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The Child is Gone

As the darkness
turns to dawn
the child is gone.
- Fiona Apple, "The Child is Gone"

"It's all your fault, it's all your fault, it's all your fault." "No!" Gohan yelled. "It couldn't be helped. I didn't do it!" But despite what he said, the voices in his head kept repeating that little phrase. "If only I had killed Cell in one blow. If only Dad hadn't stepped forward. If only Cell hadn't..." Gohan's thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Piccolo's face and buried his head in Piccolo's arms. He felt Piccolo tense up like he always did when Gohan showed affection towards him, but Gohan just hugged Piccolo's waist. Gohan began to cry softly. Piccolo looked down at him.

"I'm proud of you" he said, "and I'm sure your father is proud of you too."

"He can't be proud of me. He's dead. I killed him." Gohan said softly. Piccolo took his shoulders and pushed him back.

"You didn't kill him, Gohan. He decided his own fate. You have to realize that." Gohan pushed back and stood up.

"When I was young I was continually taken from my father. Because of me, my little brother doesn't even have one." Piccolo reached towards Gohan, but he backed up and began to yell. " I could've killed Cell! I could have killed him in one blow! But I didn't, and now my family is falling apart. It's all my fault!" Gohan turned and ran into the woods.

"Gohan!" Piccolo yelled and ran after him. Gohan ran and ran until he couldn't feel his legs. He sat upon a log, panting. He looked down at the log and picked up a sharp rock.

"If I die, they won't wish me back." Gohan thought. He hesitated a moment, then brought the rock to his throat. "Sorry Mom" he whispered, and cut his throat.

"Nooo!" Piccolo screamed as he reached the clearing. He picked up Gohan. "Please Gohan, don't do this!" Gohan looked up at Piccolo with sad and frightened eyes.

"Sorry" he whispered and breathed his last.

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside still waters..." the preacher droned on, but no one was really listening. The sounds of wailing filled the cemetery grounds. Kurilin stood beside ChiChi, comforting her and trying to suppress his own tears. He wasn't succeeding. Bulma had her head buried in Vejita's shirt and was sobbing. Piccolo noticed that even Vejita's eyes were wet. Piccolo himself was standing behind everyone, letting tears stream down his face. Eventually the funeral ended and the guests respectively passed by Piccolo. Yamcha laid a hand on his shoulder.

"At least now he's with his father." he said and walked by. Once everyone had gone except ChiChi, who was sitting with her head in her hands, Piccolo walked up to the casket. Beside it was a little collage of pictures of Gohan. There was a picture of him when he was young, when he was training with Piccolo, in Sayian armor when they fought Freezia, and Super Saia-jin in the Cell Game. He touched the picture. This was how he remembered him, not like he was in the casket. The young boy who had an incredible burden that he really didn't want to bear. The boy that was forced into adulthood. Piccolo turned to look at ChiChi. She was sitting silently with her shoulders trembling slightly. He walked over to her and looked down at her for a moment, then placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up slowly and let out a choked sob. Piccolo bent down and put his arms around her. ChiChi fell onto him and sobbed.

Gohan floated above Snake Way, debating what to do. He desperately wanted to see his father, but he knew that Goku would be disappointed in him if he knew that he had left his mother and brother alone. Gohan thought for a moment and realized that Goku didn't even know that ChiChi was pregnant.

"Mom" he whispered and looked down. He knew that she would be heartbroken and she didn't even have Goku to comfort her. Gohan gently landed and turned towards Snake Way. He knew he had to tell his father sometime, and besides, he didn't have anywhere else to go. He looked up at his halo. OK, so maybe he did have somewhere else to go, but he sure wasn't going there. Then he ran.

"MoshiMoshi?" Bulma said quietly into the phone.

"Bulma? Is that you?" The voice on the phone was cracked and soft.

"ChiChi? " Bulma asked.

