Hi everyone. Really sorry that this chapter was delayed so long. There are a lot of reasons for it, honestly, and I swear this took me so long just to write about 4000 words. So even though it's been so long and I've tried I really have, I personally don't feel this chapter is up to my usual standard. But after so long you all do deserve something, so here is the next chapter. I'll probably come back and try to improve it at some point.

There are a few other minor things to address before I continue. Let's see I've got a list here somewhere. Okay first up, thanks a lot to everyone who reviews. Honestly without so much support this fic wouldn't even have gotten as far as it has done. I know I don't reply to alotof reviews, but if that's the case it means that I either couldn't think if anything to reply with or your a guest so i can't reply. Or you've made it so I can't reply or PM you. Second thing, this fic is now so very close to becoming the most reviewed Gohan/Videl fic of them all. Seriously it's less than a hundred reviews of Ai no Chikara: dark Passions, which was for certain a very well written and hard to beat fic. I never once imagined I could rival it with this fic but now I'm so close. So this is kind of like the last stretch.

The last thing I wanted to talk about it my other DBZ one shot fic, 'The Breaker'. Hopefully a good few of you have read it and know what I'm talking about. A lot of people want it to be a full blown story or at least a second chapter. One of you even said it might be as good as Broken record. But there was one reviewer who suggested leaving it as a one shot, his reason being that the first chapter apparently set the bar very high, and unless the second chapters just as good it will probably seem disappointing. To be honest I do agree with him that it is probably going to be a risk developing breaker into a full blown story. Which is why for now I'm going to simply develop a experimental second chapter, and I plan to have it finished and posted before the end of February. In the mean time I'm hoping to get Broken record back on schedule with at least two updates a week, though I won't promise anything. I do think that Breaker is possibly the most reviewed DBZ one shot out there at the moment though, since I don't remember ever seeing a one shot with more than sixty reviews in the DBZ section. Anyone who can confirm that true or false for me gets a cookie. A really big one.

Last thing, Silver Chan says a lot that she doesn't always know if I've miss-spelt something or it's just the English way of spelling it. So for now, I guess... just consider this fic multi-cultural. Well that's it, sorry for waffling on so long.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon ball Z.

Gohan was a little concerned now. Videl had been standing stock-still for over half an hour with her body rigid under the swaying pendulum. At first her face had seemed peaceful, calm. Then after twenty minutes or so she'd began twitching. Gohan had reacted instantly, fretting that something was wrong. Mr. Popo assured him this was normal, and that anything she suffered while under the effects of the Pendulum chamber would not stay with her once her consciousness returned. Even so, Gohan couldn't help but worry more for every twitch she made. Soon though her face returned to a state of calm and ten minutes later her eyes fluttered open.

"Videl, are you okay?" Gohan immediately asked, the second she'd stepped out of the circle. He'd already began taking steps towards her in case she was having trouble standing or anything like that. He really wasn't familiar with the after effects of the Pendulum room.

"Yeah," she said quietly, but fatigue was evident in her voice and eyes, which seemed a little droopy as if she really wanted to sleep but other than that she seemed fine. "That was one hell of a fight."

Gohan breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed she was okay before becoming immediately curious about her experience in the Pendulum room.

"Who exactly did you fight?" he asked, causing her to immediately snap out of her drowsy state and stare at him with a gaze of curiosity.

"Oh that reminds me," she said in response, not answering Gohan's question. "Were you named after your father's Grandfather by any chance?"

"Uhh yeah," said Gohan, confused as to how she could know that. Then it clicked. "Wait, did you meet Grandpa Gohan?"

Videl slowly nodded her head in confirmation.

"Yeah. Met your Dad too. He is one hell of an annoying little kid."

Gohan's eyes widened at Videl's response, somewhat unbelieving she'd actually met his father as a child.

"He was really strong though," she continued, suddenly moving her hand too her stomach and wincing as if remembering something painful.

"You fought him too!" Gohan almost yelled, causing Videl to wince at his loud voice.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's why I was sent back in time after all," she answered.

"That's right," said Dende, cheerfully interrupting. "How did you do if I may ask?"

