Ehhehe… Is anyone asleep yet? Okay, my next chapter is up (duh). It gets a teensy bit better but… uh, yeah…. Let's see how Videl reacts to the situation, eh? Oh, and before I go on…..
Disclaimer: ~yawn~ I don't own any part of DB, DBZ, etc, etc, yada, yada, so on, so on.
Hmm…not convinced? Let's put it this way. If the anime was actually mine, it probably wouldn't be even half as good as it is at the present, 'cause I have a habit of screwing up. Just be thankful I'm writing fics about it and nothing else.
And to saiyanprincessvidel, thanks for the tip about saying hello, yes, I know it. In fact, it's part of the dialogue of one of my one-shots I'm currently writing now (Digmon K/Y all the way, Yehaw!). Anyway, thanks. I do have a question, though. What's 'Ja' mean?
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Chapter 2—Old Memories
"How could he, that AIRHEAD!" Videl said through gritted teeth. "I can't believe it!" Videl was still at the house, still very angry. Having nothing else left to do, she stood up, preparing to fly. Suddenly, though, a side door opened, and out came an elderly man.
"Hello, who are you?" He asked, mildly surprised. Videl, surprised also, turned around. For such an old guy, he seemed very well-built, although not as good as Gohan…. forget Gohan! she thought.
Videl replied: "My name is Videl. I was just leaving." The man offered his hand, and she shook it.
"Everyone just calls me Ojii-san. Nice to meet you."
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"Are you looking for my granddaughter Lime? Is that why you're here?" Ojii-san asked, looking up. Videl looked up, too.
"Sort of. Actually, I came with Gohan, but, as I said, I was just leaving."
Ojii-san walked over to a pile of wood. "Videl, may I ask of you a favour? I know it's a bit rude to ask right after we just met, but……could you please cut some wood for me? I'm getting too old, with my back." Videl smiled.
"Sure. I'll be glad to help." She walked over, picked up the axe and began to chop easily and expertly. With all her martial arts, it was no big deal for her. Ojii-san sat down on a log and watched her.
"Arigatou", he said. Then,"You chop very well".
--"No problem", replied Videl.
Ojii-san sat for another minute, then began to talk. "Videl. If I'm not mistaken, you are the daughter of Satan, am I correct?" She nodded, and kept at chopping the wood. "Do you know Gohan well?"
Videl, deciding not to reveal her anger towards Gohan, hesitated, then said "He goes to my school and taught me how to fly. He was the one who took me here".
Ojii-san smiled.
"Great boy, Gohan is, great boy." Videl, at the moment, didn't quite agree with him, but kept silent. She wanted to hear what he was going to say next.
He started.
"I met Gohan seven years ago, days before the Cell games." Videl kept chopping but paid closer attention. "He was out shopping for his mother and saw Lime in trouble. She was trying to get an apple and fell into the creek. He rescued her." Ojii-san smiled. "Even back then he was so gentle. I remember he and Lime sitting under a tree and all the chipmunks and squirrels running to him. This masked his magnificent strength! Of course, this was not the end of his help to us."
Videl, in spite of herself, asked "What happened?"
"Oh, he was such a unique boy and still is now. Back then, as you know, it was a few days before the Cell games and it was complete pandemonium. Well, some fools wanted to make as much money as they could, no matter in what situation, and they built a large dome to 'protect' the people that lived around here. Only problem was, they loved grubbing money. Once they tried to steal my products at my store for food supplies. What weasels!" Ojii-san smiled spitefully. "Did you know that in the early stage of his transformation, Cell roamed around here, sucking up people's energy? That was why they were so afraid of him. In fact, he killed Lime's parents." He sighed.
"But", he continued, "It was lucky Gohan came when he did. After the suffering caused by the pre-perfect Cell, the people here were ready to believe anyone who offered them protection. So they believed this rampant capitalist, the owner of the dome, even though he was a total idiot." Ojii-san paused again.
"He had a very strong lackey to enforce co-operation, capable of blowing up my house if he wanted to, with just his bare hands. Lime had just gotten in trouble with the owner again for disrupting construction, when the lackey had come out. Gohan got in trouble for refusing to let anyone touch Lime, and the lackey was sent to rough him up. That was when I stepped out and defended both children. I did not know at the time that Gohan could take care of himself! He was such a good chopper- like you! – but I really had no way of knowing how strong he actually was." Ojii-san sighed.
"Anyway, I am a very advanced martial artist, if I do say so myself, and I finished off all the other hitmen no problem. But when I was against that piticular lackedy- General Tao, I believe,--yes, General Tao, I was no match for him. The General had sent me sprawling with a very large energy ball coming towards me, when all of a sudden there was a loud explosion, and I could see something moving very fast to the front of me! It was Gohan! He was angered by all the uneccessary violence. Was General Tao surprised! He had said,
"You are not so weak, boy, after all!",when he looked at Gohan more carefully and asked him if his name was Goku. Gohan, angered, replied,
"Close enough. I'm his SON!" All of a sudden, and at the time, at least to the villagers, General Tao got scared and flew away for no reason. That was the last we ever heard from him."
Ojii-san stood up and stretched wilst watching Videl do the last of the wood. He smiled.
"But that isn't the end of this tale, oh no."
Videl looked up briefly and hesitantly asked, "There's more?"
"Oh, yes." He looked thoughtful. "Right. Now what happened after that? Hm… Oh, my. My memory isn't what it used to be. Let's see… oh yes. I remember now." He took another breath and started to talk again.
"If I remember correctly, I was standing there thinking that Gohan was much more than he first appeared to be. Of course, the villagers thought otherwise. They hadn't felt the massive power as I had, and still thought Gohan as a little nothing with a father's reputation. I think the fact that he had yellow hair convinced most that he was a juvenile delinquent! Imagine their fear, then, when that boy who was a 'nothing' stuck out his hand and blasted a baseball-sized energy ball that tore off half of the dome's massive roof! A baseball sized energy ball, no less! I remember, he had yelled at the people,
"Did you see this! If I can do that to the dome so easily, do you think it wouldn't be easy for Cell to crush it if he wanted? Go back to your homes!"
Now the villagers finally understood. Although Cell was powerful, they could not cower and dream up make-believe protection that did not work. One by one, they trooped back to their abodes, shaken by the boy's wisdom, that, in a few years on the earth, outmatched theirs. But the arrogant and stupid owner of the dome still had not seen the error in his ways. He actually had the courage- stupid courage, mind you- to ask Gohan to be his new bodyguard.
"I will pay", he had offered, which just made the boy angrier.
"Didn't you hear me?" He had roared. "GO HOME!"
And I still remember that day clearly, even so long ago".
Ojii-san smiled at his next thought. "Then, his father came to fetch him home, and left, after Goku gave his thanks- for what , I don't know, because it was Gohan who saved us and not the other way around. Two of a kind, Goku and his son- there will be no one that would ever be quite like them. It was then that I just instinctively knew that they were going to compete in the Cell games." He gave a small, rueful grin. "Gohan's father died at those cursed games, did you know that?" He asked as Videl, in shock, shook her head no. She handed him the axe.
The old but still- sharp- as- anything man shook off his sad face. "But enough about that. My, what even logs these are! Thank you!" He exclaimed, changing the subject. Then, "Are you going home now?"
Videl replied, "Yes. I have a long way."
Ojii-san smiled. "I have to say this before you go. You are a pretty special girl to Gohan, you know. He never brought anyone with him to the few visits with us."
"Hmph." Muttered Videl. "Not that special, it seems." She looked at the door, then turned away.
Ojii-san smiled knowingly. "Perhaps you're not realizing it yet." He started towards the side door. "Thank you again, child, for listening to an old man chatter and chopping wood for him."
Videl, too flustered to say much, said "anytime."
He paused opening the door. "You know, it's a short walk to the creek. Why don't you go there before going home and think things over?"
"Huh?" Videl, still flustered, looked up. "Oh, yeah, arigato."
"-Good luck."
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(A/N- So… any questions? Comments? Stuff? It'd make me pretty happy if you read this and just gave me a little review, to see how I did. Oh, and I'm halfway through typing up chapter four ( the whole story is already written in my notebook, along with a few others, I'm just converting it into type). Let's say that it gets more interesting, because of a certain new character that helps the two teenagers in question come to their senses…. Heheh…….)
~~ Oh, and for anyone wondering why my first three chapters are so ridiculously differently formatted, it's because I'm a newer member of FF.Net and I'm learning as I go. Be patient. I'll eventually fix my mistakes, but for now, anyone who sees something they disagree with (plot holes and such) be free to help me. Trust me, I need it.
--chichi the windrider
