Title: Escape
Disclaimer: XP
Rating: PG ( K+ ) – Because it's age appropriate.
Spoilers: Gohan went through a rebellious phase, oh noes!
Summary: OneShot. That night, he dreamed of meeting her again one day, filled with hope that the next time they met he might even learn her name. Hints of GhVi.
My first GhVi kiddie fic :D
Slumping against the sun-heated brick wall, Gohan clutched a hand to his palpitating heart and heaved a dramatic sigh of relief. He was free...at least for the moment.
Since his return to planet Earth a month and a half ago, ChiChi hadn't let Gohan out of her sight for a single instant. She'd forced him to study at the kitchen table instead of in his room, removed the locks from the bathroom doors and even insisted that she sleep with her at night instead of retiring to his own bed. She also staunchly refused to let him go see his father's friends or allow them to drop by the Son house for a visit; they were "bad influences," she said (particularly Piccolo, whom she would probably never forgive for that whole kidnapping thing). Gohan hadn't been suffering this excessive treatment for very long, but already he had forgotten what it was like to breathe freely and smile without forcing himself. It was awful.
In many ways, Gohan couldn't blame his mother for going the extra mile in over-protectiveness. After all, it had only been about two years since he, her precious little boy and only child, had been abducted – twice – by aliens and, a year later, more-or-less forced into participating in a battle for the Earth's welfare against two more invaders from outer space. Immediately thereafter, he had rebelled against his well-meaning (if overprotective) mother for the first time and had taken up his world-saving activities once again...on another planet. Who could really begrudge her for wanting to protect the young son she thought she had lost for good many times over?
Still, Gohan wasn't sure he deserved to be watched quite so closely upon his return home. Weren't the bells tied to every doorknob in the house a bit much?
Luckily for the young demi-Saiyan, ChiChi was so paranoid about leaving him alone that she also took him out with her while she did her errands. This meant a few precious hours out of the house and, assuming she could be distracted long enough, possibly even a chance for temporary escape. Probably anticipating such intentions, ChiChi had put off any and all trips to town for as long as possible and, whenever she was forced to go out, did her best to convince the Ox King to join them for a pair of extra eyes. His grandfather felt bad for him, but, according to him, felt even worse for ChiChi during Gohan's absence. Thus, he was stuck.
Today, however, not only was Ox King unavailable for the afternoon, but ChiChi had finally caved to Gohan's need for new clothes. Young Saiyan boys with healthy appetites grew fast and there was absolutely no avoiding the shopping trip any longer. So, with her child leash in one hand and her list of items in the other, ChiChi had loaded Gohan into the family car and driven them them the long distance to Satan City.
Gohan had borne the humiliation of being strapped into a kiddie harness on other shopping trips – for groceries, school supplies and other sundries – but he was tired of being treated like a toddler. All the other kids out with their mommies and daddies had laughed openly at the "big kid" on the leash. It was, beyond comparison, the most embarrassing thing his mother had ever subjected him to.
Luckily for the young demi-Saiyan, clothes shopping meant trying stuff on. Trying stuff on meant the removal of the harness every once in awhile. Though his mother rarely let him go into the dressing room by himself – yet another thing to add to his list for his future therapist – ChiChi had finally let her guard down enough to go out into the store and exchange something for a different size. Knowing that she would be back quickly, Gohan had immediately taken his chance at escape.
With his shirt tucked beneath his arm, the child demi-Saiyan had crept out of the dressing room and toward the front of the store. The quiet tinkle of a bell was the only signal that he had left the store.
Outside in the humid summer air, Gohan breathed deeply, savoring his temporary freedom. It was the first time in weeks that he couldn't smell his mother's perfume and such an absence was invigorating.
"What are you doing?"
Gohan was immediately alarmed by the interruption from a soft female voice. He leaped away from the wall, his t-shirt flopping uselessly to the pavement, and turned to face his doom. It was...
...a girl. A young girl, probably no older than he was.
"Wh-What?" the demi-Saiyan replied, gulping in an attempt to wet his dry, squeaking throat.
The girl frowned and narrowed her pretty blue eyes at him. "I asked what you were doing over here. Are you half naked for a reason?"
Gohan looked down at his bare chest and flushed strawberry pink. "Uh...N-No, not really."
"So you just felt like taking your shirt off? That's so weird!" the girl informed him, taking a couple steps forward. She bent down and picked up his shirt, her long braided pigtails just barely hovering over the sidewalk. When she rose back into a standing position, the article of clothing was in her hand and held out to him like an offering. "You shouldn't strip in public."
Gohan felt his blush return with new intensity as he took the proffered shirt and apologized, "Sorry...I won't do it again."
"Good," she replied. She continued speaking as he donned his shirt; "Do you live around here?"
Gohan answered honestly; "No, we're just here to get some stuff. We live in a pretty remote area, so we have to come to the city to shop."
The girl looked a little surprised. With an interested tilt of her head, she queried, "How far away do you live?"
"Um...," Gohan silently calculated the distance but couldn't come up with a satisfying answer. "I guess pretty far. It took us about five hours to get here from home."
"No way! Where's your house?"
"In the 439 mountain area. Do you know where that is?"
The girl nodded an affirmative. "Yeah, my dad took me camping out there once. You live out there? That's the middle of nowhere!"
Gohan laughed a little and, to his embarrassment, it came out as a nervous titter. "Yeah...I guess there isn't much around. But it's really nice to have peace and quiet and you can see a lot of different stars at night."