"I won," Videl answered quickly, before adding, "Barely. Goku fainted of hunger at the end."

Dende and Gohan gave a chuckle at her news, before exchanging looks.

"That does sound like him," said Dende pleasantly.

"Yeah it does," agreed Gohan. But although his words seemed happy, there was an underlying sadness to his tone that Videl instantly picked up on. She immediately turned to face him, noticing the happy smile but she didn't let that deter her. She found what she was looking for in his eyes. They were dim, lacking their usual joy. She knew he was remembering his father. It was probably still a very sore topic for him. It probably always would be. Whether it had been months or years you never move on from a dead parent. Not really anyway. She should know.

And it was then Videl realized she'd been blessed with a very rare thing, something that Gohan would probably kill for. She'd met Son Goku, who was now dead and gone. Her eyes widened at the sudden realization, and she turned round to stare once more at the machine.

Could she use it to go see her mother? Could Gohan see his father? Almost as if reading her mind Dende softly whispered to her.

"No."

The single word broke her out of her reverie and she turned to face him. Gohan did too, confused by Dende's sudden remark.

Videl noticed he was smiling at her, but it was a sorrowful smile, shown by his eyes.

"The Pendulum room is not fit for such things Videl. You could lose your soul, and any desire to return to the present. You would waste your life away on something that is essentially nothing more than a memory."

Videl felt her heart plummet at the young guardian's words, although Gohan just looked confused. She turned and looked back to the Pendulum. She wanted so badly to see her mother again. Surely just a few minutes wouldn't hurt.

"Videl you must let it go," said Dende, more sharply than he did before. Then in a softer voice, "A few minutes could cause more damage to you than a life time of pain. Please trust me Videl. You are not the first to have these thoughts, but for those who act on them it never ends well."

Gohan still looked clueless as to what was going on, although he gathered that Videl was thinking something she shouldn't be, and Dende was trying to dissuade her.

"Come now, it is time for you to eat. You should take a short break while we come up with a new destination for you. Oh yes Miss Videl, there are many more places for you to see yet."

With that Dende turned on his heel, hit his staff of the floor once, and walked briskly out of the room.

Videl however, didn't follow. Instead, she turned once more to face the Pendulum, still wondering on the possibilities. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that Gohan had also opted to stay in the room, silently watching her. That is until he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You're thinking about your mother aren't you?"

It was more a statement than a question. Gohan was clever after all. It hadn't taken him that long to figure it out. Videl only nodded.

"I've thought about it before, when I first heard of it. Using this place to visit the past. And then when Dad died it was like a whole new realm of possibilities. I could see Dad again, go back in time and meet him. But that's where I began to worry. Would he recognize me, now that I've grown up? And if he did how could I explain my age to him. It's better if he didn't recognize me, but then I don't think I'd be able to take that. And there were other fears too. He would have no memories of my visit a second time. Nor a third. Videl you could use this to go back and see your mother. But it wouldn't really be her. She wouldn't know you anymore, she wouldn't recognize you."

Although Videl had made no movement to signify she'd heard Gohan's words, she had. When he was finished, she couldn't help the wet tear that she felt running down he cheek. They were quickly followed by more.

Videl began to cry silently, making no sounds, but tears still streamed down the side of her face. Gohan kept his hand on her shoulder. A reassuring presence, and even though it was him holding onto her, Videl felt it was the other way round. She tried for a few more seconds to stay strong, trying to not give in to the pent up emotions she suddenly so desperately needed to release. But in the end, her resistance was futile. Her breath became ragged, her legs started to tremble and small sobs began to escape her lips. Before she'd realized it, Gohan had pulled her to him, enveloping her in a soft hug. She spun in his arms and hugged him back, grabbing him tightly around the middle. This wasn't the first time she'd cried as he held her. She'd never let anyone do this for her after her mother passed away. It had always been her mother who held her as she cried. But then, all of a sudden she was gone, and the sudden loneliness she'd felt had threatened to crush her. It was something she couldn't really describe, so she'd never tried. Her father hadn't had much time for her for a while. He'd leave for long periods of time. She figured now that he'd been grieving too, and had probably spent the time at a bar, drinking his sorrow away or something like that. But to the child she had been, it just left her feeling abandoned. It amazed her how quickly all this had happened. One minute they were talking about her victory, then Gohan had been saddened by the memory of his father and now here she was being comforted by him, when he was probably in just as much pain as she was. And he was right. She didn't think she could bear it if her mother didn't recognize her. She was only eight when her mother died. It had been five years now. There's no way her mother would recognize her.

