A/N: Hey everybody! Here is chapter 8! It's a little earlier than I normally post, but I felt like posting it a bit early today. As per usual, I have a note to address about this chapter:

Some people may find the Gohan in this chapter a bit OOC on the Lookout. Keep in mind that one, he is not in the best state of mind when it comes to his situation with his father, and two, that he is incredibly protective of Goten. These are things that will be pointed out in the chapter as well, but I just thought that it would be worth mentioning here as well.

This is a notice about this story in general. While writing has picked up for me in the last few weeks, it will eventually lessen, specifically in four weeks. That is when I begin my second year of pharmacy school. While that in itself is exciting, it will definitely cut down on my writing quite a bit as I have heard from previous classes that th second year is the most challenging as well. For Legacy Through Courage, Pharm school really didn't hinder me much since it wasn't too difficult to find time to write last year, but this time around could be a problem.

The reason I say this is because it could limit how often I post chapters for this story. I may have to end up doing bi-weekly updates to keep a consistent schedule. I just thought I would let you guys know that right now in case it boils down to that, which it very well might.

Now enough sad stuff! This chapter has plenty of that already! Hopefully you guys enjoy it as much as I did writing it!

"dialogue"

thoughts/mindscape

"telepathic communication"

~change in setting~

*action*

flashback


Chapter 8: Cutting Ties

~The Lookout, Korin's Tower, Age 772~

Fear is the only emotion Goten can feel as his eyes snap open. He can't even tell that he is physically crying until he sees a drop fall onto the floor of the room. That's when he snaps his head up and realizes that he is back in the pendulum room. He tries to reassure himself that it was just a dream that his daddy had been killed right in front of his eyes, but he finds it difficult to get the picture of his chibi daddy lying on the ground, motionless, only forcing him to cry harder.

The chibi immediately feels arms wrap around him, but this does little to calm him. In actuality it makes him a little mad and he shoves out of the arms, which turn out to be Dende's. Goten then glares at the Namekian, his face still puffed up, his eyes red, and his nose still runny from crying. A few tears escape his eyes but they only hold anger.

"Why did you show me that!" the chibi shouts furiously for the first time in his young life. Goten has never been this angry at someone before, and frankly, it scares him a little, but that's not what he's focused on at the moment.

Dende looks away from the chibi in shame, secretly seething Piccolo for making him do this. It turns out that he was right all along: Goten was deeply hurt by what he saw. How Piccolo couldn't have seen this coming is baffling to the young guardian. Finally though, he looks the glaring chibi in the eye and answers the child's question. "I'm sorry you had to see that Goten, but it's for your own good…"

Goten's glare hardens. How could seeing what he just saw be for his own good? The chibi is still so young that he has a hard time looking at the big picture and reasoning why it could possibly be even remotely good to have him see Raditz's attack! To him, all the guardian did was made him see his daddy's death, and there's absolutely nothing good about that! "How could watching my daddy die possibly be good for me?!" Goten furiously shouts back.

Dende's eyes widen immensely at that statement. Gohan died? He thought that when Raditz attacked that Gohan got knocked out, at least that's what Piccolo had said. Did he see Goku die? But that wouldn't make sense either because one, Goten doesn't refer to him as 'daddy,' and two, he had specifically cut off the memory before that had happened.

He then realizes that Goten is only four years old and he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a person that is knocked out cold and someone who's dead. He immediately clarifies this for the chibi. "Goten, your dad didn't die that day. He was hurt so badly that he was knocked out."

The demi-saiyan's glare softens at the new information that his daddy didn't die, but he's still mad… and confused. "What does that mean?" he asks in a much softer voice than before.

The guardian of Earth is puzzled at what Goten is asking for a brief moment before figuring out that Goten doesn't know what getting knocked out even means. He ponders how he's going to explain the concept of being knocked unconscious to a four year old. "Well Goten, being knocked out is kind of like being in a forced deep sleep. When it happened to Gohan it was from taking an incredibly hard hit to the head."

Goten thinks over Dende's explanation of what happened to his daddy, sniffling due to his crying. So his daddy was just sleeping? That doesn't sound nearly as bad as what he had originally thought, and this brings some comfort to the chibi.

However, he still has no clue why Dende would force him to watch his daddy and his daddy's daddy get beat up by that mean guy. He doesn't see a point to that at all.

Sighing dejectedly, Goten lets go of his anger, which is replaced by sadness at what he saw. "I still don't know why you had to show me that though…" he replies much softer, his tears threatening to come back at the memory of what happened.

"Well Goten," Dende answers, now much more relieved that the chibi isn't mad anymore, "you asked me why your daddy wants to train you at your age, even though you don't like it and have him to protect you. Well it was that incident that you saw that motivated him to train you. I'll admit, even I was surprised at first, but when Piccolo explained it to me it made much more sense. Gohan just doesn't want you to be in the same situation that he was in. You saw what happened to him when his daddy was hurt. He didn't know how to defend himself and ended up getting hurt because of it."

The guardian really hopes that Goten can understand what he's trying to explain. He still thinks that what he made Goten go through wasn't wise to do at his age; he thought a simple explanation would have been just fine, but Piccolo had insisted they do it this way. Goten meanwhile is going over everything Dende had said in his head when suddenly his head shoots up and looks straight at the door. He's already making his way for the door when it suddenly bangs open.

In the doorway stands a super saiyan Gohan, looking frantically all over the room for his little boy. He sees Goten running towards him and he lets out a huge sigh of relief before quickly closing the gap and crushing the little chibi in a hug.

He can already feel his son calming down in his embrace, but he still feels like he's scared nonetheless. He goes through his usual comforting gestures with the boy, rubbing circles in his back with one hand while holding him close and running his other hand through his hair. He then takes a moment to see exactly where they are and his eyes widen when he realizes that they are in the pendulum room.

His mind quickly goes into gear and he wonders why Goten is in the pendulum room with Dende. What did he show him? Whatever it was must have been traumatizing to the poor chibi since he could feel nothing but horror and fear from his little boy for the longest time from outside the Lookout Palace.

That's the reason why he stopped in the middle of his spar with Piccolo. He only had one thought in mind and that was to get to Goten. Well actually scratch that; he had two thoughts in mind: get to Goten and make whoever made him feel this way pay.

Now he wants to know what his little boy saw.

Gohan feels through his bond that Goten has finally calmed down enough, so he takes Goten and sits down, pulling the chibi into his lap. "Goten… what did you see in here?" he asks gently, trying hard not to intimidate him.

Goten looks up at his daddy confused. "Why are you blonde daddy?"