The girl took another couple of steps, swirled around and took up a place against the wall next to Gohan. "Don't you ever want to go to the movies, or anything?"
"Not really...," Gohan replied. Sensing that this answer was weird, he elaborated, "We don't watch a lot of TV or anything so I guess I don't miss what I don't have."
"No TV?" the girl repeated, apparently deeply offended by the prospect of such cruel deprivation. "What do you do when you're bored, then?"
Gohan blushed a little. "Um...read, mostly. I've got a lot of books. Do you like to read?"
The girl shrugged nonchalantly. "Sometimes. Mostly murder mysteries. What about you?"
"I like a lot of different stuff. Math, physics, anatomy, astrology...sometimes a little philosophy or science fiction, if I'm feeling lazy."
The girl, clearly horrified, stared at him in awe. "You read school books for fun? What's wrong with you?"
Gohan thought that was a little unfair. Had he poked fun at her murder mysteries? With the tips of his ears burning in angry shame, he replied, "Nothing. That's just what I like, is all. What's wrong with it? It's not like murder mysteries are all that special, either."
Glowering at him, the girl snipped, "At least they're more fun than physics. Besides, I don't read all that much anyway. What kind of kid spends all of his time studying? Don't you have any friends to hang out with?"
"Not really," Gohan admitted, glumly shuffling the toe of his shoe against the pavement. The scraping sound was grating on his ears, but somehow very satisfying.
The girl was silent for a few long moments and, though Gohan hadn't looked up from his feet, could sense her guilt. As if attempting to make amends, she eventually said, "I like movies with aliens and robots and stuff in them, so maybe I'll try a science fiction book someday. Know any good ones?"
Accepting the implied apology, Gohan allowed a smile to creep onto his face. It was the first natural smile he'd enjoyed for at least a few weeks. "Yeah...do you like time travel stuff?"
"That sounds cool."
"Then you should try..."
After a few minutes of discussing book titles, the girl's attention was snatched away by something else. "Sounds like something's going on in there," she said, turning her head to look into the shop window to their right. Sure enough, it both looked and sounded like someone was causing a major ruckus inside the store Gohan had escaped from earlier.
While she was distracted, Gohan took his opportunity to observe her. She was pretty tall for their age, maybe even a teensy bit taller than he was, and had a lean frame. Her skin was a healthy bronze color and covered in hot pink bandages; clearly, this girl spent a lot of time outside having fun. He couldn't help but be a little envious of that.
She was dressed casually in a baseball jersey, jean shorts and a pair of roughed up tennis shoes. A pair of dark braids fell over her shoulders and rested against her collar bones, tied securely with a pair of golden clasps. Soft bangs fell into her eyes – a pretty periwinkle blue that Gohan had never seen in person before – and tickled her nose. With an impatient huff from her lips, they blew out of her eyes and settled in a more appropriate place.
"So, um...," Gohan began, suddenly feeling very awkward. Unbidden, his hand began rubbing the back of his neck and his eyes diverted themselves to the tops of his shoes. "What's your name?"
After a moment more of silence, the girl answered, "Me? It's Vi – "
"GOHAN!" a familiar voice screeched. Moments later, he found himself wrapped up in his mother's panicked embrace and smothered in her (humiliating) kisses. "Mommy was so worried! How could you wander away like that? Do you know what could have happened to you? Don't ever do that again!"
Over ChiChi's shoulder, Gohan chanced a glimpse at his new friend. She was staring at the pair of them in what could only be described as shock and the young demi-Saiyan felt his face burn with shame and regret.
"We're going home right now! I can't believe you would do such an awful thing to Mommy," ChiChi scolded, holding up the harness so that he could step into it.
Horrified at the prospect of further degrading himself in the eyes of the pretty girl shook his head in the negative.
His mother, almost as if sure she had misunderstood him, repeated herself; "Gohan, honey, we're going home. Get in your harness."
"N-No," Gohan refused, trembling only slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the girl was still there, still watching the events unfold before her. Feeling slightly emboldened, Gohan continued, "I don't want to."
ChiChi frowned at him. "Gohan, put on your harness. Now."
Again, Gohan refused. "No. I'm too old for that thing, Mom. I don't want to wear it anymore."
"Gohan – "
"I said no," Gohan pressed, standing a little taller than before.
ChiChi, now more surprised than angry, stared at her son in clear disbelief. Slowly, she lowered the harness in defeat. "If...If you say so, sweetie. But we're still going home."
"Okay," Gohan agreed. He couldn't believe it; he'd just won an argument with his mother! Something that even his father, the all powerful Goku, had never achieved.
Turning to his new friend, Gohan smiled sadly and bid her goodbye. "I'll see you around, I hope."
The girl, smiling brightly in return, replied, "Sure. See you."
With a sigh, Gohan trudged back to the car free of his restraints. The girl was at the forefront of his mind all the way home, at the dinner table and even at bedtime. That night, he dreamed of meeting her again one day, filled with hope that the next time they met he might even learn her name.
Author's Notes: YES, that was Videl.
I originally began this as a contest entry for SweetestIrony (June 2008), but clearly didn't get around to finishing it. I don't even remember what the original ending was supposed to be, but I guess that doesn't matter much now.
Meh...
Btw, for those of you who will complain that the Sons don't have a family car, I call shennanigans! ChiChi is clearly driving one during the first saga of Z when she storms over to Master Roshi's house demanding to know where her husband and son are (you know, right before they tell her that Goku is dead and that Gohan has been kidnapped by Piccolo). And, if you don't buy that, then they borrowed it from Ox King XD
. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .