Chapter 68: Hope

After the talk with Trunks, the Z fighters decided to leave to start training due to the androids threat.

Vegeta flew to Capsule Corp with Nappa, he needed to get stronger to overcome Gohan's powers and that required another machine.

"Hey woman, I need another machine with higher gravity!" Vegeta exclaimed leaning against a wall and Bulma frowned at that.

"I already told you my name is Bulma! You're just a barbarian with no manners" Bulma grumbled angrily leaving Vegeta perplexed, "So what do you expect?!"

"But what a woman..." Vegeta muttered and growled under his breath her name, although Bulma heard him and smiled at him.

"Okay, now we understand each other"

Nappa held back his laughter as he saw that woman dominating Vegeta. At least he wasn't teased by women like Vegeta.

On the other hand, Krillin went to Kame House to continue training with Yamcha. Tien went to a distant mountain with Chiaotzu to train.

Raditz went to another place. Before training he needed to see a certain dual character woman with blue or blonde hair depending on her character.

And meanwhile, Trunks went to Goku's house to spend two days before returning with Gohan to his time. And he felt a little nervous.

"If it's any consolation, I'm much more nervous" Gohan said looking at him with a smile, "I haven't seen my mom in over a year and a half"

'So long? Yes, things are different here' Trunks asked surprised, "Well, I've never been separated from my mother for so long"

"And you do really well"

Goku opened the door announcing his arrival as usual and half a second later Chi-Chi ran to the door to greet him.

But then, she noticed Gohan and was shocked. The boy stepped forward and extended his arms. "Hey mom, I'm back!"

"G-Gohan...is that you? I-I'm not dreaming?!" Chi-Chi asked pinching her cheek and Gohan denied it, You're back my son!"

The woman hugged her only child shedding tears of happiness, and Gohan would be lying if he said he didn't shed a few tears either.

After so many battles, so many times on the verge of despair, so much training, etc. He was finally home. Yes, with his mother.

After Raditz's arrival he couldn't spend much time with her, and now he wouldn't be able to because of the androids either. It was a bit sad.

He was barely a seven-year-old boy, but he already carried a heavy weight on his shoulders. And besides, he was now the strongest of all.

Goku looked at this with a little smile, since he knew that they both needed that hug. Especially for Chi-Chi, who missed him a lot.

"Uhh... uhhh, even though I'm happy I can't stop crying" Chi-Chi wiped her tears with her forearm as he sobbed, "My little one"

"Sorry mom, I would have liked to spend more time with you but if I don't get strong, how can I protect you?" Gohan said sorrowfully.

Chi-Chi crouched down next to him and put a hand on his head. "That's why your dad and I will be supporting you, do what you think is best, okay?"

"Yes, when all this is over I'll go to university, I promise you" added the boy giving her one last hug and Chi-Chi nodded.

"What strange clothes son, I prefer a thousand times your father's suit" Chi-Chi spoke shaking her head and Gohan smiled scratching her head.

Trunks saw the scene quite moved, despite all the changes, this woman still loved her son as much as in her time.

And despite having unimaginable power, Gohan still respected his mother. That made him feel quite a bit of respect for this little warrior.

"And by the way mom! He's a friend who's staying here for a few days" Gohan spoke pointing at Trunks and Chi-Chi looked at him quite curiously.

"Hmmmm, you look like someone I know" declared the woman with her hand on her chin, "I'm Chi-Chi, Goku's wife and Gohan's mother"

Trunks felt very nervous at the woman's first comment, but then followed up with her greeting. "It's nice to meet you, my name is... Mirai!"

Gohan listened to that with a bead of sweat on his head. But that name made sense, because Trunks came from the future, which translated is Mirai.

"Mirai is a strange name" Chi-Chi muttered before looking at her son, "A month ago you turned seven, let's celebrate right now!"

"Yes, cool!" Goku exclaimed very happy, "Gohan let's go take a bath like in the old days, do you fancy a contest like the ones before?"

"Of course dad!" Gohan said and walked out to the courtyard with Goku, leaving Trunks in the living room, blinking in surprise.

For him, who had lived each day in a world of darkness and tears, all this was quite new, and he did not know how to react.

Even with all the difficulties that had happened, father and son were able to smile as if nothing had happened, his look transmitted joy.

And now that he thought about it, Gohan in the future never conveyed that in his eyes. His eyes reflected sadness, impotence and weariness.

