Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.
Chapter 14: End of the Old, Beginning of the New
Gohan watched Videl fly around the meadow between his house and his parents' house. Goten chased her for several minutes before he got too tired and had to sit down. It had been six months since Old Kai had unlocked Videl's full power. It had taken this long to help her relearn control over her ki. Just like the power from Super Saiyan 2 had gone to Gohan's head, so did Videl's complete and total power. It took Gohan a week to get her to come down from her power-induced high.
(He would never admit to her in a million years, but he had enjoyed the effort. It was always satisfying to knock someone off their high horse no matter how close one was to them.)
The girl had been mortified when she realized just what she had been doing, but Gohan had laughed it off. He told her stories about how it happened to more people than she realized, himself included. He never straight out mentioned Saiyans, but the stories he drew from were from ascending to Super Saiyan or higher. Many of the stories were of Vegeta, simply because he was the best example.
By the end of that day, Videl had complained that her stomach was hurting because she had laughed so much. The demi-Saiyan was glad; happiness suited her face much more than anger or sorrow. He had seen too much of it the first few months of their acquaintance and had worked hard to make her stop thinking about the events at the tournament. When she was happy, her blue eyes sparkled, her cheeks turned pink, and her mouth was always curved in a smile. He always got a funny jolt in his stomach when he saw her like that. He had no clue why.
After that day, her control improved by leaps and bounds. If he were honest with himself, her control was perfect a month ago. But he did not want to stop training her yet. He kept inventing reasons for her to come back another day. They always had a germ of truth in them, but they were things that she really could work on at home. She always agreed to come back, however, and she always did.
He did not want to lose her company, he realized, watching Goten come close to catching her before she darted away, laughing at the boy's pout. He wanted to continue to train with her, but that was only one of several things he could think of to do. He wanted to sit in the comfort of his living room with her while a storm raged, reading books or playing a game. He wanted to lie with her on the bank of the river near his house, listening to the water as it rushed past. He wanted to eat dinner with her and argue over trivial things like they did sometimes when training ran overtime. He wanted…
Gohan sat up, eyes wide. Without a word, he got up and went into the house (calmly – he did not want Videl and Goten to worry about him and come see why he was acting so strangely), heading straight to the mirror propped up on a table in the corner of the room. He had gotten a few extra pieces of furniture a few days after Shin had given him the mirror – namely, a stand, a table, and a comfortable chair. They were indispensable for the chats that went on for hours some days. He had a feeling that this would be another one of those chats.
Speaking the activation phrase, he settled in and waited for someone to appear. He hoped that Raditz would be the one to answer today – this kind of conversation was more up his alley than Bardock's. Luck was with him when Raditz was the one to answer. Luck was NOT with him when he saw that Bardock was there as well.
"Are you all right, Gohan?" Raditz asked, leaning forward to get a better look at his nephew in the mirror. "You're kind of pale."
"I'm fine, I think," Gohan replied. "I just… figured something out and I'm not sure how to deal with it."
"What, did you finally figure out that you're in love with that girl?" Bardock ribbed him. His jaw dropped when Gohan looked at him and nodded.
"How did you know?" the demi-Saiyan asked confusedly. "I just figured it out."
Raditz laughed at him. "Are you kidding?" he chortled. "You should hear yourself when you talk to us. Half of your side of the conversation is about Videl and her training. The way you talk about her, I can't believe that you didn't figure it out earlier."
Gohan scowled, but it did not remove any attention from his red cheeks. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he demanded. "It would have made things a hell of a lot easier."
"You're a smart kid," Bardock replied, sighing at him. "And besides, this is something you should figure out on your own, or at least that's what Raditz said. I wouldn't know – I never worried about it. Found a woman, took care of business, went on."
"Granddad!" Gohan exclaimed indignantly. "I didn't want to know that!" Bardock's smirk made it plain that he was not sorry. "But now what do I do? After I scrub that mental image out of my head, of course."