This question puzzles Gohan for a moment before he realizes that he's still transformed. He immediately lets go of the transformation and his eyes and hair return to their normal onyx color. "Sorry Goten. I felt you were scared so I made sure that I got here as quickly as I could. I guess I was so focused on getting to you that I forgot to turn back," Gohan quickly explains to Goten. He gets back to his original question after seeing Goten accept his explanation. "But please son, tell me what you saw that made you so scared."

Goten sniffs, wiping his nose on his sleeve before answering. "I saw a mean guy attacking you and your daddy when you were really little…" he replies, feeling much more comfortable talking about it in his daddy's presence. This causes Gohan's eyes to widen before shooting a glare at Dende, who drops his head in defeat.

Gohan suddenly feels an anger that he hasn't felt for years start to rise in him, but he pushes it down for now. He can, and will, deal with that later. Right now though the little boy that he pledged his life to needs him and he will not deviate from that focus. Gohan hastily makes his move to comfort the chibi further, looking straight into Goten's eyes with nothing but understanding.

"Oh, I see Goten…" he replies. "I can see why that would upset you, but you don't have to worry. I'm still here, and I promise to never let what happened to me happen to you. You got that Goten?" he asks. Goten nods and gives Gohan a sad smile before hugging him again. His daddy always knows how to make him feel better.

Once the hug breaks Gohan stands up, holding the chibi demi-saiyan, who lets out a yawn. All of that trauma has really made the poor guy tired. Gohan then looks back at Dende seriously. "I think it's time we left. Don't worry though, I'll be back to discuss what exactly happened here."

Gohan says all of this in a low tone, but it makes Dende gulp and nod weakly. Seeing his friend's answer, Gohan quickly makes his way out of the pendulum room leaving Dende there all by himself to ponder exactly what Gohan meant by 'discussing' what happened.

He just has a bad feeling that it won't be a pleasant discussion.


~987 South District~

Gohan sports a concerned frown on his face, putting Goten in his bed. The chibi was so exhausted from what had happened earlier that he fell asleep during the fly home.

The teenage dad admits that he is definitely concerned for his son. So far, Goten has slept rather peacefully, but Gohan expects that by tonight the nightmares will come. If what Goten said was true (and he knows it is: why would Goten lie to him?) then his son had seen a dark event in his life, and he knows exactly which one too.

The one that started it all.

Gohan still can't believe that Dende let Goten see the time Raditz came to Earth! He should have known just how traumatizing it could be to Goten. Heck! Gohan still has nightmares about it. There was only three times in his life where he felt more helpless and horrified than in the moments he was trapped in that space pod, watching his father get beaten to a pulp by his 'uncle:' when he watched Piccolo sacrifice himself for him by taking Nappa's blast, when his dad took the blow that was meant for him during his fight with Bojack, and when his children from the future were heading towards the spiked wall when he was still struggling with his saiyan side.

It makes him furious that Dende would even allow it to occur, and he doesn't know exactly how, but he knows that Piccolo was involved with this as well. It just blows his mind how they couldn't take into account how Goten would react to it! And there's another thing that he wants to know:

Why did they show him that event in the first place?

He's puzzled as for the motivation of their actions. What came up to make them think that such a precaution was necessary? These are questions he wants answered… and soon! After all of this is clarified, then he will make a decision on whether or not to cut ties with the two Namekians.

Gohan was deeply affected when he found out that Goten's scare was due to the actions of who he thought was one of his best friends. The teenage demi-saiyan may be an overall trusting and kind individual, but when it comes to Goten he is extremely protective. The Guardian of the Earth was one of only four people that Gohan trusted with Goten, and he just betrayed that trust.

Now Gohan is faced with a decision: whether or not to forgive him. There's no doubt in his mind that he no longer trusts the green alien with his son anymore. He doesn't know if he even trusts Piccolo with Goten anymore since he knows for a fact that Piccolo had some role in all of this as well, and he looks up to the older Namekian as a second dad.

All he knows is that he can no longer bring Goten with him to the Lookout, and that also means that he can't go to the Lookout to work out his feelings about his father; if he can't work out his feelings with his father, then that means that he can't ever return to the Z-gang.

That's right, Gohan still feels the need to hide from the Z-gang. He knows that even though they won't say it out loud that deep down, they are all hurt by Goku's death. He can't imagine their reaction if they ever found out that he actually hated Goku for what he did. They would probably shun him from the group despite the fact that he's the man's son, and right now that's the last thing he needs.

Besides, seeing him is probably a painful enough reminder of the man's death.

One thing he knows for sure though is that he needs to somehow forgive his father in order to even attempt a return to the Z-gang. In order to do that though he needs some guidance, which brings him back to his primary problem: the trust he has in his sensei.

Gohan knows that deep down Piccolo probably has a good reason for sending Goten back in time through the pendulum room, and that Dende probably was just a vector. It still doesn't mean that he approves–they should have asked him beforehand if they wanted to . He still however needs the reason they both had and in order to find out he needs to get back to the Lookout.

The only problem is that he doesn't want to leave Goten alone. Sure, normally he would be fine leaving the chibi by himself during one of his naps, but after what the little tyke went through he will most likely have nightmares, and he doesn't want to not be around if he wakes up. He somehow has to go when the little guy is awake, but he doesn't want to take Goten with him since Gohan isn't sure how well he will be able to contain his anger. After all, his former best friend and sensei just betrayed his trust so he isn't very happy with them at the moment.

That's when an idea suddenly pops into his head:

Videl.

Gohan remembers yesterday fondly. He had a great time with Videl and he even opened up everything to her; there's now not a single thing that she doesn't know about him. Another, and more important thing that he remembers about Videl's visit yesterday is just how much fun Goten had with her and how comfortable he was with her. After himself, Videl definitely is the one the chibi feels most comfortable with.

Not only that, but Videl has quickly become his most trusted and best friend. He knows that she would take excellent care of Goten if he ever had to go anywhere and he knows that Goten would be quite comfortable in her care as well.

Still though, he finds himself hesitant. While Videl hasn't done anything to betray his trust as of yet, that doesn't mean that she won't in the future. After all, it was just earlier today that his sensei and former best friend did just that, and he would have never thought that they would do that. It's a good thing that they still have no clue where he lives because after today, he doesn't know if they will end up going back on their promise to keep their meetings a secret and end up telling Bulma about them.

In the end though, Gohan decides to trust Videl with Goten. He really needs to get to the Lookout and get this over with before he explodes just thinking about it.

The teen takes one last glance at his son before exiting the room and heading for the living room. Remembering that just yesterday Videl had gotten him a cell phone so he could reach her whenever he wanted, he quickly picks the device off the side table and calls the only contact in his phone: Videl.

After a few rings the daughter of Hercule picks up. "Hello, Videl Satan speaking."

"Hey Videl, it's Gohan."

Videl smiles on the other end. "Hey Gohan! What's up? You need something?"

