A/N- So you guys, this chapter is more of a flashback on the couple days before chapter 11 took place. Remember, I said I was going to reveal the gift that Gohan gave Tania last chapter? ;) Well this is the previous events leading up to her birthday party. It was meant to go in with chapter 11 when I was first started it, but then it became way tooo long so I decided to leave that cliff hanger at the end of last chapter so I could add these earlier parts in for this chapter since it's clearly going to be the longest out of the two chapters. Reminder/Note: Remember the kimono ChiChi made for Tania as a present? This chapter will explain why she decided to do that lol. Anyways, hope you all enjoy reading. There'll be another A/N at the bottom too so please read that one also.
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Chapter 12: Gohan Goten Trunks Adventure! Hunt For The Crystal Of Love
This took place a couple days before the birthday party of Tania's. The exact day that she left to stay at Videl's.
GOHAN'S FLASHBACK
"Do you got everything you need?" I ask my girlfriend as she stepped outside the Son home residence in the mid afternoon.
"Yeah. If I happen to not have something when I get to Videl's, i'm sure she'll have something for me to borrow. She's crazy rich, remember? She's got to have nearly everything that this planet has to offer since everyone thinks her dad beat Cell hehe."
"Maybe." I reply while scratching my cheek.
I wonder what it would've been like if I actually had told the world that it was my father, friends, and I who killed Cell? I bet they probably wouldn't believe us. Oh well, I never liked the idea of being super famous with paparazzi trying to invade my families privacy. In fact, I actually think it was a good thing Hercule stole my credit. He's way more photogenic than I am for sure anyways.
"So, you said you'll be back when?"
"I should be back in two days most likely in the morning or early afternoon." Tania answers as she lifted her humongous backpack off the ground. In a couple pockets, hair products stuck out while in the remaining ones, textbooks and folders did.
"It looks like you packed every object in the house in that thing." I comment.
"Actually." The girl blushes due to what looked like embarrassment. "Uh..."
"You can thank me for that." Mother appears from around the house with a brown laundry basket in hand. Inside, there were a variety of fancy clothes for women.
She handed the basket to Tania. "Here, I washed and dried these for you. These clothes will surely impress that rich friend of yours. If we're lucky, she'll be so in love with them, she will try to buy these from you for thousands or millions of zeni."
I fell over.
I should've known mom would pull off the same stunt on Tania like she did to me when I was a kid but isn't giving Tania her old fashion kimonos to get money a bit much?
"T-Thanks, ChiChi." Tania sweatdrops while forcing a smile on her face.
Just then, everything began to get extremely windy. In the sky, a yellow aircraft was beginning to make its descent in the front yard. In the pilot seat was Videl.
"Is that really Videl flying that thing?!" I stood up while using my arm to partially cover my eyes from the intense wind.
Tania turned around and gulped. "I thought I told her that I would be getting to her place on my own."
"Well, seems to me that she didn't agree to your way of transportation." I say back.
After all was settled, the front window opened and the daughter of Hercule hopped out of it, resting her fists on each side of her hips. She had that usual scowl on her face.
"It is true then. You guys live in the mountains." The blue-eyed girl looks around. "Doesn't look like you have any neighbors either."
"Excuse me, young lady!" Mother speaks.
"Hm?" Videl notices her.
"Who do you think you are landing that aircraft so close to my home? That wind that it caused nearly lifted me off my feet."
"My bad." Videl says almost in a fake like tone before focusing her attention on Tania. "You ready to go?"
Tania was about to say something when mother suddenly exploded.
"You listen here! 'My bad' is not the right way to apologize about something this rude. You can't just choose a random spot and land there without carefully examining for structures or people!"
"I already said my apology!" Videl quickly becomes offended. "Just quit biting my head off you old woman!"
"EEP!" Tania gasps.
"OH BOY!" I say as my eyes widen before my upper teeth fell upon my bottom teeth.
"RRGH! How... dare... you!" Mother grunts through gritted teeth. "Old woman...?"
Videl blinked. She seemed to be waiting for a comeback.
"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETH-" Mom shouts angrily before I ran in front of her and held her back from attacking my classmate. "SON STEP BACK! I'M GONNA SHOW HER HOW 'OLD' I AM!"
"ChiChi... This girl is Videl." Tania speaks up.
Mom just kept thrashing around, kicking and throwing her arms everywhere. "I DON'T CARE WHO SHE IS! THIS GIRL NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO RESPECT HER ELDERS!"
"Mooom." I whisper. "This is the girl that Tania is going to stay with for the next couple days."
The kicks and punches coming from mother halted. She looked over my shoulder with huge eyes. "THE RICH GIRL?!"
"Yes." I nod.
Immediately, mother shoved me to the side and ran to the pig-tailed girl. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't come off as grumpy."
"It's fine... I think." Videl replies.
"Tell me. Is it true that your loaded?" Mom asks.
"ChiChi." Tania slides her hand down her face. "You shouldn't ask questions like that."
"I'm not really that rich. I only have one hundred billion zeni in my bank account." Videl answers anyways.
"Just from you alone?!"
"Yeah." Nods Videl. "If I had to total the combined amount of zeni my dad and I have, the zeni would most likely reach up to the trillions."
Mother's jaw dropped to the ground. She then quickly turned her head towards me then excitedly asks, "AND YOU SAID THIS GIRL WILL BE A PART OF THIS FAMILY IN A COUPLE YEARS?!"
"WHAAAAT!" Tania drops the basket of clothes and faces me with that same fiery aura around her whenever she gets jealous. The only difference was that this time fire was evident in her eyes also.
I completely crashed to the ground.
