3 Awakening

Pain. Everywhere. Gohan's wounded body ached and throbbed all over as he drifted back towards consciousness. He was…uncomfortable to say the least. The smell of antiseptic assaulted his nostrils with a fiery passion. This was…strange. Why could he smell antiseptic? The last time he smelled it this strong was when his dad had been in hospital after they had just beaten Vegeta. They had ran out of Senzu beans then, making them take the long, and expensive, method of healing. A hospital.

Was that where he was now? It didn't feel like one. There was no soft beep-beep of the heart monitoring machine, nor the sounds of doctors walking by, discussing their patients with ever present apprehension. Perhaps he got a room all to himself and he didn't need the heart monitor? His mother would certainly try and get him a room by himself. I don't want my little boy to be stared at while he's getting better, she'd say. A small smile adorned his bruised face.

"Dr Jaeger, I think he's waking up."

That was strange. That sounded like a little girl. Someone around his age. But he didn't know anyone his age. Except for Lime. Gee, wasn't that depressing. But this girl, she wasn't Lime, he knew that for sure.

"What? I didn't expect him to wake yet."

Grisha turned took look at Gohan to see if what Mikasa said was true, he smiled "Mikasa, sometimes people can do that in their sleep. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's waking up."

Mikasa. That was the girl's name. It was…unusual. But it was nice. Gohan briefly wondered if she was nice before the doctor started talking again.

"Still, you're doing a good job of watching him. Certainly much better than Eren is."

A small snore could be heard nearby before being cut off when the doctor cleared his throat.

"Eren?" He was stern in his questioning, quickly waking the boy up.

"Wha…oh, hey dad. Just watching the patient like you told me to."

"Uh huh?" He asked dubiously. 'Eren' gave a small nervous chuckle before standing up to walk around.

"C'mon dad it's been two days and he's just been lying there. Nothing's going to change anytime soon."

"Eren, he's not dead. Nor is he comatose. He will wake up at some point and I need to know when. You said you wanted to help me. Or was that just until you got bored?"

Eren gave a small grumble but no comprehensible reply. The doctor must have been used to this since he said nothing of it. Gohan would never have gotten away with talking to his mother like that, yet this boy just… Gohan gave a mental sigh, other people were strange.

It was quickly becoming awkward for Gohan, hearing a, some-what, private conversation made him feel a bit like a peeping tom. With surprisingly large effort, Gohan opened his eyes and saw the little girl.

"His eyes are open."

Grisha turned away from Eren to see his patient was in fact awake. How? He had no idea. He wasn't even sure if the child was going to live at first, but as the hours ticked by, the child showed no signs of getting worse, and his wounds had even begun healing quickly. The fact that the child was already on his way to being healed was astonishing, but now he was awake? He stared into his patients eyes, still disbelieving of Gohan's recovery.

So they are."

Gohan looked around the room. It was certainly no hospital. If anything it reminded him of his own home. With a slight feel of his hands his suspicions were confirmed. Yep, he was on a table. With a groan he brought his hand up and rubbed his eyes. Boy did his head hurt, he wasn't wearing his purple gi that Mr Piccolo gave him, he had bandages all over him he also saw that he was now wearing baggy white pajama pants.

"Where…where am I?"

"You're at my home. My name is Doctor Jeager and I found lying unconscious in the woods near Pariass district. I'm sorry if this is all sudden but may know your name?"

"My-My name is Gohan sir

"That's a nice name Gohan. Can you tell me what happened to you?"

Strange, he should know what happened. Cell televised the whole tournament, perhaps it was some kind of doctor technique to keep the patient awake. "I was fighting Cell. I thought I had killed him, but he attacked me when I was down."

"You were fighting alone?" Grisha was very concerned now. Someone had the gall to beat a child to this extent, and then leave him to die in the woods! How could they!

"N-no. My friends were with me. Shouldn't they have told you? Wait were are my friends?" Gohan was being very serious now. If this man had done something to them…

"Gohan. I'm afraid I never saw your friends."

"Wha-what?"

"I'm afraid I found only you alone in that forest."

"But-but-but…that's not possible. They were with me. Cell couldn't have killed them, we had him. He was beaten!" Gohan was panting now. This…it wasn't possible. His friends would never leave him like this. He stretched out his senses. Trying urgently, desperately, to find them. There was nothing. Not a trace.

"No! It's not possible. He can't be that strong!" Gohan was desperate now. He began thrashing on the table. He had to get up, to get out. He needed to breathe. He needed some air so desperately. When did this room become so small? And when did the room get so…dark…

Grisha stood calmly over the boy. Slowly withdrawing the needle from his neck. It was a mild sedative. Something that should knock the boy out for a little while. Although with this boy, who knows.

"Dad?"

Grisha turned to see Eren's worried face. The boy may have had tough times in his life, but it was still a shock to see someone suffering so emotionally.

"Will he be alright?"

A sigh. Truthfully, Grisha didn't know. Physically, it looked like Gohan should make a full recovery. Somehow. But mentally?

"I don't know son. There's no telling what this boy has been through."

Eren hung his face. The boy was no stranger to death either. But seeing an innocent boy suffer? With nothing to direct his anger, it became sadness instead.

"I do know one thing though son. This boy is tough though. Injuries like his should have kept him down for a long while and yet…there he was. Awake and moving. If anyone can make it through this. It's him."

Eren seemed to cheer up at that, now looking at the unconscious boy with respect.

"He looked happy."

Grisha turned to see Mikasa still staring at the boy.

"Huh?"

"Earlier. When he was still unconscious. He was smiling remember. I wonder what made him happy."

Grisha was thoughtful. That's right. He was happy. Maybe his life hasn't been all bad. "You're right Mikasa. He did smile. I think he's going to be okay." Mikasa gave a small smile.

"I think it's now safe to move him to the guest bedroom, after that I think Carla will be done. making lunch. C'mon kids."

…

[One Day later, Midnight]

As Gohan slept, he began to have a dream. And it wasn't a good dream either.

"Gohan." a man in an orange gi said to Gohan from behind.

"T... That voice! Dad!" Gohan shouted as his eyes began to tear up and he turned around in joy, only to be met with a scowl from his father.

"You let me die. You toyed with Cell and let me die." Goku said bluntly as he continued to stare angrily at Gohan.

"I'm sorry dad. I'm really sorry. I should've finished him off when I had the chance." Gohan cried out as he fell on his knees in shame.

"You're right. You should have. How do you think your actions have made your mother feel? How they made me feel!" shouted Goku in pure rage as he powered up until he became a super saiyan causing his muscles to become larger, his eyes to become teal, and his hair to turn golden in color and spike up to resemble the shape of a flame.

"I'm sorry! It should've been me!" cried Gohan as Goku stood above him.

"You're right. It should have." Goku said eerily as a large ball of golden ki formed in his hands and threw it at Gohan.

That was all Gohan heard as he awoke from his dreadful slumber. He was panting heavily as he held his chest, once he collected himself he immediately realized that he wasn't lying on a table but on a small single bed with a blanket over him. He was in a small room with wooden floor panels and rustic wooden walls, there was a small dresser in the corner of the room and a nightstand right next to his bed there was also a window above it with olive drab curtains partially open, allowing the crescent moon to shine through.

He noticed a pitcher of water with a cup on the nightstand. Without hesitation he grabbed the cup a downed the water in two large gulps. He let out a refreshed sigh. He then felt his hand brush against something soft, looking down, Gohan sighted his brown furry tail laying casually on the bed. Gohan quickly pulled his hand away, almost falling out of bed as he did. How was his tail back? It had been almost no time and yet it was already fully grown! His tail gave a small wiggle and wrapped itself around his waist. 'Now it was acting wired too!'

The hybrid sayian collected himself, he needed to focus on the most important task at hand, he needed to find his friends. He stretched out his ki senses, which were still extraordinarily weak. They were nearby. In the room below him it seemed. He could hear mild chatter and the scraping of plates. They were eating? Gohan turned his head and looked out a nearby window. Lunch? It seemed too dark for that, they must be having dinner.

Wait! It was definitely after lunch when the doctor had picked him up. How long had he been asleep? That boy. He had said something. That Gohan had been out for two days! Oh no. He needed to find his mother. She was no doubt worrying herself senseless.

With a slight grunt. Gohan swung his legs off the bed. Careful not to make much noise. He had to get out of here. But there was no way this man or his family would let him. He had to sneak out. Gohan heard the sound of rattling plates in the next room. Dang it, he would have to found out later.

He turned his eyes back towards the window. He couldn't see anyway of opening it. No wait. There. At the top, there was a small catch on the window pane. He slowly lifted himself on top of the nightstand, being careful not to put too much pressure on his arm. He was surprised, even for a Saiyan his arm shouldn't have been this healed this quick. Perhaps Cells attack hadn't been as bad as he thought. Regardless, it still wasn't time to take off his splint just yet.

When he reached the window, he deftly opened the hatch and locked it open. Careful to make sure that it was locked open, and wouldn't slam shut. Now however, came the hard part. There was nothing nearby to lift himself up completely with, though a small stack of books did bring him closer. Now with his head level with the open window, he used his good arm to lift the rest of himself up and slide through the gap. When he was mostly through, his arm wavered and he fell outside onto a small bush. Thankfully it had made little sound when he landed, though Gohan was quite embarrassed.

Regardless, he had a mission. Brushing himself off, he climbed out of the bush and began to make his way down the unfamiliar street.

…

"Uh…dad?"

Eren's confused voice echoed throughout the house, making Grisha, who was currently washing dishes with his wife, very concerned.

"What is it son?"

"That Gohan boy. He's uh…gone?"

Grisha froze. "What?"

"He's not there. The rooms empty."

This was…this was not good. Rushing past Eren, Grisha went upstairs and stepped into the room. It was empty. Completely. How? A small breeze brought his attention to the open window in the corner. How? Gohan had climbed out of the top of a window when he was injured? And he had done so silently? This was not good at all.

"Damn it!, Eren, Mikasa. I need you to start looking around and try to find Gohan. He's not supposed to be moving around when he's injured like this. Carla, I'm off to go get Hannes, I need you to stay here in case he comes back."

Carla nervously agreed, still in shock that someone so injured would do something so reckless. Grisha stepped outside, swiftly followed by Mikasa and Eren. He stopped them as they started to head down the street. "Listen. Be back before dark okay? I don't care if you haven't found him yet."

"But-"

"No buts Eren. I won't risk you two running around alone at night. Now go."

The two children nodded before swiftly turning on their heels and running down the road.

Damn it Gohan. Where are you?

…

Well, Gohan was now certain. He was lost. As it turned out, sneaking around a city he had never even seen before hadn't been his smartest idea in his 11 years of life. He couldn't even recognise where he was on the planet. His ki senses were incredibly muted, good only for small distances, so he couldn't tell his location from one of the big cities. Nor did he recognise the geography. He would have thought that the world geography book his mother made him read, twice, would have allowed him to at least recognise something, but nothing stood out.

There were plenty unique features to be sure. The old fashioned life style. The warm grassland locales. And of course, the wall. He would thought that somewhere with a 50 metre high wall would have been mentioned somewhere in his textbook, but apparently no.

Gohan was currently on his way towards the base of the wall. Perhaps he could scale it? Or simply fly over it. Speaking of flying, Gohan thought about the ki in his body. He felt…strange. Like his power was there, but it also wasn't. Everything felt harder, even the small trip up and down the hill leading to the wall had been surprisingly difficult. It wasn't hard to say the least, but when someone gets used to not needing any effort for the mundane tasks, it comes as quite a surprise when he suddenly does.

Still, by the time that Gohan reached the crest of the hill he could feel an ever s slight tension in his legs. Like a normal person does when they run up a set of stairs. He shrugged it off to think about later. In the meantime, something felt wrong. It had started as a sour feeling in his mind, like someone bad was around. But as he neared the wall it had gone from a simple bad feeling, to something more. Something was weighing itself down in his stomach warning him. Telling him that something unnatural was close. Tentatively, Gohan reached out his hand and placed it on the wall.

Then, he sharply pulled it back. The wall, he could feel ki flowing through it. Like nothing he had ever felt before. It was something perverse and wicked. This only further encouraged him to leave. His mind set, he stepped back and jumped into the air to fly to the top.

Only he didn't fly to the top. Or halfway. Or anywhere even remotely close. He landed back on the ground but a moment later. What? He was stronger than this! He may have certainly jumped higher than a natural human given his Saiyan blood, but for a super Saiyan? It was downright pitiful. So he jumped again. And again. He continued to jump, getting nowhere and only serving to embarrass himself. What on earth was going on?

…

Mikasa walked calmly through the markets. If the boy was anything like Eren he would be hanging around near the food. Boys seemed to love food. Even Armin. Although he rarely showed it. Mikasa shook her head, she had to stay focussed. Gohan could be anywhere in Shiganshina. Why he even left she didn't know. Surely any sensible person would have stayed right? At least until they were better? Then again, he probably wasn't thinking straight. Dr Jaeger had just been made to tell him that his friends were most likely dead. She herself had been paralysed when her family had been kil-…attacked. That Gohan seemed to be handling the news like this was…somewhat understandable. Still, she had to find him and get him back to Dr Jaeger before he hurt himself.

…

Armin ran down the alley as fast as he could. The bullies were after him again. Ever since he had mentioned about the walls being closer to a prison than a safe haven they had been beating him up any chance they got. And given that Armin hated violence, and wasn't much of a fighter anyway, the bullies getting a hold of him was not something he wanted happening.

"Where ya goin' heretic?"

Their snide calls followed him as he ran as fast as he could. They were catching up to him that was for sure. Any second now they would-

A hand latched itself around his collar and tugged, pulling Armin off his feet and ending the chase. "Ha ha. Got you heretic."

Armin closed his eyes and barely managed to raise his arms in defence before the first blows began to rain down on him.

"Hey! Leave him alone!"

Armin's eyes slowly opened. That didn't sound like Eren. And nobody else had ever saved him before. He turned to see a young boy, only slightly older than himself standing at the end of the alley. Only this boy was, well, battered was an understatement. Blood and bandages adorned the boy's body. Not to mention his arm was lying uselessly in a splint.

The bullies gave a laugh. "Get out of here kid or your next." The one currently holding Armin raised his fist once more, a gleam, of malice in his eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Okay, now this was no longer funny. One of the bullies began to walk towards the would-be hero. "Listen punk. I don't think you can count so good. There's three of us, and half of you." He stepped up to Gohan's face, staring him down as he did so. "So why don't you beat it? Before we beat you."

The Gohan said nothing, though it was clear he was thinking about something. "Well. If that's how it's got to be. Don't say I didn't warn you." The boy swung his leg out, wrapping out around the bullies' foot and pulling. That, combined with a sharp push with his good hand, sent the boy falling unceremoniously to the floor. With a sharp kick to the boy on the floor, one of the bullies was knocked out and only two were left.

The other two let out a shout at seeing their friend knocked out and ran towards the boy interfering with their fun. As the two ran towards him, Gohan slid a foot back in anticipation. As they finally got close enough, he slid his foot across the ground towards the nearest bully, letting loose a cloud of dirt into his eyes. The second bully continued past and through a punch towards him. Gohan easily ducked underneath the blow and finished off the first bully with a roundhouse kick. He quickly turned around and raised his good arm, blocking another punch from the last remaining attacker. With abnormal speed he slid his arm past the bullies and grabbed him by the head, quickly thrusting him towards a nearby wall. Knocking him out and ending the fight.

Armin sat speechlessly. This kid…he just put Mikasa to shame with that quick fight. Who was he? And why was he helping him?

"Are you okay?"

Armin blinked. He hadn't noticed it but the boy had made it all the way over to him already and was now holding his hand out for Armin. Awkwardly accepting it, Armin pulled himself up and dusted himself of.

"Uh…thank you. I'm Armin."

"Gohan."

"Thank you Gohan but…why did you help me?"

Gohan looked confused. "Why not? They were bullying you weren't they?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"Well then I had to step in. I couldn't just let someone be bullied for no reason."

That was…that was so kind. A small tear brimmed in Armin's eye, which he quickly wiped away. Armin began to speak again when he was cut off by a new voice.

"Gohan."

Both boys turned to see Mikasa. Arms crossed and slight scowl adorning her face, just barely visible beneath her blood red scarf. Gohan gave a nervous chuckle as he recognised the little girl from Dr Jaeger's house.

"Oh, uh…hi?"

"You're supposed to be recovering. Not…fighting?"

Mikasa gazed around at the three knocked out boys, making a mental note to ask Armin more about that later.

"Uh, yeah I guess I am. Heh heh…"

Gohan proceeded to awkwardly scratch his neck and make an effort to look anywhere but, the girl's grey eyes.

"Do you want to come back now? Dr Jaeger says you still need rest."

Truthfully, Gohan hadn't found what he had set out looking for, his friends. But this was no doubt something that was going to take time. Besides, when he was fully healed he could simply use his ki sensing to find his mom.

"Okay then."

Mikasa was… Surprised would be an understatement. This kid went through all that trouble of escaping just to come right back home? Uh, boys are weird.

"Armin, you should come too. Dr Jaeger will patch you up."