"Yeah, I do actually. I'm sorry it's such short notice but I need you to watch Goten for me while I do something important. Are you free?"

Videl's eyes light up at the suggestion. He actually caught her at a perfect time as she was just walking back from one of her Sunday shopping trips with her friend Erasa. After the torture that the girl put her through she could use a pick me up, and watching Goten would give her just that. "Totally! I would love to babysit the little guy! He's so much fun! I'm just surprised that you're going somewhere without him when he's awake. You never leave the kid alone unless he's sleeping and when he's awake you're always around. Why can't you take him along?"

Gohan's expression drops a tad just thinking about what Goten had to witness. Dende he needs to get to the Lookout now! "It's complicated Videl. I'll tell you when I get back I promise, but right now I need to go."

"I'll hold you to that Gohan. Alright, you want me to fly over?"

"No, I'll just come get you with Instant Transmission. Goten's asleep at the moment, but I wanna leave as soon as he wakes up. I'll see you in a few seconds!"

Videl laughs at Gohan's last sentence. "Alright Gohan. See you soon!" she replies before hanging up. Sure enough, not ten seconds after the conversation ended, Gohan appears right in front of her. He has done this quite often over the past year and a half and at first it used to startle Videl to no end. Eventually though, she got used to it so now she doesn't even bat an eye anymore. "Hey Gohan!" she greets him, closing the distance between them for a hug. Gohan returns the kind gesture and places his hand on Videl's shoulder, wasting no time.

"It's nice to see you again Videl but we need to get back. I think Goten is waking up. Now we are going to appear right next to Goten since I am using his ki signature to lock onto. Are you ready?" he asks her. Videl nods and Gohan puts two fingers from his free hand on his forehead and quickly instant transmits back to his home right next to Goten's bed.

Gohan's timing seems to be impeccable as Goten is just waking up from his mini-nap. The chibi sits up in his bed and rubs the sleep out of his head before opening them and smiling up at Gohan.

"Hi daddy," he greets sleepily, letting out a little yawn before seeing Videl there as well. He blinks, now fully awake and grins at Videl. "Ane! You're here!" he shouts enthusiastically, launching himself at the girl.

Videl, while startled at the chibi's enthusiastic reaction to seeing her, snatches the chibi out of the air expertly. This isn't the first time he's greeted her in this fashion and the thought of how much the little guy likes her warms her heart. She can honestly say that she adores the chibi too.

After she breaks the hug, she returns Goten's greeting. "It's good to see you too Goten. Always is."

Goten, while elated that Videl is over can't help but wonder why she's here, so he asks her just that. "Why are you here ane?"

Before Videl can answer though Gohan beats her to the punch. "Actually Goten, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," he starts, gaining the attention from both others in the room. "I'm going back to the Lookout to talk to Mr. Piccolo and Mr. Dende about what exactly happened with you and when they planned on letting me know about their 'plan.' Unfortunately I have to go alone, so Videl is here to watch you until I get back."

Goten's eyes widen at that. His daddy's leaving him? But he's always been around! He doesn't want his daddy to leave him, even if Ane Videl is here! The chibi panics and quickly jumps from Videl's arms to Gohan's. He wraps his tiny arms around the teen's neck. "No! Don't go!" he screams, tightening his grip on his daddy. He's not going to let go anytime soon if he can help it. "I don't want you to go! What if I need you!?"

Gohan internally lets out a sigh and sits down on Goten's bed, cuddling the chibi close. He should have seen this coming. Goten is suffering from a terrible case of separation anxiety and the events of today probably just amplified that a few times, but he's going have to get over this soon. Seeing Goten like this reminds him of just how scared he got today, and Gohan really has to leave before he gets too mad. "Goten, I'm only going to be gone for an hour tops, plus you have Videl here to play with you while I'm gone."

Goten's looks up at his daddy with gigantic watery eyes. Still to this day Goten has never cried in Gohan's presence, even as an infant, but he is on the verge of it happening for the first time at the moment. "But daddy," he whines, voice shaky, "Ane's awesome, but she's not you! I don't want you to leave!" After getting his word in, the chibi buries his face in his daddy's chest, struggling to hold back his tears.

Gohan quickly goes into dad mode and comforts Goten for a few moments, giving an apologetic smile to Videl, who so far has only watched everything that has happened awkwardly. She smiles back and mouths to Gohan that she will be in the living room and then leaves to give the two some privacy.

Meanwhile Gohan's calming gestures, like always, work wonders on the chibi. After a few moments, he relaxes and finally unwraps his arms from Gohan's neck, much to the teen's relief. For a little guy, Goten has a pretty strong grip!

Finally, after some hesitation, Goten looks up at Gohan. "Are you still leaving daddy?" he asks, much calmer than before, but still sad at the idea.

Gohan puts a small frown on his face. "I'm afraid so Goten." he answers, causing Goten's mood to drop once more. However, he still stays calm at the news, much to the relief of Gohan. "I really need to do this. It's really important. What Mr. Dende had you do was wrong. You shouldn't have had to see what you did, and that made me mad at Mr. Dende because you were so scared due to his actions. I need to settle this with him and Mr. Piccolo and that's why I need to go. Do you understand Goten?"

The chibi slowly nods to Gohan's question, giving him the answer he desires. Gohan quickly continues before Goten tries to guilt him into staying once again. "Don't worry Goten, you have Ane Videl to play with you while I'm gone and you know how much fun she is. But if you need me, I can be here faster than the speed of light."

Goten's expression turns hopeful at his daddy's words. "You promise?" he asks, his eyes widening cutely.

Gohan smiles down at Goten and answers his question with absolute confidence. "I promise Goten." The chibi smiles and hugs Gohan again, which the teen eagerly returns. He then stands up and carries Goten in his arms. "Now how about we go see Ane Videl?"

Goten smiles and nods, causing Gohan to smile as well as he walks out of the chibi's room and to the living room, where they find Videl lounging on the sofa. Gohan smirks at the sight. "Comfortable?" he asks her as he sets Goten on the ground, amused at the completely relaxed expression on her face.

"Very," is her lazy reply. Her previously closed eyes flutter open and she reluctantly sits upright on the couch. Goten quickly scampers over to her, and she smiles at the boy.

"Well I think I'll be leaving now," Gohan says, breaking the quiet atmosphere of the room. "I'll be back in no time, don't you worry Goten. Ane will take good care of you."

Goten merely nods at Gohan. He's still somewhat upset that he has to leave him, but he understands that what he has to do is incredibly important. "Bye daddy!" he answers before turning his attention back to Videl.

"See ya Gohan," Videl replies as well.

"Bye guys!" Gohan answers back. With that taken care of, Gohan puts two fingers to his forehead and instant transmits to his sensei's ki. Oh, they have a lot to discuss.