I... I didn't-
"GOHAAAN!" She then stomps over to me and grabs a hold of my collar. "MIND EXPLAINING WHAT CHICHI'S TALKING ABOUT?!"
"T-Tania... c-calm down... I never s-said a-anything!"
"Gohan, who is this lady and what is she talking about?" I could hear Videl ask.
"That lady is my mother." I get a moment of calmness.
"AND?!" Tania starts shaking me again.
"I swear! I didn't say anything about what mom just asked!" I again try to get Tania to stop being so jealous.
"What's going on out here?" Father steps out of the house. He then saw Tania and I then had the nerve to ask, "Now son... What did you do?"
"N-Nothing!" I look at dad with a 'please help me' expression.
Unexpectedly, Tania let me go then began walking towards Videl's jet copter.
"Tania wait!" I stand up and stretch my hand out though I knew it could never reach her from the spots her and I were standing at.
"Oooo! Oooo!" Goten comes racing out the house. The next thing I saw was him getting a good look at my face then faced Tania. "Was Tania and Gohan fighting again?! Did I miss it?! I hope not because they rarely fight but when they do it's always funny!"
"Goten! Be quiet, man!" I scold my little brother while shooting a cold glare at him.
He covered his mouth with his hands.
"I'm ready to go, Videl." Tania hops into the passenger seat and buckles herself in. She crossed her arms with her eyes closed. A vein seemed to throb at her temple.
Oh man, she looks so mad. This is probably the maddest I've seen her to date!
Videl turning away to her aircraft, waved at me before saying, "See ya later, Gohan. I'll bring Tania home myself in a couple days."
"Alright. Bye, Videl."
"Goodbye, stranger." Father decides to speak.
Videl heard and turned her head. She examined my father in suspicion.
"You? Haven't I seen you before?" She asks while narrowing her eyes.
"Maybe. My name is G-"
"No! I don't think you have. You must be mistaking him for someone else." I cut dad off so he doesn't give Videl enough information to do research on him.
"But I could've sworn-"
Quickly, I began lightly pushing Videl's back in order to get her to head in the direction of her vehicle. "Wow! Look at the time. It's getting near to sundown. It must take a couple of hours to get from here to your city, right?"
"Yes but-"
"You don't want your dad getting worried sick about you. You know how protective he is . It would be smart to get home as quickly as possible."
"I guess." Videl gets into the pilot seat. "Well... we're off then."
"Hey Tania..." I try one last time to get my girlfriend's attention. She slightly opened her eyes but was giving me an annoyed stare.
I weakly waved at her. "Be safe."
"Hmph!" She turns her eyes to her upper right.
Aw man...
"I look forward to seeing you again the day after tomorrow." I say anyways as I tried to muster up a warm smile.
"Bye, Gohan." Tania takes a glance at me before turning her eyes away and seeming to have a small smile evident on her. "Try... to have a nice time while... i'm gone... o-okay?"
"Of course." I nod.
"Bye Tania!" Goten cries out as Videl began to close the window. He was waving both of his arms.
"Be good while i'm gone, kiddo! I'll be back soon and I hope not to come back to my room being junky, okay?"
"I pinky promise." Goten replies.
Father and mother then said their goodbyes and within seconds, Videl's aircraft lifted into the air and blasted off to her hometown.
Mom spotted the basket of clothes Tania dropped and pretty much freaked out. She started chasing the vehicle after picking the basket up.
"WAIT! TANIAAA! YOU FORGOT THIS!"
I rubbed my head.
Oh mom...
"Goten!" Trunks walks out my house with a irritated facial expression. He had been visiting us for the day and was allowed to stay the night also till tomorrow. "Where've you been, man? You were taking forever. Did you forget that we were in the middle of a video game?"
"No." Goten shakes his head. He then squeezed his hands closed. "But Trunks! I came out here and saw Gohan and Tania fighting! It was sooo awesome!"
"Them two?!" Trunks gasps. "Dang it! I totally missed it! Why didn't you go get me, Goten?! I would've got some snacks and watch everything unfold as if it was a movie!"
"I'm sorry. It was too good I just couldn't." Goten rubs the back of his head while laughing.
"Hey, that wasn't funny." I respond to the boys conversation.
"Not for you but for us its hilarious." Trunks replies with a smile. "It's one of the rare times we get to see you act all emotional and stuff."
Suddenly, my ears picked up a chuckle. I looked up ahead to see that the noise was coming from my father of all people.
"Not you too, dad? You think its funny when Tania and I get into a argument?"
"Sorry, G-Gohan." Dad tries to compose himself. "It's just th-that you and T-Tania hardly ever argue b-but when y-you do, you look more afraid of her than when you faced Cell and all our other enemies eheehehe."
Last time I checked, you're always afraid of mom whenever she's upset or angry with you. I clearly got this trait from you, dad...
I slumped my shoulders, dropped my head, then sighed, "Ohhh I give up already."
~~~~~
Dinner was set and all sat down and began to dig in. I, however, poked at my food after eating very little. Mom occasionally would glance up at me but then would look away when we would make eye contact. After some time passed by, she finally decided to break the awkward silence that filled the air.
"Gohan, you should really stop playing with your food. I spent a lot of time preparing this meal so you would eat it."
I stopped and raised my chopsticks a bit over my bowl of fried rice. "Sorry mom. I'm just not really hungry right now."
"Why not?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Trunks monstrously throws rice balls into his mouth. He took little time chewing and swallowed it all in one gulp. "Gohan doesn't want to eat cause he's still upset that you asked him about marrying Videl when Tania was standing right there by you guys."
"I thought you weren't there when that happened? Who told you, young man?" Mom eyes the five-year-old.
"Goten." He answers.
Immediately, Goten pointed at dad. "Daddy was the one who told me!"
