Dragon Ball

In a spacious, mountainous region, a young couple could be seen hovering beside a cliff seemingly combing the area, looking for something.

"Are you sure it's here Gohan?"

"According to the radar, we're in the right place," he replied looking at the device.

The duo continued to scan along the cliffside until finally, a glint shone through in a small crevice. "Hey is that…?" Upon further inspection the pair finally eyed their prize as the bright orange ball glimmered in the afternoon light.

"Alright! That's our 6th one!" Videl cheered. "One more to go."

"Yup. The one-star ball." Gohan looked down at the radar and after a few clicks of the button, revealed that the final Dragon Ball was practically on the opposite end of the continent. Already drained from their current journey, at Videl's suggestion, the two set up a quick camp before making plans to head to the final Dragon Ball.

"Phew…man…is it just me, or have these Dragon Ball hunts gotten longer?"

"It's probably artificial. Finding the balls themselves has been pretty easy. It's the long distance between each one that's been eating up all our time."

Videl glanced up at the skies as they began to turn from blue to orange. "That's putting it mildly. The sun's already starting to set."

"Think we should head home or do you want to camp out for the night?"

"Neither. I want to find that last Dragon Ball ASAP!" Videl sternly replied.

Man. Videl's a LOT more zealous than usual.' chuckled Gohan. 'Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering how she asked me to go on this trip.

[Many hours earlier]

Videl had come to visit Gohan and his family and after a lunch, the two lounged around the living room studying together. During the long string of questions and answers, Videl's eyes kept constantly getting drawn to the Four-Star Dragon Ball that lay beside a family portrait.

"Hey Gohan?"

"Hmm? You have a question?"

"Is there a reason you guys always seem to have the 4-Star Ball with you?"

Gohan raised a confused eyebrow. "I thought you had a question about the subject I was explaining."

"Sorry, but I was just curious. You guys always seem to have this thing, but how often do you actually use it?"

Gohan chuckled. "Well, it's certainly convenient to have one Dragon Ball already whenever we need to find em' again, but as for why it's always the 4-Star Ball, you'd have to ask my Dad since he's the one it holds the importance to."

"Speaking of finding the Dragon Balls…how interested would you be in doing that right now?"

"Right now?" he repeated. "Well I wouldn't have any issues with it, but I would ask why." His expression turning teasing, Gohan continued, "You're not just trying to get out of homework are you?"

Videl nodded. "No of course not…not this time at least. Let's just say…there's a wish I really want to make."

[]

"You know, you still haven't told me what your wish is," Gohan noted.

"Sorry, but it's a secret," Videl winked.

"Hey, I've had to spill all my secrets, now it's your turn," Gohan countered.

"Really Gohan? All your secrets?"

"Well…all the ones that matter at least."

"I thought so. Although, if you're willing to tell me a secret that doesn't matter, I might enlighten you a little," teased Videl.

"Hmmm…. Okay how about this. I don't know if this counts as a secret, but did you know I was named after my adoptive Great Grandfather?"

Videl crossed her arms. "Hmmm…I think that counts more as a fun fact than a secret, but I guess that's close enough."

Staring longingly into their newest prize, Videl spoke out. "I won't say any specifics until we get the last Dragon Ball, but there's someone I want to bring back to life."

Gohan's playful intrigue swiftly dissipated into somber empathy. "Is it…your mother?"

Videl turned back to Gohan, shock on her face. "H-how did you…?"

"I think I remember you mentioned something about your mother passing back when we were training for the Tournament."

The memory resurfacing in Videl's mind, the spunky fighter sighed before nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. I haven't really thought about her much, but after everything with Buu settled down, I thought maybe…."

"I understand."

Silence emanated between the pairing as the sun continued to set, the orange glow in the sky growing brighter. The one to speak first was Gohan who had a notably strict look on his face. "If you don't mind my asking, how did your mother die?"

Videl's expression turned sour as she sighed. "There's not really much to tell. It was just a heart attack."

Gohan's face fell. "A…heart attack…?"

Videl nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure you must've heard about that heart virus that sprung up the world like 8 or 9 years ago."

"More than you'd think," he said solemnly.