~The Lookout, Korin's Tower~

Piccolo is silently meditating on the edge of the Lookout. Earlier, his gakusei had stopped mid-spar and suddenly just dashed away towards the Lookout Palace. This action had greatly confused the Namekian until he saw Gohan exit the Palace with a distraught Goten in his arms. After that, everything became clear.

Dende had carried out his plan after all.

Piccolo had quickly tried to approach Gohan and placate him a little bit… perhaps explain why they did this. However, when he got close to the teen demi-saiyan with his tiny charge, Gohan just sent him a dark glare, freezing his approach in its tracks.

He hadn't seen a glare that cold since Bojack.

Gohan was incredibly pissed!

So the Namekian just let his gakusei fly off, frozen in his spot. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was that glare. He quickly went to Dende to find out exactly what happened, but when he found the young guardian, he got the same treatment from him: a glare as he approached. However, Dende's glare didn't hold the same power as Gohan's did so the older Namekian tried his best to ignore it and attempted to ask his younger companion what exactly happened. "Dende, wha–"

"This is all your fault Piccolo!" Dende shouts, cutting off the older Namekian. "I told you that we should just tell him, but you just had to suggest we show him through the freakin' Pendulum Room didn't you?! 'It's for the best' you said! 'Gohan'll appreciate it later' you said! Well I don't agree at all!"

Piccolo only can stare with wide eyes as Dende continues his rant. "Now not only did I probably traumatize Goten for the next few months at least, but now Gohan is absolutely furious at me… like I wanted this to happen, like I wanted to show Goten that! Now I don't know if he'll ever forgive me! Thanks a lot Piccolo! I lost my best friend because of you!" Dende then quickly storms past Piccolo and heads somewhere deeper into the palace to calm down a tad.

Piccolo is once again shocked. Dende, the quiet, gentle Guardian of the Earth just yelled at him! He never thought he'd see the day that he'd cause that to happen. Piccolo decided to let the guardian have his space and went back outside of the palace, sitting on the edge and getting into his lotus position to start his meditation.

That had all happened about an hour ago. While in his meditation, Piccolo thought over if his idea was a good one after all. He admits that he hadn't anticipated Goten to take it as hard as he apparently did. However, he still thinks that this was the best way to go about it. If the child is anything like Gohan, which he admits is definitely the case on this subject, then he would need an extra 'kick' to willingly start to train.

He remembers how hard it was to get Gohan to start training for the saiyans. The child was a whiney brat that cried too much for his liking. It took him being abandoned in the forest to actually start to take his training seriously.

Piccolo was just thinking in Goten's best interest. He didn't want Goten to be in the same situation as Gohan and as much as Dende says that just explaining it to the chibi would have worked out just as well, he knows that that wouldn't have been the case. No, just like Gohan, he needed the extra motivation, and the pendulum room gave him that.

"Piccolo!"

The older Namekian is startled out of his meditation by his gakusei's angry shout. He didn't sense his presence at all. Damn ki wristband! "Gohan–"

"Dende!" Gohan shouts, cutting off his sensei. Now that Goten isn't here he can finally let out all of his emotion. He hasn't been this angry in a long time and he wants to give both Namekians a piece of his mind. "Get out here! I need to talk to you!"

In a matter of seconds the Guardian of the Earth makes his presence known and comes out to the outside of the Palace. Once both Namekians are there Gohan lets it rip. "Explain yourselves! Both of you! You better have a damn good reason for sending Goten back to the time of Raditz's arrival!"

Piccolo chooses this time to speak up for himself. "It was my idea Gohan," he answers, causing Gohan to cast his glare over to him. "He had been asking why you were training him and I thought that having him see the reason would give him the extra motivation he needed. It was for his own good."

Gohan's eyes narrow at that explanation. To him, he doesn't see why it was necessary to even discuss the event at all. He doesn't think that Goten was ready for it. After all, he wasn't ready for what happened when it happened. "I can't believe you'd even think it necessary to talk about what happened! Did you ever once consider how he would take seeing what happened?! Did you ever once even consider the fact that he's only four years old!? It's bad enough that he had to find out what happened, but for him to actually witness it?! I can't believe you Piccolo!"

Dende takes this opportunity to quickly defend himself. "That's what I told him, and he still didn't listen to me!" the guardian adds.

"SHUT UP DENDE!" Gohan quickly retorts, now sending his glare at the Namekian. "That just makes what you did even worse! You knew what you were doing was wrong and you still went through with it anyways! You may have only been the vector, but you still went through with Piccolo's plan!"

Dende is stunned. What Gohan said is absolutely true. He still had the opportunity to not go through with the plan, but he did it anyways. He puts his head down in shame as Gohan continues. "By the way guys, when exactly were you going to tell me about your 'plan?'"

Piccolo reluctantly answers his gakusei's question. "We didn't want you to know since we knew you wouldn't allow it–"

"You're damn right I wouldn't have allowed it!" Gohan furiously shouts back, now struggling desperately to keep his power under control. He's on the verge of super saiyan and it's only thanks to his superior control he has over the form that he hasn't transformed already. "How in your right mind could you ever think that it was a good idea in the first place!?"

"I didn't think that he would have taken it so badly–"

"Well you didn't think, that's for sure!" Gohan cuts off his sensei once again. "Do you know Goten at all?" he shouts, now bursting into super saiyan, sending both Dende and Piccolo skidding backwards at the sudden efflux of ki. They couldn't feel that transformation coming at all thanks to the ki wristband, and were caught off-guard by it, though Piccolo had a suspicion that it was coming.

"Gohan–" Piccolo shouts only to get cut off again.

"Just think about it for a minute! You both know that Goten regards me very highly and now think about what happened when Raditz came! I was abducted by the crazed lunatic and eventually knocked out by him! Goten probably even thought I died when he saw that part! How did you think he would take it!?"

Silence is all that meets Gohan, signaling that he successfully made his point. "Do you now see how blind you guys were?! Did you guys ever think that I actually had a legitimate reason for not telling him about Raditz?! I know from experience just how horrifying that is for someone his age! You should have asked me about this! Then when I said no I could have at least explained all of this to you before it happened!" Gohan yells, his power spiking once again. It's is getting harder and harder for him to keep control and now his power is rising to a ki level so high that it's starting to overwhelm the ki inhibitor wristband, which is now sparking.

"Gohan!" Piccolo shouts back at his gakusei, drawing his attention. While Gohan has made some good points, he still thinks that it's unreasonable for him to think that his plan was completely ludicrous. "Goten needed to see what happened! You told me yourself that you were frustrated that Goten wasn't making much progress in his training and that's because he lacks motivation! He had no clue why you were training him in the first place!"

Gohan's looks at his sensei incredulously. "I told him that it was for his own self-defense! He knew what it was for!"