Mother then looked at father. "Goku..."
With his face almost completely in the spaghetti bowl, he eventually lifted his head out of it and slurped all the hanging strings back into his mouth before swallowing it. "I just happened to overhear while I was finishing up my lunch."
I stood up. "May I be excused?"
"Absolutely not! You need to eat something, Gohan!" Mom refuses.
"I'm not hungry. I'll just head to my room and study."
Mom sighed heavily. "Gohan, I didn't really mean to ask what I did. I was just-"
"Caught up in the moment." I finish her sentence for her. ''I know but mom, you can't just go make it seem like I talked about marrying Videl someday just because she's filthy rich. You didn't even consider how Tania would feel!"
"Gohan, I don't appreciate you speaking to your mother like that."
"Goten... Your brother and mother are about to argue I think." Trunks tries to whisper to Goten unaware that I could still hear him.
"I know i'm not being the best son in the world right now but still... How could you even think of wanting me to marry someone just because they have a ton of zeni over someone that I wouldn't give away for all the money in the world?!" I raise my voice.
"..."
Again silence. All eyes went on me as if I was put in the spotlight.
The half eaten sushi that was hanging out of Trunks's mouth fell to the table when the kid's jaw dropped slightly. Father lifted his face out of the rice bowl and gawked at me while Goten continued devouring his meals. Lastly, the eggroll in mom's chopsticks slipped loose from its grip and hit the floor when she paused and stared at me strangely.
"Why are you guys looking at me so weird?" I ask.
"Woah." Trunks speaks first.
"Gohan... You sure are growing up, son." Father smirks.
W-What's dad talking about? He just kinda changed the subject to something else...
Trying to avoid the weird looks everyone but Goten was giving me, I picked up my chopsticks, lifted up a sushi then hung it above my wide opened mouth.
"Oh Gohan!" Mother suddenly says. I averted my eyes at her without repositioning my current action and saw tears about to leak down from it. "You've fallen so deeply in love with Tania that you're actually planning to marry her and have her as your wife even though you're still sixteen, aren't you?"
"..."
In a state of shock, my hand became weak to the point I couldn't hold my chopsticks correctly. The sushi that was held by it managed to fall quickly and attached itself in my throat. Immediately, I began to cough uncontrollably.
"Gohan!" Dad stands out of his chair.
Attempting to get the large piece of sushi out of me, I pounded my right fist against my chest. This method proved to be a failure and I continued to choke.
Why didn't I eat that sushi before mom had the chance to speak?!
My airway was blocked and I couldn't stop myself from coughing excessively.
"ACK! ACK! ACK!"
"Big Brother! Are you okay?"
"Goten, can't you see that he's choking big dummy?! He needs our help!" Vegeta's son replies to Goten's question.
Instinctively, I grabbed every single glass of water on the table in another attempt to get rid of the stuck sushi. This time I was hoping to just make it glide down my throat so it can be digested instead. The first two full glasses of water was helpful somewhat but the third fourth glasses did just the trick. After the sushi swallowed, I still coughed but it was definitely getting under control.
"Alright. Here goes nothing!" Trunks cracks his knuckles before running towards me.
"Wait Trunks! Don't-"
Flipping into the air, Trunks aimed his right foot against my chest and I was thrown into a small table behind me. On impact, I fell through it, breaking it in half.
WOWIE! That was a nice kick from Trunks! Vegeta must be training him well!
"Feel any better, Gohan?" The lavender-haired boy hurries over to where I landed.
"A lot better than before." I stand up and dust my yellow shirt, white long sleeves, and brown khakis.
"Oh yeah!" Trunks jumps up with his fist pointed upwards. "I'm the man!"
I placed my hand on my chest and rubbed it.
That kick actually sort of hurt.
"Now that that fiasco is over. Gohan, will you please answer the question? Are you thinking of getting married to Tania?" Mom once again asks.
With a extremely heated face from embarrassment, I say, "Who said I was thinking about marriage so soon?! I'm only a sophomore in high school."
"True but..." Mom then gazes at father with flushed cheeks. "I was dreaming for the day that this lug would marry me since I was much younger than you. I was just a kid."
Flustered, father awkwardly chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.
"Um... I think i'll head to my room now." I nervously chuckle while going for the stairs and making my ascend. "Thanks for the meal, mom."
"Gohan!" She calls by the time I already was upstairs.
I went into my room and closed the door behind me and sighed. I then heard a whimper and felt something rubbing against my leg. I looked down and spotted Chica.
"Hey there." I pick the German Shepherd up and snuggled her in my arms. "I hope you had a better day than I did, girl. Everything has been going south for me."
In the morning, there was a hostage takeover at some small theatre. Tania and I arrived and the boss immediately came to greet us. Videl soon appeared out of the theatre with a few crooks knocked out and the hostages ran for safety. We then allowed her to take on the boss and when it seemed like she had him down, he got back up and threw a grenade. Videl spotted him and began sprinting to catch him but she had no idea that the jerk had tricked her into running right towards the grenade. As a last-ditch effort, I quickly grabbed onto the fifteen-year-old but after no more than two seconds, the bomb ignited and we were both carried off our feet and was tossed down the street.
After recovering, things got a bit... uncomfortable. For the first time, Videl seemed to have been blushing. I was about to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things but couldn't as someone had pulled on my ear. I stood up and listened to what Tania was saying. She was a bit on the scary side and didn't say a word to me. But eventually, after we returned home, she became softer and even apologized for tugging my ear.
"Now she's upset all over again." I take a seat on my chair and lay my cheek on the desk after setting Chica on my bed.
"Arf! Arf!" She barks.
"She'll be back in two days..." I then found myself remembering something from a while ago.