Raditz was in the same predicament as Gohan. Unlike Gohan, he was in a place to deal with it and shoved Bardock out of his chair before stealing it. "Ask her out, you idiot!" he exclaimed. "Go on a date. Since she's a fighter, I don't know that taking her to dinner and a movie will work, but you can always try. I'm sure she's talked about things she likes while you've been training. You've known her for over a year now, after all." He winced suddenly, then yelped as Bardock grabbed his hair and bodily deposited his son back into his own chair.
Gohan just shook his head at their antics. Though he knew just how lucky he was that he could even talk to them, there were still times that he missed being in their presence physically. This was one of those times. "Well, thanks for the advice," he said, half sarcastically. "The actual advice," he qualified, "not the 'you're an idiot' advice. I hear that often enough from Videl already."
"No problem, kid," Bardock replied. "Just don't let me know what happens."
"That doesn't go for me," Raditz countered instantly. "I want to know everything."
"You're such a romantic sap," the elder Saiyan moaned, head in his hands. "Where did I go wrong?"
Gohan shook his head again and he ended the call before things could get even stranger. Well, that and he just knew that Raditz was going to shoot his mouth off and be beaten into a pulp by nightfall. Things between Bardock and his son were strangely predictable in that aspect. If only he could join in on that fun some days. But even being able to see them was a miracle, he told himself sternly, getting up and going back outside. Goten and Videl were still playing tag in the air, so he settled back into his former spot and watched, all the while mentally planning out how to ask Videl on a date.
Ten minutes later and he had nothing. This was even harder than he thought it would be.
Videl knew that something was up with Gohan when he suddenly went into the house. Oh, he did not hurry, gave no outward indication of speed, but usually he would let them know that he was going inside.
"Time out!" she called to Goten, faking heavy breathing. Goten groaned but conceded, floating down and flopping on the ground while he waited for her to catch her breath. Keeping an eye on him to make sure he stayed over by the tree, she walked over to the open front door. She kept just out of sight of both Gohan and the mirror. She knew that he used the mirror to talk to someone, but she did not know who. He had never volunteered the information, and she never felt like it was her place to ask.
"-did you finally figure out that you're in love with that girl?" a male voice was taunting. There was a beat of silence before Gohan asked, "How did you know? I just figured it out."
Shocked laughter from another man filled the air. "Are you kidding? You should hear yourself when you talk to us. Half of your side of the conversation is about Videl and her training. The way you talk about her, I can't believe that you didn't figure it out earlier."
Gohan and the two men continued to talk, but Videl did not hear them. She snuck away and sat down on the ground next to Goten, lying back so she could let her head stop spinning from the information.
Gohan was in love with her? With her? Videl Satan, daughter of the man who took the credit for killing Cell when Gohan was the one who did the deed? Videl Satan, who was so weak that she let an overgrown muscle head beat her within an inch of her life? No way. No way on Earth would Son Gohan feel something for little Videl Satan.
She had liked a boy once during seventh grade. He was athletic and tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. They dated – or as much as seventh graders could date – for a little over three months. She thought she had been in love with him all the way up to the day that she caught him kissing another girl behind the gym. When she would not listen to his idiotic explanations, he turned ugly, saying that it was all her fault anyway because she would not do anything beyond hold hands and hug. If only she had made out with him, he would have never cheated on her with another girl, he said. She knew he was just being a jerk, but that knowledge did not make it hurt any less. That was the day that she swore that she would never fall in love with a guy again.
And then Son Gohan showed up in her hospital room with an offer to train her to use her ki.
She had known he was kind, of course. She could tell that right away when he tactfully let her father tell her the truth about the Cell Games instead of dropping the bomb himself. He certainly had the right to do so, considering that he was the wronged party. But as time went on, she began to see his other good traits: his intelligence, his gentleness, his empathy. He never talked down to her, saying that he knew what it felt like to be taunted by someone so much stronger than himself. He never took it easy on her during training, only backing off if he felt that continuing would trigger a panic attack or flashback on her side of things. She began wonder if he actually had any truly bad characteristics at all.
She fell in love with him so slowly that when she finally figured it out, she was taken completely by surprise.
