What's this? Two chapters in two days? I know, unthinkable, isn't it? Well, I've been inspired....and, I've realized that this section is turning into something of a romance novel type thingy. I mean, this part is rather sappy, or it is in sections, and it has the drama of a romance novel. But I like it and I'm kinda proud of it. So, I hope y'all are happy. I think I'm coming back into the writing swing of things. Go me! Well, enjoy!
Disclaimer: ::FateChica shakes her head sadly:: If any of you think I really own DBZ (which I wish I did own) you should get a reality check...big time...But, just in case you don't, here's the reality check: I don't own DBZ, other, luckier people do.
----------Judgment of the Heavens----------
Over the next few weeks, Gohan and Videl saw little of each other. With the exception of mealtimes and random meetings in the hallways, they avoided each other at every cost. The only time they were even civil to each other was when Chi-Chi and Goku dropped by for a visit, sometimes bringing Goten along with them. It wasn't very polite, avoiding each other, but it was the only way for them to peacefully coexist.
It seemed that their mornings were always full of biting remarks of the other's character, their arguments turning bitter by the end of the morning. But, after a few weeks, it started turning into routine, both of them feeling as if they had to continue to argue while in each other's presence, though, once the next meal came around, they ate in silence, displaying none of the fire they showed towards each other earlier in the morning. It was as if the fight had been taken out of them.
In some way, Gohan was beginning to subconsciously look forward to his morning bouts with Videl, giving the perfect opportunity to release a great deal of tension that he built up over the previous day. The servants all noticed a slight change in their master, that he wasn't as quick to snap as them in dealing with them. They didn't know why the change had occurred, but they were grateful for the slight respite from their master's acidic tongue.
But, it didn't occur to Gohan how much he looked forward to breakfast and fighting with Videl until after Videl had been there for a month. On that cloudy day, Videl woke up uncharacteristically early. Glancing over at the clock, she noticed that it was only 7:00 in the morning. Her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I never get up this early in the morning. I must have slept really well last night," Videl mused out loud as she got out of bed and got dressed. Satisfied with her appearance after having pulled her hair back, Videl exited her room, finding that she had nothing to do until breakfast was served. She briefly considered going back into her room to read, but quickly remembered that she had read all the books in her room that had interested her.
I could finally explore the manor, Videl thought, the thought occurring to her that she had been living there for a month, yet hadn't explored anything outside of her room. With that, she set off to get to know the manor better, to discover its secrets.
After about an hour of exploring, peeking into galleries and various sitting rooms, Videl opened a large set of double doors. Once the doors cleared from her view and she got her first glimpse of the room in front of her, she gasped. It was a library, bigger than any one she had ever seen before anywhere. Not even her old house she lived in when her mother was still alive had a library as big as this.
She wandered into the room, her footsteps echoing lightly on the wooden floor, interrupted every once in a while when she walked over a rug. She turned in a circle, taking in the whole room. Where was she to begin? She didn't know where to start, so she picked a random bookcase and started scanning the books.
It didn't take her too long to find a book that interested her, a book on ancient Roman history. Grabbing it, she found somewhere to sit, a large armchair, and sat down, curling up in it as she opened the book and was quickly entranced.
***
A couple of hours later, a fully dressed and awake Gohan exited his room. On his face was an excited look of determination, a look that betrayed his true emotions about going to breakfast each morning. He was indeed looking forward to crossing wits and tempers with Videl, an encounter that had become ritual for them each morning and happened without fail. Until that morning, that is.
Gohan quickly made his way to the dining room, prepared to meet Videl quip for quip and insult for insult. Therefore, he was very surprised to see that the table was set, food was sitting at the table, but Videl was absent from her usual seat. A look of confusion passing over his features, Gohan sat down and served himself breakfast, but didn't touch it. His upbringing forced him to wait to see if Videl would appear so he wouldn't appear rude by eating before she got to the table.
He waited for about 10 minutes, his food growing cold in front of him. Heavyhearted for reasons he couldn't consciously figure out, Gohan decided that Videl wasn't going to come down to breakfast and began eating his now lukewarm food. Finishing his meal in silence, Gohan stood up and walked over to his study, all the while wondering where Videl was.
I wonder if she's all right. I hope she's not sick, Gohan thought before shaking his head to clear the thought.
"Why do I care anyway?" he asked himself in muttered tones as he entered his study. As he sat down at his desk, he was overcome with the urge to leave and search for Videl, to find the reason why she hadn't joined him for breakfast. He quickly quelled the urge, declaring it silly and childish, and sat down at his desk to take care of some accounts of his. He worked halfheartedly for a few hours, his mind not really with his work, before tossing the papers in his hand onto the desk with frustration.