And although he respected his deceased teacher quite a bit, he didn't want to reflect in his eyes the same feelings of helplessness that he did.

'These two are the hope of this time. If I want to be the hope of my time, I will get up and smile as many times as necessary' he reasoned.

"Mirai, hey Mirai!"

Trunks snapped out of his thoughts as Chi-Chi tugged at his arms, he had forgotten that he had given her a fake name.

"I was asking if you're going to change into something more comfortable, because we'll be eating soon" Chi-Chi pointed out looking at the young man.

"Well, I-I don't have any more clothes so I'll just take off my jacket" Trunks said with a nervous smile and went to the nearest room.

"What a strange boy! But since he's Gohan's friend I should have guessed" Chi-Chi shrugged and went to the kitchen to finish.

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And after a few hours, dinner was over. They were able to enjoy a multitude of foods for Gohan's return to Earth and for his seventh birthday.

Trunks could swear that he had never seen so much food on one table before. And best of all, they were extremely delicious.

Trunks listened to several anecdotes during dinner, Gohan told some of his adventures in Namek and the rest, although of course without details.

He had never felt so calm, without being aware of an attack by the androids. And with that, he went to rest.

Gohan was in his bed staring at the ceiling unable to sleep. While Trunks was next to him on a futon, but in this case he was sleeping.

'How long has it been since I slept in a bed? Sometimes I would like to take a break, but I can't' Gohan thought, sighing tiredly.

Having the knowledge about what was going to happen was the main reason, and with so many enemies he needed to be even more powerful.

The androids would appear in three years, but his biggest concern was Cell. With so many changes he didn't know what would happen to the monster.

And there was still what happened a few hours ago, it was clear that Shenron was summoned, but who? He had a bad feeling!

"I shouldn't push myself too hard either" Gohan muttered yawning, and as he turned his head he noticed that Trunks seemed to be having a nightmare.

His face was drenched in sweat and he seemed to be muttering something. The young man reached down and taking a nearby rag carefully wiped his forehead.

'His spirit is too troubled' Gohan inquired pityingly. There was no peace in Trunks' heart, he was quite sad honestly.

"Mom...Gohan...p-please don't leave me alone" Trunks said in his dreams, "Damn androids!" he yelled as he woke up suddenly.

He began to exhale for air in his lungs. Yes.., he had once again dreamed of Gohan's death, and even of his mother.

Trunks put his right hand to his forehead and saw that Gohan was sitting next to him.

"G-Gohan... s-sorry for waking you up, I didn't mean to" Trunks apologized, looking down in shame and Gohan smiled at that.

"Don't worry, I was already awake"

Trunks was relieved by this, but was taken aback when Gohan got to his feet.

"Let's go get some air Trunks, it's the best after having a nightmare" Gohan spoke opening the window and jumped through it.

Trunks nodded and followed him. He raised his eyes to the sky looking at the moon, it was a landscape worth admiring.

"Too bad I can't look at the sky! I wouldn't want to become Ozaru right now" Gohan chuckled and Trunks scratched his head.

"It's great that you can control that state… my mom told me that when Mr. Goku turned into, he became very wild" Trunks stated.

"It's not easy to handle but incredibly uncle Raditz managed to use the Ozaru without having to transform" Gohan stated.

"Really? That's amazing" Trunks was curious, "Speaking of which... I'd like to know why you made the decision to revive him"

"Well… I knew he wasn't a bad guy, he could have killed us all from the beginning and he didn't... so he deserved another chance"

"And over time he has shown me that I was not wrong, uncle Raditz is a great person" Gohan answered with a smile.

"I see, you are definitely the son of Mr. Goku" Trunks spoke with a smile, "I would never revive or forgive a former enemy"

"Yes, and I guess it's due to the tragic conditions of your time, isn't it?" Gohan asked with a much more serious face than before.

"Yes. Every day I see thousands of people die, and I'm not strong enough to defend them from the damn androids"

"And we don't have dragon balls, it hurts me a lot to see how many people are killed and in the end to know that they can never be resurrected"

"That's why my mom sent me to the past, to change all that, to prevent the world from becoming a sad, gray and desolate place"

"But when I see you, or Mr. Goku... I see hope, I know that one day the future will change, that is my greatest hope!" Trunks exclaimed.

