Author's Note: Hi! Decided to do this as a little side project. There's this app called "Microsoft Word", and it allows me to work on my documents on my phone! You can save your work and everything. It's awesome! Words = exaggerated word, or someone is yelling.

Words = thoughts

Words = normal stuff, dialogue, ect

. Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ! I don't own anything until I'm a legal adult, 18, unfortunately….

CHAPTER ONE:

(It has been a week since Cell was defeated. Gohan is still 11.)

Gohan stared out his small window. The blue sheets on his learn-while-you-sleep bed were twisted and tangled up, halfway to the floor. His pillow was missing off the bed, but the small eleven year old was hugging it to his chest. Well, not his pillow. It was actually his Dad's pillow. It smelled like his dad, too. Every person had their own scent, Gohan was learning. His mother had a pleasant, sweet scent. His dad had a woodsy, thick scent. Not an unpleasant one. Gohan himself had a sweet, woodsy scent.

Gohan was leaning against the sturdy wood of his window. He had crawled in there and was watching the world around him. He closed his eyes as a strong gust of wind blew, blowing the curtains back and ruffling in his thick black hair. Gohan scrunched his eyes at the unpleasant feeling and itched his scalp. He returned his hand to where it was hugging his knees – and his pillow! – to his chest. He understood Goku's death and had gotten over it, but still… Gohan yearned for his father. He missed his Dad just being around the house, doing push-ups in the kitchen, the tickle-fight baths, and the simply giant trees he'd bring home for firewood.

"Can't sleep?" a gruff voice broke Gohan out of his reverie. Gohan almost jumped out of his skin. He took a quick peek behind him, fearful, that Chi-Chi would catch him up at three in the morning. He sighed in relief and glanced out his window again, greeted by the sight of a tall, grumpy Namekian. Due to their bond, Piccolo could sense Gohan's thoughts, emotions, and presence. Gohan had a much lesser grasp on the bond, so he could only see a bit of emotion, no thoughts, and could always tell where Piccolo was.

"Oh, hi Mister Piccolo!" Gohan said brightly. He loved his mentor – he figured that he could tell Piccolo anything. "Yeah, having trouble sleeping. I just woke up about half an hour ago. I'm not sure why… if it was a nightmare, I don't remember it. But I don't usually get nightmares after everything that's happened. It could also be some sort of pain that woke me up, but if it was, the pain has passed now. What sort of pain could cause harm to a Super Saiyan Two? I just don't know, Mister Piccolo." Piccolo listened like he always did, in silence. His expression didn't change, and Gohan didn't have a full grasp on his thoughts to figure his mentor out anytime soon.

"It's just one night, Gohan. Unless this has been happening for the last month, I'm sure everything is fine." Piccolo finally said. He sighed softly, Gohan's sensitive ears picking up the sound.

"I'm sorry if I bothered you. Was my Ki going crazy or something?" Gohan asked, tilting his head. His mentor had a smell all his own… Gohan didn't even have a name for this particular scent. It was very strange. Sort of like the woods, the rivers, but then this one quality that all Namekians seemed to have. It wasn't a bad smell, just strange.

"Yes. It started rising and dropping on a lesser scale about an hour ago, and about fourth minutes ago, it started rising and falling dramatically. We figured something was wrong, so we wanted to approach you and see what was happening t." Piccolo said. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest, his cape and turban flying in the wind. Once, when Gohan was seven, he had caught Piccolo asleep. He had snuggled into the cape and fell asleep listening to Piccolo's heart. Gohan remembered blearily rubbing his eyes as Piccolo yelled at him. Ever since, Piccolo was very careful of where he slept.

"Huh. I don't remember that. It must have happened when I was asleep… and what did you mean by 'we'?" Gohan asked. Piccolo gestured behind him. He floated away, leaning against the side of the house as Krillin and Yamcha floated towards the window. "Hey Gohan!" Krillin greeted with a grin. Yamcha simply saluted him with two fingers.

"We all came." Krillin explained. "We were worried! Tien, Chiaotzu – heck! Even Vegeta's here. We heard your conversation with Piccolo. It is weird that you just woke up, but it can't be anything too serious." Krillin was in his normal orange, turtle-hermit gi. Yamcha was in his baseball uniform.

"Yeah, you guys are right." Gohan said, smiling brightly at his friends. "But still… I have a bad feeling about this." Gohan's mood turned serious, a frown etched upon his face. "It's like a claw in my belly. I don't think that this a good sign, Krillin. Something bad is going to happen, I just know it!" Gohan shook his head stubbornly. "I don't know. I'm going to go get some sleep, okay?" Gohan grinned again, waving goodbye at his friends. He jumped off the windowsill, going to straighten up his bed so Chi-Chi wouldn't yell at him. Gohan made his bed like a pro, then climbed in and snuggled into the covers. By his door, Gohan had hung up his father's old gi. It hung there as a testament to a hero who died in battle. As the Z Fighters left, Gohan could sense Piccolo, still leaning against the wall. Only now, he was in a meditative pose. Gohan smiled to himself – Piccolo wouldn't leave, no matter who told him to. Gohan snuggled deeper into his covers, comforted by the presence of Piccolo, and the scent of his father. He closed his eyes, curling his body around his chest. Gohan was soon fast asleep, listening to the beat of his own heart.

(The Next Morning)

"Gohan!" Gohan woke up to his mother's voice, calling him from the kitchen. He blinked his eyes open, blearily rubbing the sleep out of them as he looked towards his door. "Breakfast is ready! Come and get it!" Gohan yawned, stretching. He arched his back, his hands locking together and stretching for the ceiling. Gohan yawned again and slumped back to his bed, trying to get in some sort of awareness before his mother busted in and smashed the awareness into him. "Coming, Mom!" Gohan called back. The delicious scent of his breakfast wafted through the door. That woke Gohan up. Definitely. Gohan shook his head, his wild hair going in every direction. Gohan looked over at the state of his room and gulped. He had left the window open last night, so there were leaves, pinecones, and sticks all over his room. Guess I'll have to clean this up after breakfast… before Mom sees it! Gohan shook his head and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Mm! Smells delicious, Mom!" Chi-Chi had really outdone herself today. "Uh, where is it?" Gohan could smell the breakfast, but couldn't see it anywhere. He blinked in confusion, tilting his head at his mother. "Outside, honey." Chi-Chi was getting a plate out for herself. Gohan usually just grabbed the dish and ate. She handed Gohan a pair of chopsticks before heading outside to their huge table. It was much bigger than the one inside, and had all sorts of supports on it to strengthen it against the weight of all the food.

"Wow, thanks Mom!" Gohan licked his lips, drool coming out of a corner of his mouth as he stared hungrily at the food on the table. He waited patiently for his mother to load her own plate full of food. Being the gentleman that he was, Gohan always let his mother have food first, in case he ate the rest of it. In the middle of the table was a giant pot full of white rice. Around the pot were plates of waffles, pancakes, sausage, miso soup, egg rolls, natto, fruit, fried pork, chicken, eggs, tofu, fish, toast, yogurt, and noodles.

"You can go ahead now, Gohan." Chi-Chi said. She put her plate down and took a sip of her coffee. She had a lot of green tea on the table as well for her baby boy. Gohan, just like his dad, didn't need to be told twice. He wiped the drool off of his face before diving into the food. In seconds, the pot of rice was being demolished. Egg rolls and sausages were disappearing at alarming rates. The natto was gone, and the fried pork was looking pretty pathetic. Gohan gulped down the miso soup before destroying the pancakes. Chi-Chi was eating calmly, gently picking her food up with her chopsticks and chewing it before swallowing. She was undisturbed by Gohan's eating habits. He was actually a very neat eater – when Goku was around, food would fly everywhere and you could hear him slurping, chewing, burping, and swallowing. Gohan was not that rude. He ate quietly and politely. He just ate a lot. Gohan finished his meal. The table looked exactly like it did before… minus the food. Gohan was sighing contentedly, patting his stomach while his eyelids fluttered shut.

"Oh, wow… thanks Mom, that was delicious!" Gohan said. "You're an amazing cook, Mom." Gohan gulped nervously as Chi-Chi put her food down and stared him down. Has she already found out about my room? Gohan bit his lip as his mother sighed.

"Thank you, Gohan. But before you go back to your studies, I need to talk to you about something." Chi-Chi said. "You're going to be a big brother, Gohan. I'm pregnant. I just found out from the doctor yesterday."

"I'm… going to be a big brother?" Gohan grinned, wanting to jump up and down but refrained from it. "That's great, Mom! Is it a boy or a girl?"

"We don't know yet, sweety. If it's a boy, I'll name him Goten. If it's a girl I'll name her Gosuke." Chi-Chi smiled, a hand on her stomach. She wasn't bloated yet, but she would be in a few months! Chi-Chi sighed softly. "I only wish that this child could see your father, Gohan." She said absentmindedly

"I'd love it if they could." Gohan agreed. He grinned at a nearby tree – on the tree was a bird's nest. Made of twigs, moss, and other slightly gross things, the nest was rough and not that pretty to look at. However, it did provide a safe and warm place for the chicks to grow up before they were pushed out of the nest and into their own life. It was much like the Son family. "Well, now that I've finished breakfast, I'm going to clean my room and then study. Is that okay, Mom?" Gohan asked, getting up from the table. He started clearing the table, taking all the empty plates and all the dishes off of it. With expert care, he swept everything off of the table and onto himself. He was levitating using his Ki, had the rice pot on his left knee, three dishes and the tea pot on his head, six dishes on his right arm and six on his left. In his left hand he carried the utensils and on his right, he had his cup.

"That's fine, Gohan. If you drop something, you're grounded!" Chi-Chi threatened. Truth be told, she was quite proud of Gohan for being able to clear the table the way he did. And he was going to clean his room and study! Oh, she was so proud of him! He'd make a wonderful husband to some lucky girl someday. At the thought of Gohan being married, Chi-Chi went into "grandbabies" mode. She had stars in her eyes as she swayed back and forth. Gohan sweatdropped and simply went inside. He quickly piled the dishes by the sink, so that his mother could wash them later.

Gohan dashed inside his room and started cleaning up as fast as possible. It was 7:30am. In three hours, Chi-Chi would come into his room with snacks and some juice. His room needed to be spotless before she found out! Otherwise… he was toast! Gohan dashed out of his room and grabbed a mop and bucket. He dashed back in and started cleaning the mud off of the floor. After drying his floor, he returned the mop, then grabbed the vaccum. After all the dust and dirt was gone, Gohan gathered up all the leaves and twigs and threw them out the window. They landed in a heap outside of his window. He half-closed the window, then fixed the curtains and tidied up his bed and desk. Gohan glanced at the clock; 10:29am. He gulped and almost broke the chair by rushing to it and sitting down, ripping his books open and started studying. One minute later, Chi-Chi walked into the room with his snack tray – a glass of orange juice and a twenty-layer sandwich.

"Oh, Gohan, I'm so proud of you. Your room is so tidy! Here, what are you studying?" Chi-Chi set the tray on his desk and peering at his study book. "Combinatorics! Now, Gohan, what is combinatorics all about?"

"Combinatorics is the study of discrete objects. The objects have to satisfy specific criteria for the largest, smallest, and optimal objects. That's how far I've gotten." Gohan said, blinking up at his mother.

"Very good, Gohan! You get back to studying, alright?" Chi-Chi was ready to squeal. Her boy was a genius! If he could just agree to one year of highschool, then he could get accepted into a high level college! He would be the smartest person there. He'd graduate with top marks and be a world-renown scientist! And of course, he'd give her many grandchildren!

"Hey, Mom, after lunch, can I go train?" Gohan asked innocently. At once, Chi-Chi's dreams of the future shattered with visions of her baby boy dying on the battlefield. Of him in college having no idea what math even was. He'd never graduate. Never be a scientist. No girl in her right mind would want a freeloader! Chi-Chi turned her furious gaze on her son. Gohan gulped, afraid he had made a terrible mistake. He shrank down under his mother's glare, trying to laugh it off. "I just want to be stronger, Mom. Like Dad." Gohan got a determined spark in his eyes. "So I can protect everyone in case-"

"Gohan, NO. What you don't seem to understand is that the adults do the fighting! Children aren't supposed to!" Chi-Chi interrupted.

"Mom, Dad died because I wasn't strong enough. Next time, that isn't going to happen. I'm training after lunch, Mom." Gohan had made his decision. He needed to train. It was a must! He needed to protect everyone! I'm sorry, Mom, but this is what Dad would do. I'll still study, I just need to fight, too. My real place isn't in a lab, making money, Mom. It's fighting to save innocents.

"Gohan, I am your mother, and as your mother, I will decide what you can and cannot do!" Chi-Chi screamed.

"I'm going!" Gohan stood up and yelled right back at her. His tone immediately softened at his mother's shocked expression. "Dad died defending innocents. My place is fighting to protect innocent people too, Mom. It's what I'm meant to do!" Gohan's eyes pleaded with her to understand.

"Alright, fine. But only after lunch. After supper, you're studying!" Chi-Chi, seeing she wasn't going to stop her eleven year old son, decided to just allow him to train – as long as he studied, of course.

"Yup! Thanks, Mom!" Gohan hugged his mother, then returned to his books. He ate his sandwich in one bite, then swallowed and began taking sips of his juice. Chi-Chi took the tray away into the kitchen, where she was washing breakfast dishes and making lunch. Chi-Chi had to have three separate sets of dishes, pots, pans, and utensils because of how much those two Saiyans ate. Now, only one Saiyan.

Gohan continued studying his math. He finished the book and decided he'd go outside for some fresh air. Gohan unlocked his window and hopped out of it, shutting it behind him. He breathed in the fresh mountain air and expanded his senses, wondering his sensei was. Gohan locked onto his target. He ran into the forest, then climbed a tree. The bark was rough and helped him grip the tree to get to the top. He looked around, relying on his and Piccolo's link to guide him. Gohan jumped from tree branch to tree branch, finding his mentor meditating in front of a waterfall. Gohan levitated himself and jumped slightly as Piccolo opened his eyes and looked behind him just before Gohan poked him.

"Hey, Mister Piccolo!" Gohan greeted kindly. He formed his own meditative pose, smiling brightly at his mentor.

"Hmph. What's up, kid?" Piccolo asked.

"Mom is letting me train in between lunch and dinner. Think we could spar later?" Gohan tilted his head and smiled. "Maybe we can even get Vegeta in on the action! It'll be fun, Piccolo, what do you think?"

"Sounds good, kid." Piccolo smiled at his student. Gohan frowned slightly. His heart was beating a little too fast for the level of activity he was doing. He looked up, seeing Piccolo had noticed his frown.

"Gotta run before Mom catches me. Bye Piccolo!" Gohan called as he sped off. He landed on the ground, a hand over his heart. This sure is strange. I haven't been doing that much activity, but my heart is beating way too fast. Gohan gasped in pain, falling to his knees as his chest started aching. It felt like someone was squeezing his rib cage shut and squishing his heart! Gohan moaned slightly, his hand tightening over his chest. Wait a second! the boy's eyes opened wide. This might be Dad's heart disease! Oh man… I really hope I'm wrong. But if I'm right… I can't tell anyone. I don't want to worry them. Especially Mom. I'll just have to tough it out! I bet that I'm strong enough to handle this. I have to be!

~Has Gohan really caught Goku's radical heart disease? If so, how long can he hold on before it's too late to save him? Find out next time, on DBZ: Crossroads!~

To everyone who reviewed this chapter:

I apologize for the lack of spaces! I completed this on my phone, and it had all the necessary spaces in my e-mail, so I figured it was fine. I'm really sorry! I just edited the document and added spaces. Thanks for reviewing! I'll watch out for this in the future.