Disclaimer: *standing frazzled and exhausted as her muses fly in circles around her hair, Jack chasing the angel (Saraneth) and swinging the sign reading "Panabelle owns all! Sue her! Sue her!" at her*

A/N: Sorry about the little rant in the last chapter, couldn't much help it, that's just been bugging me lately, and it kinda popped out. Sorry if I offended any of you. Anyhoo, this is my last chapter for tonight, also for a while, so be sure to leave a review; I'll thank you all for them with new chapters before xmas.

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Petrified Tears
chapter 66



Videl rubbed her husband's shoulders, pressing her cheek against his temple, scratching his head.

"It's ok, Gohan. Shh…it's ok, I understand…"

"Like hell, you understand!" he roared, ripping away from her.

Videl drew back in fear, swallowing thickly, never having seen Gohan turn on her like this.

"Gohan…"

"No, Videl, you don't understand! You've been a daughter before, you're a mother now. You don't know what it's like for me to watch my little girl grow up! To watch her grow up without me! I do. Because she has. I've missed too many years of her life to be a good father. I—"

He broke into a cough, eyes wide, face pale. He stared at her, betrayed, as she sat in front of him, arms braced and crossed in front of her, fists formed, ready to hit him again if necessary. Her gentle blue eyes were like ice, her jaw was set. He stared at her before raising a hand an wiping away the blood she'd drawn when he'd bit his tongue.

"Gohan," she murmured warningly, her voice low and leaving no room for interruption. He suddenly knew what his daughter had felt like whenever she'd pissed off Videl. Slowly, she lowered her fists as he leaned his elbows back against his knees pushing his hands into his hair and gripping his scalp.

"Gohan, I do understand. I'm her mother, for Dende's sake. While I might not necessarily understand exactly what you're going through, I understand well enough to know that it's tearing you apart. And to know that you're beating yourself up over nothing."

"Nothing?!" he exclaimed, his eyes flashing green.

Her eyes grew hard again, and he quickly reined his anger.

"Yes, Gohan, nothing. So our little girl is all grown up; we both knew it was going to happen, and we both saw it coming. She's been grown up for years."

"But Videl, she used let me be her father. She didn't disappear for years on end, not even days! When she had a problem, she came to me, when something was bothering her, she didn't lock it up inside. She…Videl, she's wearing dresses now, skirts too. Our little Panny never did that."

"She did too, Gohan. Maybe she fought me and ChiChi when we tried to put her into one, and maybe she felt ridiculous wearing them, but she liked them. It was a game between us. On days when it was just me and her in the house, she'd come find me with this dress she wanted, or that she thought she'd like; it'd just be a picture of it, but she could really see herself in it. And I would try to make it, or I'd take it to your mother, blubbering about how adorable I thought my little girl would be in it, and ChiChi would make a dress just like it, only in a color more flattering to Pan. And then we'd push and pull and fight her into it. And the next time Pan and I were alone in the house, she'd come thank me, but tell me she didn't have anyplace to wear it until Bulma threw another party; I'd go crying to ChiChi, ChiChi would go harass Bulma, and the party would be thrown, me and ChiChi fighting Panny into the dress again. It was a game with us. It still is. So don't tell me she never wore dresses or skirts. More times than I remember, I'd come home and find her in her room, twirling about in one of the dresses in her closet, looking at herself in the mirror and looking so happy. As soon as anyone came home, though, she was scrambling to get back into her jeans, stuttering out that she had just come home from a spar or a long day of school and that she wanted to change into a clean set of clothes."

Gohan stared at her, then lowered his head. "Ok, but she never—"

"And don't give me that bull about how she never disappeared for years or days. We both know it isn't true. She kidnapped Trunks and your father when she was 14 and didn't come home for a year. She and your brother would disappear for days on end, occasionally coming home only for food."

Gohan sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed.

