~All I Need For Christmas~
"BBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" came the VERY early morning scream, waking everyone in the house, and every person within a seven hundred kilometer radius.
Videl jumped as she was woken up, and she could feel Gohan leap in shock next to her. She didn't know who or what that was, but they didn't sound happy, that was for sure. She glanced to Gohan, noticing that after the initial shock, he didn't seem phased by the blood-curdling scream at all. He turned to the clock.
"Wow! We got to sleep until 2:39 this year..." he murmured tiredly. He rolled back to Videl and hugged her for a moment.
Videl made a motion to pull herself even closer to him, but suddenly her eyes widened as her face paled, and she screamed, grabbing onto the blankets for dear life. She stopped screaming and laid there, breathing hard for several seconds.
Gohan jumped back and stared at her. "What is it Videl? What happened?" he asked frantically.
Videl continued gasping for her breath, barely able to suck it in for a minute. Finally she spoke, although her voice slightly hoarse. "I-it's just... I forgot about yesterday, and I forgot that my muscles were REALLY gonna hurt once I woke up. Damn it!" she was still breathing heavy. "S-Sorry I startled y-you Gohan... It just felt like every bone in my body lit on fire all at once..." she whispered.
Gohan hugged her once more. "Hold on," he whispered. Gently, as though carrying a fragile doll, he turned Videl onto her back. Then he pulled himself into a half-sitting position and began softly rubbing her back, massaging the sore muscles.
Videl moaned a bit, and felt her eyelids closing as she neared sleep again. But as her body began to relax more and more, she realized that she probably wouldn't get to sleep after hearing that scream. What was that scream for, anyways? She lost track of her thoughts as Gohan massaged a particularly sensitive spot on her back, and her body shuddered as she moaned.
As she finally felt the rest of her muscles relax, the door was thrown open and two small blurs ran into the room, diving behind Gohan's back.
"Save us Gohan!" came two muffled cries.
"The scary Mr. Vegeta's gonna kill us!" came a single more distinct voice.
"Goten, Trunks, did you two try to catch Santa?... Again?" Gohan asked calmly, one hand still rubbing Videl's back, although it really wasn't needed now.
Goten and Trunks both nodded their heads fervently.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't catch him? Even if you do set up a trap with energy binds... He's magic! Only parents and adults can catch him. That's why the man in 'The Night Before Christmas' could find him," Gohan stopped as Vegeta's energy quickly approached the door.
Goten and Trunks both dove under the bed, lowering their energies to an almost untraceable level. And when you were as tired as Vegeta was, it really was untraceable.
Vegeta may have been tired, but he was certainly pissed. He slammed the door open, causing it to rip off it's hinges. "BRAT! Where are the other two brats? My brat and kakarott's second brat! I'm gonna kill them!" he roared.
Videl sat up slowly at that moment. "Well I certainly haven't seen them..." she growled. And it was true, because she had been almost asleep when they came in, and she hadn't even bothered to open her eyes until now.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Videl, and suddenly smirked. "Hmph... So the little slut finally decided to stop giving the brat the cold shoulder," he stated coldly, but even he was perceptive enough to realize when he had gone too far, and this was it.
Videl's eyes widened and she gasped for a second, while Gohan turned a death glare on Vegeta. "How. Dare. You?. Get Out... NOW!" he screamed, powering up as he stood, causing the two children underneath the bed to scuttle out and tear away down the hall. Gohan ignored them though, and instead began advancing on Vegeta, who could tell by Gohan's look that he probably wasn't going to survive this. Fortunately for Vegeta, as Gohan swung wildly toward his head, Goku appeared behind Gohan and held him back.
"Gohan, stop! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked. Gohan struggled against his father's grip, but he was losing anger, and soon he just rested in Goku's arms, breathing heavily.
"Get out of my face," he growled to Vegeta. "Bastard..." he hissed. Videl's crying caught his attention, and he turned around to move back to the bed and try desperately to comfort her.
Fortunately, Vegeta knew when to shut up, sort of, and he left without another word, followed shortly by Goku.
Gohan walked to the bed, sitting down. He grabbed Videl for a moment and hugged her. She sat rigid at first, but soon she had pulled away and stumbled off the bed to the floor.
"Stay away!" she yelled, backing away from Gohan and into a corner.
Gohan walked over to her and knelt down to her level. "Videl..."
"Stay away! He's right, I'm just some slut. Go away!" she yelled as she stood up and tried to limp away from Gohan. He wasn't about to take that though, and he stood up and held her shoulders, watching as she sobbed into her hands.
"Videl, what did I tell you about putting youself down?" he asked quietly. "It's not your fault, so how can you still insult yourself like that?" he whispered.
"Easily," she growled, pulling away from him again and trying to run. This obviously didn't work as she dropped to the floor again and backed up against the bed. "Go! Please, just leave me. I'm just some frikkin slut, you shouldn't be hanging around with me anyways," she cried pathetically.
Gohan, of course, didn't listen to a word she said, and he knelt down in front of her once more. She was still muttering about herself, and Gohan clapped a hand over her mouth. Startled, she looked up, eyes wide and dripping fresh tears. Gohan pulled his hand back from her mouth.
"I told you to stop. Videl, you are NOT a slut, understood? It was NOT your fault, and I do NOT want to hear you say another bad thing about yourself," he said, smiling sadly at her. "Vegeta's an ass, and I don't even think he meant it. Besides, if he did I'll kick his ass to kingdom come. Videl I love you, but how can I love you if you won't even listen to me?" he asked.
