Disclaimer: I'm not even going to bother, you already should know the drill by now. But for a quick overview.... I don't own DBZ.
A.N.: My second G/V fic. Hopefully it's even better then my first. Basically as a summary, Videl makes a decision based on what she thinks is the best course of action. But is it really? And how does it effect her and Gohan. I know this chapter is a bit confusing, but I think you'll get it as it goes on. Basically, you switch between the memory, and Videl and Gohan's point of view presently.
thinking : you should be able to figure out who's thinking what. I'll try to make it easy on you guys.
The Choice Is Simple
By ~Crystal Delphina~
Chapter 2: A Fateful Spar
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Videl slipped under her covers, now regretting her decision earlier. Nighttime was the loneliest and all she could do was think about current situations. The absence of the staff was now being missed.
She shut her eyes, willing sleep to come, so that way images wouldn't sneak up on her like they usually did. Too late though.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Videl soared towards the Son's house, admiring the beauty of the surrounding area. The sun sparkled on the nearby lakes and a leafy smell assaulted her senses from the trees below. She and Gohan were planning to train today, and she made a personal goal; to actually land more then ten punches on the guy.
Although he would decrease his speed and strength for her, he wouldn't let her have an easy time either. Every now and then, she would manage to get a couple hits on him, but never actually come out as the victor in their little training sessions.
She landed outside of the small cottage, and was immediately greeted by the young Goten running out with a bright smile.
"Hi ya Videl!"
"Hey Goten. Where's your brother?"
"Mom's yelling at him right now about something. He should be out any second." Right on cue, Videl gave a smirk as Gohan came running out of the house. Videl was flustered though, the smirk wiped off her face, as suddenly Gohan grabbed her around the waist and took off into the safety of the sky. She barely had time to register what was going on.
"Gohan!" She slapped his arm lightly. "What do you think you're doing? I know how to fly perfectly well on my own. I don't need your help anymore if you recall." She got her answer though before he even had time to respond.
"Son Gohan! You get back here right now and clean this room!!" Chichi's voice could be heard for miles around as it echoed throughout the mountains.
"Oh my God. What'd the hell did you do to get her that mad??" With wide eyes, Videl turned her head upwards towards him. He looked down a bit in shame.
"I got up late today, and mom had told me I needed to clean my room before you came. However you came before I had the time, so I just decided to beat it."
"Well maybe we should go back. She sounded pretty mad." Gohan's answer was quite clear has he wildly shook his head.
"No way. She'd make me do a whole truckload of chores. We'd never be able to leave and go train."
"Fine." She decided to drop the subject realizing that he was probably right. It was then that Videl remembered the position she was in. Gohan's arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, holding her close. Nearly to close. Even though Videl felt that she should mind and demand to be let go of, she actually liked it.
She blushed slightly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his shoulder. Hoping he wouldn't ask what she was doing, she closed her eyes, oblivious of the blush staining his own face. Her excuse in case he did ask? She was 'tired' and they were landing soon anyway.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
A pained expression swept across Videl's face like a tidal wave. God how she had loved that feeling. That feeling of him being so close to him. That feeling of security. Protection. Maybe even possibly love.
Nevertheless, she had to squash those feelings. She couldn't allow herself the luxury of them.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Gohan landed in the meadow where Videl had her original flying lessons. There were numerous butterflies and wildflowers decorating the scenery for the fine spring day. The small jolt from the landing awakened Videl from her quick catnap. She avoided what had just happened.
"So are we working on anything special today? Or should we just spar?"
"Let's just spar. No offense, but I don't feel like teaching today. I have a lot on my mind." Videl crossed her arms over her chest expectantly.
"Well are ya gonna tell me about all this stuff that's got you so preoccupied, or do I have to force it out of you?" Gohan gave a wide smile while he crouched into a fighting stance.
"Force it out of me." She smirked. Deciding to try to surprise him (which she doubted was even possible) she lurched forward and attacked. The fight had begun.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Gohan laid in bed thinking (he seemed to have been doing that a lot lately). Videl had done quite well that day. Every time they got together, she would get slightly better - stronger. However, how that training session had progressed...
When had his feelings changed for this girl?
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
He had to admit that she was actually landing more hits then he usually let her. The reason? Simply put, he was distracted, and mostly by her. For a while now, he had been struggling with the growing feeling that his view of her was more then a friendly relationship. He was for certain he was falling in love with his best friend.
Damnit. She just kicked him in the shoulder - hard.
He couldn't tell her of his feelings yet though. So far, he had done a good job keeping his emotions under control so she wouldn't notice. He had managed to keep his friends off his case too with his whole little naive act he would pull when someone would try to mention them as a couple. Come on people, you actually thought the genius boy was stupid when it came to emotions? His whole fighting abilities where dependent on his emotions. What would the fiery spirited girl do if she found out though? He wasn't quite sure yet.
However, she had to be catching on. She seemed to notice every time he stiffened and glared at Sharpener when he tried to even touch Videl. Moreover, Gohan always seemed to be close to her - protective even - whenever they were together.
He knew he loved her as each day passed.
I love her? It was a new concept to the young man that took him by a bit of surprise. He had never had feelings for someone like this before.
She kicked the side of his arm.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Videl continued to try to sleep. She even gave into counting sheep. The effort was pointless as the minutes dragged on and her eyes remained open.
"132... 133.... 134..."
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
She could tell his heart wasn't in it today (quite the contrary though actually, though she wasn't aware of that) and decided it might be best to wake him up. She pinned him to the ground, and gave a devilish smirk down at his wide eyes.
"You weren't paying attention. Mind telling me what's going on now? It might help to get it off your chest you know." She snickered evilly as she added meaning to her words, shifting her body back and forth on top of him. Gohan nearly moaned before catching himself, and giving her a smirk.
"Sorry, but you have to wait." She scowled down at him.
"Do I have to beat it out of you or something?" Suddenly Videl found herself in the grass. She looked up at the onyx eyes laughing at her.
"Now who's getting careless?" he drawled. He had both her wrists pinned above her head, and had his body partially covering her own. The situation looked futile.
"Not fair. I had you first Gohan," she whined. It was the only weapon she had left. Maybe, just maybe, he would release some of the pressure so she could escape. No such luck today, he wasn't falling for it.
"You let your guard down," he smiled down at her as he whispered. She could feel his warm breath caressing her face, and that feeling returned from earlier when he was flying with her.
"So what are you going to do about it?" He continued his gloating. Was it just her, or did his face seem to be getting closer every second. She was confused by all of her emotions all of a sudden. Stunned actually.
"Well," she sounded as if she was in a trance, her voice equally as low as his was. "I'm not so sure..." They searched each other's eyes, curious about what the other's next action would be.
"I have an idea..." he murmured. She was sure now that his lips were only a few mere centimeters away. It seemed as though he had fallen into the same trance.
"Really? What is it?" God how she wanted him so badly right then. She could feel a heat consume her body like fire. Her blood was boiling in breathless anticipation.
"This..." he breathed out. Then his lips were upon hers.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Gohan growled in frustration. He buried his head in a pillow, though suffocation was the last thing he was thinking about.
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As soon as his lips met hers, both of them threw themselves into the building passion. They only paused for a second, looking at each other, while consuming air at the same time. A mutual understanding seemed to pass between them. They started kissing once more wildly as if this were their last chance.
Conscious though fled from Gohan's mind like the butterflies in the afternoon breeze. He had what he wanted. He couldn't seem to get enough of it either. He decided to end their frenzied kisses. He kissed her slowly and deeply, bringing her gently back down to earth. It was time to tell her.
He moved his face back a bit to look down at her and grin. She had a dazed look to her, and it was rather amusing to the young demi-saiyan. Surprisingly, his nerves were calm and he was collected.
"I love you Videl." It was simple really. He had just bent down again so that their foreheads were touching, and then had whispered his feelings. She began to smile and she knew immediately that she had never had someone tell her something that had brought her so much joy.
"I lo-" she began to reciprocate the feelings, but something was wrong. Her face fell and her eyes glazed over. Worried, Gohan shook her.
She pushed away her ailment along with Gohan. She looked down at the ground before whispering sternly, "I'm sorry I just can't." She took off into the air.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Videl had been surprised when Gohan had initiated the sweet kiss, but wasn't at all upset. She easily gave into the urges of bliss. In addition, his deceleration of love had only heightened that bliss. Already caught up in the moment, she was about to respond with her own declaration. However, something had stopped her.
Life had seemed to have slowed then when she reached a painful realization, all in a split second. Something had just suddenly clicked in her brain, which overruled her heart. She already knew she loved the sweet boy that had came into her life, but she also considered the consequences of that love, and in the end, they were just too great.
She turned over in the bed, shutting her eyes to ward of the painful memory. A single tear slipped down her cheek silently.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Videl sped through the mountains, trying to leave the heart broken Gohan behind, and put as much distance between them as possible. No such luck. Of course, she knew she never really had a chance considering his advantages, but she had hoped that maybe he would just leave her to be.
Confused and hurt, Gohan took after her few brief moments later. It didn't take long at all to catch up to her. Gohan appeared in front of Videl suddenly, causing her to falter and crash into the immovable wall of flesh in front of her.
"What do you mean you 'can't' ??" Gohan didn't exactly mean to sound harsh, but his emotions were running wild. He couldn't deny the feeling of anger running through his blood. He had laid down his heart, and she had blatantly discarded it without reason. To say he was hurt was an understatement, and his saiyan pride wasn't going to let her get off the hook that easy.
"Gohan," She looked at his chest, refusing to meet his eyes. If she looked into hies eyes, all hope would be lost, and she'd just plain lose it. "I just can't. Please understand. I don't know how to explain it exactly."
"It's rather simple. Either you love me or you don't. Which is it Videl?" Videl sensed his ki was slowly rising. The look in his eyes was intense, and his hair seemed to become spikier and began to take on that feared golden hue. All an all she was becoming scared. He would never hurt her though - right?
"I do," she answered quickly, and regretted the words as soon as she said them. She tried to cover up her mistake. "I mean I don't."
"Which one? You can't even seem to make up your mind."
"I don't." It sounded as if she were trying to convince herself of it rather then him.
"Fine," he spat the word out bitterly like venom. And suddenly he phased out and was gone. Videl didn't bother to look for him. She fled towards her home, as the tears began to fall.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Gohan had left to avoid getting into a bigger conflict with her. He had to keep his head, otherwise he'd end up hurting her. As soon as he landed, and saw her speed off, he blew up the closest tree next to him. He began smashing apart a nearby rock, trying to release some of his aggravation and energy. The poor mountains took the brunt of his angry attacks.
Gohan sadly removed the pillow from his head, and rolled over on top of it. He was angry still, the anger burning his saiyan blood and commanding him to destroy something, but he was also depressed and sad over the whole situation. Not to mention confused as to her sudden change.
He stared out the nearby window at the night sky. Unconsciously, he naturally began to sense for Videl's ki, and felt it slowly drop as she began to fall to sleep. He gave a faint sad smile, before closing his eyes to try to sleep for the rest of the night.
{~*~} {~*~} {~*~}
Finally, Videl had fallen into a fitful sleep after going over the memory. She tossed and turned all night long in her dreamless state.
Again, she awoke to the sound of rain in the morning. She looked out her window, then at her room. She dragged herself over to her dresser and began opening drawers. It was time to get ready for school.