Giving another soft sob, she clung closer to Gohan, grabbing fist fulls of his shirt as she willed herself to calm down. Gohan was stroking her hair now, whispering words into her ear. She couldn't properly make them out, but she still found them soothing. With a bit of strength, she pussed against his chest, causing him to loosen his grip and letting her take a step away.

"I'm sorry," she said meekly, trying her best not to start sobbing again.

"What for?" Gohan asked, with genuine curiosity. Videl just shook her head.

"For being like this. For being the one to break down and cry even though you probably want to do it as well. But you can't because you're staying strong for me."

These weren't the type of lines Gohan was used to hearing coming from Videl Satan's lips. There was no sense of pride in them or arrogance. Just sorrow and gratitude.

"It's already been five years for me," Videl continued, tightening her hold on his shirt as she did so. "But it's only been a few for you."

Surprisingly it was this that made Videl break out into sobs again, although they were lighter now.

"I'm so sorry, for being weak right now. And thank you, for being strong."

Gohan smiled down at her, a genuine smile that at any other time, had she been looking Vidle would have found somewhat radiant. Angelic even.

"Hey, what are friends for, right?"

But once again Videl shook her head.

"Not for this," she whispered gently. So gently Gohan could hardly hear her. "Definitely not for this."

The two looked at each other, really looked. They saw the pain in each other's eyes, a pain shared by both of them, and in that single moment of familiarity they began to inch together.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The voice came from the door, and the two turned to see Dende, who'd returned to see why the two weren't following. Of course he already knew why by the time he'd gotten there, but even so he'd decided not to interfere till now. Why he decided on now, even he did not know. He just had the sense that now would be the right time to do so. Now he was smiling softly at the two teens, who were blushing in realisation of what they'd been about to do. Neither of them could deny it any longer. They were definitely attracted to each other. But even so, now was not the time for such things.

"Come on you two, let's get you fed and then we can get Videl back into the past." He took a step back, opening the door way to them. Only this time he stayed there, smiling and waiting for them to follow. And after a moment they did. The two teens were blushing but Videl had stopped crying now, her mind instead occupied with thoughts of what almost just happened. They passed Dende and then he followed them down the hall to the dining room.

The two teens were silent through dinner. Neither looked at the other, although they sat side by side. Dende and Mr Popo sat opposite, both watching them but not eating anything. Dende had a glass of water, and no one had ever even seen Mr. Popo eat. Gohan ate his food much slower than usual, and didn't eat as much either. This was noticed by everyone at the table, but no one commented. Once the food was mainly gone, Dende stood up.

"Well, we'll leave the food to settle for half an hour, I think," said Dende. He slowly walked over to the door, soon followed by Mr. Popo. Videl and Gohan stayed sitting, both looking down at the table until both Dende and Mr. Popo left the room. Even then neither of them spoke, until Videl finally found the silence too uncomfortable.

"Errm, Your dad was a really funny little guy," she tried, although she immediately winced the second she mentioned his father. Gohan didn't immediately lapse into sadness though.

"What was he like," he asked instead.

"Huh?" was Videl's intelligent reply.

Gohan turned to face her, although his face immediately tinged red at the sight of hers.

"Umm, as a kid. I always wondered what he was like as a kid."

Videl gave a giggle. She'd always wondered what her own Dad was like as a kid. If he'd had that ridiculous hair doo even as a child.

"He was a bit dumb," she said honestly. "He didn't know what a girl was, and he took a lot of things out of contest. But he absolutely adored his grandpa and as a martial artist he was a genius. He didn't even know ki techniques but he was able to copy tem exactly as soon as he saw me do them. Then he came up with new ways to use ki, even making a large beam out of it. I would have lost if he didn't faint from hunger. I did learn a lot from him though."

"Sound about right," said Gohan nodding and now smiling to himself. His father had been a genius of martial arts. He may have been more powerful, but his arsenal of techniques was far smaller than his fathers. Even Cell would have lost to his father without his ability to regenerate. That Warp Kamehameha was pure genius, and far more complex to perform than anyone could really understand. Gohan had tried to learn the instant transmission technique, but without proper instruction he had only his memory of the technique to go on. His father had explained some aspects of the technique to him, but he'd never been able to fully grasp it. The level of concentration and control the technique required was staggering to him, yet his father had performed it along with Kame-hame-ha. He doubted he'd be able to do it until he'd finished his Ki control training with Picollo.

Speaking of Piccolo…

Gohan realised that he hadn't seen his mentor since before Videl went into the Pendulum room, but chances were that he was around somewhere. So he turned back to Videl, no longer blushing. She seemed rather anxious, fiddling in her chair and rubbing her neck.

"Are you okay Videl?" he asked, giving her a worried glance.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit stiff," she said. "I guess I've been working hard lately and then I just stood still for a while."

Gohan nodded in understanding. Even if her mind was getting a work out, fighting people in the past, her physical body remains still. It made sense she would be a little stiff. He remembered how she'd mentioned massages, how she liked to go and get one because it helped her out. Maybe he should offer?

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," said Videl. Her voice seemed uncertain though, as if she wasn't sure about what she was asking.

"Do you have a tail?"

Gohan's mind instantly blanked. What did he say to that?

Videl looked on as Gohan wordlessly opened and closed his mouth. Videl decided to take that as a yes.

"Urr, I don't mind you know, if you do. I just thought that your Dad in the past had a tail, but his Grandpa didn't know why. So I thought you might have one too."

Gohan gulped. Well no point lying to her. And if Great Grandpa Gohan didn't know the origin of his tail that meant that she couldn't be expecting him too.

"I used to have one," he sheepishly admitted. "It got permanently removed when I was a kid."

Videl gave him a grin.

"Well it must have been interesting to have a tail. Your Dad used it in his fighting. Kept trying to hit me in the face with it. It definitely made for an unusual spar when my opponent had five limbs to watch out for instead of four."

Gohan really wasn't sure where she was going with this conversation, and he had no idea how to talk about it either. All the same he decided to try.

"I don't remember much about having a tale," he said. "I had one up until I was four, but then it got yanked off. Then it grew back again, but it got cut off again shortly after. It never grew back again after that. I don't know why. I'm pretty sure my Dad lost his tale a few times, but it always grew back after a few months. He eventually had it removed permanently though."

Gohan really couldn't think of much else to say on the subject of tails. He had always wondered why his had never grew back. Goten's tail had been removed immediately when he was born. Same with Trunks. No need for raging Uzaruu's running around.

"Oh, why'd he do that?" asking Videl.

"Umm, well," said Gohan, not really sure how to answer. He couldn't tell her that it was to avoid any unwanted great aps mishaps. But it had to be something believable too.

"They were kind of a negative influence…"

And right then he figured out exactly how to get her off the topic.

"See, the tail secreted a lot of hormones and stuff that stimulated certain parts of the body and brain. It made us stronger but more animalistic too. Easier to anger and stuff. After weighing the advantages and disadvantages Dad decided having it removed was the best option."

He thought that would sound like an excellent reason. But apparently Videl didn't think so.

"But it made him stronger right? If it were me, I would have kept the tail." That, and she thought it was a little bit cute. She'd actually been hoping that Gohan had a tail as well. She wasn't sure what she'd have done if he did, but even so. If she ever got together with Gohan she could pet it and stuff.

And that thought led her straight back to an earlier event.

Things were not going as Truth had planned. He'd enlisted Seventeen to discreetly take out Vegeta. He didn't bother binding him, since he doubted there was a thing on Earth that could. Not if the boy, Gohan was anything to go by. Instead he'd made the simple plan of taking his wife and son hostage to prevent him from moving when he woke up, and then interrogating Bulma for her passwords and other much needed information. This of course would have been done by taking the child hostage. Things had gone well up until the Bulma part.