"Yes," ChiChi replied. "Bulma I hate to ask this of you, but could I stay with you for a little while? Just until I'm more... settled."

"Of course!" Bulma replied. "It's the very least I can do. You can stay in one of the guestrooms. Trunks may wake you, but besides that it's mostly quiet."

"Thank you Bulma. I'll be over in a little while." ChiChi hung up. Bulma stood for a moment with the phone to her ear. Vejita walked into the room and looked at her.

"Who is it?" he said.

"It was ChiChi. She's going to be staying with us for a while." Bulma said, staring straight ahead. Vejita made a grunting noise and walked past her. Bulma carefully walked to a couch and collapsed onto it. " Oh Vejita..." she whispered.

Piccolo floated in the middle of the desert. His eyes stayed unfocused and arms were crossed loosely. He looked exactly the same as he always did, except for a single tear running down his face. The phrase that Yamcha had said to him kept repeating in his mind.

"At least now he's with his father." Piccolo floated down to the dusty ground.

"I'd rather him be with me" he whispered and closed his eyes.

Chouzu attached himself to Tien's leg and cried loudly. Tien absently patted his head. Chouzu looked up and sniffed.

"W-why? Tien…?" he said quietly.

"I don't know" Tien said, looking straight ahead, "I don't know."
Yamcha sat on his couch beside Kurilin. They were both silent as they stared at a television they weren't watching.

"Is it true? Did he kill himself?" Yamcha said, not looking away from the TV. Kurilin looked down.

"I think so. It's... it's not right. He was always such a happy kid. Not even Piccolo and Vejita could bring him down." he said. Yamcha nodded and said,

" He took after his father." Kurilin bent his head.

"Yes. He did."

ChiChi stood inside one of Bulma's many guestrooms. Bulma had helped her settle in, made sure she really was OK, and had gone to start dinner. She walked over to the bed and sat down. First her dear husband had forced her baby boy to fight some horrible monster, then he had to go and be heroic and leave her. She didn't really blame Gohan for what he did. She patted her stomach.

"At least I won't be alone for long" she thought. She knew that Bulma would help her raise him, and maybe even Yamcha, Tien, or one of those guys would help. She sighed. She was so looking forward to raising another child with Goku. He was a wonderful father to Gohan. She looked down. She had always thought that Gohan would be a great father, but now it wasn't possible.

"Dinner!" she heard Bulma call from somewhere below her. ChiChi remained on the bed with her head bent. After a few minutes Bulma peeked her head in the door. "ChiChi?" she said. ChiChi raised her head. "ChiChi, Hon, aren't you going to eat something?"

"No" ChiChi said." I'm really not hungry." "You should eat something." Bulma said. She thought a minute.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't get much to eat anyway, with a Sayian man and a 7-month old Sayian. I guess you do know what it's like, don't y-" Bulma stopped short. " I'm so sorry ChiChi, I didn't mean to bring that up." ChiChi laughed sadly.

"I think I'm actually going to miss cooking a banquet at every meal. Now you go down and make sure Vejita isn't trying to kill Trunks."

"Are you sure ChiChi?" Bulma said, looking doubtful. ChiChi nodded. "OK. Just come and tell me if you want to talk." Bulma said and closed the door. A minute later ChiChi could hear Bulma screaming at Vejita for hitting Trunks. She sighed. Apparently, nobody's dreams come true anymore.

Gohan stood at the end of Snake Way. He knew his father could sense his ki, but he felt like he couldn't move. He finally took a deep breath and jumped as far as he could. He hovered above the small planet a moment, looking for his King Kai and his father. They weren't there, so he guessed they were inside, probably eating. In that case, Goku might not have sensed Gohan. He didn't sense much besides food when he was eating. Gohan landed with a thud, but he was still on his feet. He walked heavily over to the door and knocked. King Kai opened the door and almost fell down.