"Draw a heart on it so... you'll remember it better." A soft voice says to me shyly as I tried to remember who it was that spoke.
"Alright. I'll mark it like that then." I say while beginning to draw the shape around something .
I stared out the window in front of me.
Hmmm... I think today is September 21st... but I feel like something important is coming up soon... but what?
Resting my head on the desk, I closed my eyes and yawned.
I'm too tired to think right now. I'll just get some shut eye and when I wake up tomorrow, maybe i'll remember what I was thinking about.
~~~~~
"GOHAN!"
"Mhmm..."
"GOHAAAAAN!" A child's voice yells.
My eyes slowly opened. Though my sight was blurry, I could still identify the faces of Goten and Trunks. Around them was sunlight. It must have been either morning or afternoon. "W-What?"
"In the morning, Trunks, mom, and I went to some really awesome city to get some materials that mom wanted to buy in order to make some pretty dress for Tania. We asked her what is was for and she said that it was for you guys' wedding after party some day! Tania's birthday is tomorrow so mommy said she'll give the dress to her then." Goten smiles. "Big brother, so when is it going to happen? I'm gonna eat so much food until I explode!"
I began to straighten up in my seat while rubbing my left eye. "Mom seriously did that?"
"Yeah." Trunks replies. "She was all planning on what the dress would look like and everything after you left dinner too hahaha."
"But Tania and I aren't even the right ages yet. We can't marry right now. In Japan, it's illegal to marry before I turn eighteen and she turns sixteen."
"Well, I don't see how that's my problem. You're the one who made it seem like you were having thoughts about it with that whole speech at the dinner table last night."
I was about to respond but Trunks interrupted.
"But this is not why we came to wake you up, Gohan. Tania's birthday is tomorrow and-"
"GYA!" I lifted myself out of my chair. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING?!"
Trunks gave me a serious look. "No... Goten and I remember it. She told us before you guys stated even dating."
Quickly, I ran to the calendar on the wall by my closet and saw that I left it on August. Grabbing the calendar off the wall and tearing out the month of August, I then spotted a familiar heart on the 23rd of September.
What I was thinking about yesterday began to reshow itself in my mind but in clear detail. It all happened during the first few weeks of me getting to know Tania.
*****
"Okay, so this guy is Piccolo to the left in the car but who's the guy with the spiky hair on the right?"
"That's my dad." I answer while pointing on my drawing of him in a car with Piccolo from when I was younger.
"He has a unique hairstyle. I've never seen it before." Tania stares at the drawing.
We were both in my room, sitting next to each other on my bed with our backs against the wall. I was showing her the things I use to draw in a blank book as a child.
"Yeah I know." I smile before closing my book. I then sat with my legs criss crossed and brought my face frontwards so I could take a look at Tania's face. "What about you?"
"Hmm?" Tania faces me.
"Tell me something about yourself."
"Oh. Uhh..." The girl seems hesitant. She then looked down at her clothing and replied, "Well... I'm wearing a pink t-shirt, grey sweatpants, my hair is in a bun-"
"And i'm wearing a purple gi with a blue orb around my waist..." I sweat drop. "Tania... you know I'm not asking about something I can already see. I wanna know something about you that I don't know about... Like your birthday for example. Mines is on May 11th."
"Give me one reason why I should tell you when my birthday is?" She replies.
"Because-"
"And it better not be because you told me yours!"
I paused and rubbed my head while letting out a nervous chuckle.
That technique won't work on her like it did when I asked for her name...
"You're my friend." I give my answer before getting off the bed and heading to my calendar on the wall. ''I'm not very good at remembering things but i'll be sure to give you a really awesome present on your birthday. I promise."
"I-It's in... September." Tania actually gives me the month.
My calendar was on April so I skipped four pages until September came up.
"What day? 16th? 2nd? 26th?"
"23rd." She says.
I smiled. "Really? That's neat."
"It is?"
"Yeah. Your birthday is on a holiday and its the first day of fall too: Autumnal Equinox Day." I look back at her.
"What...?" Tania slants her head to the side.
Heh... She didn't even know that...
"You'll remember my birthday?"
I nod. I then picked up a red marker that was on my desk then took the cap off. "In fact i'll put a reminder on the calendar."
"Draw a heart on it so... you'll remember it better." My ears picked up Tania's soft spoken shy voice.
I felt my cheeks grow warm.
She really wants me to draw a heart around the date?
"Alright. I'll mark it like that then." I stay cool and begin to draw the shape around the number.
After I finished, I turned around to see Tania staring oddly at me. I gave her a warm smile.
"Just you wait. By the time you see me on your birthday, i'll have a special gift just for you."
Instantly, Tania's face turned one hundred times redder than a tomato. She then smiled widely but quickly hid it with her hands. She then got off my bed and walked out of my room while trying to avoid eye contact with me.
"Huh?" I blink. "What's up with her?"
*****
"She's gonna kill me!" I say outloud after remembering every single detail.
"Who? Tania?" Goten asks. "No. I don't think so, big brother. Tania always tell me that she wouldn't hurt a single hair on your head."
"Oh please, Goten. We know that's not true." Trunks folds his arms.
"It is!" Goten pouts.
"Geez Goten, i'm just joking. I was with you when she said that."
"You guys don't understand. I promised her a long time ago that I would give her a special gift!" I slide my hand down my face. "But I didn't make or buy anything yet..."
"I thought that you would be a bad boyfriend and forget her birthday." Trunks points at me. "But lucky for you, when Goten, your mom, and I went to the city, there was this strange woman at the jewelry section."
"And?"
