Sorry I haven't updated in a while... lots of things going on. Anyway, it's getting pretty fun writing out this stuff and I'm even having my brother draw pictures for it. YAY! Anyway, read on and expect fairly regular posts. oh, and if you like it... review! and if you don't like it.. review! flame it, torch it, send it to oblivion... i don't care. just tell what I'm doing right and wrong. thanx.
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Goten knocked on the door to his room and finally it opened. Goten stepped in and saw Laurel, fiddling with her new training outfit. She was wearing black Saiyan body gear without the shoulder guards. Bulma, reluctantly, had made it for her at Goten's request.
"It looks awkward doesn't it?" Laurel asked, glancing at herself in the mirror.
Goten walked over to Laurel and draped his arms over her. "Of course not, you look like you were born to wear it," Goten said before placing a small kiss on her cheek.
"Thank you, baby," Laurel said and then turned to face him. Goten could see a bit of hesitancy in her eyes.
"You're nervous aren't you?" Goten asked.
"Of course I'm nervous; Vegeta doesn't necessarily know how to go easy on somebody," Laurel retorted.
Goten smiled, "Vegeta will slow it down for you, I promise."
"Are you sure?" Laurel asked with a seductively innocent look.
"Positive," Goten replied and happily placed his lips against hers.
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Laurel was the first to step into the gravity chamber, but Goten was right behind her. Vegeta was standing next to the control mechanism, his arms crossed and his foot tapping the floor anxiously.
"You're late," Vegeta remarked.
"Give her a break; she's nervous," Goten said.
Laurel watched as Vegeta rolled his eyes and pressed a button on the control panel he was next to. "I wouldn't even be doing this if I wasn't sure I'd win, but with the disappearance of Kakarot… I am left the strongest warrior here," Vegeta said.
Laurel suddenly felt gravity begin to weigh her down, but not too much. She could still move normally; only her suit felt like it weighed twenty pounds.
Vegeta glanced over at Laurel, "Do you feel anything?"
Laurel nodded, but was slightly confused, "Yeah, don't you?"
Goten laughed a little at what she had said and even Vegeta had to let out one good "ha". "We are used to a lightly higher G-force level than this," Goten explained.
"Well, I want to train like you guys," Laurel said, confident that she could handle it. She had almost killed them all before, why wouldn't she be able to train like them?
"It's like you'll be starting from scratch… like you're a normal everyday human," Goten explained once again.
"Yes, and the fact that if she trained under 600g's of force she'd be crushed," Vegeta chimed in.
"Well, what's the gravity up to now?" Laurel asked, wondering how high up she was; thirty, forty?
Vegeta glanced over at the screen and back at Laurel, "Four." Laurel almost let her jaw drop; was she really that weak? "Woman, don't expect to be as strong as your little "Super Human" thing just yet," Vegeta said sarcastically.
"We need to get started," Goten said, beginning to stretch.
"Finally, someone with some common sense," Vegeta said and cracked his neck from side to side.
"Well, what's first on the agenda?" Laurel asked, now completely excited about the day ahead of her.
"We won't have enough time to actually get you into decent shape so we will have to teach you the basics of ki training," Vegeta explained.
"Yeah, if you know how to use your ki correctly then you can beat any of the regular fighters out there without having to use it externally," Goten added on.
"Now, first things first, try and see if you can sense it. Your ki will be in the core of your body," Vegeta said while pointing to his stomach.
"You can feel it swirling around somewhere close to your spine," Goten said, closing his eyes and seemingly feeling for his ki.
Laurel then did the same, hoping with everything she had that she could sense her ki. She concentrated and after what seemed like an eternity Vegeta interrupted.
"Woman, I don't have time for slow learners," Vegeta barked.
"Give her a little longer," Goten urged.
Laurel tried again and this time could feel something strange going on in her stomach. It felt as if a hundred, really strong, butterflies were swarming around. "I- I feel it," Laurel said, a smile creeping from ear to ear.
"Good, now envision your ki traveling from your stomach to your hand. This will help you to throw your punches harder and to help you guide your fist," Goten explained.
Laurel nodded and let out a comforting sigh. She then did as they told her; she envisioned her ki traveling up into her arm and as she did she could feel the butterflies filling her fingers. "Okay, I can feel it; it's in my hand," Laurel told them; barely able to contain her joy.
"Now… punch me," Vegeta said.
Laurel opened her eyes, but made sure to keep her ki concentrated in her hand. "W-what? Why?" Laurel asked.
"Vegeta…" Goten began to say, but was cut off.
"Don't question me, woman. Punch me… or I destroy your little boyfriend," Vegeta said with a smirk. Vegeta then held up his hand and pointed it at Goten, palm raised. Small streams of electricity then began to swirl around Vegeta's outstretched palm.
"You won't do it," Laurel said, confident that Vegeta wouldn't harm a member of his friend's family.
All Vegeta did was smirk and suddenly an energy ball formed in his palm. Laurel glanced over at Goten who was freaking out. Would Vegeta actually do it? "Don't be so sure," Vegeta finally answered and launched the energy ball.