Videl reached over and put a hand to either side of his head, pressing a kiss to his forehead. He blinked, and looked up at her, his eyes so depressed they seemed emotionless. "Videl…"

She pressed her fingers against his lips and kissed his forehead again.

"And she does let you be her father; she's too much of a daddy's girl to survive without you Gohan. And don't say that isn't true because she wouldn't have called once a week from California if it weren't."

He looked at her, pained, and lowered his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was so wreaked with emotion that it came out as hardly a whisper. "But Videl, she keeps throwing all of these things in my face from when she was over there; I know she doesn't mean to, but she does. I mean…the tattoo, the drinking, the…I don't know, just the total change in her character. I never in my wildest dreams thought my little girl could grow up to be so…so excited by life, so ready to live, and so utterly gorgeous, and yet so depressed, lonely, and hesitant to be herself. I never wished this on her, but I can't help but feel this is all my fault because I didn't do a good enough job protecting her. Because I didn't teach her not to care what others think."

Videl stood, pulling on his arm in attempt to bring him to his feet as well. He looked up at her, suddenly feeling like he was back in high school, Videl pulling on him to go fight crime, or to face his mother because he missed a single point on a meaningless quiz. He let her drag him to his feet, then followed mutely, blankly, as she started running towards the edge of the lookout, waving good-bye to Dende and Piccolo and Mr. Popo as they ran, then jumping off the edge.

Gohan was so caught up in her guiding him, that when they started falling and didn't stop, he began to panic and stared at her as she wormed her hand free and turned to look up at him.

"Videl!" he cried. "Are you crazy?"

She smiled up at him.

"Oh no, I've forgotten how to fly," she yelled back, sarcastically.

"Videl! I'm serious! The Lookout isn't that far off the ground! No games!"

"Then you fly, you big idiot, and lead me for the first time since we were kids!"

Gohan blinked, suddenly realizing that she was right. He had been so worried about being a good father, of taking care of her and his little girl, that he had never really taken charge and had been a doormat for most of his marriage.

For most of his life.

His mother had wanted him to become a scholar; he'd done it. She'd wanted him to study; he'd studied tirelessly no matter how exhausted he was nor the situation his life was in. Videl had wanted him let her to fight with him; he'd relented. She'd been antsy about how committed he was; he'd married her. His mother hadn't wanted him to move away; he moved in next door. Pan wanted to learn how to fight; he'd taught her. Videl wanted him at home; he'd requested to be allowed to work outside of the office. Pan wanted to go to college in California, Videl wanted him to let her; he'd allowed it knowing Pan wouldn't come home until after graduation. Videl threatened a night on the couch; he did whatever it was she wanted.

Blinking, he looked down at his wife.

"Grow up Gohan. Grow up, and you'll understand, I promise."

He smiled down at her, then shot forward, encasing her in his arms and rocketing up and into the air, going as fast as he could, then breaking into super saiyan, going faster and then tearing into the second level. Videl laughed and screamed, and he felt like they were kids again, starting their romance and being so quirkily inept at being in love that no one knew until he'd proposed though it'd been terribly obvious.

He froze, righting himself in the air and staring out over the trees that lead to their house. His face grew hard and taut, his expressions glazing over with emotionless hate.

"Gohan?"

His only response was a low and guttural growl.

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A/N: That's it for me for a while, so be sure to review and tell me what you thought. Btb, the reason I just posted 7 chapters at once, is because my site received it's 10000th hit earlier in the week, and I wanted to thank the ppl who go there. Anywho, don't expect a lot for me for a while; I have a report to work on all next week, AP English homework, and next weekend is when we break out the xmas stuff...believe me when I say that it's a 48 hour event. The week after that I'm leaving for Las Vegas from the 8th to the 11th, so don't expect anything until at least the 13th. Yeah, that's about it. Just be sure to review.

"All will be explained in time, and time is coming to an end."
-Panabelle

-Panabelle ;P
Shrine of the Saiyan Squirt