"Gohan... Wha? Oh never mind..." Videl's head leaned against his chest, but she continued weeping for several more minutes while Gohan rocked her, humming.
"Big Brother! Come on! We're gonna open presents now!" came Goten's yell from the living room.
Gohan groaned and looked to Videl, gently wiping the tears from her eyes. "Something I forgot to mention," he said tiredly. "Every year Goten and Trunks try to catch Santa, and every year they catch Vegeta when he's coming in from the Gravity Room. Since everyone's up already anyways, we always end up down stairs at this time," he sighed, looking Videl in the eye.
"Oh, well, I suppose this is still better than at my house where my father's never home, and even when he is, he's ALWAYS got a girl over," Videl said, yawning.
Gohan grinned and leaned down to pick her up. Videl found her arms around Gohan's neck, and her head against his chest. Gohan leaned down and kissed her quickly before walking out of the room.
Gohan walked passed Vegeta, who was leaning in the doorway to the living room, and sat down on the couch. Gohan was growling as he eyed Vegeta, and it was a struggle for him to control his energy. Videl sat on Gohan's lap, looking out tiredly at the rest of the people there, and was thankful that she wasn't the only one who was tired. She glared at Vegeta, but after a second, her face turned into a brilliant smirk, and she had a difficult time not laughing. She caught Gohan's attention and pointed it out to him, and they both started laughing.
"Hmph... The brat and his mate have both fucking lost it," Vegeta said. (Oh, and David's the only one who got it so far, it's coming up next) He suddenly heard Mrs. Briefs squeal, but he ignored it. That woman was always acting like she was frikkin high anyways. He wasn't ignoring her for long though, as she ran up to him and kissed him on the lips. He shoved her back, a brilliant shade of red on his face. "What the fuck do you think you're frikkin doing?!" he roared.
Mrs. Briefs continued to smile gaily. "Oh Vegeta silly. You're standing under the mistletoe! You know you get kissed when you stand under there!" she squealed.
Vegeta suddenly looked horrified as he stared up at the small plant hanging above him. He was about to reach up and rip it off when Bulma walked up to him and decided it was her turn to kiss him. She pushed up against him and pushed her tongue into his mouth. A few seconds later he had pushed her back as well, but not as rough as he had to her mother. He was blushing slightly, but his face was adorned with a furious scowl. "Woman, I told not in public," he muttered. He heard Gohan and Videl's laughing and he turned to growl at them, but as he did, Gohan matched him with his own growl, and eventually Vegeta just smirked. Reaching up, he decided not to destroy the mistletpe, he instead pulled it down and walked over to Gohan, holding it. He reached his hand out and dangled the mistletoe above Gohan and Videl's heads.
Gohan looked up, horrified. "What?!" he yelped, looking from the plant in Vegeta's hand to Videl, who was staring, slightly nervous, then back to Vegeta, and finally around to the rest of the guests. Most of them were grinning, with varying degrees of evil in their eyes. Such as Krillin, who had a look on his face that would have made Cell wet himself.
"Hmph... Brat, they're waiting," Vegeta said, indicating the rest of the people in the room. "That's for laughing, brat. You're lucky I didn't decide to kill you."
Gohan stuttered. "B-b-but, Wait. I mean...." Gohan looked back to Videl, and then back to what was held in Vegeta's hand.
"Brat, I'll stand here all day. But if you make me do that, I'll kick your ass to hell and back as well," Vegeta growled.
Gohan gulped and turned back to Videl. He looked into her eyes once and then leaned down and gently brushed her lips, staying like that for not even five full seconds and pulling back. He was blushing, but still he turned to Vegeta. "There, you happy now?" Gohan asked coldly.
Vegeta seemed fine with this, and he proceeded to turn the mistletoe into dust. Many of the others, however, looked slightly upset that Gohan and Videl hadn't had a little make-out fest. The children didn't seem disappointed whatsoever, mainly because they hadn't been paying any attention anyways, they were too wrapped up in unwrapping their presents.
Bulma had left the room for a moment, and came back with something that was greatly appreciated by all of the adults. She walked in carrying a pot of coffee, as well as twenty or so mugs. She walked around to each person, who gratefully accepted anything to keep them awake.
"Big brother, what about your presents?" Goten said, running up to Gohan.
"I don't think I-" Gohan tried, but Goten left a small box on the arm of the chair next to him.
Gohan glanced to it, and then shot a glance back to Videl. "I thought you said you didn't have any of your gifts..." Gohan said, genuinely confused.
Videl grinned. "When you brought me my duffel bag. It had all of the gifts I got you guys capsulized in one of the pockets... That's my gift to you. Granted it's nothing like what you gave me, but I hope you still like it," she stated.
Gohan hugged her with the one arm of his that wasn't holding his coffee... Which he needed a lot. "Thank you..." he whispered into her ear. He let go of her waist and picked up the gift, carefully taking the wrapping paper off, because now that he looked closer, Videl had to have made the wrapping paper herself, for it had an articulately drawn picture of Videl, tackling Gohan to the ground. Gohan vaguely remembered that his mother had taken a picture similar to that a long time ago. He opened the box and unwrapped the tissue paper, suddenly grinning, blushing, laughing and nearly crying all at exactly the same time. "Wow!" he said, staring at the picture frame in his hand. "So, that's why you drew that particular picture on the front?" he asked, a few stray tears dripping from his eyes.