The energy ball hit Goten in the chest and caused a small explosion, which sent Goten to the wall of the gravity room. Laurel turned to Vegeta and without thinking rushed forward. She quickly concentrated all the ki she had into her first and struck Vegeta dead in the middle of his face.
Vegeta's head whipped back and Laurel fell back into a fighting stance that she never knew she could do. Vegeta quickly brought his hand to his nose, "You caught me off guard, woman," Vegeta finally said.
Goten, from the ground, finally spoke up, "Slow learner, huh?"
Laurel felt another smile coming on as she quickly got the impression that this wouldn't be too hard to learn after all.
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Videl, still sleepy from the morning, lay stretched out on the couch in the living room. Gohan was still sleeping, of course, and Chichi had run to the grocery store. Chichi or Gohan hadn't talked much since last night.
Videl sighed as the thoughts of the dinner flooded into her mind; the dinner had really taken a toll on everyone's feelings for each other. Gohan was aggravated at the fact that everyone had turned on his brother, Chichi was mad for the same reason, Bulma was mad at Laurel, Vegeta didn't care as long as he got to train, and everyone else just didn't want to be a part of it.
Videl wiped away the tear that had just begun to slide down her cheek. She just wanted everyone to be happy or, at least, as happy as she was. She wanted to spread the news to everyone about her baby. She was going to at the dinner, but then everything imploded.
Videl finally sat up from the couch and walked over to the front door. She opened it up and glanced outside at the sunny Wednesday afternoon. She couldn't wait for the tournament to finally take place this weekend; it would calm everyone day. As soon as everyone gets the anger out of their system it would all be peaceful again.
Videl suddenly felt a hand slide across her stomach and a chin nestle against her shoulder. Videl turned her head and smiled as she saw Gohan; his well rested features glowing in the sunlight.
"Good morning," Gohan said with a smile.
"And good morning to you, baby," Videl returned.
Gohan turned Videl away from the doorway and placed his lips against hers. Videl slowly pulled away and smiled. She took in his beautiful features and sighed.
"Are you okay?" Gohan asked, seemingly concerned.
"Of course, It's just… it's the baby," Videl replied.
"Is something wrong?" Gohan asked.
Videl glanced away, not wanting to look Gohan in the eyes as she answered his question. "I don't want the baby growing up in this," Videl said, her eyes beginning to water.
Gohan rested his hands on her shoulders and smiled. "It's okay; we'll get out of this soon. After the tournament everyone will come back to their senses," Gohan said with a comforting tone.
Still, Videl was worried no matter how much Gohan tried to reassure her. Everyone was still shaken because of Laurel and now that Goku was presumably gone for good… the world was much more susceptible to attacks. "Goku's gone, everyone hates each other… what if someone else comes? What if we are in such disarray that we can't the defend the Earth?" Videl asked; she truly didn't know the answer.
"We've stopped it from happening so many times before… I think everyone has finally caught on," Gohan responded, his warm smile adorning his features.
Videl smiled back; Gohan had to be right. Everything would soon fall into place and after that it would be a normal… peaceful… life. "I love you Gohan, I really do," Videl whispered.
"I love you, too," Gohan said and embraced her. Videl closed her eyes and slowly drifted into thought; the thought of how safe she felt in Gohan's arms.
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Laurel flew laps around the gravity room as fast as she could and felt every muscle in her body screaming in protest. Laurel trudged on, though, as even Vegeta had remarked at her fast progress. It had only been five hours since they had first started and already Laurel was learning so much.
She had already gotten strong enough to withstand 75gs, she had learned to manipulate her ki in every way possible, and she had learned how to control her in-air abilities. The only thing left to do now was to train and build upon her foundation.
"Faster woman, you've got twenty laps to go and I don't have all day," Vegeta barked out from the center of the room.
The comment ignited Laurel's motivation and drove her to increase her speed. Her body cried out against the action, but there was no stopping her. Laurel quickly finished ten laps and sped up even more as she entered her eleventh.
Suddenly, an energy ball smashed into the side of her face, propelling her into the side of the gravity room. Laurel fell to the floor and quickly shot a glance over at Vegeta.
"Vegeta, what was that for?" Goten quickly asked in her defense.
Vegeta retracted his arm and cracked his neck from side to side. "Time's up… and no more shall be wasted," Vegeta exclaimed.
Laurel got to her feet, "So you're saying the training's over?"
Vegeta laughed, "Don't be so naïve… I haven't gotten in my daily sparring session."
Laurel began to shake as the words burst from Vegeta's lips. "You want to spar… with me?" Laurel asked, hoping he'd say it was a joke.
"Of course not…" Vegeta answered as if Laurel should have already known. Laurel sighed and felt a smile creep from ear to ear. "I want to spar with both of you."
Laurel's eyes went wide as she glanced up at Vegeta and noticed Goten do the same. "Yo- you what?" Goten asked, hesitantly.
"You've got three seconds to prepare and I've already started counting," Vegeta said with a devilish smirk.