'Remember to ask him what he means by that later.' Shooting him a curious look, Videl continued. "My mom…didn't make it. As time went on, and I accepted it, and then all that nonsense with Cell happened, but after everyone who was killed by Cell was brought back I was hoping that whatever miracle did that could bring my Mother back." Her expression beamed brighter as she squeezed the ball harder. "But now, I finally have that chance!"

Gohan remained silent, unease adorning his expression. Ordinarily he'd share in Videl's joy, but her entire story left him feeling perplexed.

"Well, I told you what you what my wish is, now let's go and make it a reality!" Videl ascended into the sky blasting off in the opposite direction. After a few seconds, she realized that Gohan had fallen behind. Looking back, he remained where they were at the edge of the cliff, stone still.

"Gohan? Come on, let's go find the last Dragon Ball!"

"Videl."

"What is it?"

"There's…something you should know."

Sensing the weight in his voice, Videl landed beside Gohan only to see a nervous expression on his face. "Gohan, what's wrong?"

"This…isn't easy for me to say but…" Gohan hesitated in his response before sighing. 'Let's just get this over with.' "Videl…the Dragon Balls can't revive your mother." Not even giving her a chance to react, Gohan continued. "I'm sure you're probably confused so I'll be brief. Despite what you may have seen, the Dragon Balls have their limitations. One of those limits is that they can't revive a person who died of natural causes such as an illness. I'm sorry Videl but…if you try to make a wish to revive your mother…it's not going to work."

The sound of panting could be heard as Gohan finally eased up his small rant. Clenching his fists, Gohan waited in fearful silence for Videl's expectantly sour reaction. What he heard instead was nothing more than a dismissive sigh.

"So, that was the case," Videl casually stated tossing the ball in the air.

"Huh…? Wait…why…?"

"Am I taking this so easily? Simple because I already knew about that."

"…You WHAT!?"

Videl giggled at Gohan's overblown expression. "Gohan, did you really think I hadn't thought about reviving my Mom before?"

"Well…ummm…maybe…? I don't know!?"

"Relax, that was a rhetorical question. The point is, I have thought about it. I've actually asked Dende about this sort of thing before. After all, he is the one who created them, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Long story short, he told me the same thing you did about the Dragon Ball being unable to reverse a natural death. Honestly, I thought it made sense for someone who died of old age, but I still don't see why they can't revive a death from illness."

"Ummm…"

Cutting Gohan's bewildered stupor off, Videl continued. "I've been through the whole acceptance phase already. My Mom's gone for good, and not even the Dragon Balls could change that. Still…" Videl held the ball in her hand up against the setting sunlight, the red-stars shining. "It was nice to have a little hope."

Gohan released a relieved breath, the tension in his body easing up. "I'm sorry that…"

"Don't apologize Gohan, it's not your fault."

"Yeah, but if I'd known sooner, I wouldn't have taken you on this wild goose chase."

"Who says it's a wild goose chase? We have 6 Dragon Balls and we know where the last one is. We can still make a wish and besides, this beats studying for hours on end."

"Yeah I guess…but honestly there's not really anything I want to wish fo-! Hey wait a second…."

"What is it?"

"You knew about the Dragon Ball's limits already right?"

"Yeah…"

"So you knew from the start that we couldn't revive your mother…"

A bead of sweat rolling down her forehead, Videl inched herself away as Gohan finally put all the pieces together. "You were just trying to skip out on doing homework, weren't you!?"

Catching him off guard amidst his exclamation, Videl swiped the Dragon Radar from Gohan's hand before scooping up the bag with the other 5. "Sorry Gohan I can't hear you over the beeping of the Dragon Radar!"

Taking off into the sky, an irritated Gohan shot off after his impish girlfriend. "Videl!"

"Oh drop it! You needed a break and you know it!"

"Maybe but my mom's gonna kill us! Not me, us!"

"Not if I go home after this!"

"You're not getting off the hook with this one Videl! I'm taking you with me this time!"

Mischievous laughter and frantic yelling echoed through the region as the sun finally vanished across the horizon, the shadows of two loving adventures gliding across the moonlit sky.