"Well whatever you told him clearly wasn't enough," Piccolo retorts. His gakusei just doesn't get it. Doesn't he see that Goten still needed that extra push? "He was still questioning why it was so important that he learn to defend himself. He was confused because he never saw anything truly bad happen. He needed to know your reasoning, and sending him back in the pendulum room was the only way that he would be able to see that! Once he understands why you're being so insistent, he will be more motivated to train! It's what is best for him!"

Gohan's glare only hardens at the Namekian. "Are you telling me you know what's best for my son more than me?!" he asks incredulously.

Piccolo sighs in frustration. At this point, he knows that Gohan is too blinded by rage to listen to anything he says, but that suddenly gives him an idea. The fact that the ki inhibitor on his gakusei's wrist is sparking isn't lost on the Namekian. Maybe, just maybe, if he can get Gohan angry enough he can force his ki to spike high enough to break the wristband and give away his cover!

And he now knows exactly how.

With this new plan in mind, Piccolo narrows his eyes at Gohan. "In case you've forgotten Gohan, you aren't Goten's father. Goku is." he replies in a low tone. "And I don't care how long you've been living on your own, you're still only sixteen yourself. Ask yourself that question why don't you."

Gohan's eyes widen at that statement. He did NOT just say that! Gohan internally seethes.

It is at this moment that he finally loses it.

Gohan lets go of his power, shattering his ki wristband and exploding into super saiyan 2. The explosion sends Dende flying backwards and even sends Piccolo a few feet back before he raises his power enough to control himself. It's an explosion in both the literal and ki sense. Where there was absolutely zero ki before is now an unimaginable amount of power. Gohan, realizing what he has done, is able to contain himself to his power that he had at the Cell Games, but he still is raging on the inside.

"I'm not his father?!" Gohan shouts at the top of his lungs as a stray bolt of lightning crosses his face. "I never claimed to be his father! However, I've raised him on my own since he was an infant! I've been there since the day he was born! I may be only sixteen Piccolo, but I know how to raise Goten! I know what's best for him because I know him better than anyone! He's my life Piccolo! My everything! I may not be Goten's father, but he is definitely my son, and I definitely am his dad!"

Piccolo can only gape at Gohan at this point. He just blew his cover and now he is broadcasting his ki to the whole Northern Galaxy! He then smirks since he can already feel all of the Z-warriors heading towards the Lookout. Perhaps if he can keep Gohan going long enough, then perhaps he can team up with them and convince Gohan to stop hiding.

However, to the Namekian's annoyance, it seems that Gohan has also caught wind of who is coming and this snaps him out of his rage. How could he be so stupid?! He let his rage get to him once again, and now his cover is blown! Not only that, but Goten is now probably scared silly due to how angry he got. He quickly powers down and suppresses his ki as far down as he can while he checks his bond with the chibi. Although he can barely feel anything due to the fact that he's so far away, he can tell that Goten is definitely disturbed, although he seems to be calming down somewhat. He figures it's due to a combination that he is no longer seething with rage and Videl probably comforting him, but he still needs to get back as soon as possible.

With these thoughts in mind, Gohan quickly fixates his senses on Goten and puts two fingers on his head. Piccolo shouts out in protest, but he is too late as Gohan vanishes from his view, right as Vegeta touches down on the Lookout, looking extremely pissed.

"Namek!" he shouts, pure irritation in his voice. "Where is Kakarot's brat!? I know I felt him up here!"

Piccolo sighs in frustration before turning to the saiyan prince. "You just missed him, and I'd rather only explain this once so we'll wait until everyone else gets here until I explain what's going on."

Vegeta scowls and crosses his arms across his chest. *hmph* "Well those pathetic humans better hurry up then! I don't have all day!" he retorts.

Piccolo just ignores Vegeta's attitude. He is beyond irritated. He was so close, but he let him escape. He still has no clue where Gohan is living, and he probably will make another one of those ki wristbands in no time to conceal himself once again. And after what happened and what he said, the demi-saiyan probably won't ever come back to the Lookout.

Piccolo sighs once again as Krillin touches down. Before his gakusei may have been missing, but now he's truly lost. He sadly wonders if he will ever see him again.


~987 South District~

Videl is currently watching Goten wobble his way through the sky at the moment. The chibi is making great progress with his flying as he can now fly straight pretty easily, but he still has trouble changing directions. The daughter of Mr. Satan knows how that is.

When Gohan was first teaching her how to fly she had trouble changing direction as well. She found out that the key is being able to channel your ki in the opposite direction so that it moves you in the direction you want to go, but that is difficult for a beginner ki user. However, the joyous expression on the chibi's face tells her that he is enjoying himself despite his struggles. Videl smiles at the sight.

This all started with a rousing game of tag. The chibi had insisted that they play the game and Videl had complied. Thanks to her superior ki manipulation skills compared to Goten, she was able to keep up with the demi-saiyan chibi, who is genetically faster and stronger. It was fun for a while, but when Videl took things a step further and took the game to the air, Goten had complained that he couldn't fly that well yet. When Videl suggested that he practice flying under her instruction, he had jumped at the opportunity enthusiastically. He has been practicing ever since.

As far as Videl can tell, the young chibi is a natural. He seems to be picking it up even faster than she did, and he's only four! It took her weeks to even be able to stay in the air for more than ten minutes, and Goten has been flying around for the past half-hour! He is now doing shaky figure eights in the air and seems to be having a blast.

However, that all quickly changes in an instant.

Suddenly Goten halts his movement mid-air and looks in a random direction. Without his ki supporting him, the chibi starts falling from the sky! Videl hastily makes her way over there and catches the chibi before he hits the ground, but becomes extremely concerned when Goten suddenly looks scared and starts shaking in her arms. Videl, knowing that it has something to do with his strong bond with Gohan, quickly hugs the boy and comforts him in the same ways she's seen Gohan do time and time again.

"Goten," she gently beckons the chibi. "What's wrong?"

The demi-saiyan looks up at Videl with wide, watery eyes and his bottom lip trembling. "Daddy's mad! Really mad! He feels scary!" he answers, burying his face in her shoulder, but surprisingly not crying. He however is still shaking and Videl hears a sob escape the chibi's lips. Videl just keeps on comforting the chibi to the best of her ability, uttering reassurances that everything will be alright.

After a few moments, Goten stops trembling but is still obviously shaken up. This gives Videl some relief as her attempts at soothing the chibi are obviously working. A few seconds later, Gohan pops back in out of nowhere, obviously from Instant Transmission. Goten's head pops up immediately and seeing that his daddy is back like he said he would be, he quickly makes the transition from Videl to Gohan, who automatically takes over his normal role as dad and continues comforting the chibi expertly.