In his hand was a picture frame that Videl had made herself. It was glass, and the only reason she knew anything about making any glass, was that her father had forced her into taking classes. It had turned out that she was actually quite talented at it, as she was with many other things. Such as drawing, because fighting had given her a steady hand. The photograph inside was almost exactly like the one on the wrapping, but there were a few differences. Like, on the wrapping, Videl was in mid-tackle, and both of them were tumbling to the ground. Gohan had been caught off-guard, and that's why he had fallen. The picture in his hands showed Videl and Gohan both lying on the ground already. Plus, in the one in his hand, Videl was on top of him, and kissing him. He was blushing in both the drawing and the photograph, though. That had been his first kiss...
Gohan leaned around and kissed Videl again, more fully this time. She smiled at him, and he could see the fatigue in her eyes. She leaned against his chest, already half-asleep.
"So I take it the coffee didn't help any?" he asked, looking at the empty mug in her hand.
"Mmm? Nope..." she mumbled.
Gohan watched as she drifted off into sleep. Slowly he leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Thank you, my Videl."
* * *
Sometime around noon, Gohan had decided it best to take Videl home, although she was still asleep. He had gone upstairs and packed her duffel bag, and grabbed her crutches. Five minutes later he had said good-bye to everyone that he wasn't going to see again that night, and had flown off in the direction of Videl's mansion. Videl had woken up along the way, and now Gohan was landing in front of the gate. He handed Videl her crutches, and she limped slowly up to the gate. The guard named Johnny smiled at her, but then frowned, opening the door.
"Miss Videl, we've been expecting you. We got a call from the hospital yesterday, and Hercule's been ready to blow a gasket ever since. Are you alright?" he asked.
Videl winced slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine... You KNOW you don't have to call me Miss Videl, in fact, I think I've told you not to," Videl said, trying to change the subject. She felt Gohan's arm slide around her waist and she smiled.
"Yeah I know... Sorry. So, did you two finally hook up?" Johnny asked. He was one of the younger guards, only about three years older than Videl, and he was more like a brother to her than anything else.
Gohan grinned. "Yup, thanks for the help," he said.
Videl stared at Gohan and then turned to glare at Johnny. "You knew what he was planning?!" she yelled.
"Knew?! I helped him pick out the bracelet! He knew the stones that he wanted, but other than that, he didn't know anything!" Johnny laughed while Gohan blushed. "But listen, you should probably be headed inside. It's freezing out here, and Hercule's been waiting to ye- I mean talk to you... Gohan, you probably shouldn't go in. Somehow, I don't think you'd be welcomed..."
Gohan growled. "I'm going. Unless of course you don't want me to, Videl," Gohan said, looking to her.
Videl seemed unsure about the whole situation. Mainly because she'd never been in a situation like this before. "Umm... I do want you to come in Gohan... I think I'm gonna need a little support," she said, walking slowly toward the door.
Gohan stayed back for a second. It was a 1/4 of a mile walkway anyways, so he could catch up to her before she reached the door. "Johnny... Do you know all of what happened yesterday?" Gohan asked quietly.
"No, I know some of it. I know that she was stabbed... A-and... R-r-raped... But I didn't hear anything else," Johnny whispered.
Gohan decided that if Videl wanted Johnny to know she'd tell him, so Gohan wouldn't tell him anything yet. But he did have one thing he needed to get out. "She... She might have AIDS, did you know that?" Gohan asked, his voice breaking.
The young guard jumped. "She, WHAT?!" Johnny yelped.
Gohan nodded and leaned against the brick wall. "Damn it! I couldn't handle watching her suffer, and then... And then... Losing her."
Johnny growled. "You're not gonna have to. She's not gonna have AIDS, understood?"
Gohan looked up but slowly nodded. "Yeah, I have to go catch up with her," he muttered, running in her direction at a speed that was untrceable to most human's eyes. Seconds later he was at her side. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and flew the rest of the way to the house.
Videl shivered as they reached the house. She walked up to the security system and pressed her hand against it.
""""Fingerprint a match... Enter, Satan Videl..."""" quoted the computer as the door opened.
Gohan followed Videl into her house, his hand grasping hers. Or maybe the other way around, because her hand was holding his tight enough to cut off his circulation, even in Mystic form.
"SATAN VIDEL!" came the raucous voice on the stairs. Hercule stomped down the stairs, taking care to cause the entire house to shake with every step down. The blonde who he had been with yesterday was clinging to his arm. "You frikkin slutty bitch. The hospital called yesterday and said you let yourself get raped by some pretty boy by the name of Sharpner. They said you should've been home by then. But were you home?! NO! You weren't sure if you got fucking pregnant the first time, so you decided to do this screwball too?!" he roared.
Videl nearly fell over as the words sank in. She could feel Gohan's energy skyrocketing, and his hand clenched spasmodically on hers, as though he were having difficulty stopping himself from grasping it too hard. "B-but... Dad..." she gasped, sobbing while she tried to form words.
"Don't you 'Dad' me, Miss Bitch. I can't believe what you've become. Do you really think this is what your mother wanted you to become?!" Hercule decided to let that one sink in while the woman on his arm smirked at Videl's plight.
Videl grasped at her chest. She was so stunned that she was having a hard time breathing. Gohan's energy rose to an almost unreadable level, but one squeeze on his hand indicated not to kill Hercule. Gohan had tears in his own eyes. They were tears of anger, pain, and pity for Videl.
"Go to your room. I don't want to see your face for another 9 months. And then when you're giving birth to some ass's child, I'm just gonna laugh," Hercule yelled.
Videl would have fallen to her knees, but Gohan's strong arms caught her. She stood up slowly again. Pulling away from Gohan, she limped passed her father, her entire face soaked. She made a point of punching his new girlfriend in the face. Gohan watched her for the equivalent of about five seconds after she had reached the top of the stairs before stomping over to Hercule.
"You're lucky she doesn't want you dead, or I'd kill you, and your girlfriend just for the hell of it," Gohan spat the venom at Hercule and ran after Videl. He reached the hallway just in time to watch her door swing closed. He walked up to it, feeling his heart wrench as the sound of crying reached his ears through the slightly ajar door. "Videl, can I come in?" he asked quietly. He felt her ki rise, and soon the door opened, with her floating there, her crutches simply dropped to the floor.
Without a word, Videl had thrown herself into Gohan's arms. "Gohan, did I do something wrong?! Why is it that everywhere I go someone else is calling me a slut?" Videl sobbed. She was completely hysterical, practically wailing into Gohan's shirt.
Gohan walked her over to her bed and rocked her, using the most effective way to calm her down as he began humming to her. His head was resting on hers, and he didn't hear or sense when Hercule walked in. The latter had gotten a good tongue-lashing from one of the maids, and now he was up in Videl's room, actually feeling sorry for what he did. He finally realized what Gohan was singing to Videl, and he nearly choked.
As Gohan finished singing, Hercule cleared his throat, gathering the attention of the other two parties in the room. He was slightly jumpy under their gaze, particularly Gohan's. "Yes, Umm... Listen Videl... I'm um... I'm sorry..." he coughed. "Videl... Are Umm, are you alright?" he coughed again.
Videl didn't look up from where her face was muffled into Gohan's shirt. "Physically, I-I should be fine... Eventually... Maybe... But... I-I don't know if-if I'll ever feel-feel the same again. And not just from what happened, either," she said, finally looking up, fresh tears in her eyes. "Do you really think that?" she asked.
"No... I didn't know how to handle any of this, so I did the first thing I thought of," Hercule responded.
"You were thinking?!" she asked incredulously.
"Okay, maybe not. But as much as I may not show it, I do miss your mother," he glanced to Gohan as he said this, "And I don't want to lose you again either. Y-you don't really have AIDS, do you?" he asked.
"Well... W-We'll know on Sunday, won't we?" she said. Leaning back into Gohan's arms, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well? Wow, I thought this chapter was gonna be short! and when I say short, I mean like shorter than the first chapter short. Anyways, I'm tired, but I swore that I'd do shoutouts, so here goes:
To A-man: Well, in a word, Thanks!
To Aqua-Fresh-Ali: Wow, thanks! I'm totally flattered!
To Cooljenn aka Sena: Sorry, you're a little off, but there's cookies for everyone who at least tried to guess! Here! I'm glad you like it so much! *grins*
To Goten-luvr-Mechy: A sequel! I'm not even done with this! But hmm... Maybe... Herry Christmas and a Mappy New Year... Umm scratch that. Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!
To Village Idiot (love your name by the way! *grins*): Very soon? Well, I think it was pretty soon, right? Only a couple days. Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
To Leaf Zelindor: Who cares what happens to Vegeta?! I thought that was funny! Oh well. I thought up the part about him being under the mistletoe, but my dad was the one who said that Mrs. Briefs should kiss Vegeta first. The apple never falls too far from the tree, and my dad was an evil tree. I'm glad you like the fic!
To G.T.G.: I'm glad, I tried to make it emotional. And the next Chappy's gonna be a VERY emotional one.
To David: CONGRATULATIONS! You're the only reviewer I've had who actually guessed about the mistletoe! Leave me a review with which plushie you'd like, or if you want some sort of sweets... I have a variety. Don't worry, I didn't make them, my mom did. Keep reading!
To Emotionless Shadow: Sorry, but good try! Nothing like that happened anyways... Well, not quite... But, I'm glad you like it, and you did try, so here's some cookies!
To Pan Son: YAY! I tried to squeeze as much cuteness into that chapter and a couple other's as I could, cause the rest of those chapters is gonna be depressing or really emotional. Like with Videl spilling her guts to Gohan, I needed cuteness so Gohan told the Chibis a story.
To Anonymous: Thanks...
To Raning Raving Jess: Well, I don't know if there'll be more Sharpner ass-kicking, you'll just have to wait and see! Glow-in-the-dark Gohan shrine? I'm flattered.
To DigiExpert: I'm glad it was emotional, I tried to make it that way. Thanks.
To Drunken Gohan: Nope, not really. But here's some cookies anyways. Keep reading, I love that you like the fic!
To Nate013: Not even Close! But, I suppose you did try, so here's some cookies. Keep reading!
To Majunor7: Yeah, I know it's demented, but it's original, isn't it? *grins* At least I tired to make it original... Oh well! I'm not sure if you like it or not, but if you do thanks, and if you don't, well, thanks for at least not leaving a review telling me how stupid I am.
~Videl~ ~Z~
"BBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" came the VERY early morning scream, waking everyone in the house, and every person within a seven hundred kilometer radius.
Videl jumped as she was woken up, and she could feel Gohan leap in shock next to her. She didn't know who or what that was, but they didn't sound happy, that was for sure. She glanced to Gohan, noticing that after the initial shock, he didn't seem phased by the blood-curdling scream at all. He turned to the clock.
"Wow! We got to sleep until 2:39 this year..." he murmured tiredly. He rolled back to Videl and hugged her for a moment.
Videl made a motion to pull herself even closer to him, but suddenly her eyes widened as her face paled, and she screamed, grabbing onto the blankets for dear life. She stopped screaming and laid there, breathing hard for several seconds.
Gohan jumped back and stared at her. "What is it Videl? What happened?" he asked frantically.
Videl continued gasping for her breath, barely able to suck it in for a minute. Finally she spoke, although her voice slightly hoarse. "I-it's just... I forgot about yesterday, and I forgot that my muscles were REALLY gonna hurt once I woke up. Damn it!" she was still breathing heavy. "S-Sorry I startled y-you Gohan... It just felt like every bone in my body lit on fire all at once..." she whispered.
Gohan hugged her once more. "Hold on," he whispered. Gently, as though carrying a fragile doll, he turned Videl onto her back. Then he pulled himself into a half-sitting position and began softly rubbing her back, massaging the sore muscles.
Videl moaned a bit, and felt her eyelids closing as she neared sleep again. But as her body began to relax more and more, she realized that she probably wouldn't get to sleep after hearing that scream. What was that scream for, anyways? She lost track of her thoughts as Gohan massaged a particularly sensitive spot on her back, and her body shuddered as she moaned.
As she finally felt the rest of her muscles relax, the door was thrown open and two small blurs ran into the room, diving behind Gohan's back.
"Save us Gohan!" came two muffled cries.
"The scary Mr. Vegeta's gonna kill us!" came a single more distinct voice.
"Goten, Trunks, did you two try to catch Santa?... Again?" Gohan asked calmly, one hand still rubbing Videl's back, although it really wasn't needed now.
Goten and Trunks both nodded their heads fervently.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't catch him? Even if you do set up a trap with energy binds... He's magic! Only parents and adults can catch him. That's why the man in 'The Night Before Christmas' could find him," Gohan stopped as Vegeta's energy quickly approached the door.
Goten and Trunks both dove under the bed, lowering their energies to an almost untraceable level. And when you were as tired as Vegeta was, it really was untraceable.
Vegeta may have been tired, but he was certainly pissed. He slammed the door open, causing it to rip off it's hinges. "BRAT! Where are the other two brats? My brat and kakarott's second brat! I'm gonna kill them!" he roared.
Videl sat up slowly at that moment. "Well I certainly haven't seen them..." she growled. And it was true, because she had been almost asleep when they came in, and she hadn't even bothered to open her eyes until now.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Videl, and suddenly smirked. "Hmph... So the little slut finally decided to stop giving the brat the cold shoulder," he stated coldly, but even he was perceptive enough to realize when he had gone too far, and this was it.
Videl's eyes widened and she gasped for a second, while Gohan turned a death glare on Vegeta. "How. Dare. You?. Get Out... NOW!" he screamed, powering up as he stood, causing the two children underneath the bed to scuttle out and tear away down the hall. Gohan ignored them though, and instead began advancing on Vegeta, who could tell by Gohan's look that he probably wasn't going to survive this. Fortunately for Vegeta, as Gohan swung wildly toward his head, Goku appeared behind Gohan and held him back.
"Gohan, stop! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked. Gohan struggled against his father's grip, but he was losing anger, and soon he just rested in Goku's arms, breathing heavily.
"Get out of my face," he growled to Vegeta. "Bastard..." he hissed. Videl's crying caught his attention, and he turned around to move back to the bed and try desperately to comfort her.
Fortunately, Vegeta knew when to shut up, sort of, and he left without another word, followed shortly by Goku.
Gohan walked to the bed, sitting down. He grabbed Videl for a moment and hugged her. She sat rigid at first, but soon she had pulled away and stumbled off the bed to the floor.
"Stay away!" she yelled, backing away from Gohan and into a corner.
Gohan walked over to her and knelt down to her level. "Videl..."
"Stay away! He's right, I'm just some slut. Go away!" she yelled as she stood up and tried to limp away from Gohan. He wasn't about to take that though, and he stood up and held her shoulders, watching as she sobbed into her hands.
"Videl, what did I tell you about putting youself down?" he asked quietly. "It's not your fault, so how can you still insult yourself like that?" he whispered.
"Easily," she growled, pulling away from him again and trying to run. This obviously didn't work as she dropped to the floor again and backed up against the bed. "Go! Please, just leave me. I'm just some frikkin slut, you shouldn't be hanging around with me anyways," she cried pathetically.
Gohan, of course, didn't listen to a word she said, and he knelt down in front of her once more. She was still muttering about herself, and Gohan clapped a hand over her mouth. Startled, she looked up, eyes wide and dripping fresh tears. Gohan pulled his hand back from her mouth.
"I told you to stop. Videl, you are NOT a slut, understood? It was NOT your fault, and I do NOT want to hear you say another bad thing about yourself," he said, smiling sadly at her. "Vegeta's an ass, and I don't even think he meant it. Besides, if he did I'll kick his ass to kingdom come. Videl I love you, but how can I love you if you won't even listen to me?" he asked.
"Gohan... Wha? Oh never mind..." Videl's head leaned against his chest, but she continued weeping for several more minutes while Gohan rocked her, humming.
"Big Brother! Come on! We're gonna open presents now!" came Goten's yell from the living room.
Gohan groaned and looked to Videl, gently wiping the tears from her eyes. "Something I forgot to mention," he said tiredly. "Every year Goten and Trunks try to catch Santa, and every year they catch Vegeta when he's coming in from the Gravity Room. Since everyone's up already anyways, we always end up down stairs at this time," he sighed, looking Videl in the eye.
"Oh, well, I suppose this is still better than at my house where my father's never home, and even when he is, he's ALWAYS got a girl over," Videl said, yawning.
Gohan grinned and leaned down to pick her up. Videl found her arms around Gohan's neck, and her head against his chest. Gohan leaned down and kissed her quickly before walking out of the room.
Gohan walked passed Vegeta, who was leaning in the doorway to the living room, and sat down on the couch. Gohan was growling as he eyed Vegeta, and it was a struggle for him to control his energy. Videl sat on Gohan's lap, looking out tiredly at the rest of the people there, and was thankful that she wasn't the only one who was tired. She glared at Vegeta, but after a second, her face turned into a brilliant smirk, and she had a difficult time not laughing. She caught Gohan's attention and pointed it out to him, and they both started laughing.
"Hmph... The brat and his mate have both fucking lost it," Vegeta said. (Oh, and David's the only one who got it so far, it's coming up next) He suddenly heard Mrs. Briefs squeal, but he ignored it. That woman was always acting like she was frikkin high anyways. He wasn't ignoring her for long though, as she ran up to him and kissed him on the lips. He shoved her back, a brilliant shade of red on his face. "What the fuck do you think you're frikkin doing?!" he roared.
Mrs. Briefs continued to smile gaily. "Oh Vegeta silly. You're standing under the mistletoe! You know you get kissed when you stand under there!" she squealed.
Vegeta suddenly looked horrified as he stared up at the small plant hanging above him. He was about to reach up and rip it off when Bulma walked up to him and decided it was her turn to kiss him. She pushed up against him and pushed her tongue into his mouth. A few seconds later he had pushed her back as well, but not as rough as he had to her mother. He was blushing slightly, but his face was adorned with a furious scowl. "Woman, I told not in public," he muttered. He heard Gohan and Videl's laughing and he turned to growl at them, but as he did, Gohan matched him with his own growl, and eventually Vegeta just smirked. Reaching up, he decided not to destroy the mistletpe, he instead pulled it down and walked over to Gohan, holding it. He reached his hand out and dangled the mistletoe above Gohan and Videl's heads.
Gohan looked up, horrified. "What?!" he yelped, looking from the plant in Vegeta's hand to Videl, who was staring, slightly nervous, then back to Vegeta, and finally around to the rest of the guests. Most of them were grinning, with varying degrees of evil in their eyes. Such as Krillin, who had a look on his face that would have made Cell wet himself.
"Hmph... Brat, they're waiting," Vegeta said, indicating the rest of the people in the room. "That's for laughing, brat. You're lucky I didn't decide to kill you."
Gohan stuttered. "B-b-but, Wait. I mean...." Gohan looked back to Videl, and then back to what was held in Vegeta's hand.
"Brat, I'll stand here all day. But if you make me do that, I'll kick your ass to hell and back as well," Vegeta growled.
Gohan gulped and turned back to Videl. He looked into her eyes once and then leaned down and gently brushed her lips, staying like that for not even five full seconds and pulling back. He was blushing, but still he turned to Vegeta. "There, you happy now?" Gohan asked coldly.
Vegeta seemed fine with this, and he proceeded to turn the mistletoe into dust. Many of the others, however, looked slightly upset that Gohan and Videl hadn't had a little make-out fest. The children didn't seem disappointed whatsoever, mainly because they hadn't been paying any attention anyways, they were too wrapped up in unwrapping their presents.
Bulma had left the room for a moment, and came back with something that was greatly appreciated by all of the adults. She walked in carrying a pot of coffee, as well as twenty or so mugs. She walked around to each person, who gratefully accepted anything to keep them awake.
"Big brother, what about your presents?" Goten said, running up to Gohan.
"I don't think I-" Gohan tried, but Goten left a small box on the arm of the chair next to him.
Gohan glanced to it, and then shot a glance back to Videl. "I thought you said you didn't have any of your gifts..." Gohan said, genuinely confused.
Videl grinned. "When you brought me my duffel bag. It had all of the gifts I got you guys capsulized in one of the pockets... That's my gift to you. Granted it's nothing like what you gave me, but I hope you still like it," she stated.
Gohan hugged her with the one arm of his that wasn't holding his coffee... Which he needed a lot. "Thank you..." he whispered into her ear. He let go of her waist and picked up the gift, carefully taking the wrapping paper off, because now that he looked closer, Videl had to have made the wrapping paper herself, for it had an articulately drawn picture of Videl, tackling Gohan to the ground. Gohan vaguely remembered that his mother had taken a picture similar to that a long time ago. He opened the box and unwrapped the tissue paper, suddenly grinning, blushing, laughing and nearly crying all at exactly the same time. "Wow!" he said, staring at the picture frame in his hand. "So, that's why you drew that particular picture on the front?" he asked, a few stray tears dripping from his eyes.
In his hand was a picture frame that Videl had made herself. It was glass, and the only reason she knew anything about making any glass, was that her father had forced her into taking classes. It had turned out that she was actually quite talented at it, as she was with many other things. Such as drawing, because fighting had given her a steady hand. The photograph inside was almost exactly like the one on the wrapping, but there were a few differences. Like, on the wrapping, Videl was in mid-tackle, and both of them were tumbling to the ground. Gohan had been caught off-guard, and that's why he had fallen. The picture in his hands showed Videl and Gohan both lying on the ground already. Plus, in the one in his hand, Videl was on top of him, and kissing him. He was blushing in both the drawing and the photograph, though. That had been his first kiss...
Gohan leaned around and kissed Videl again, more fully this time. She smiled at him, and he could see the fatigue in her eyes. She leaned against his chest, already half-asleep.
"So I take it the coffee didn't help any?" he asked, looking at the empty mug in her hand.
"Mmm? Nope..." she mumbled.
Gohan watched as she drifted off into sleep. Slowly he leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Thank you, my Videl."
* * *
Sometime around noon, Gohan had decided it best to take Videl home, although she was still asleep. He had gone upstairs and packed her duffel bag, and grabbed her crutches. Five minutes later he had said good-bye to everyone that he wasn't going to see again that night, and had flown off in the direction of Videl's mansion. Videl had woken up along the way, and now Gohan was landing in front of the gate. He handed Videl her crutches, and she limped slowly up to the gate. The guard named Johnny smiled at her, but then frowned, opening the door.
"Miss Videl, we've been expecting you. We got a call from the hospital yesterday, and Hercule's been ready to blow a gasket ever since. Are you alright?" he asked.
Videl winced slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine... You KNOW you don't have to call me Miss Videl, in fact, I think I've told you not to," Videl said, trying to change the subject. She felt Gohan's arm slide around her waist and she smiled.
"Yeah I know... Sorry. So, did you two finally hook up?" Johnny asked. He was one of the younger guards, only about three years older than Videl, and he was more like a brother to her than anything else.
Gohan grinned. "Yup, thanks for the help," he said.
Videl stared at Gohan and then turned to glare at Johnny. "You knew what he was planning?!" she yelled.
"Knew?! I helped him pick out the bracelet! He knew the stones that he wanted, but other than that, he didn't know anything!" Johnny laughed while Gohan blushed. "But listen, you should probably be headed inside. It's freezing out here, and Hercule's been waiting to ye- I mean talk to you... Gohan, you probably shouldn't go in. Somehow, I don't think you'd be welcomed..."
Gohan growled. "I'm going. Unless of course you don't want me to, Videl," Gohan said, looking to her.
Videl seemed unsure about the whole situation. Mainly because she'd never been in a situation like this before. "Umm... I do want you to come in Gohan... I think I'm gonna need a little support," she said, walking slowly toward the door.
Gohan stayed back for a second. It was a 1/4 of a mile walkway anyways, so he could catch up to her before she reached the door. "Johnny... Do you know all of what happened yesterday?" Gohan asked quietly.
"No, I know some of it. I know that she was stabbed... A-and... R-r-raped... But I didn't hear anything else," Johnny whispered.
Gohan decided that if Videl wanted Johnny to know she'd tell him, so Gohan wouldn't tell him anything yet. But he did have one thing he needed to get out. "She... She might have AIDS, did you know that?" Gohan asked, his voice breaking.
The young guard jumped. "She, WHAT?!" Johnny yelped.
Gohan nodded and leaned against the brick wall. "Damn it! I couldn't handle watching her suffer, and then... And then... Losing her."
Johnny growled. "You're not gonna have to. She's not gonna have AIDS, understood?"
Gohan looked up but slowly nodded. "Yeah, I have to go catch up with her," he muttered, running in her direction at a speed that was untrceable to most human's eyes. Seconds later he was at her side. Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and flew the rest of the way to the house.
Videl shivered as they reached the house. She walked up to the security system and pressed her hand against it.
""""Fingerprint a match... Enter, Satan Videl..."""" quoted the computer as the door opened.
Gohan followed Videl into her house, his hand grasping hers. Or maybe the other way around, because her hand was holding his tight enough to cut off his circulation, even in Mystic form.
"SATAN VIDEL!" came the raucous voice on the stairs. Hercule stomped down the stairs, taking care to cause the entire house to shake with every step down. The blonde who he had been with yesterday was clinging to his arm. "You frikkin slutty bitch. The hospital called yesterday and said you let yourself get raped by some pretty boy by the name of Sharpner. They said you should've been home by then. But were you home?! NO! You weren't sure if you got fucking pregnant the first time, so you decided to do this screwball too?!" he roared.
Videl nearly fell over as the words sank in. She could feel Gohan's energy skyrocketing, and his hand clenched spasmodically on hers, as though he were having difficulty stopping himself from grasping it too hard. "B-but... Dad..." she gasped, sobbing while she tried to form words.
"Don't you 'Dad' me, Miss Bitch. I can't believe what you've become. Do you really think this is what your mother wanted you to become?!" Hercule decided to let that one sink in while the woman on his arm smirked at Videl's plight.
Videl grasped at her chest. She was so stunned that she was having a hard time breathing. Gohan's energy rose to an almost unreadable level, but one squeeze on his hand indicated not to kill Hercule. Gohan had tears in his own eyes. They were tears of anger, pain, and pity for Videl.
"Go to your room. I don't want to see your face for another 9 months. And then when you're giving birth to some ass's child, I'm just gonna laugh," Hercule yelled.
Videl would have fallen to her knees, but Gohan's strong arms caught her. She stood up slowly again. Pulling away from Gohan, she limped passed her father, her entire face soaked. She made a point of punching his new girlfriend in the face. Gohan watched her for the equivalent of about five seconds after she had reached the top of the stairs before stomping over to Hercule.
"You're lucky she doesn't want you dead, or I'd kill you, and your girlfriend just for the hell of it," Gohan spat the venom at Hercule and ran after Videl. He reached the hallway just in time to watch her door swing closed. He walked up to it, feeling his heart wrench as the sound of crying reached his ears through the slightly ajar door. "Videl, can I come in?" he asked quietly. He felt her ki rise, and soon the door opened, with her floating there, her crutches simply dropped to the floor.
Without a word, Videl had thrown herself into Gohan's arms. "Gohan, did I do something wrong?! Why is it that everywhere I go someone else is calling me a slut?" Videl sobbed. She was completely hysterical, practically wailing into Gohan's shirt.
Gohan walked her over to her bed and rocked her, using the most effective way to calm her down as he began humming to her. His head was resting on hers, and he didn't hear or sense when Hercule walked in. The latter had gotten a good tongue-lashing from one of the maids, and now he was up in Videl's room, actually feeling sorry for what he did. He finally realized what Gohan was singing to Videl, and he nearly choked.
As Gohan finished singing, Hercule cleared his throat, gathering the attention of the other two parties in the room. He was slightly jumpy under their gaze, particularly Gohan's. "Yes, Umm... Listen Videl... I'm um... I'm sorry..." he coughed. "Videl... Are Umm, are you alright?" he coughed again.
Videl didn't look up from where her face was muffled into Gohan's shirt. "Physically, I-I should be fine... Eventually... Maybe... But... I-I don't know if-if I'll ever feel-feel the same again. And not just from what happened, either," she said, finally looking up, fresh tears in her eyes. "Do you really think that?" she asked.
"No... I didn't know how to handle any of this, so I did the first thing I thought of," Hercule responded.
"You were thinking?!" she asked incredulously.
"Okay, maybe not. But as much as I may not show it, I do miss your mother," he glanced to Gohan as he said this, "And I don't want to lose you again either. Y-you don't really have AIDS, do you?" he asked.
"Well... W-We'll know on Sunday, won't we?" she said. Leaning back into Gohan's arms, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well? Wow, I thought this chapter was gonna be short! and when I say short, I mean like shorter than the first chapter short. Anyways, I'm tired, but I swore that I'd do shoutouts, so here goes:
To A-man: Well, in a word, Thanks!
To Aqua-Fresh-Ali: Wow, thanks! I'm totally flattered!
To Cooljenn aka Sena: Sorry, you're a little off, but there's cookies for everyone who at least tried to guess! Here! I'm glad you like it so much! *grins*
To Goten-luvr-Mechy: A sequel! I'm not even done with this! But hmm... Maybe... Herry Christmas and a Mappy New Year... Umm scratch that. Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!
To Village Idiot (love your name by the way! *grins*): Very soon? Well, I think it was pretty soon, right? Only a couple days. Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!
To Leaf Zelindor: Who cares what happens to Vegeta?! I thought that was funny! Oh well. I thought up the part about him being under the mistletoe, but my dad was the one who said that Mrs. Briefs should kiss Vegeta first. The apple never falls too far from the tree, and my dad was an evil tree. I'm glad you like the fic!
To G.T.G.: I'm glad, I tried to make it emotional. And the next Chappy's gonna be a VERY emotional one.
To David: CONGRATULATIONS! You're the only reviewer I've had who actually guessed about the mistletoe! Leave me a review with which plushie you'd like, or if you want some sort of sweets... I have a variety. Don't worry, I didn't make them, my mom did. Keep reading!
To Emotionless Shadow: Sorry, but good try! Nothing like that happened anyways... Well, not quite... But, I'm glad you like it, and you did try, so here's some cookies!
To Pan Son: YAY! I tried to squeeze as much cuteness into that chapter and a couple other's as I could, cause the rest of those chapters is gonna be depressing or really emotional. Like with Videl spilling her guts to Gohan, I needed cuteness so Gohan told the Chibis a story.
To Anonymous: Thanks...
To Raning Raving Jess: Well, I don't know if there'll be more Sharpner ass-kicking, you'll just have to wait and see! Glow-in-the-dark Gohan shrine? I'm flattered.
To DigiExpert: I'm glad it was emotional, I tried to make it that way. Thanks.
To Drunken Gohan: Nope, not really. But here's some cookies anyways. Keep reading, I love that you like the fic!
To Nate013: Not even Close! But, I suppose you did try, so here's some cookies. Keep reading!
To Majunor7: Yeah, I know it's demented, but it's original, isn't it? *grins* At least I tired to make it original... Oh well! I'm not sure if you like it or not, but if you do thanks, and if you don't, well, thanks for at least not leaving a review telling me how stupid I am.
~Videl~ ~Z~