"She told us about some weird crystal legends and how they're scattered across some of the most dangerous parts of the world. I can't remember what she told us exactly but we asked the nice lady if there was a crystal that we could find for Tania and she told us that we should look for the crystal of... The crystal... of um..."
"The crystal of love, Goten." Trunks finishes up for my brother.
"The crystal of... love?" I scratch my head.
Yanking onto my arm, running to the window and opening it, Trunks jumped into the sky. "I'll explain everything to you as we head to the place where to find it."
What about Gote- Huh?!
"Goten, you're flying!" I gasp after seeing the kid actually floating and flying pretty good.
"Daddy taught me while you were at school." The spiky-haired boy explains.
"That's great, Squirt. You're doing well!"
Goten laughed.
Taking control of my own energy, I released Trunks hold on my arm and flew through the skies at their pace.
"So Trunks, what did the lady say about that crystal and where are we going?" I ask.
"We're going to Yunzabit Heights."
"Yunzabit heights? That's going to take us a while to get there from where were at." I reply.
And that's the place Mr. Popo took Bulma to to go examine Kami's old ship. Man... that feels like ages ago that those events took place.
"I'll be done telling you everything the woman told Goten and I by the time we get there. Now listen up..."
Trunks went on explaining everything in a fair amount of detail.
Apparently, there are twelve gems that represent: Love, hope, resilience, light, courage, strength, sincere, perseverance, faith, creativity, loyalty, and wisdom . Each has some kind of power hidden in them depending on what kind of trait they are. Trunks informed me that after finding a gem, a person must prove themselves against a guardian who protects the special gem. If that person is worthy, the guardian hands over the thing and disappears from sight.
"Not to seem rude or anything but don't you guys think this sounds a little odd?" I give my thoughts.
"No! It sounds like that video game me and Trunks play at his house!" Goten disagrees immediately.
"You know that those video games aren't real, right?"
"Yeah they are! We're basically heading to a game stage right now."
Flying closer to my side, Trunks whispers, "Just drop it, man. If we keep telling Goten this, he'll start crying."
"Alright." I sigh. "Goten, are you good at video games?"
"He's great." Trunks answers. "Hey Goten, when we get to the boss who's suppose to be super strong, for your finisher, use that blue ball ki wave of yours."
"The Kamehameha?"
"Yeah. That dumb- I mean cool attack."
While the two boys were getting off topic, I thought to myself.
Twelve gems guarded by someone or something... What really makes them so special? They all have powers but how unique are they? What do they do? Actually, if those gems represent something good, wouldn't there be a bad side to it also?
"Trunks, Goten.." I say as us three was beginning to enter into a very cold and windy region. "Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Though the gems are meant for good, they can also be corrupted and used for evil." Trunks adds in.
"What do you mean?"
"Yunzabit heights! My watch says we're here." Trunks ignores my question as we dived to the ground.
I guess i'll have to ask again later...
"I-It's s-s-so cold!" Goten shivers.
I observed the area as soon as my feet touched the grass. Besides heavy winds blowing things around, I didn't see anything particularly out of the ordinary.
"Ready to begin our quest, Goten?" Trunks excitedly pumps his fist in the air.
"YEAH!" Goten brings his fist upwards too.
In seconds, Trunks broke out in a sprint.
"Whoever finds the guardian first gets to have the loser be their servant for an entire week!" Trunks runs ahead of Goten.
"No fair, Trunks!" Little brother starts to head his friend's direction.
"And here I thought Trunks was taking this journey to finding the crystal of love seriously." I sweat-drop. Knowing that the two boys would have no trouble with the animals in the area, I told them to search hard and if they see anything suspicious to raise their ki high enough that I could sense them.
Closing my eyes, I attempt to search for any abnormal life force in the area. About a minute passed by and nothing.
"If that lady said that there's suppose to be a guardian protecting the crystal then why can't I sense its presence?" I reopen my eyes. I pushed myself off the ground, heading any random direction. "Oh well... I guess i'll just have to blindly look for it."
~~~~~
It was getting to be sundown and still nothing. Trunks, Goten and I have been searching all day. In matter of fact, I haven't seen the two squirts since we separated.
"I should check on those two." I place my two fingers on my forehead.
Within seconds, I appeared in a even darker area. The winds here were so strong it could cut the skin of any average human. To me, this shouldn't be the type of place Trunks and Goten should be in since they're still very young and probably have more vulnerable skin than I do.
"GYAAAAH!" Comes a scream nearby.
That sounded like Goten!
Loud thunder-like sounds then started to inch closer to where I was and the ground began shaking as if a earthquake was occurring.
"Gohan! Watch out!"
I turn around to see a large blue dinosaur with Goten on top of its tail as the creature shook it violently while Goten hung on. Meanwhile, Trunks was on top of the dinosaurs head pulling onto its upper eyelids. The kids were having a blast irritating the life out of the t-rex.
"Get off that thing, you guys! That's extremely dangerous!" I shout in concern.
"No No! This is fun!" Trunks laughs.
"I told you this quest is just like the video games I play!" Goten giggles as he continued being whipped around.
I sidestepped the dinosaur as it ran past me and ascended into the air; following it. I reached Goten and tried pulling him away from the tail but the boy had a strong hold. He simply refused to listen to my warnings. Trunks looked back at us and gave a smirk. I knew this action would soon be regretted by him when a large branch collided against his face and he began rolling violently down the dinosaur's back.
"Trunks!" I catch Vegeta's son before he could fall off. His eyes were swirling and he didn't say a word.
Suddenly, after seeing his best friend in danger, Goten began panicking. "Gohaaaan! Get me off this stupid thing! I take it back! This is not fun anymore!"
Somehow, blood was landing on my forehead as I chased after my brother. On his arms, skin would begin to get a fresh cut. The tyrannosaurus was running fast compared to other animals that chased after me in the past and at this pace, the wind, which was already blowing hard enough as it is, blew roughly against Goten's delicate skin.
"Jump off and fly, Goten!"
"B-But I c-c-can't! I'm too scared! The wind is hurting me!"
"I'll save you then." I reply as I flew right next to the kid with an arm stretched out. "Grab onto me!"
The dinosaur wildly flung its tail at me unexpectedly. I barely dodged it but unfortunately, this created some distance from my brother and I. A cliff now came to view. Any second now, the dinosaur would fall straight down, taking Goten along with it. Now was the time to take that t-rex out personally.
"Kamehamehaaa!"
A burst of energy shot out from Goten's palms; striking through the dinosaur's tail. The youngest of my family then was quickly descending seemingly passed out. As I hurried to catch Goten, a large pterodactyl scooped him up with its feet claws and began to fly away.
"Hey! Let him go!" I chase after the thing.
"G-Goten..." Trunks awakens then looks where I was to see Goten defenseless. "Oh no! Goten!"
Pushing himself away from me, Trunks pulled his fist back as he readied himself to release a devastating blow to the large blue creature's stomach. When close enough, Trunks propelled his fist forward and landed a jab on the bird just as I predicted. Goten was released from it's death grip and fell into my arms.
"This is what you're gonna get for hurting my friend!" Trunks grunts as he continued boxing it out with the flying creature. A punch in the gut went to a kick in the face followed by an uppercut to the lower beak. Squawking, the pterodactyl fled to safety. Trunks satisfied, flew down to me, asking if Goten was alright.
"He's going to be alright but we're gonna have to find a cave around here. It's way too dangerous to stay out in the wind like this."
Trunks quickly scanned the area and pointed downwards to our left. "There. A cave is down there, Gohan."
"Nice eye, Trunks." I begin to fly down to the cave. "Lets get a move on."
~~~~~
Firewood was gathered to make a warm fire in the cave. Goten had gained consciousness about two hours ago and now all Trunks and him were doing was coming up with games to play. During the two hours, I went back out and brought in the tail of the dinosaur that Goten penetrated through and we ate that for dinner since nothing else was really available. Now I was staring at the burning wood not really in thought. Outside, the sun had came down and the moon had now taken over its position as a light source. I sighed as I looked at the cuts I cleaned for Goten. I got my brother in danger by separating myself from him.
What kind of person leaves his four-year-old brother and his five-year-old friend to fend for themselves thinking they wouldn't get into huge trouble...? Apparently me.
"Sorry Gohan."
I took my eyes off the fire and to the person who spoke soft words to me: Goten.
"What are you apologizing for, Goten? You didn't do anything." I give the kid my full attention as he crawled closer to me with Trunks also.
"I didn't mean to make you upset with me." He gives me puppy dog eyes.
I ruffled his hair. "Aw Goten, i'm not upset with you. I was worried, that's all."
"Really, big brother?"
"Of course." I softly smile. "However, I was impressed with that Kamehameha you pulled back there. Dad is gonna be so proud of you when I tell him this."
Goten smiled back then began to suck on his right thumb. Trunks saw this and began snickering. "Goten, you're such a baby. I can't believe you still suck on your thumb."
"So!" The younger boy says while his thumb was still in his mouth.
I rubbed the back of my head. "Now now guys, lets try to get along."
"Gohan, just in case you're wondering, your dad and my parents already know about where we're at right now. I told mom about Tania's birthday and she's already planning to set up a party at Roshi's really early in the morning. She told me to tell you to don't concern yourself over the money she's spending for everything either because she would've done it even if you didn't want her to." Trunks informs me.
"I'm gonna have to give her my thanks when I see her tomorrow then."
"Yeah, but what about Tania? I mean, we still didn't find that gem."
"Don't worry, we will! I gave her my word that I would find her a special unique gift and I won't break that promise ever." I give a bashful smile.
"Say... Gohan?" Trunks looks up at me.
"Yeah?"
"That one time when the bug creature beated you up and you were lying on a bed at Roshi's injured with Tania near you while everyone left the room... did she really give you medicine through your mouth or did you guys smack lips?"
Goten excitedly clapped his hands together. "Are you guys talking about kissy kissy stuff? Cause I saw Gohan on top of Tania kissing her face while rubbing her thigh. I think they were playing a game of some sort this morning."
"Huh?" Trunks raises his eyebrow at Goten before facing back at me with a smirk. "What was 'that' all about, Gohan?
"We weren't doing that!" I blush in embarrassment. "I was walking down the stairs and lost my footing on the last two steps. Tania happened to be walking past at that moment and I fell on her."
"Right." Trunks sarcastically says.
"Oh ya! Now that you mention it, I did hear Tania scream." Goten adds in.
Trunks laughed.
"Goten!" I scold.
{A/N- Gohan was telling the truth... that is all... ;)}
"Gohan, are you gonna answer my question or not?" Trunks asks. "Did you and Tania kiss or something back then or no?"
"Yes, we did." I smile upon reminiscing our very first kiss.
"See! I told you, Goten! Tania was lying when she told us that she was just giving Gohan medicine."
"Ohhh." Goten looks at his purple-haired friend.
"It was pretty awkward in a way though." I chuckle. I then picked myself up. "Why don't you guys get some shut-eye? I'm gonna go keep searching for the gem."
"No I wanna go too." Trunks stands and runs to me. I declined his offer and told him to watch over Goten since the kid was still looking pretty banged up. To my surprise, Trunks stayed and I went off on my way.
~~~~~
"Oh boy, this isn't good."