"It's okay Goten," he softly mutters, rubbing circles in the child's back. He can already feel the calm overtake Goten now that he's here. It still amazes Gohan to this day how much comfort his son draws from him. He's extremely grateful for this amazing bond that he has with Goten.

After reassuring himself that Goten will be alright, he looks up at Videl. "I bet you're wondering what caused this huh…" he predicts, knowing his best friend's inquisitive nature.

Surprisingly however, Videl shakes her head negatively. "No, I already know that he got upset because he felt you get mad. He told me that himself. What I want to know is why you got so mad."

Gohan nods, signaling that he intends to tell her. "Fair enough. I already promised you I'd tell you why I had to leave anyways and I will. I however have to get a new wristband first. Thank Dende that I was able to make a few extras in case something happened," he explains, showing his now naked right wrist, also causing Videl's eyes to widen.

"Dang! What did you do to break it?" she asks, shocked. "I thought those things were supposed to be basically indestructible!"

Gohan scratches the back of his head with his free hand. "Well apparently they have a limit as to how much ki they can contain. I guess I never really did try them out at the super saiyan 2 level since I'm the only one alive that can transform into that state, but apparently that is too much ki." Upon seeing Videl's incredulous expression, Gohan chuckles. "I'll explain it all when I get my new wristband," he adds, now heading back towards the capsule house.

Now back to his old self thanks to his daddy, Goten starts telling Gohan about his time with Videl. He tells his daddy about their game of tag and about how Videl was helping him learn how to fly better. Gohan listens to his son's stories with the utmost attention, glad that he's already feeling better. He didn't even need to explain to the chibi why he was so mad earlier, and frankly he never wanted to in the first place.

Gohan makes his way to his lab and spots an extra wristband. He quickly picks it up and puts it on, masking his ki once again. "Ah, much better!" he sighs. "It's been so long since I've had to suppress my ki that it was getting quite annoying. I should probably start practicing again though in case I need to in a dire situation." He then smiles at Videl. "I see you're still wearing yours, and it's working! Thanks again for doing that." he adds, now exiting the lab with Goten still in his arms and Videl following behind.

Videl indeed is wearing a ki blocking wristband. With her ki training over the past year and a half, the daughter of Hercule has gotten exponentially stronger, so much so that Junjoubu is no longer required on police missions. She now has the ki manipulation skills to protect herself in every possible situation that she could get herself into.

What this also means though is that her base ki is also exponentially higher, so much so that it would probably draw suspicion from the rest of the Z-fighters if they ever got close enough. So, in order to avoid a surprise visit from one of the Z-fighters, Gohan made her her own, personal ki wristband to mask her signal.

Of course one of the disadvantages to this is that he can no longer sense Videl since unlike Goten, he can't feel her through the ki inhibition. This could cause problems with him being able to track her down, so he added a special component to the wristband. What it does is it interacts with his wristband (at least the one he had) so that he can tell exactly where she is through a signal that the wristband gives off. Since Videl lives in the city, he then can instant transmit to the closest person to her signal, which usually isn't too far away due to the population density of Satan City.

Since his original wristband was destroyed though, he is going to have to add that component to the new one he now sports. Before that would have been a pain, but now that he knows exactly what to do, it shouldn't take him more than an hour. He figures he'll do it tonight after he puts Goten to bed.

"Hey, it's the least I could do after everything you've done for me," Videl replies to Gohan. "I'm actually surprised at how comfortable it is to wear. It's like it's not even there!"

"I know right?" Gohan replies, now entering the living room. He sets Goten on the ground and kneels down to his level. "Why don't you go outside and play for a while. I need to discuss something very important with Ane Videl in here for a minute and after we're done we'll go to the lake."

Goten grins at Gohan. "Oh wowee! The lake! Please hurry daddy!" he excitedly replies, running out the door to go play with some of his animal friends.

Gohan smiles at his retreating form before turning his attention back to Videl. "You know, those wristbands didn't always used to be that comfortable," he suddenly informs Videl, who turns her attention back to Gohan after watching Goten run off. "When Goten was really little it was a challenge to get him to keep his on. I was used to it but he kept on taking it off. I was lucky he was so little at the time that his ki wasn't strong enough to draw attention to the Z-fighters, but that got me working on making it more comfortable."

Gohan finds himself now thinking back on the old days. He was finally able to make a more comfortable version of the wristband by the time Goten turned two years old. Now he's so glad that he did. "It's a good thing too because now his ki would definitely draw attention since he is learning ki manipulation plus the fact he's a saiyan. I'd say that his base ki level is about up to what mine was when I got angry during the whole Raditz incident…"

Gohan finds himself trailing off after that sentence, and his mood drops instantly. He just reminded himself why he's so angry with Dende and Piccolo and now everything that happened earlier today is coming back full force.

All of this isn't lost to Videl. She knows Gohan well enough to be able to read his moods, and she gets the feeling that this has something to do with his trip to the Lookout earlier. She quickly grows concerned at Gohan's sudden mood change and quickly takes his arm, pulling him down to sit on the couch with her. "Gohan," she starts, trying to be reassuring. "What happened up on the Lookout? You promised you'd tell me right?"

Gohan looks directly into Videl's eyes and sees nothing but concern for him. She is legitimately concerned for him, and seeing that is enough for him to open up to her, starting with his biggest concern. "Videl… am I a good dad to Goten?"

Videl's eyes widen at that question. What brought this up all of a sudden? She thought they were talking about his recent trip to the Lookout, but she has a feeling that this ties that together somehow. What happened that made him think that he wasn't a good dad to Goten?

As for her answer to his question, she doesn't even have to think about it. "Gohan, you are an amazing dad to the little guy! I've never seen two people closer than you two. Not only that, but your interactions with him, the way you treat him and care for him, tell me everything I need to know. Now, I may not have seen you act as a parent too often until recently, but from the few moments that I did see I can honestly say I'm amazed. Heck! Not just ten minutes ago you showed just how awesome you are at being his dad… what suddenly brought this up?"

Gohan sighs. "This is a long story, but it started this morning when I went for my weekly 'therapy' session with Piccolo…" He then tells Videl about the events that transpired on the Lookout, starting with how Dende used the pendulum room to send Goten back in time to when Raditz came, taking a few minutes to actually explain how the pendulum room works to her as well. After all of that, he goes into the details of how he felt that Goten was terrified and immediately went to the room in order to comfort him only to find that Dende was the one that had caused this to happen.

"Why would they do that?!" Videl asks incredulously. "From what you told me, that event was horrible! Didn't your dad die in that battle?!"

Gohan merely nods. "Luckily Goten didn't see that part, otherwise I think he would have been even worse off than he was. However, he did see me get knocked out by Raditz after I broke out of his space pod… and I think Goten thought that I had died," he explains, eliciting a gasp from Videl.

"Yeah," Gohan continues. "The poor kid was traumatized. I have a feeling he's going to have nightmares tonight, which is why I didn't want to leave while he was sleeping. What if he suddenly woke up and I was gone?!"

"I completely agree Gohan," Videl answers. "I can see why you had me watch him now, and I can also see why he was super clingy when you told him that you were going somewhere without him." She then starts to get angry herself. "What was Dende thinking?! Doesn't he realize that Goten is only four years old?"

"That's actually what I told them," Gohan replies. He then skips ahead to his most recent visit. He tells Videl how he just blew up on Piccolo and Dende, chastising them for sending Goten back. He then explains to her how Piccolo defended himself, telling Gohan that he had Dende send Goten into the past so that he could answer the chibi's question about why his daddy is insisting on training him.

Now at the time, Gohan was too angry to see what Piccolo meant by that, but now that the demi-saiyan has had time to reflect on that with a rational mind, he can't help but see the hidden meaning behind his sensei's words. Suddenly, what Piccolo did doesn't seem as bad because the reason he even sent Goten back in time in the first place is because the chibi was wondering why his daddy had been training him. Gohan then connects the dots and suddenly a painful realization occurs to him.

It's his fault.

It's completely obvious now! Goten didn't like the training, just like he didn't when he was little! If he hadn't pushed Goten into doing this in the first place, then Goten wouldn't have complained to Dende, and then Dende wouldn't have told Piccolo who then wouldn't have even thought to send Goten back to begin with.

Perhaps he doesn't know what's best for Goten…

Gohan tries to continue with his story but finds it hard without first addressing this issue. "Videl, at the Lookout, Piccolo had called me out and said right to my face that I wasn't Goten's father… that I needed to reevaluate myself and see if I actually know what's best for Goten," he admits, causing Videl to gasp once again.

"That's preposterous! How could he say that?!" she suddenly exclaims, much to the surprise of Gohan. "What did you say to that?"

"…Well I completely lost it." Gohan answers. "I was caught up in rage and that's when I ascended to my super saiyan 2 state and broke the ki wristband. I then went off on Piccolo saying that I might not be Goten's father, but I am his dad and he is my son. I also told him that I do know what's best for Goten since I have devoted my life to him…" he trails off for a moment before continuing in a much more somber tone. "At least that's what I thought. Now I'm not sure…"

Videl just looks at Gohan like he grew two heads. "…Gohan you can't be serious. You know that chibi better than you know yourself. If anyone knows what's good for him it's you Gohan."

Gohan sighs once again. "I thought the same thing Videl, but now that I think about it, I can't help but think it's my fault now. I was the one that forced Goten into training and this all happened because of that."

"Stop right there Gohan!" Videl suddenly commands in a scolding tone, much to the shock of Gohan. "Don't you go blaming this on yourself now! Okay sure, maybe this could have been avoided if you hadn't started training Goten, but what Piccolo and Dende did was wrong and completely out of line! They should have gone to you to ask for the answer or just told him that he wasn't ready for the answer!"

Gohan can only gape wide eyed at Videl as she continues. "No, Gohan! Your anger was completely justifiable and to be honest, I'm pissed at them too! Goten's like an otouto to me! I just can't believe they were so blind not to see what his reaction would be to all of this, and yours for that matter! But whatever you do Gohan, do not, I repeat, do not go blaming yourself for this!" Upon seeing Gohan just sit there silent, Videl angrily adds, "GOT IT?"

"…yes ma'am." Gohan hesitantly answers, honestly still shocked at Videl's impassioned response to his unasked question. He didn't expect that at all! He figured that she would listen to his case and then agree that he could have prevented it. He didn't expect her to take it the way that she did.

In a lot of ways, Videl helped him out tremendously by saying that. He really feels a whole lot less guilty about the whole thing now.

However, he still can't get the idea out of his head that he might not know what's best for Goten and that he might not be the best person to raise the chibi. He admits that while he treats Goten like he would a son and that he plays the role of a dad in the chibi's life that no matter what, he can never claim to be his father. When Piccolo pointed this fact out at the Lookout he was affected much deeper than he originally thought.

Feeling like getting everything out in the open with Videl, he addresses this concern. "Still though," he starts, "I can't help but wonder if I am doing a good job at raising Goten. Like Piccolo said, as much as I like to believe that I'm his dad, I can't claim to be his father. What if he's right and I'm just too young to know what's best for him?"

Now it's Videl's turn to sigh. She takes her hand and forces Gohan to look at her. "Gohan, I'm going to tell you something alright? Yesterday, when you told me to promise not to say anything about you and Goten to anyone… I was actually planning to go to the police and have them notify Bulma of just where you were."

Gohan's eyes widen at this. She was planning on telling Bulma? Videl, seeing this, quickly continues before he can make any conclusions on that alone. "I originally thought you were living with another adult at least, but when you told me that you were on your own, I was afraid that you may be in over your head."

Gohan is reeling now. She thinks he's in over his head? Perhaps Piccolo was right, but before he can say anything Videl continues on from where she left off. "Then, as I was about to head back to the city and to the police station… I saw it."

"…saw what?" Gohan hesitantly asks Videl, not knowing exactly what she's talking about.

"The connection that you two have," she explains. "I saw just how much Goten looks up to you and just how well you handled him and I realized what you two have is special. I then remembered all of the times that you brought him with you to meet with me and then the trip to the lake earlier that day. It showed me that despite all odds, you were doing an excellent job raising Goten on your own. And that is why I didn't go to the police, didn't go to Bulma.

"You may be young Gohan, but sometimes age doesn't matter if you are as close as you two are. As long as you put him first and love him with everything you've got, you can be twelve years old and still be the best dad in the world. Like I told you earlier, I see Goten as an otouto, so if I was in any doubt that you weren't raising Goten right or if you didn't do everything with his best interest in mind, then I wouldn't have hesitated to go to the police and change that, but I didn't.

"You're an excellent dad Gohan. Whether you're actually his father or not doesn't matter as long as you love him like a son, and you've proven time and time again that you do. So stop beating yourself up on words that Piccolo probably said just to get you mad." After she's finished she goes in and gives Gohan a big hug, which he gratefully returns.

Gohan is still in awe with what Videl had just said. She just admitted to him that she was going to go to the police and inform Bulma where they were, but then changed her mind when she saw how he handled Goten. Apparently, she thinks of him so highly as a dad that she just continued to allow him to raise Goten on his own. He knows that it probably took a lot of courage to admit that she was planning on going back on her promise, plus he could see it in her eyes that what she had told him was completely true, so he takes her word to heart. Upon this revelation, all of his doubts about being able to raise Goten properly are completely crushed.