She would not dwell on her own feelings for her friend. He was kind enough to give her the training that she needed to make sure that no one else would take advantage of her the way Spopovitch had. He was kind enough to let her know that he understood how she felt, and that it was okay to acknowledge it but not okay to dwell on it. Surely after training her for nearly fifteen months he was ready to be rid of her.
"Are you okay, Videl?" Goten asked. "You look sad."
"What?" Videl replied blankly. "Oh, no, I'm fine, Goten. No worries."
"If you're sure," the little boy said, sounding unconvinced. "Gohan doesn't like it when you're sad. He likes it when you're happy. He likes you, you know."
"Well of course he likes me," Videl laughed, ignoring the hope that rose in her chest. "I'm his friend! I would hope that he likes me!"
Little Goten's face was still solemn. "No," he said. "He likes you a lot. He looks at you like Daddy looks at Mommy when you aren't looking."
What a ringing endorsement that was from an eight-year-old!
The girl grinned at him and gave him a hug, dirt and all. Then she tapped him on the nose. "Tag, you're it!" she said, and took off into the sky.
"That's not fair!" he shouted and hurtled off after her.
It was late in the evening by the time Gohan finally dragged Goten back to his parents. "It's time for dinner, squirt," he said when the little boy protested. As if to agree, Goten's stomach rumbled menacingly. His laughter was bright and carefree as he gave Videl an enthusiastic hug. "Bye, Videl!" he exclaimed.
"I'll be back in just a minute," Gohan told his friend. "Ready, Squirt? Race you!" And with that they were off. Running at (Goten's) full speed, it only took them a few minutes to get to their parents' house. As always, the elder brother let the younger brother win by a hair. "I'll see you later, Goten," he said, ruffling the boy's hair. He made sure that Goten actually went into the house before he returned to his own, using Instantaneous Movement of course. He only raced Goten because he knew that the little boy loved winning every time.
Videl was curled up on the couch, perusing a book that had been sitting on the coffee table. She smiled at him when he came in and his heart lurched in his chest. Damn, Raditz and Granddad had been right. He was an idiot for not realizing that this slip of a girl had somehow become the most important thing in the world to him. He smiled back and sat on the couch as well, careful to maintain some distance between them, but not so much that she would wonder what was wrong.
"So Goten told me something interesting today," Videl said casually, placing the book back on the table in front of her.
"Oh?" Gohan replied, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"Mmm-hmm," she affirmed, her voice much closer. Gohan rolled his head to the side and opened his eyes, only to find her eyes a few inches from his own. He gulped slightly, but did not move.
"W-What did he tell you?" he tried to ask nonchalantly. Her teasing smile told him that he failed spectacularly.
"He told me that you watch me the way your father watches your mother," she said softly. "Any chance he was mistaken?" She studied his face, looking for something, though he did not know what.
Videl's eyes were very blue when she was this close, he noticed absently. Whichever way he answered this, he knew that their relationship would be changed for good. "Well," he started, swallowing around a dry throat, "do you want him to be?"
The girl smiled then. It was not her usual "I'm amused but it's not that funny" smile or her "you're an absolute idiot" smile. This one was different. Shy, sweet, a hint of promise lurking in one corner. He could not help his eyes dropping briefly to her mouth. She looked as though she had found the answer she was looking for. "No," she admitted. "No, I don't want him to be."
"Good," he breathed. "I think I'm going to kiss you now, Videl." Slowly, so she could pull away if she wanted, he leaned toward her. He was thrilled when she leaned in as well.
It was a bit awkward, being the first kiss for either of them. Noses bumped and teeth clacked together before they were able to get the angle right. But once they did, they kissed as though they had been doing so for years.
Several minutes later, Gohan pulled a few inches away. He was surprised to find that Videl's hands had somehow woven into his hair. He was even more surprised to find one hand cradling her jaw and the other tight around her waist. "Will you go on a date with me?" he asked, stroking a cheekbone with his thumb.
Videl smiled up at him, eyes bright, cheeks pink, just as he always liked them. "Of course I will, Gohan."
And with an answer like that, how could he resist when she pulled his face back to hers?
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