In front of me, there was a being who appeared to be translucent. Her long wavy pink hair swayed with the wind as it passed her way. Her sky blue eyes sparkled as she gazed at me. Her ears pointed upwards sharply; it was as if she was an elf or at least resembled one. She wore a silk slim dress that was a shade lighter than her hair and flown all the way down passed her feet; it hid her feet and I was unable to capture what shoes she wore underneath. Finally, in a high yet soft voice, she asks, "And whom might you be?"
"Son Gohan, Ma'am." I answer.
"Well, Son Gohan... Why are you here? If you care for your life, leave now." The being responds with a tint of worry in her eyes.
A light was somehow illuminating the woman's body. My eyes instinctively glanced up and there it floated: A rose pink gem in the shape of a heart; putting the woman in a spotlight.
Is... Is that it?
"That gem above you-"
"You cannot have it." The pink-haired woman cuts me off, "A person with weak or no love in their heart can't hope to get a hold of this special power."
"Who are you? And what do you mean by, "special power" anyways?"
"My name is Umeyo Hanae. I am one of the twelve guardians assigned to shield these crystals; The one i'm carrying is the crystal of love."
"Got it but... If you're meant to guard it, why didn't you just stay hidden? I was blindly looking around."
"I couldn't just do that. You see, when the gem senses someone nearby who is seeking it, the crystal shines then brings itself and the being protecting it , near the figure outdoors when they are close enough; It may sound absurd but all that I am saying is true. The gem is seeking and waiting for the right soul to come along and take possession of it." Umeyo explains.
I raised an eyebrow, "Why would the gem want someone to take possession of it? You twelve are meant to guard it... Wouldn't you be the ones to take possession of it?"
"We were made to defend it from those who are not meant to have them. We too are waiting for the right person to come along."
Umeyo pointed her index finger at me, " I gave you your warning. Now... Go!"
In a blink of an eye, the crystal threw itself inside my heart and planted itself there. I clenched onto my chest.
"W-What are you do-doing?!"
"Don't look at me." The guardian smiles as she stretched her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes, "The crystal will do the soul reading for me."
Soul reading? What is she talking about?
"Gohan, release your hand off your chest."
"Why should I trust you? I don't even know what you're doing to me." I refuse.
"I would stay quiet if I were you; You're in a life or death situation right now. If you're not the person the crystal is waiting for, you'll most certainly die." Umeyo drops her smile
"Die?!" I freeze up, "But-"
A blinding light shot out of my chest. I dropped to my knees, gasping for air. The gem floated slowly in the center of the light before settling just above my eyes.
"Strange..." Umeyo speaks, "You should be dead..."
I was exhausted yet not in any pain.
The guardian gazed at the heart-shaped gem before appearing as if a light bulb above her head had switched on.
"I understand now!" She speaks enthusiastically, "You're not dead because you weren't seeking the gem for yourself, huh? It was for someone else!"
I weakly began to pick myself up; I was in a state of fatigue.
"I came here because I was searching for a gift that I can give to my girlfriend for her birthday. However, i'm not too sure if I should give her this gem if it can ultimately kill her just cause she's not meant to have it."
The pink-haired elf grinned widely, "No, the gem is meant for her."
"Huh?"
"The gem is meant for her."
"R-Really? But how?" I pant.
"Just look at the crystal; It's circling around you. That alone tells me, as its guardian, that it wants to be taken someplace else. The fact that it is orbiting around you means that it wants to be taken to the person you planned on giving it to as a gift. Gohan, after reading your soul, I know now that this Tania girl is destined to acquire the Rose Quartz of Love and all its powers."
"That's right! You never answered my question from before... What "special powers" are you talking about?" I quickly reply.
"The Rose Quartz of Love encourages emotional healing; In other words, wounds inflicted to the heart can be healed by the person wearing the gem. However, there is a price... with every use, the ki within the person is extracted and cannot be returned to them for a while. The removal of ki is determined by how much of it is needed to remove the pains of the heart. The deeper the sorrow, the more ki is drained to heal it." Umeyo speaks clearly. Her eyes then narrowed and her expression became serious, "Beware of those who wish death upon themselves or others! They are the ones who can corrupt Tania's heart if she's not careful and can change the Rose Quartz of Love into the Rose Quartz of Hate. That power can lead to her or someone else's demise since that dark crystal promotes emotional injuries."
"How can the crystal be corrupted if its suppose to be used for good?"
"During the healing process, the crystal will always be in contact with the negative energy. If too much is sucked in, the gem will be corrupted and Tania will have to suffer the consequences with her life."
I felt my eyes widen, "Then take the gem back! I'm not gonna give Tania something that'll put her life in danger!"
"It's far too late to be doing that i'm afraid."
"What do you mean?"
Umeyo snapped her fingers and suddenly the necklace that Tania and I believed was impossible to remove came loose around my neck and glided towards the elf's small hands until it was firmly gripped in her grasp.
"You and Tania already possess two of the twelve gems. Take away these and you're a goner."
"You're kidding! Is that the reason why we can't take those things off for just a second?!" I gasp.
"Yes." Umeyo nods, "Your necklaces holds incredible power that helps to aid you in tough situations. Gohan, you possess the Sapphire of Strength while Tania's necklace represents the Diamond of Light. These two share a common trait; The power to change ones destiny or fate."
Umeyo continued to tell how the crystals worked and how my necklace and Tania's necklace help us out in near death situations. Though it sounds crazy, the truth is that if one of us were to somehow break, take off, or lose our necklace, the other will perish to who knows where. The elf informed me that the only ones who can take off the necklaces were only guardians such as herself. Other than them, Tania and/or I will be toast if something else were to happen.