"Why can't I get any work done?" he questioned, standing up from his desk and turning to look out the window at the view of his estate. He sighed.
"Well, whatever the reason, I'm just wasting my time here," Gohan grumbled, "I might as well give up for the day." An urge tugged urgently on his subconscious, the urge to find Videl and, finally, after ignoring it all morning, Gohan's subconscious surrendered to the urge.
Gohan was suddenly hit with the idea to wander his manor, a disguised need to find Videl. Gohan turned and walked out of his study. He walked down a hallway, just ambling along, taking the time to appreciate the surroundings that belonged to him yet, were ignored by him most everyday. It was not too much longer later that he found himself in front of the open doors of his library. His brows furrowed in confusion.
"I don't remember leaving those open," Gohan murmured. Pushing open one of the doors, Gohan peered into the library, glancing around for clues as to why the doors were open. His gaze falling onto the middle of the room, his eyes grew wide with fascination.
Sitting in his favorite chair, curled up with a book, sat Videl, a look of utter rapture on her face as she read. Gohan had never seen her so relaxed, so unguarded, that it touched him. The fact that learning, reading, the pursuit of knowledge was something that was so important to her endeared him to her in a way he hadn't been expecting at all. Greatly intrigued at the sight in front of him, Gohan entered the room and walked over to Videl.
Out of the corner of her eye, Videl noticed movement and looked up to see Gohan approaching her. Taking note of her place in the book, she closed it and smiled up at Gohan as he stopped in front of her, not in the mood to get into a fight.
"Good morning," she said. Gohan chuckled.
"It's past morning, Videl," Gohan said. Videl's eyes widened in surprise.
"It is? I didn't notice. I was too captivated by this book," she explained. Gohan smiled slightly, amused by her obliviousness as she was drawn into her book.
"What are you reading?" he inquired. She lifted it and showed him the cover.
"A book on the history of the Roman Empire. I find that period of history utterly fascinating and this book is very encompassing of the time period," Videl said, setting the book back on her lap as Gohan took a seat in the armchair next to hers, "So, why didn't you ever tell me about this library? I would have loved to have known about it earlier." Gohan chuckled, the first time Videl had ever heard him laugh.
"Well, you didn't ask me about it," he pointed out. Videl's cheeks darkened with an embarrassed blush.
"Oh, well, I suppose that is true," she said.
"Well, I didn't know you liked to read, so we're even. Have you always liked to read?" Gohan asked, engaging in their first real conversation. Videl nodded eagerly.
"Oh, yes. I've always loved it. I've always loved learning and I was very engrossed in my studies when my mother was alive," Videl explained, a somber tone entering her voice.
"I'm sorry about your mother," Gohan said, his words sincere. Videl smiled gently at him.
"It's all right. She died a long time ago. I would have continued with my studies, but, when my mother died, my father, who had made a very respectable living as a merchant, wasted all of his money on drink to dull the pain. He was very in love with my mother and it ruined him when she died," Videl explained. She purposely refrained from telling him of her forced prostitution, too ashamed to speak of it. Gohan looked at her with sympathy.
"That must have been hard for you. But, I am happy to see that your passion for learning hasn't in any way diminished. There aren't enough women with your penchant for learning," Gohan said. Videl nodded before looking at him curiously.
"Do you like to learn?" Videl asked. Gohan smiled broadly.
"Oh, I love it!" he exclaimed, "In fact, I was teased about it quite a bit when I was at Oxford." Videl's eyes shot up in surprise, clearly impressed.
"Oxford? That's amazing. I would have loved to attend university if women were allowed," Videl sighed. Gohan smiled.
"Well, I could teach you some of the things I learned. Then it would be like you attended Oxford yourself," Gohan said, slightly surprised that he made the offer so readily. But, it was clearly worth it when Videl's blue eyes sparkled with excitement, her face flushed. Gohan's heart skipped a beat at the sight.
"Really? You would do that? I mean, even after the way I treated you?" she asked. Gohan nodded.
"I would be willing to put our behavior towards each other behind me if you would," Gohan negotiated.
"So would I," Videl said quickly, "I am sorry for my behavior, by the way." Gohan shook his head.
"Nothing to worry about it. So, will you agree to becoming my student?" he asked.
"Of course!" Videl exclaimed. Gohan smiled.
"Great! Now where do we want to start?" Gohan asked. Videl glanced down at her book.
"Well, history would be a good place to start," she said, smirking slightly. Gohan smiled back and nodded.
"Good idea."
***
-A few weeks later-
Videl's eyes appeared right above the top of her book. She stole yet another quick glance at the person who allowed her to stay in his home and taught her knowledge from his own schooling experience. Gohan, himself, was currently occupied with his own book. Videl let out an inaudible sigh, though it was a happy one.
