studied me for a moment and then reached out and touched my cheek. Smiling sadly she stroked it for a second and then dropped her hand.

"I know you're using the gravity room at nights. I've seen you come out, looking half dead. Why are you doing that to yourself?"

I don't want to answer her question. I don't want her to know about the demons in my head that mock me constantly. I know she just wants to help but I just want her to leave me alone.

"Don't fuss Bulma."

"Gohan, I just want you to be happy again. I want to see you smile and laugh. I want to try and help you..."

"I'm not one of your damn machines that you can just fix Bulma. There is nothing wrong with me." I could feel myself tensing up in anger but didn't want wake up Goten by yelling. Bulma, upset as well, stomped her foot in frustration.

"I don't want to fix you Gohan, it's just I remember how..."

"How I use to be? Happy little Gohan? Give it a rest Bulma, we all have to grow up sometime, I'm not a little kid anymore. Stop worrying, I just grew up, that's all."

Suddenly her anger seemed to drain out and she stood there looking sad again. I can feel Goten shifting in my arms and he slowly opened his eyes to stare into mine for a moment before smiling. Bulma watched for a moment longer and then touched my shoulder.

"Dinner will be ready soon guys. You should come in and wash up." Giving me one last sad look she turned and walked back into the house.

I know I've hurt her somehow, something more than just my harsh words. Maybe she really thought she could save me. Goten was squirming and I tossed him out of the hammock before climbing out myself. Watching him laugh and roll around on the grass I reminded myself that it didn't matter what anyone thought or felt except Goten.

"Hey kiddo, ready for dinner?"

He grinned and ran over, grabbing my hands and placing his feet on top of mine.

"Yeah! Hey dad, walk me inside!"

I chuckled and shifted him a bit so he had a firmer position before taking a large step toward the house. He giggled and in this fashion I marched us inside, making my strides as large and exaggerated as possible while he shrieked with laughter.

As I watch him I feel my anger melt away. For the moment my world is perfect. The demons are silent and I feel warm inside.

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Videl couldn't move from her spot, crouched down in the bushes even after everyone had left the garden. That guy, that jerk from the other day had been the man in the hammock. That man that Goten had said was his dad. Bulma Briefs had called him Gohan. She'd even said he was Goten's dad. Videl shook her head and stood up, her wrist watch completely forgotten. That was just impossible! That guy, Gohan, had to be her age, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen at the most. He couldn't possibly be Goten's dad, that was just...

"Sick. Sick Videl." Muttering to herself she walked out of the garden and left the Briefs' property. Maybe she had misunderstood what Bulma had said. Maybe she had actually said, `you'd make a great dad.'

"But Goten said that was his dad!" Still arguing with herself Videl marched down the street, oblivious to the strange looks she received from other people.

TBC

*Ok everyone, that's it for this chapter. I probably broke every single rule of writing in creating this, I did weird things with the tenses at times, but oh well. I know the last chapter wasn't one of my best, hopefully this one's a bit better. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to review!*