"Before I take my leave, I must warn you about something else." Umeyo keeps a serious tone, "You mustn't let Tania take a look at this gem until she is about to go to sleep. The crystal needs a certain amount of time to mold itself into a type of jewelry using a special ki. If Tania is too look at it, she WILL die!"
I gulped. "R-Right."
Umeyo waved her hand around and out from it came a cloth made of light pink silk with sparkles on them. She motioned the gem to come her way and she carefully wrapped the cloth around it.
"Come forward, Son Gohan."
I did as I was told and Umeyo placed my necklace of strength back around my neck. "This necklace calls on the powerful being within you whenever you are completely near-death. I believe you may have already met him while in critical condition. have you not?"
"Met who?" I scratch my head while trying to think of someone.
"I guess when you regain consciousness, the memory is blocked for some reason." Umeyo giggles.
Blocked for some reason?
"I told you all that I had to. It's time that I go." Umeyo begins to ascend higher into the air once she placed the crystal on my palm. She once more snapped her fingers and my body no longer felt as stiff. "There. Now you can move freely without feeling fatigued."
"Wait!" I call out, "What would happen if all twelve gems were to be collected?!"
"That... Will have to be answered later if that were to happen. I, myself, don't know what'll happen." Umeyo smiles before once more appearing serious, "I warn you, Son of Goku, be aware of a desire that'll flip you and your friends lives around forever if you're unobservant and careless. Farewell."
With that, Umeyo dispersed like a firework as the sun began to rise for a new day. I stood looking up into the morning sky in thought.
Be aware of a desire that'll flip you and your friends lives around forever...? What's... that suppose to mean?
~~~~~
After Trunks, Goten, and I returned to Mt. Paozu, mom and dad along with Chica, came to greet us at the front door. Apparently, after lecturing me about putting Goten in danger, mom was going on and on about how she called Tania and actually apologized for me about yesterday.
"Mom, you didn't have to go and do that! I was going to do it myself."
"Gohan, don't you have that tone with me, young man. I did what I had to do. Besides, being that you're Goku's son, I bet you forgot about the argument anyways." Mom folded her arms.
"I- I- I- uh..." I try to speak but couldn't find the right exact words.
"That's what I thought." Mom scolds.
"You win, mom..."
"So Gohan," Dad speaks, "Had any luck finding-"
Goten dashed forward, grabbed the gem from my hand, and hurried it over to dad.
"Goten!" I freak out, "Don't just take that! Give it back now, Squirt!"
"But I wanna show daddy." Goten replies.
"Fine... Just don't drop it."
"Yippie!"
Well, in the end, the day continued on, Tania got to happily celebrate her birthday with everyone and myself, then we all got to give her our presents. I tried not to show her how nervous I was about giving her the Rose Quartz of Love when I did. I had to make SURE that Tania wouldn't sneak a peek at the thing, so pretty much long after the party ended and we returned home, I wouldn't really give her time to herself.
~~~~~
"Gohan, you can come into my room if you'd like. I don't know why you're just watching me from behind the door." Tania says as she continued sitting on the floor, laying an outfit out.
Even when I try to suppress my ki as low as I can, Tania can still sense me somehow... Oh well, there's no use in hiding.
"Hey, Tania..." I walk in awkwardly while rubbing the back of my head. "If you're busy-"
"What's wrong, Gohan?" Tania narrows her eyes at me in suspicion.
"W-What do y-you mean, Tania?" I feel sweat running down my face as I nervously scratched my cheek. "Nothing is-"
"Gohan!" The girl then stands up quickly; Frightening me a little.
My eyes located the wrapped gem on the bed.
Good, she hasn't even unwrapped anything yet.
"Don't you think we should be going to bed? Its about 11:00 PM now."
Immediately, Tania softened up and grinned, "I get it now! You were hiding behind the door so you can see my reaction when I open your gift! If you're that impatient, i'll do it right now!"
In a flash, Tania turned around and jogged towards her bed.
"Tania, NO!" I reach to grab her arm but then lost my balance and fell flat on my face.
Ow... Why do these things always happen?
"AHHH!" The fifteen-year-old screams.
"T-TANA!" I yell while hopping to my feet and running to where she was. Upon reaching her, I hugged her from behind, "Don't die! Don't leave me!"
"What's going on in here?!" I hear dad running into the room.
I felt Tania turn her body around and embrace me. "Gohan! You got me a ring?! I don't know what to say... YE-"
"A RING?!" Mother's voice echoes throughout the small house, cutting Tania off. In seconds, she appeared right beside Tania and I.
W-What the heck is going on here?!
"Goku, are you seeing this?" Mom gestures he husband to come over, "Our little boy is actually asking Tania for her hand in marriage. Can you believe it?!"
"I'M WHAAAT?!" My arms raise up in the air as Tania continues to hug me. I could feel my whole body heating up in embarrassment.
"I mean, Gohan's only sixteen, but hey, if he wants to be married this young-"
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, DAD! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING-"
"Gohan... Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Tania repeatedly kisses my cheek causing them to heat up even more.
Gosh... What am I gonna do now? Well, at least Tania's still alive. For a moment there, I thought she wasn't gonna make it... I guess she was preparing to go to bed anyways... Still though, what Umeyo said earlier about that desire... What does she mean by that?
----
A/N- PHEW! Sorry for taking FOREVER to update you guys! PROMISE the next chapter will be posted sooner than you think :D Thank you to everyone who left comments telling me to update on my last update! You guys keep me on my toes. Well, I hope that this chapter makes you smile :) From now on, i'll try not to make my chapters super long like this unless its necessary! Please comment what you thought of this chappie and vote :) THX 4 READING! Thi is being dedicated to TheGreatSaiyanGirl <3 your comments put a huge smile on my face on my fanfic trailer on youtube and of course on this site! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter