Chapter Two

May 23rd, 2018

I have no idea what to do with my life now that I've obtained my masters degree. Things were always so clear to be as a child. I had only one wish and that was to leave my home for good. There had been vague plans of college and of a career, but survival was the most important thing on my agenda back then.

I graduated valedictorian of my class and, though I've had many job offers, none of them interest me at all. I feel that I should be doing something that would change the world, something that would change things for the better. I guess that I want others to be happy because I am not.

Application to the Zion Project had been done on a whim. What experience do *I* have with this sort of thing? None at all. I would be going into a wilderness that's been untamed by human hands, knowing hardly nothing at all of survival. Since being a naturalist wasn't a requirement, I guess we'll all be learning together.

Gohan rubbed his temples and shuffled through the stack of paper on his desk, hoping that the last applicant would work out. He was really looking forward to being in charge of such a potentially life-altering expedition. It was still unknown to him why the other members of his team voted him leader, but he was happy for it just the same.

He pressed the button on the intercom. "Chiaru," he said to his secretary in a pleasant voice that completely belied his inner frustration, "please send him in to me."

"Hai, Son-san. Right away."

His first impression of the man was that he wasn't too bright. He was muscular with pale blond hair and eyes that seemed to hold a constantly cheerful inner light. He smiled and Gohan felt something stir deep inside of him. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but it was... familiar.

Gohan stepped from behind the desk and held out his hand in greeting. "I'm Son Gohan, the head scientist of Project Zion. "I want to thank you-"

"Gohan?" the man interrupted with a look of utter shock. He stared at him for a mute moment before tears formed in his eyes and he caught the scientist in a hug that squeezed the breath from his lungs. The man was sobbing, now, and interspersed were words that Gohan could barely make out. "You're here! I'm here! We're together again!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he pulled himself free. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"We're bound together by the red thread of fate, Gohan. When I left that day I knew I would see you again." The man blinked suddenly. "You don't know who I am? Really?"

Gohan shook his head. "Iie, I-" Then something seemed to click in his mind. It was the man's eyes. They were a deep azure that reminded him greatly of... "A clear summer sky."

Now it was the man's turn to be confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're real," Gohan said in awe as he touched his face gently with his fingertips. "This can't be a dream, not this time."

He smiled and clasped the scientist's hands within his own. "It's me, Colby."

Gohan didn't say a word, choosing instead to just hold him close. When he didn't wake up in bed, alone again, he smiled. "I've missed you."

"And I've missed you."

Time seemed to slow as their lips touched and both were quite into their moment when the door opened and Chiaru bustled in. "Excuse me, Son-san, but you've just been faxed some paperwork..." She trailed off in mid-sentence and just stared at the two men with wide eyes. The two of them separated with blissful looks on their faces that quickly turned into embarrassment when they noticed the secretary standing by the door.

"Oh, um Chiaru? Did you need something?" Gohan asked, trying to dispel some of the awkwardness that had fallen upon them.

She silently placed the papers she'd been holding onto his desk and left the room as quickly as possible. Colby sighed. "Koi, I think we've scandalized your secretary."

"Say that again."

"Koi?"

Gohan nodded. "No one's ever had a pet name for me before. Not even Videl."

The words caused the happiness to fade from Colby's eyes. "Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

'How in the world did the mood change so fast?' Then the exact wording of his earlier statement hit him and he cursed himself. 'Great job, Gohan. Now he probably thinks that you don't love him anymore.' "Videl was my wife, but we're not together anymore. She was murdered a year ago."

"Oh," he said. "Did you love her?" He blanched after he said it. 'Stupid question, baka!'

Gohan nodded, inwardly mourning. He hated to even think about Videl and now he was being asked questions about her. "I loved her, but not as much as I should have."

Colby knew he'd hurt him with his question and felt terrible. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright, you didn't know. You had a right to be curious especially when we promised to spend the rest of our lives together all those years ago." He went back behind his desk and fiddled with the things on it, giving himself a chance to regain his composure. "I have to ask you some questions though if it were up to me, you would automatically get the job." He grinned, feeling his slight depression lift.

"Go ahead, shoot." The nervousness that Colby had felt coming into the office before was back again in full force. What if he wasn't qualified enough?

"There's only one question I need to ask, everything else is answered by your application. What can you bring to this project?"

It was as if the Final Jeopardy music was being played in Gohan's office. That question was so unexpected that Colby didn't have a ready answer. "Well, I'm very personable. People can usually get along with me very well. I've also been a peer mediator in high school so I know how to solve problems with discussion and negotiation. Oh and I went to college for six years so I have my masters degree mechanical engineering. Um, I think that's about it."

Gohan patted the hands that were gripping the edge of the desk in nervousness. "Colby, relax. It's just me."

"I know, Gohan, but if I screw up then I'm going to lose you again. This time I don't think I can send letters to you."

"Letters? You sent me letters?"

He nodded. "Of course. I wasn't going to go all those years without contacting you. It's okay that I didn't receive any back, it only mattered that you were reading my thoughts on the paper." It had really hurt for many years when he never received replies to his letters, but he'd decided that maybe Gohan just didn't have time to write back. He'd made up many excuses for it, refusing to believe that Gohan just didn't love him anymore.

"I never received any letters," Gohan told him. "As a matter of fact, I could never send you any because I had no idea where you were."

Colby felt rage well up inside. "Those bastards kept us apart on purpose! My letters never go to you because they've been stopping them! My uncle must have told the staff to keep a look out for any letters addressed to you." He sighed. "If I had known then I wouldn't have written your name on them. All those years you were waiting for me to write you and nothing ever came. Gohan, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, okay? It wasn't your fault. I imagine how you felt not hearing from me and maybe we convinced ourselves of the same exact thing. I'm ashamed to say that I thought you'd stopped loving me. We're Bonded, nothing can break that." He leaned across the desk and motioned for Colby to do the same. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. You were selected as my chief engineer right after I realized who you were. I just needed something to write down so that it looked official."

He exhaled and grinned. "That's wonderful news! Listen, after you're finished, do you want to go get something to eat? My treat."

"Can I bring someone else?" Gohan asked. "She's a real sweetheart."

"Um..." He wasn't really sure what to say.

"Here's a picture." Gohan handed the framed photo that sat atop his desk to Colby, inwardly laughing. He knew that the other man wasn't expecting the person in the photo.

"She's adorable," Colby said as he gazed at Pan. "Is this your daughter?"

He nodded. "Pan's the greatest gift Videl has ever given me."

Gohan decided to get business out of the way as quickly as possible. Each person could only take, at most, ten pounds of personal belongings and that included clothes, books, toiletries etc. He knew that it would be difficult for some people to choose what would go and what would stay behind, but there was only so much space to occupy and most of it would go towards the supplies they would need on the new world. If everyone was allowed to bring everything that they wanted, the ship probably would be too heavy to even leave the ground.

"You do know that I've just graduated from college, right?" Colby asked. "You're trusting me with so much and I'm afraid that I won't be able to do it."

"Listen to me, Colby," Gohan said gently. "You know your work. I've read your credentials and they're excellent. You've never received a grade lower than an A-, you're courteous and helpful, and you completed an internship at NASA. In fact, you more than qualify for this job -- you're perfect for it."

The words slowly began to sink in. "I think I needed to hear that. For some reason there's been a lot of doubt in my mind ever since I applied. This project was almost too good to be true."

Gohan thought that his modesty was endearing. "Think only of this, koibito: we're going to be together again."

A brilliant smile. "Thank Kami."

***

"You sound pretty tired, Gohan. Are you working yourself too hard?"

He smiled at his father's concern. "Tousan, you're mother-henning again."

"That's my job since your mother hardly ever checks up on you. How can she not even call? You're her son for Kami's sake!"

"Tousan..."

"I know, I know. Leave ChiChi alone." Goku dropped the subject though he really didn't want to. "So, you sound pretty excited. I assume that your team has just acquired its chief engineer."

"It's more than just that, Tousan. You won't believe it. Hell, *I* didn't believe it!" Gohan jumped to his feet in his apartment, no longer able to sit still. "Guess who came back!"

"Elvis."

He froze and blinked. "Nani?"

"Do you know how many people would love to see that happen?" Goku laughed. "Despite the fact that he's been dead for decades."

"Well, he didn't come back. Someone else who's a million times better showed up at my office yesterday. In fact, he's my new engineer."

A pause. "Do you want me to guess again? Okay... Was it Hitler?"

"Where in the world are you getting these guesses from? Iie, it wasn't Hitler. It was Colby!"

Goku fell into shocked silence for a moment. "Are you serious?!"

"Of course I'm serious! He just showed up yesterday because he'd applied for the position. At first I thought that I was dreaming again. I'd wanted to see him for so long that have it actually happen was nearly too much for me."

"I can imagine."

His voice grew soft as he remembered what happened just hours before. "Holding him again was the most wonderful feeling in the world."

"Destined to be together," Goku said, understanding it perfectly. "When you kissed him it was like you'd found a missing part of yourself, wasn't it? Kind of like a jigsaw puzzle."

He laughed. "Very eloquently put, Tousan."

"I've lived with that completion for seventeen years, son. I know what I'm talking about." He went back to the question he was going to originally ask. "When do you leave?"

"At the end of this week. We only have last-minute testing to complete and I have to check over our supplies."

"We should get together before then. Bring Colby and come out to see us on Friday. We'll barbeque."

Gohan smiled. "Make sure that Vegeta-tousan doesn't put all those red peppers in the sauce again, okay? It made my eyes water the last time."

"I'm definitely watching the little sneak. He does a lot of things when I'm not looking, sometimes just to annoy me." Goku laughed. "Ah, the joys of cohabitation."

They talked for a few minutes more until Gohan started yawning between every third word. "I'll see you later this week, Tousan. Tell everyone I love them. Ja ne."

Gohan hung up the phone and began turning off lights in preparation for bed. He checked on Pan, who was sound asleep in her crib, and just spent a moment watching her tiny chest move up and down with her breathing. It was still a wonder to him how two people could create someone so perfect. Oh sure, he knew all the technical information about how babies were created, but seeing his own daughter so small and adorable stole his breath away.

He smiled, feeling a contentment with his life that hadn't been there in a very long time. There would be sweet dreams tonight, of this Gohan had no doubt.

***

"Good evening, Akimoto-san," Colby said respectfully as he passed the old woman sweeping her sidewalk. She turned to greet him and noticed the sparkle in his blue eyes.

"You seem very happy, Colby-chan. Did you get the job?" He'd told her all about the Zion Project engineering job, especially about his hopes and fears. She was like the grandmother he'd never known.

He hugged her so suddenly she let out a little sound of surprise. "You were right, Akimoto-san! I got the job!"

"Congratulations, I already knew that you would." She pulled back slightly to see his face. "There's something else, though. An inner lamp has been lit within you. Your entire body fairly glows with joy."

Colby grinned. "Remember how I told you about the first love of my life? We were separated by my conspiring family members ten years ago."

"Gohan was his name? You described him as such a sweet boy."

He felt warm at the mere mention of Gohan. "Sweet as an angel. All my years of praying to whatever deity would listen, I finally found him again today. He's the director of the project."

"No mere coincidence, my dear boy." She smiled at him. "The gods answered your prayer and brought the two of you together again. Tell him how you feel deep within your heart. Don't let this chance go to waste."

"I won't, Akimoto-san. Believe me, I won't." He hugged her again and said goodbye.

He didn't want to admit it, but the day was dreamlike to him. He'd woken up that morning feeling as if he would never find the perfect job and then, only a few hours later, he'd acquired both a job and a soulmate. Life couldn't get much better.

Song lyrics from Disney tumbled from his mouth without conscious thought. He practically skipped down the sidewalk in glee.

"Zip a dee doo-dah, zip a dee ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day.
Plenty of sunshine headed my way.
Zip a dee doo-dah, zip a dee ay."

I'm going to write interludes two through five before finishing this story. They'll explain a lot of things (more specifically about Bra and Videl) so you might want to read them.