The boy noticed that Trunks' eyes sparkled like never before. So he held out his fist with a bright smile on his face.

"Trunks, I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through so far. But I promise I'll do my best to help you" Gohan uttered.

Trunks looked at him stunned by those words, but he smiled bumping his fist with the boy's.

"I thank you so much Gohan, either in the future or now you have always been there to help me" Trunks commented with a smile.

Gohan nodded, and to Trunks' surprise he transformed into a Super Saiyan. But unlike before, he didn't expel any golden aura!

"H-how? It doesn't seem like your energy has increased that much" Trunks pointed out confused as Gohan sat down next to him.

"It's the controlled form of the Super Saiyan, it doesn't consume energy and I can lower my Ki to human levels" mentioned the young boy with a smile.

"The controlled form of the Super Saiyan? And how do you get that state?" Trunks asked curiously, 'Maybe I'll get stronger!'

"You have to get used to the transformation" Gohan explained, "Transform into a Super Saiyan and try to retain your aura and power as long as you can."

Trunks nodded and transformed. An explosive aura surrounded his body unlike the temper that enveloped Gohan's body.

'Retain my power' he thought closing his eyes and tried to calm his feelings, but it was turning out to be an impossible mission to accomplish.

"I-it's i-impossible" Trunks said with difficulty.

"Easy, little by little" Gohan replied putting a hand on Trunks' shoulder and the young man sighed as he returned to his base state.

"I understand, if you stay in that form you will become much stronger when it comes to fighting?" Trunks asked looking at him and the boy shook his head.

"No! There just won't be any wear" Gohan replied, "The way to get strong is by increasing your base state power."

Gohan sat back down and closing his eyes he began to meditate. Trunks nodded and sat down next to him, perhaps he could use some meditation.

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The sun came out from the east illuminating the Paoz mountain with its warm solar rays.

Goku yawned as he widened his eyes. He wanted to stretch his body but realized that Chi-Chi was hugging him preventing him from moving.

'Damn, I feel like going to the bathroom' thought Goku sweating nervously and carefully separated the woman's arms from his body, and stood up.

After leaving the bathroom, Goku left the house. He was surprised to feel two known Ki and ran to where those energies were located.

"Oh, but they are…" Goku whispered, looking at his son and Trunks, who were sitting on the grass, "Wow, they seem to be meditating"

He hadn't meditated for a long time, the last time he went with Mr Popo for the 23rd martial arts tournament. But they looked focused.

And suddenly Trunks opened his eyes with a smile. "Good morning Mr. Goku, Gohan was helping me to control the Super Saiyan"

"Really? And how is that done?"

"He told me that by retaining the power of the transformation, for that I have to get used to being Super Saiyan" Trunks answered.

Goku nodded in understanding, and immediately transformed. Gohan's eyes widened as he felt his father's enormous energy and stood up.

"Haa!"

Trunks was surprised to see him transformed into a Super Saiyan, and he was even more shocked to see that Gohan flew towards his father with the aim of attacking him.

PAM!

Goku parried the punch with the palm of his hand. Extending his arm he tried to land a blow to his face but Gohan disappeared.

Trunks was puzzled not to see Gohan anywhere as well as Goku. But suddenly, the young boy appeared stealthily behind his father.

With a fairly quick gesture he swept his legs making the older saiyan lose his balance, although Goku did a somersault.

Goku took to the sky, but unbelievably Gohan was already behind him, arms together ready to hit him with an ax blow.

"Solar flare!" Goku yelled turning his Ki into an intense light that blinded both Gohan and Trunks, "Looks like I've beaten you Gohan!"

He was going to hit him but suddenly a specter came out of Gohan's body stopping his blow and kicking him in the abdomen with a great force.

"W-what is that?" he asked surprised.

"This is my materialized spirit! It's a technique I've learned in Yadrat" the little boy's spirit spoke before returning to his body.

Gohan opened his eyes and smiled at his father. "Although in that state I can't transform, but it's useful, don't you think dad?"

Goku blinked his eyes in surprise, that explained why the earlier attack was weaker, but it was an extraordinary skill!

"Someday you're going to take me to that planet, Gohan. All those techniques are amazing!" Goku commented excitedly and returned to his base state.

"Of course! But first let's go to breakfast" Gohan said smiling and looked at Trunks, "Then we'll continue with this, I'm starving"