Find that path alone
Crossroads lead me away
But that's not what worries me
I just want to know what's home.
-The Offspring, "Crossroads"
Gohan lay back on the bed (he still couldn't think of it as his own bed, that would always be back on earth). He had spoken to her again. She was growing. So was he, of course, but he didn't know it. It had been a date this time. It was different, it was always different, but it was a date nonetheless. She still hadn't recognized him. That was probably for the better. He did wonder, though, what would have been. He may have dated her if he had been alive. Sometimes he regretted doing it. He tried to keep his mind of that subject for the well being of him and his father. Goku walked into the room. Gohan snapped his eyes open.
"Hey Dad" he said and sat up.
"Hi." Goku said and sat beside him. "Whatcha been watching Videl so much for?" he asked.
"I dunno. She's my age, I guess." Gohan replied, picking at the corner of his bedspread.
"Oh. I thought you were watching her because she's cute." Goku said, a sly grin creeping across his face. Gohan blushed. "Did you know that 18 had a kid?" Goku asked. Gohan looked up in surprise.
"Really? Who with?"
"Yeah. With Kurilin of all people!" Gohan laughed.
"I'm sorry," he said, "but Kurilin and 18? That's almost as weird as Vejita and Bulma... but not quite." Goku's expression turned serious. "What's wrong, Dad?" Gohan asked.
"The Tenchiki Budouki is coming up in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking about asking Baba to take us back that day. Do you think you would uh... come back with me?" Goku said with a slightly pleading look in his eyes. Gohan looked down at his hands for a moment, then replied,
"Yeah. I'll go." Goku smiled and gave his son a quick hug.
"Great! Dinner's almost ready." He said and left the room. Gohan closed his eyes and began to levitate, looking something like Piccolo. His eyebrows knitted together in deep concentration, and he found himself in a room. Goten was in the room and as soon as he saw Gohan he ran towards him and hugged him. Gohan grinned. "Guess what?" Gohan said, tussling his brother's hair. "What?!?" Goten said excitedly.
"I'm going to see you soon!" Gohan said, kneeling down to Goten's height.
"Really? Wow! When?" Goten exclaimed, grinning broadly.
"Just soon." He said and stood back up. He picked Goten up and hugged him. He put him back down and turned around.
"Don't go! Goten yelled. Gohan walked away, now finding himself in a nice restaurant. Videl sat at a table for two by a window. She looked up and smiled at Gohan as he sat in the chair in front of her.
"I'm going to really see you soon." He said. She looked surprised.
"Really!!? How will I know it's you?"
"You'll know." He said and vanished. He found himself back in the bedroom, still levitating over the bed. King Kai's voice drifted in from outside.
"Dinner's ready!"
Goten fell out of bed. The first light of morning seeped in through the window and the smell of his mother's cooking wafted through the halls of Capsule Corporation. He ran down some stairs and through some corridors until he got to the kitchen.
"Morning, Mommy!" he said as he jumped into a kitchen chair.
"Morning honey. You're sure happy this morning." ChiChi said.
"Yup! That boy was in my dream again and he told me that he was coming to see me!" Goten said, bouncing up and down in his chair.
"I'm sure he did, honey." ChiChi said and handed him a plate of food. He wolfed down the food and jumped off his chair.
"I'm going outside!" he said.
"OK." ChiChi said, "Trunks and Vejita are already out there. Oh yeah, Bulma and me are going shopping later. Videl will baby-sit you."
"Yeah!" Goten yelled and ran outside.
"Be careful!" ChiChi called after him. Bulma walked sleepily down the stairs in her robe and slippers. She yawned.
"Do they have to get up this early on Saturday?" ChiChi laughed.
"Believe me, you get used to it." She fixed two plates and sat down at the table, motioning for Bulma to join her.
"Was Gohan this wild when he was young?" Bulma asked, sitting beside ChiChi. ChiChi nodded and laughed.
"Yes, even more so, actually. Have you ever noticed that little scar on Goku's forehead?" Bulma nodded. "That was from Gohan. Yup, he was a pretty violent baby. He'd get a hold of one of the butcher knifes and all heck would break loose. I swear, we couldn't rest for a minute. Oh, and this one time Goku fed him this caffeine bar thing and he was bouncing off the walls-literally." Both women laughed for a moment and sad look crossed over ChiChi's face.
"You still miss them, don't you?" Bulma asked quietly. ChiChi nodded.
"I sometimes wonder what would have been. Goten-he's all I have left. I think I'd die if I lost him." Bulma stood up and hugged ChiChi.
"I know we'll see Goku and Gohan again someday." She said. ChiChi put her head down on the table. "I hope so, Bulma, I really hope so." She whispered.
" What do you mean, bring both of you back?" Baba screeched.
"Just that. Said Goku. "We both can come back, can't we?"
"Not at the same time! I may be able to do it a couple of hours apart, but that's it!" Goku nodded.
"That'll be OK." He said. Baba scowled. Goku looked at Gohan.
"Do you want to go first?" He asked. Gohan shook his head.
"No, Dad, you'd better go first." Goku smiled.
"OK. See you in a couple of hours!" he said.
"Yeah. See ya." Gohan said. Baba did her magic and the halo disappeared.
"Good!" he said and jumped up off the planet. "Bye! He said and jumped down onto Snake Way.
"With the strength he has now, Goku should reach earth in about 5 hours." King Kai said to no one in particular. Gohan looked at Baba.
"How long should it be until you can change me back to life?" he asked. Baba shrugged and said, "I don't know. Two hours at least." Gohan sighed and sat down.
"Wake me when you're ready." He said and closed his eyes.
"Ow!"
"Goten, honey, don't touch that grill!" It was a typical barbecue. Vejita was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. ChiChi and Bulma were trying to keep their sons' hands clean. Videl was looking up at the sky, looking something like Vejita. 18 stood by Videl. "Goten! Stop it!" ChiChi yelled as Goten picked up a caterpillar. It scared poor Goten so much that he dropped it. Trunks, of course, stepped on it.
"EEEEWWW!" he said as he lifted his foot and looked at the caterpillar remains.
"Cool!" Goten said.
"Goten!" ChiChi yelled. Bulma and 18 walked up to her with an almost evil look in their eyes. They took a confused ChiChi into the house. "What are you doing?" ChiChi asked.
"Your husband is coming back today." Bulma said.
"We wouldn't want him not to notice you, now would we?" 18 said innocently. ChiChi started giggling nervously. Bulma opened up a big closet and began pulling out clothes and throwing them on the bed. 18 pulled ChiChi over to a vanity and pulled out huge boxes of make-up. She began making up ChiChi. After she was done Bulma oh-ed and ah-ed over her and began trying outfits on her. After they found the perfect outfit they spun ChiChi around to face a full-length mirror as her jaw dropped clear to the floor.
"You look... beautiful!" Bulma and 18 said together.
"I look like a whore!" ChiChi yelled. 18 seemed to look even eviler.
"That's the point." She said. She and Bulma pulled ChiChi outside.
"Man, I'll never call ChiChi matronly again." Tien said under his breath. 18 heard him and snickered. Bulma noticed Yamcha trying to hide behind Chouzu.
"So what do you think of ChiChi's makeover?" Bulma asked. "Do you think Goku will notice?"
"If he doesn't he must still be dead." Kurilin said.
"I guess I'll take that as a compliment, Kurilin." ChiChi said quietly, blushing.
"What in the world is that?" asked Marron in her cute little voice. She pointed to a bright light right beside ChiChi. A person stepped out of the light and everyone stepped back a little.
"Hey everyone. Miss me?" the person said. ChiChi's face flooded with recognition as she hoped beyond hope that the voice belonged to the one she thought it did.
"Go...Goku?" she asked tentivly.
"Yup. Hi ChiChi, it's been a while." He said and opened his arms.
"Goku!" ChiChi screamed as she ran into his embrace, hugging him tightly. He held her for a moment, then asked,
"ChiChi, what's the matter, why're you crying?"
"I think she's just happy to see you, Goku." Kurilin said, smiling.
"They're happy tears." 18 said, smiling at Kurilin.
"Gohan! Gohan! Wake up!" yelled Baba. Gohan opened one eye and looked at Baba.
"Are you ready? He asked, opening his other eye. Baba nodded. He stood up, towering above her. Baba once again did her magic on Gohan and his halo disappeared. Gohan looked up and smiled. "Thanks Baba." He said. Baba nodded. King Kai walked out of his house.
"Oh good, you're alive. I'm not sure how long it will take you to get past Snake Way. Good luck, Gohan. Don't come back here before you need to." He said. Gohan smiled.
"Thanks King Kai. Don't worry, I won't." He jumped up and floated above the planet. King Kai waved.
"Goodbye Gohan!" he yelled. Gohan waved back.
"Goodbye!" he yelled and floated down to Snake Way, beginning to run.
Goku raised a fork to his mouth, ready to eat.
"Goku!" King Kai yelled. Goku sighed.
"Yes, Kai?" he asked.
"I just sent Gohan on down Snake Way. He should be on earth today, but it may be late." Goku grinned and nodded.
"Great!" he said. "Thanks King Kai." He put down his fork and his plate of pie and smiled at the other people around the table. "Gohan's coming back!" he announced loudly. "Sometime today, probably late." That announcement got a smile out of everyone (except Vejita, of course). Goku even saw Piccolo grin briefly before he turned away from the others.
"Tell me," Bulma said, "How is Gohan? What is he now, 16?" Goku nodded.
"Same age as Videl." 18 said and winked slyly at Videl. Videl blushed a deep red color. Goku smiled at her, but she wasn't too sure what it meant. She had a feeling he was hiding something from her. A voice cut through the slightly awkward silence.
"When does the tenki Budaki start?" Vejita asked strongly but quietly. Goku glanced up at the clock.
"About 2 and a half hours." He said. "You guys wanna go there after desert, just to get an early start? I'm sure Gohan will figure out where we are." They all nodded and continued eating.
Gohan sighed. Snake Way wasn't much of a challenge to any of them anymore, but it was still an incredibly boring trip. He kept going as fast as he did because he wanted to see Piccolo and his mom and Bulma and all those people. But he was also looking forward to meeting someone else-Videl. He wondered if she would recognize him. Same goes for Goten-it was strange knowing that you have a little brother and seeing him and talking to him, but never meeting him. Gohan let his mind wander a bit as he flew as fast as he could down the winding path. Time elapsed, but he wasn't sure how much time. Finally over the horizon appeared a blessed sight-the check-in station.
Goten sat in a chair and pouted. Trunks sat beside him, doing the same.
"What's wrong?" Goku asked them.
"We aren't allowed to fight with you guys, we have to be in the kid's section." Trunks answered. Goku smiled.
"Well, just think of it this way- you'll get to defeat everyone else and then fight each other-and that's who you really want to fight, isn't it?" he said. That seemed to cheer them up a little bit, but they still weren't as upbeat as usual. Everyone just kind of wandered around for a while, meeting some of the fighters and some of the watchers. They registered themselves and met back together. They found a big group of chairs and sat down. Videl felt a soft touch on her shoulder. She expected it to be her father or some such person, but when she turned around she came face to face with a teenage boy. He had black, spiky hair and a cute, almost babyish face. His body, on the other hand, was extremely muscly and fairly tall. He looked really familiar to Videl but she couldn't quite remember who he was.
"Hi," he said, "I'm Gohan."
"Hi" Videl said, suddenly shy. ChiChi looked away from her conversation with Bulma and right at Gohan. Her eyes grew in size and her jaw dropped.
"Gohan!" she yelled and ran at him. Gohan smiled and held out his arms. ChiChi ran into them. After a moment she pulled back and looked up at him. "Oh Gohan, you've grown up. You're so handsome!" she exclaimed. Gohan blushed. He looked up and around the groups of chairs.