They had found a second woman here, who had beaten Andrew round the head with a frying pan, before twirling and delivering a similar blow between his legs. The man still hadn't fully recovered from when Videl had done something similar during their first attempt at kidnapping Hercule. They'd discovered a child with her, different from the one they were looking for. Too young for one thing, and his hair colour was wrong. Matty had picked the child up with his none broken arm and threatened to strangle the kid if she didn't calm down. This worked until the child child grabbed his finger with what looked like curiosity, and immediately snapped it, causing Matty to drop the child and howl in pain. The Woman hadn't been very happy when Matty had dropped her Baby, and quickly delivered a powerful blow with her frying pan, shattering Matty's mask and causing him to fall unconscious to the floor. Iscariot had found this hilarious and refused to help out. Not that Truth was expecting him too. Jude had quickly picked the child up, threatening it in a similar way to Matty, only the child didn't try to break her finger. Maybe because she was female. However although that did manage to stop the woman from attacking, she began yelling at the top of her lungs about Jude 'butchering the English language.'

He'd hopped things would be easier after that, having finally found the young Trunk's room and woken him up. He really should have realised he wouldn't be an ordinary child after the last one. He'd quickly jumped up, smashing his head into Bart's stomach, causing the man to drop to the ground in pain while he ran out of the room. John and Phil had given chase, but he'd later found Phil unconscious and John stuck in the laundry vat. He'd breathed a sigh of relief when his son Zack turned up holding the unconscious child with a bleeding temple. He probably should have scolded the boy for being so rough with a child, but then it had knocked down three fully grown men. So now he stood in front of a bound Bulma, along with the crazy Lady with the frying pan with both their children bound beside him. However only Peter, Zeb, Thomas, Alph, Jude, Iscariot and Zack stood beside him. Matthew was of tending to his broken finger, he wasn't sure where Simon was and the rest were unconscious. No this was not how things were supposed to go at all.

He'd allowed himself to glare at the small purpled haired child and the Banshee with the frying pan. Not like they could tell anyway.

"Well Miss Bulma this has taken exceedingly longer than I hoped it would but no matter. I was hoping you could do me a small favour."

"No," Bulma instantly replied.

Truth faltered, albeit briefly.

"I don't think you understand, Miss Briefs. I have here your first born child. Failure to comply will bring around some rather… nasty consequences for him."

Bulma just snorted.

"I think it's you who doesn't understand," Said Bulma. "If my Son has even a hair on his head damaged then his father is going to be pretty angry when he wakes up. And I honestly don't think I'd been able to stop him blowing up every single city on the planet trying to find you."

"So you admit that Your Husband can blow up cities. Well that's a start." Although he noticed some of his men fidget a little when they realised they may have incurred the wrath of such a person.

"I'm not admitting anything," Said Bulma. "Just that my husband has one hell of a temper. Oh and the Son family has a bit of an overly protective body guard."

Now that did peak his interest. Was she referring to the woman and her child? Now that he looked there were some features which were very similar to the previous world champion in the small black haired child. That would make this Son Gohan's family. But what did she mean by Bodyguard?

"She was referring to me."

Truth wipped round so fast he almost broke his neck with the action. There standing behind him, giving off almost no energy at all, was a large green man in a cloak and Turban, easily standing tall over the lot of them. And he looked really, really pissed.

Truth gave a sigh of near defeat.

"Oh dear."

'This is just not my day.'

And we've come to the end of another chapter. I personally have never had an immediate family member die. A few great grandads who I saw once in a full moon but thats it. So I can't claim to fully understand the feeling of losing a parent and I don't think I want too, but it is something Gohan and Videl have in common. The past (or photo's) is the only place we can really see the dead, so I thought that the pendulum room has that potential. but half way through writing the scene I started thinking 'Oh my god this is just like that one bit from Harry Potter with the magic mirror'. So yes, that's all for now. I hope you can all find it in your hearts to review. Like every single one of you. Because, and I'm not going to lie,' I really want to beat Ai no Chikara. okay, that's it, r&R and peace out!