"Oh, uh…yeah, sure."

…

"So the kid just ran off?"

Hannes was walking side by side with Grisha on their way to his home. Just typical. He was about to arrange for himself and some of the other riders to head out to the forest, see if they could recover the kids' friends. When it turns out that the boy had just ran off anyway. He was actually looking forward to going. Maybe he could give the boy some closure, if not some peace of mind. Maybe even drop by Maneeris on the way back. Pick up some of their fantastic sake while they were in the neighbourhood.

"Yes. He snuck out the window. Making a pointed effort not to be caught."

"You think he might have been lying about what happened?"

"No. More than likely I think he was just scared."

"Alright then. Let's just hope the little tyke doesn't hurt himself. More than he is anyway."

Grisha gave a mumbled agreement as they approached the house. Voices could be heard chatting away inside. Grisha opened the door and spotted the source. Gohan was sitting on the table with Carla, Armin, and Mikasa, avidly listening to him speak.

"Wow. So just like that you and Eren were friends then?"

Armin gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah I guess. Eren kinda has that effect on people."

"Sounds like it. I've never really had many friends of my own, just my dad's friends I guess. My mom was always saying that I had to study." Gohan turned to see Grisha and Hannes stood in the doorway. :"Oh uh… Hi Dr Jaeger. Uh…I'm back."

"So I see Gohan. Sorry to have wasted your time Hannes."

"Ah whatever. Wasn't doing much today anyway I guess. See ya 'round Dr Jaeger."

After Hannes had left Grisha gave Gohan a stern look. "Do you know how worried we were young man? You're injured and as your doctor I'm here to look after you and I can't do that if you're running around hurt."

"Sorry sir. It won't happen again. I was just a bit scared. I don't know where I am at all. None of this looks familiar."

Grisha gave an accepting sigh. It was understandable after all. "Well just try not do it again okay? Or at least let one of us accompany you."

"Yes sir. Sorry sir."

Grisha turned and pulled a book from a nearby shelf. Opening it, it showed the layout of the whole city. Grisha pointed towards a small outlet in the city, right on the edge. "You're here, in Shiganshina. Just outside wall Maria."

Gohan looked at the map but only became more confused. Why was he showing him the one city? Surely he should be showing Gohan the entire globe, right? As Gohan continued to digest the maps content, he grew more and more concerned. This whole city had several of those massive walls. He definitely hadn't heard of this kind of place before. And with the ki flowing through them, he should have definitely felt those walls before.

Grisha watch the puzzlement on Gohan's face. He really must have been from one of the inner walls to not know about the city. He pointed towards wall Sina. "By the sound of it, you must have come from around here. Does that sound right Gohan?"

Truthfully, Gohan was still lost on what to say to him. This city, it couldn't have existed. He should have heard of it, or sensed it. The earth was a big place, but it was very small for someone who could, and had, fly around it with little effort. Perhaps he should tell them? They seemed like nice people, maybe they would believe him? But what would he even say? I don't know this place, I think I came from a different planet or something? No. He would find out what was going on, on his own. Then he could tell them. If he had to stay here for a while, it wouldn't work if everyone thought he was insane or a liar. Nervously, he cleared his throat.

"Uh yeah. That looks about right."

Grisha gave him a questioning look but said nothing. "Well okay then. Hannes and the other members of the garrison are looking for your friends and family as we speak. Until then, you'll have to stay here until you're healed at least."

"Really?"

"Of course. I am your doctor after all. We'll have somewhere cleared out for you by tonight. I guess we should do a complete introduction. My name is Dr Grisha Jaeger, the towns, and occasionally the city's, main doctor." He indicated to the woman standing nearby. "This is Carla, my wife." She gave a small nod which Gohan returned. "I see you've already met our adopted daughter Mikasa, and Eren's best friend Armin. Speaking of Eren, perhaps someone should go and tell him to stop searching."

Before Gohan could ask, Eren burst through the door. "Hey dad, I think I found a lead on where Gohan might…be…" He stopped short as he saw his target sitting casually at the table. "Never mind."

"And this is our son Eren. He can be a bit hot-headed at times but he means well." Grisha put a hand his son's shoulder to which Eren blushed and mumbled about his dad embarrassing him. "Now that you've met everyone we'll have to go and get your things ready for tomorrow."

"Things? For what?"

"Why school of course."

"Great." Gohan sarcastically mumbled. Back to studying.