"Goku!" he yelled. Goku looked up, his cheeks puffed out with food. Gohan couldn't help but laugh. Goku stood up, knocking his chair backward in the process. He walked up to his son.

"Daddy..." Gohan said. Goku's eyes shimmered. Gohan hadn't called him that in a long time. Goku kneeled down to Gohan's height. Gohan ran and hugged his father. Goku closed his eyes and held his son. "Dad..." Gohan said, pulling back. Goku nodded. "I know son. I know."

Kurilin, Yamcha, Tien and Chouzu stood in front of the door to Capsule Corporation. Kurilin held his finger to the doorbell but didn't ring it. He turned around to the others.

"Are you guys sure we should do this? Do you think ChiChi is ready?" Yamcha shook his head.

"Probably not, but we're here aren't we? Come on people, we're the strongest humans on earth! We can do this." Tien and Chouzu nodded in agreement. Kurilin sighed and pressed the doorbell. Bulma swung open the door.

"Yes? Oh, hi guys!" she said.

"We're here to give our condolences to ChiChi." Kurilin said. Chouzu piped up.

"We brought casserole!" Bulma looked surprised.

"You guys COOKED?" The guys all looked at Yamcha.

"Um... well I..." He said.

"Nevermind. Come on in." Bulma said. As they walked down the hallway Bulma walked backwards, talking to them. "ChiChi is taking a nap right now, but she'll probably be up pretty soon." she led them to the living room and motioned for them to sit down. "You're not the first visitors we've had." she said. "Mr. Satan and his daughter came to give their regards yesterday. Videl, his daughter, is about Gohan's age. She's going to have tea with us later today." ChiChi came down the stairs. Her eyes were red and puffy and she had tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Bulma, can you help me-" she stopped when she saw the four men sitting in front of her. Bulma quickly walked over to her. She led her around the corner, calling over her shoulder that they would be right back. The guys all gawked at each other. After a few seconds Tien spoke up.

"I didn't know she was that bad." Bulma walked back in.

"I'm sorry guys, but I'll have to ask you to leave. ChiChi and I have to get ready for Videl. Thanks for the casserole... Yamcha." She looked over her shoulder and whispered, "She has her good days and her bad days. So far it's been a bad day." They guys nodded and found the door.

"Bye Bulma! Bye ChiChi." They yelled and left.

Piccolo stood in the doorway to the Son house. It smelled of lemon freshness and years of cooking. He breathed it in and walked to where he knew Gohan's room was. It was rather large, with a bed and big desk. Piccolo sat on the bed and looked around. On the desk were a large stack of papers and a couple of shirts. On his dresser was a couple of gis like his fathers. Piccolo stood up and walked over to the desk. The papers were mostly math-looking things, but they were occasionally a sketch. Piccolo leafed through the sketches. One was of ChiChi sitting on the kitchen table, staring into space. One was of him and Gohan in the desert, caught in mid-punch. The last on was of Gohan and Goku. They were both on the floor and their mouths were open, laughing. Piccolo put the sketches back down and walked out of the room. He now knew why ChiChi couldn't stay there. The place reeked of family and friends, happiness and love. He had to get out. Back to the desert which smelled of memories and dried blood.
Gohan sat at King Kai's table, his head bowed in shame. Goku had seen all that had happened from King Kai's planet. He sat across from Gohan.

"Gohan" he said quietly. Gohan didn't move. "Gohan, look at me." he said, this time a little firmer. Gohan raised his head. "I don't blame you for what you did. That was too much guilt and... and power for a little boy." Gohan looked down again and whispered,

"Dad, there's something I didn't tell you. Mom is pregnant." Goku made a small whimpering noise. "Dad I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Gohan said, looking at his father. Goku stood up.

"It's all right Gohan" He said and walked away. Gohan closed his eyes and put his head on the table.

ChiChi buried her head in her pillow. That girl Videl had just left and ChiChi wasn't in the best of moods. There was a sudden gust of wind in the room and she looked up. Before her stood Piccolo. She gasped and sat up on the bed.

"Piccolo, what are you doing here?" she said. Piccolo growled a little, then said,

"I came here to talk to you." ChiChi got up off the bed and stood up.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Piccolo coughed. "What do you want?" she said quietly. "Haven't you already done enough damage? Do you want to take me too? Maybe I'll kill myself too. Will you be happy then?" Tears began running down her face.

"I'm not happy." Piccolo said. "I was only happy when I was with... when I was with Gohan. No, I came to tell you that I'm ... I'm... I'm sorry." ChiChi looked at him in surprise. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I fought your husband. I'm sorry I took Gohan. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Gohan from... I'm sorry I had to tell you that-" ChiChi held her hand up.

"Stop." she said. "Look, we both lost someone dear to our hearts. Two someones for me. We shouldn't be such enemies. I just think-" ChiChi stopped. The tears were flowing heavily down her face and she couldn't talk past the lump in her throat. Piccolo stepped towards her. She collapsed onto him. Piccolo tensed and raised his arms to push her away.

"No." he thought. "I didn't hold Gohan that last time. I can hold her." Piccolo slowly raised his arms and put them around her.
ChiChi stood in the middle of her room. Her legs were covered in a sticky clearish substance. She slowly looked down.

"BULMABULMABULMABULMA!" she screamed. Bulma crashed into her room.

"What's wrong ChiChi?" she asked breathlessly. ChiChi pointed to her legs.

"My water broke!" Bulma's eyes grew larger.

"Ok... I can do this. Um, we should get you to the hospital as soon as possible. VEJITA!" Bulma said haltingly. Vejita walked calmly into the room.

"What do you want woman?" he said and eyed ChiChi's legs. ChiChi narrowed her eyes and pulled down her nightgown.

"You have to take ChiChi to the hospital. She's having her baby!" Bulma said loudly.

"I'm not taking that-" Bulma slapped him across the cheek.

"You will take ChiChi to the hospital or her baby will just plop out right here on the floor and guess who's gonna hafta clean up the mess? Mr. High and Mighty Sayia-jin Prince, that's who!" ChiChi snickered despite herself. Vejita lifted his lip in a snarl.

"Don't you dare talk to the Prince of the-" ChiChi interrupted him this time. She was doubled over on the floor, groaning. Bulma rushed over to her.

"Oh Dende, she's in labor!" Vejita started to back out of the door. "You're not going anywhere, mister." Bulma said without turning from ChiChi. "Get your tight little butt over here!" Vejita slowly walked over to the two women.

"Fine" he snarled. "I'll take her. But only if she doesn't groan like that."

"Excuse me? " ChiChi said, recovering from her contraction. "Have you ever carried a Sayia-jin inside of you for nine months? Do you realize how painful it is to have a very strong baby kick you in your internal organs? Until you've felt that, you haven't felt real pain." Vejita growled at her, but he squatted down, somehow still managing to still look royal. ChiChi gingerly climbed on, barely able to put her arms around him for the size of her stomach. Vejita stood up.

"Kuso woman, you're heavy!"

"Shut up and fly." ChiChi said.

"Ok you two, be off. I'll be right behind you. I'm just going to call some people and gather some clothes for you." Vejita looked at her for a minute.

"Trunks." he said simply.

"Oh yes, him too." Bulma said and shooed them off. Vejita and ChiChi flew off. Bulma breathed in deeply and reached for the phone. "Speed dial 3-Yamcha" she muttered. She pressed three and waited for the phone to stop ringing. Yamcha answered with something that resembled a hello. "Yamcha? It's Bulma. ChiChi's having her baby!" She heard a thud. "Yamcha? Yamcha? Are you ok?" Yamcha nodded, then realized that he was on the phone.

"Yes, I'm ok." he said, "I'll go to the hospital right away."

"Actually, could you get Tien, Chouzu and Piccolo? I'm sure you can sense their whachamacallit."

"ki?" Yamcha asked.

"Yes. Anyway, I don't know how to reach them so..."

"Yeah, yeah, I will." Yamcha said, yawning.

"Ok!" Bulma chirped and hung up. "Speed dial 4-Kurilin" she muttered. She pressed 4. The phone was picked up halfway through the first ring. "Been drinking to much coffee again Kurilin?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, Bulma. What do you need? Is something wrong?" he asked in a coffee high voice.

"Calm down Kurilin. No, ChiChi's having her baby!" Thud. "Kurilin? You ok?" Kurilin stood back up and grabbed the phone.

"Yes, I'm ok. I'll go right to the hospital." He hung up. Bulma hung the phone up and walked down the hall towards Trunk's room. She went in, dismissing the guard robot and picked Trunks up out of his crib. He blinked at her a second, then began cooing. She smiled at him and walked down the hallway. She threw some clothes together and ran towards her car, Trunks under one arm, wriggling, and a suitcase under the other. She hopped into the car, strapped Trunks into his seat, and threw the suitcase into the backseat.

"The hospital please" she said.

"Yes Mrs. Bulma" a computerized voice said and the car sped off.
"Dad! Daddy, wake up!" Gohan said frantically, shaking his father. Goku moaned and rolled over, whacking Gohan with his arm. Gohan fell backwards. "Dad, please! You've gotta see this!" Goku opened one eye and peered at Gohan. Then he opened his other eye and slowly got out of bed. Gohan grabbed his arm and dragged him out to King Kai.

"Goku," King Kai said, "Your wife is giving birth!"

Bulma crashed into the hospital and rushed up to the receptionist.

"Son ChiChi 'she gasped. The nurse tapped a few keys.

"Room 121. Now are you family or-" Bulma ran towards the stairs and shouted a thank you over her shoulder. She ran up two stairs at a time and found herself in front of room 121. She opened the door and looked inside. ChiChi lay on a bed near the wall. Vejita stood in a corner, his arms folded and his eyes closed. Bulma ran to the bed.

"ChiChi! Are you all right? Where's the doctor?" she said breathlessly. ChiChi smiled.

"I'm fine," she said softly. "The doctor will be here in a minute." There was a knock at the door. Kurilin poked his head in.

"Hi!" he said. "I got here as soon as I could." ChiChi turned her head towards Kurilin.

"Thank you for coming Kurilin." Kurilin smiled.

"No problem." Bulma looked around.

"I wonder where Yamcha and the others are." she said. A scream and a thunk were heard.

"That would be them," Kurilin said, smirking. A few seconds later the four guys entered the room. Piccolo had one of those looks, Tien had his hand over his third eye, and Chouzu was adjusting his hat. Bulma had to turn around and cover her mouth to suppress her laughter. Kurilin didn't even try. Yamcha was already bent over, tears streaming from his smiling eyes. A doctor walked in, her eyes getting wider and wider as she looked around the room,

"Now which one of you is..." she flipped through some papers on a clipboard. "Son Goku?" Everyone stopped laughing. ChiChi closed her eyes.

"Uh... Son Goku is... he's dead," Bulma said quietly.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "What about... Son Gohan?"

"Him too," Bulma said, glancing at ChiChi. The doctor looked a bit surprised.

"Any other family?" she asked, slowly looking around.

"No," Bulma said "But we're all her close friends."

"All right," the doctor said. "Then why don't you" she pointed to Bulma, "and you" she pointed to Vejita. "Stay here, the rest of you sit outside." Vejita opened his eyes and looked sceptical. Chouzu sighed. Piccolo, Yamcha and Tien stalked outside, Chouzu and Kurilin tagging along behind them. Bulma grabbed Vejita's hair and dragged him over to the bed.

"Rrrrrrrrrggggggggggggg! CON-TRAC-TION! "ChiChi groaned and grabbed Vejita's hand. She squeezed it. Vejita's face changed into a look of pain. "You-you caused all this!" she gasped. "You tried to kill my husband and my-my son! Picc-olo trained him because... OF YOU!" ChiChi dropped his hand and panted. Vejita cradled his hand in his other arms, poking at it gently and cringing. Bulma suppressed a snicker and leaned over ChiChi.

"You Ok?" she asked gently.

"No." Vejita said grumpily.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Bulma yelled.

"But-but- look!" he said, letting his hand dangle limply, the fingers all at strange angles. Bulma laughed. ChiChi smiled.

"Uhh...sorry." she said. Vejita hmmphed. ChiChi giggled. The doctor stepped forward.

"Excuse me" she said. "Son-san, it may be time to start pushing."

Goku sat in front of the image King Kai had produced a look of intense jealousy on his face. Gohan sat beside him, his eyes wide and unblinking. Every now and then his eyes would start to roll back in his head, and King Kai would hit him, making him blink. Eventually the two snapped out of it, and Gohan elbowed his father.

"Is that what it was like when I was born? Ewwww." Goku looked down at him and smiled.

"Yes." he said, "exactly like that." His smile faded. "Except I was there holding ChiChi's hand. I have the scars to prove it."
ChiChi laid back. Her face was flushed and her hair hung limply at her shoulders.

"It's a boy!" the doctor said, holding up the screaming baby. She handed the baby to ChiChi. The baby immediately stopped crying and looked curiously up at his mother. The doctor gently took the baby and washed him. She gave him back to ChiChi Bulma grinned widely and stuck her head out the door.

"It's a boy!" she yelled. Everyone who was in the hallway turned and looked. The boys all turned and looked at her. They all rushed into the room, followed by Videl. Bulma looked at her oddly, but Videl just lowered her eyes and walked towards ChiChi. The doctor pushed through all the people until she stood beside the bed.

"Son-san, there's something you should look at. Your son-he has-this may sound crazy, but he has a tail." A grim look crossed ChiChi's face as she lifted the child. Sure enough, a small brown tail whipped around under him. ChiChi closed her eyes and handed the baby to the doctor.

"Cut it off, please." she said quietly. Vejita opened his mouth to protest, but a look from Bulma shut him up quickly. The doctor nodded and quickly walked out of the room. ChiChi laid her head against the pillows and sighed. Bulma moved a little closer to Vejita. They all were quiet for a moment and most of them jumped when the doctor came back inside. She handed the baby to ChiChi, who sat up and opened her eyes, taking the baby. He had a small bandage where his tail had once been. Yamcha leaned in close and rubbed the baby's hair. It was black and it stood straight up. ChiChi smiled. "He looks exactly like Goku. Well, at least his hair hasn't started to spike up yet." she said, running a hand through his hair. Bulma put her arm around Vejita and gently led him toward the door, motioning for everyone else to follow. They all filed out the door, smiling at the mother and son.

Goku sat in front of the image King Kai had produced. Gohan lay beside him, his head in Goku's lap. Gohan had drifted off to sleep right after they cut off the baby's tail. Goku absently ran his hand through Gohan's hair. ChiChi looked up, almost as if she were looking at Goku.

"Oh, Goku." she said sadly. "I wish you were here. Don't worry, though. I'll allow him to train. I hope" she stopped to wipe a tear from her face. "I hope he will never feel the need to really fight someone, though. I do need to name him." Goku closed his eyes and held back his own tears.

"Goten" he whispered. ChiChi brought the child closer to herself.

"Goten" she whispered. The baby yawned and peered up towards Goku. Gohan whimpered in his sleep. Goku looked from Gohan to ChiChi and Goten.

"My family" he said softly "My life."

Chances thrown
Nothing's free
Longing for what used to be
Still it's hard
Hard to see
Fragile Lives, shattered dreams
-"The Kid's Aren't Alright", The Offspring