It's A Start

by Sage of Angst

Chapter 14 uploaded; The point of no return has been reached, and Gohan makes his decision: but what is this 'feeling' he speaks of, and why does Videl seem to fear him so...?

2. The First Lesson And Its Consequences

Author's note: Whoo! This is actually the quickest I've gotten a second chapter out for a story. Sorry to keep you readers out there waiting, but I write all my stories on paper first, then type them up and polish them. Anyway, here's chapter two. I'm not sure exactly how long it'll end up being. Hmm…

Chapter 2: The First Lesson…and Its Consequences

"Flying's actually very simple, that is, as far as it was explained to me. So, I guess I'm just going to teach you pretty much the same way that Saiyaman taught me, ok?"

"Ok, how's that?"

"Well… let me see…here, let's sit down. If I'm right about you, this might take a while."

Videl let out an offended "Hmph!" and plopped down on the grass.

"I didn't mean—well, I did, but—" Videl held up a hand to silence him.

"Just get on with the lesson, fly boy."

"Right. Ok, now, flying involves taking control of your body's innate energy and placing it underneath you. Once there, it acts as a kind of buoy and holds you up. You push the energy to go forward or backward or whatever direction you want, and it takes you—"

"Hold up." Videl had been completely lost from the moment he said "energy." "Question, teacher?"

"Huh? Yes?"

"What the heck is this energy you keep talking about?"

Gohan nodded solemnly. "I thought this might happen."

"What?" Videl queried. "Thought what might happen?" Gohan stood up.

"This. You don't know what energy is, so I have to teach you about it. Your ki, and how to manipulate it." He stood in his spot and moved his eyes around the field, searching. His gaze fell across a lone post, part of an old, crumbling fence that used to border the forest behind the school. "Follow me." He beckoned her forward, and the two walked towards the post until they were about ten feet from it. Gohan held out a hand to stop Videl from walking any further. "Get behind me and keep your eye on the post, Videl, because it won't be there for much longer."

She was about to interject a confused "Huh?" when Gohan extended his arm in front of him, pointed a finger at the post, and promptly blew it to sawdust. He lowered his arm and wiped hi brow for show, then turned to face his pupil.

"Well? What'd you think?"

Once again, she was struck speechless, but this time it was a positive expression she eventually returned to Gohan. "Ok, I want to do that!"

Gohan started to laugh. "Well, I'm afraid that takes a bit of training." Videl's face fell some. "Right now we're going to learn the basics." He walked back over to the tree and sat down again, with Videl following. He held his hands in front of him in cup-like fashion. "Now this," he said as he produced a golf ball sized ball of energy between his hands, "is my energy, or, as it's called most of the time, my ki. You have the same energy inside you, too. My job right now is to teach you how to find that energy."

"But… what if I don't have enough energy?"

"Don't worry, all humans—everyone has the energy needed to fly, that's just basic ki manipulation. But hardly anyone knows how to tap into it. You'll be able to do it, no sweat." Videl nodded curtly. "Are you ready?" She nodded again. "Ok, first, you need to become completely relaxed. Close your eyes and try not to think of anything outside of my voice. Concentrate on it alone. In a minute, I'm going to stop talking, and I want you to extend your consciousness to your center. You'll be able to feel its power drawing you to it. Don't think about your physical strength—concentrate on finding your center, your ki source."

Videl had closed her eyes and was already searching when she noticed his voice stop. It was hard not to tense up, as she felt vulnerable just sitting here with her eyes shut, but she managed to calm down and relax her body. She pushed her thoughts out into her body, and to her surprise, actually did feel something almost calling to her. She followed the sense into her stomach and felt—power!

"I feel it! There!" she cried out loud, opening her eyes. Gohan was no longer sitting in front of her, but now standing over to her left, leaned against the tree trunk. In the distance, an orange sun hung low over the horizon and the sky above her was turning a deep purple. She glanced quickly at her watch and did a double take—7:16! She'd been out for over three hours!

"Wow, that's great Videl! It took me almost four hours to find my center, and you in three? Amazing!"

Videl frowned, not understanding. "But—I was only out for a few minutes, I know it! How could I have been gone for that long?!"

"It's because you were tapping into your true power for the first time, your body kind of went into a momentary time warp when it felt that new energy. I guess 'cause you've been doing martial arts most of your life, it didn't take you nearly as long to find it as it did me. But don't worry, with your ki tapped into, your body is already adjusting to the energy. Congratulations!"

Videl granted him a smile which quickly turned into a frown. "That's all good and well, then, but I should've been home hours ago! My dad'd kill me if he knew I was staying out late with a boy! I gotta go!" She crouched down and began going through her pack, pulling out books, notebooks, folders, and various other school supplies. Apparently, whatever she had been looking for was not with these items, because she let out an exasperated "No!" when she had emptied the entire bag.

"What? What's the matter?" Gohan asked curiously, glancing down at her supplies. "Lose something?"

"My copter capsule is still inside my locker, and my locker's inside the school! How am I gonna get home?" she lamented.

Gohan thought for a moment. "Well, I could take you," he suggested. She looked up from her bag to face him.

"You? How? You have a car?"

He laughed. "I don't use a car, Videl, I fly, remember?"

Her eyes widened for a moment as a thought passed through her head. She decided she'd confront him about his mistake later. "All the way? Don't you live in the 439 Mountain Area?" He nodded. "Jeez, you must fly fast."

"Well," he mused, "I've never clocked myself, but I've been told I've broken the sound barrier a couple of times."

"Th—the sound barrier?!" Boy, was he going to get it for lying to her about all this. Learned yesterday her foot. "Can I do that too?!" she asked excitedly.

"With practice, I think so. Remember, Videl, you only just learned that you actually had ki today. You still have to learn how to bring it out, amplify it, manipulate it, hold it, many things. One step at a time."

She frowned. "Fine. Just snap it up; I'm not a very patient person."

He smiled. "Are we going to leave?" He held out his arms in a cradle and she climbed into his grasp as he slowly lifted off, eliciting a small gasp from her. When they'd reached a height of some few hundred feet above the city, Gohan put on speed towards Satan Mansion.

*****

"This is great, Gohan!" Videl cried as they sped through the air towards her home. The wind had blown most of her hair out of her ponytail, but she didn't care.

Gohan decided to show off a bit, doing a few barrel rolls and loops—nearly dropping Videl twice and rushing out an apologetic "Oops..." Flying as fast as they were, inside a matter of minutes Satan mansion was within sight. Unbeknownst to Gohan, Videl's brow dipped a little in disappointment at being home so soon—she had been enjoying flying, even those times Gohan had dropped her. It gave her an exhilarating rush to know she was perfectly safe, not plummeting to her doom. She noticed Gohan begin to dip down toward the front door, then mentioned it'd probably not be good if her father saw her with him, and to just let her off at her balcony. As she gingerly eased onto the floor from his arms, she caught his attention by grabbing his shirt before he turned to leave. Now it was time for some answers to a few questions she'd been holding in since they'd left the school.

"Thanks, Gohan, for this. I understand that you didn't have to show me anything or listen to me, or help me in any way, so just—I wanted to say thanks and all. But—"

He held up a hand, waving the thanks off. "No, really, it's fine, Videl. You don't have to say anything."

Oh, that boy. She was through being all nice and accepting his stories like a good little girl. "Did you not hear the 'but' I added?" she questioned firmly. "That meant I wasn't quite done with you." Gohan looked lost, so Videl continued. "Now might be a good time for you to sit. That is—unless you have some pressing matter elsewhere that needs your attention." She looked as if she had absolutely no intention of letting Gohan go either way, so he sighed and sat down in the chair she offered him, praying his mother wouldn't worry herself to death on account of his lateness.

"I know you're lying to me, Gohan—you're terrible at it. Your face turns red, you hold your breath, and you have no logical explanations to back up your stories. I should sign you up for a support group so you can learn how to effectively lie. 'Hi, I'm Gohan, and I can't tell a lie to save my butt.' Or your identity." Gohan turned white and started to sweat. "Ah, now you see what I'm getting at," she smirked.

"Yes, you claim Saiyaman taught you how to fly when he only got here yesterday. Your sorry explanation was that you, quote, 'learn fast.' So, you're saying in less than twelve hours, you mastered flying, were able to reach speeds of nearly one thousand miles-per-hour, and who knows how many other fancy stunts that Saiyaman has pulled? If, for some reason, I was stupid enough to believe that, then I'd start to wonder just what kind of person would be so school crazy that they'd drive five hours just to come to this one. You would've been planning to do it all year, and I doubt you could manage that every day without being late. No, I deduce that you've been flying since you started here. That schtick about you being so dedicated to your studies was bull. You just fly every day."

She now stood from the chair she'd been occupying and began to pace in front of Gohan, still talking.

"The first day of school, at baseball practice, you jumped nearly thirty feet into the air, and claimed it was, what did you say, oh yes: 'New shoes.'" Gohan cringed—looking back, he agreed it was a stupid excuse. But what else could he have said? 'Oh, that? Don't worry, I'm an alien, I do it all the time'? "You flew then, and what a coincidence, Saiyaman suddenly shows up a couple of days later, flying." She stopped in front of him and pointed a finger accusingly. "Listen, you can keep fooling everyone else if you want, I respect that that's your business. Your choice. As for me, I'm done: I want the truth and I want to be able to start over, with a clean slate and NO secrets." Gohan remained silent for a few minutes, his muscles tense. Videl wondered if she'd come across as too harsh, then brushed it off. If she had been, then, well, he deserved it. No one pulled the wool over a Satan's eyes. Well, not for long at least. She prodded him to speak with a "Well?"

He nodded slowly and turned a guilty gaze from her to the floor. "You're right, of course, Videl. I figured it'd take a little longer for anyone to find out, but...there it is."

"Then... you are?" He stood up, and nodded.

"You're not gonna... tell anyone, are you? I mean, I just keep my identity a secret to protect my family's privacy, I don't have any other reason, really!"

Videl laughed, easing the tension between the two. "Come on, Gohan. My name may be Satan, but I'm not so sadistic I'd push you into the limelight if I knew you really didn't want it. I only did this to you to get you to stop lying and being so secretive. But now that that's done with, we can get on with the lesson tomorrow without you bungling it up searching for excuses as to just how you know how to fly so well." She winked at him, then pushed him off the balcony. He teetered on the railing for a moment, then remembered he could fly. "Tomorrow, after school—you me and the air, ok?"

"Right." He lifted away from her balcony and she turned and walked into her room, shutting the doors to the outside behind her. Gohan looked on for a moment, then thought about what someone would think if they caught sight of him. 'Gohan, you peeping tom, get home now.'

He gasped. His mother! Boy, was he in for it, he powered up to get home quicker, reaching his doorstep minutes after he'd left Videl. As he reached for the doorknob, he could hear ChiChi inside, venting her frustrations to his younger brother.

"Where is that boy?! It's after eight already, he should've been home HOURS ago! Oh, is he gonna get it when he comes in, I oughta ground his Saiyan butt for a year. If he isn't already dead, he will be when I get hold of him! I'll—"

Gohan chose this propitious moment to enter. "Hi Mom!" he called cheerfully. "Sorry I'm so late, I was studying for a huge test with a friend, and lost track of time!" What was Videl talking about? Of course he could lie!

ChiChi, however, would not take such a simple explanation. "STUDYING? For FOUR hours?! With who?!" Gohan gulped and stopped in midstride. He'd been so close to escaping punishment scot-free! Maybe Videl was right...

"Uh, just, a friend, from school."

ChiChi glared at him. "Yes, you've already said that young man. WHICH friend? And look at me when I'm talking to you!" Gohan turned.

"Um, she's a, I mean, he's—"

"SHE?!" ChiChi almost blew a gasket. "How can you expect to get a good education when you're hanging around women at all hours of the night—"

"Mom, it's only eight, and I was studying—"

"Gohan, you're a terrible liar."

"Well, it really was important that I stay after today, you have to believe me!" he pleaded. ChiChi stared at him for a moment, her arms crossed, trying to divine whether or not he was telling the truth.

"Ok, I'll forgive you. But just this once! If I find out you're wasting the opportunity you have to go to one of the finest schools, I'll—I'll—make you eat school lunches for the rest of the year!" Gohan gasped in horror. "No more late nights at girls' houses?"

Gohan nodded vehemently. "Yes ma'am!"

Young Goten had watched this entire scene unfold in silence from his seat at the table and, seeing the two sides relent, snuck over to his brother. "Can I see Gohan now?" he asked his mother. She nodded, and he jumped into his older brother's arms, welcoming him home.

"Hey there, squirt! Have a good day?" Goten nodded wildly. "You haven't been giving Mom here any grief, have you?"

Goten looked at his brother innocently. "Me?" Gohan smiled and ruffled his hair, then set him down on the ground.

Gohan quickly at his dinner and hurried on to bed. Teaching was tiring! And that inquisition Videl had subjected him to had been murder—but she knew at least one secret now. How long, he wondered, until she discovered the rest? Would it be so bad if she did know? He passed it off as nothing that his thoughts as he drifted off to sleep wandered to Videl Satan.