"Hi everyone!" he said. There were assorted Hi's and hellos and a grunt from Vejita. Gohan walked over to Piccolo. "Hiya, Piccolo." He said.
"Welcome back ki- Gohan." Piccolo answered. Piccolo didn't say it, but Gohan could hear it plain as day. You're not a kid anymore. Gohan smiled a bit and shook his head.
"Nope." He said. Piccolo moved towards Gohan a little and Gohan gave him a hug.
"You got soft." Piccolo said, but there was no meaning behind his words. Gohan pulled back. "Yup." He said, smiling.
"I registered you in for ya, Gohan." Goku said.
"Thanks Dad." Gohan said. Goku nodded. Gohan looked down at the chair he was standing in front of. A small face, very much like his own stared back at him. "You must be Goten." Gohan said, smiling at the child. A grin spread across Goten's face and he jumped up and hugged his brother. "It's you!" Goten whispered. "The whole time it was my brother!" Gohan smiled and nodded. No one but Goten and Gohan knew what he was talking about. Goten jumped back in his seat and Gohan looked around. He noticed that Videl had gone, so he went off to find her. He walked a little ways, and while he was standing still she smacked into his chest. He smiled at her as she apologized.
"Now Videl, why apologize?" he asked teasingly. "You were only not looking where you were going and ran smack dab into me. No biggie." Videl looked up at him and he grinned wider. "Have any good dreams lately?" he asked. He almost laughed as her eyes grew bigger and bigger.
"You? You're him!" she said and Gohan noticed that she was shaking. Gohan nodded.
"Yep. I know that I'm cutting right to the chase, but Mom always said I took too much after Dad. I guess I never learned patience from Piccolo like he wanted. Oh well, maybe it's a Saiyan thing." He said.
"You're the guy from my dreams." She said, still barely believing it.
"Yep. Hey, you didn't say the guy of your dreams. How come?" he said, smirking.
"Uh... I, Uh..." she stuttered.
"You seem to have lost your language skills. Maybe you just don't speak as well outside of your dreams. Guess you've been spending too much time with Vejita." He smirked.
"Uh... Um, we should get back to the others." She said, blushing. He nodded.
"Ok, fine by me." They walked back together silently. Gohan went and sat beside the others, half listening to Videl talk to Goten and Trunks. They were talking about losing because Goten had just lost to Trunks. Gohan walked over to them and kneeled down to Goten's height. "In that case, don't worry about it, Goten. Everybody loses sometime."
"But nii-san, have you ever lost?" Goten asked. Gohan almost laughed.
"Sure. When I first started sparring with Piccolo I would always lose to him. I still lose to Tou-san sometimes."
"Oh, Ok." Goten said. Gohan smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He looked over Goten's head at Videl.
"Well Videl, we'd better go pick our numbers for the match." He said, grinning. Videl nodded and they walked together towards the line of people waiting to pick their numbers.
Enter chapter 438 of volume 37 (The rest of the story pretty much is the Buu saga. If you have already seen or read a summary of the saga, just don't read it again!) (http://www.planetnamek.com/dbmanga/Db_vol37.txt)
Notes: Everything is pretty much the same after this. The Buu saga really doesn't involve Gohan too much. There is one change, though... While Gohan is at Kaio-shin's and the old Kaiou gives his life for Goku to go back, Goku refuses because he doesn't want Gohan to be dead alone. The old Kaiou calls Goku a baka and explains that his life is worth more than a human life, thus when he dies, both Goku and Gohan have their lives back.
Epilogue
About a week after Buu was defeated, Gohan was enrolled in Orange Star High School. Gohan and Videl began dating, though they decided to wait a little bit before telling their parents. And, as the story goes, they lived happily ever after (until GT).
Well I go to the river to soothe my mind
Ponder over the crazy days in my life
Just sit and watch the river flow.
-Natalie Merchant, "Where I go"