Videl just helped him much more that she realizes. Not only did she restore Gohan's peace of mind about his situation that he had before the events of today, but she also just gave him an incredible confidence boost.

Yes, he can raise Goten the way he deserves to be raised.

He does know what's best for his son.

Gohan tries to show this through the hug but it just isn't enough. He doesn't know if he will ever be able to repay Videl for this. As the hug breaks, Gohan looks deep into her amethyst eyes and smiles an eternally grateful smile. "Videl…" he starts, still soaring from Videl's heartfelt confession. "I don't know what to say… thank you so much for telling me that… I needed that…"

Videl is taken aback by the pure sincerity in his voice as he thanked her. "Well it's true Gohan," she replies. "But you make it sound like I saved your life or something."

Gohan's smile deepens as he looks out the window at Goten playing around, chasing butterflies with his net. "In a way… you did Videl…" he answers. "Goten is my life, and you just made me realize what a good job I'm doing with him. I can't thank you enough for that…"

"So you're not worrying if you're good enough for him anymore?" she asks.

Gohan turns his head back to Videl and once more. "Nope," he answers.

"Good," she replies. She then gets serious once more. "So one more thing before we go to the lake. What are you going to do about Dende and Piccolo? Are you going to forgive them for what happened?"

The smile on Gohan's face falls at the subject. "I don't know Videl. Even though their intentions were thoughtful, they still ended up hurting Goten. That in my mind is completely unacceptable. I don't know if I can forgive them for that. Besides, everyone else was able to sense me once I broke the ki wristband and I don't know what Piccolo and Dende told everyone so I think it might be best just to cut ties with them… at least until I'm ready to go back…

"What do you think Videl? I know I can't just forgive them like that, but I also need Piccolo's help to work out my feelings with my dad in order to be able to return."

Videl is seriously surprised that he actually asked her what she thinks about the situation. Obviously he values her opinion greatly, so she ponders his question thoughtfully. She knows that he will have a hard time forgiving them after what they put Goten through. She also knows how much Gohan desperately wants to stay away from the Z-fighters until he gets his feelings worked out since he's not ready to face his father's best friends in his current mental state.

On the other hand though, the daughter of Hercule has some legitimate concerns for Gohan as well. She has a pet theory of why Gohan is hanging onto his anger at his father and refuses to forgive him, and she has a feeling that this also will have a play in whether or not he will forgive Piccolo and Dende.

Videl suspects that Gohan really loves life here on his own with Goten. She sees how much he enjoys himself when he's with Goten and how much Goten adores Gohan. Perhaps the demi-saiyan is afraid that if he were to return to the Z-gang that his whole relationship with the chibi will change; therefore, he will end up sabotaging any attempt to forgive his father, thus keeping things the same as they are now.

She had learned only yesterday that Gohan was seeing Piccolo to talk out his feelings about his father. Suddenly, this whole thing with sending Goten back in time using the pendulum room came up today and Gohan got extremely pissed. Sure, the majority of it was righteous anger in her mind, but perhaps there's a part of Gohan's subconscious that will refuse to forgive the two Namekians simply for the reason that he was going to them to help rid his feelings of loathing towards his father. Since they were the vector, cutting them off will stop the progress that they've made so far, thus keeping things as they are now.

Videl knows very well that these are the wrong reasons not to forgive a person (in both his father's and both Namekians' cases). At the same time though she can see legitimate reasons why Gohan wouldn't forgive Dende and Piccolo right away, going back to the pendulum room incident. It also goes without saying that now that they've felt Gohan's ki at the Lookout earlier today that the Z-fighters will definitely be on the search for him again, and right now, she doesn't want to blow his cover.

Eventually, Videl forms her opinion. She believes that she should let things cool down between Gohan and the two Namekians before he makes an attempt to forgive them; however, she doesn't want Gohan to not get anywhere with his anger at his father. She believes that that hatred for Goku isn't justifiable, at least from what he's told her, so she is willing to take over Piccolo's role and play the part of Gohan's 'therapist.' She might be able to work her magic on her best friend so that at least he can end up forgiving Piccolo. That way, the demi-saiyan can make progress with him, who she figures is a lot more experienced in this area than she is.

What she plans to do with all of this though is try and make Gohan realize that things won't change between Goten and himself if he lets the Z-gang back in his life. While they may not be able to spend as much time together, he still will be Goten's dad and Goten will still be his son. They are so close that nothing will change that relationship. Perhaps if she is able to get this idea into the demi-saiyan's head he will actually make some decent progress.

It's worth a shot.

Finally, Videl voices her opinion. "Well Gohan, I agree that you shouldn't just forgive them all willy-nilly," she starts, "but I do think that eventually you should. However, I agree that right now the ties should be cut since now everyone will be looking out for you up there."

"However," she adds, "If you are going to stay hidden from everyone, you have to promise me that you will still work to go back. I don't like the fact that you are hiding from all of your father's friends, no matter how well you're raising Goten on your own. If you want my silence on this matter, you're going to have to agree to start opening up to me about your father and let me help you out with your… issues. Just because you're angry at Piccolo doesn't mean that you get a break from making yourself feel better."

Gohan sighs at Videl's condition to her plan, but he nods in confirmation. "I suppose. I guess I really don't have a choice do I?"

Videl grins at Gohan. "Nope. You don't," she confirms, then gets up and pulls Gohan to his feet. "Now let's get Goten and go to the lake. You don't wanna keep him waiting all day do ya?" she asks, now enthusiastic about being able to play with the chibi at the lake again. Yesterday was so much fun and the lake was so beautiful that she really can't wait to get back!

Gohan smiles at Videl. "No I guess not," he answers. They both walk out the door only for Gohan to get tackled by Goten.

"Finally you're ready!" he says exasperatedly.

Gohan laughs at Goten's attitude. That conversation did take a while, but he didn't think it was that long. "Aww common Goten," Gohan replies. "It wasn't that long was it?"

"Yeah huh!" the chibi replies, now taking his customary spot on Gohan's shoulders. "It was super-duper long! You guys took forever!" he replies, exaggerating the last word.

Gohan continues to chuckle at Goten. He really is cute when he's in a pouty mood. "I'm sorry Goten, but we're done now. Let's go to the lake!"

"Yeah!" the chibi shouts, tugging on Gohan's hair as if it were the reigns of a horse. "Giddiup!" he commands, to which Gohan starts 'galloping' much to the chibi's entertainment.

Videl looks on at the scene with amusement. She loves how close those two are and she can clearly see just how much they adore each other. Not wanting to fall behind, she quickly shakes her head and catches up to the demi-saiyan duo with one last lingering thought.

I made the right choice.


Translations:

ki- energy

chibi- cute child, dwarf

sensei- master, teacher

gakusei- student

ane- my older sister

otouto- my little brother, younger brother (informal)