Ever since Gohan had made the offer of becoming her teacher, the two of them had taken to spending most of their time in the library together, either Gohan teaching Videl something new or each of them spending time in their own, individual pursuit of knowledge.
Videl allowed a small smile to creep its way onto her face, hidden effectively from Gohan by her book. In the last few weeks, something happened she hadn't thought possible a month ago: she was beginning to respect Gohan. Yet, despite this budding respect she had for her teacher, Videl couldn't help but be curious by Gohan's past. In all the time she had been living there, she hadn't the smallest idea as to why Gohan acted the way he had when she first met him, guarded and distant. She wondered what had changed Gohan from the cheerful young man she had heard about from his family into the man she had met.
As the days passed, her curiosity about his past had only grown by leaps and bounds. All she had been able to gather was that he had been married not too long ago and now he wasn't. She hadn't a clue as to what had happened to his wife, whether she left him or died. Every new day that came her way brought her a small bit of courage, adding up until she felt she was finally ready to ask him about his past.
She knew she had the courage to ask Gohan that day, but was waiting for the perfect opportunity to present the question. She had been stealing glances of him constantly throughout the day, waiting for him to be unoccupied just for a few moments so she could seize the opportunity. She kept her eyes on Gohan for only a few seconds more before turning back to her book; she would check back again in a little while.
She continued to read for several more minutes before, out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement. Glancing up, she saw that Gohan was reaching for the glass of water he had set there earlier and was taking a sip. Videl knew then that she finally had her opportunity, but she waited until he set the glass back down on the table before asking her question.
"Gohan?" she started, catching the attention of the young man in front of her.
"Yes?" he inquired, "Did you want something?" Videl looked away, her courage that she had mere moments ago disappearing in a heartbeat.
"I wanted to ask you a question, but it's on a rather personal nature and I don't know if it's my place to ask it," she admitted. Gohan smiled at her.
"It's ok," he said, "You can ask it. You won't offend me at all and I consider you enough of a friend to allow you to ask personal questions. What is it?" Videl looked up at him and smiled shyly.
"What was your wife like?" she asked, noticing him stiffen slightly with her words, "I mean, I know you were married, from what I can gather from whispered talk of the household servants and I was just curious, is all. You don't have to answer the question, if you don't want to, now that you know what it is." Gohan shook his head.
"No, it's ok; I can answer the question." Gohan stood and went over to the sole window in the room, gazing outside. Videl joined him, standing a couple of feet behind him while he gathered his thoughts. Sighing, Gohan took a seat on the window seat, motioning for Videl to sit next to him.
Videl looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer the question, but not pushing for a response; she'd let him answer in his own time. He didn't speak for several moments, but when he did, it was sudden.
"Her name was Isabel," he said, shocking Videl as she hadn't known he was going to speak so suddenly. "I met her at a social function one evening and it was love immediately. Though her social standing wasn't as high as mine, neither of us cared. Once an agreement was made between our families, we were married." Gohan smiled at the memory.
"We were happy," he said, "I was hopelessly in love. She was beautiful, kind, yet not afraid to speak her mind on any subject matter." Videl smiled, though her heart clenched slightly hearing him speak of a woman so fondly, a feeling she didn't know why she was experiencing. She quickly shook the feeling aside, chiding herself for being childish.
"Where is she now?" Videl asked. With that question, tears sprung to Gohan's eyes; he couldn't believe he was going to tell Videl about the death of Isabel, but part of him was happy that he was finally able to talk about it to someone.
"She died two years ago," Gohan choked out. Videl gasped in shame.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. What happened?"
"She died in childbirth. There was a complication during the delivery and both her and the baby, my son-to-be, died." A couple of tears rolled down Gohan's cheeks as his mind revisited the day his life ended. Videl didn't know how to comfort Gohan, so she did the only thing she could think of: she grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly as a form of comfort.
"I'm sorry," Videl said, not able to say anything else, feeling bad for having brought up painful memories of something he would have rather kept tucked away in a back corner of his mind. Gohan gently extracted his hand from hers, but he didn't look at her. Instead, he stood up, facing away from her.
"It's all right," he said, though Videl could clearly tell that he wasn't, "Look, we're going to have to stop our lessons early today. I'm not feeling really good, so I think I'm going to rest for a while." Videl nodded, though Gohan couldn't see it.
"I hope you feel better," Videl said, her heart sinking to her toes. Gohan didn't respond to her words, simply walking away without a response, leaving her alone in the library to dwell over what she had done. Tears of frustration and guilt rising in her throat, Videl waited a couple of minutes to try and collect herself before following Gohan's example and leaving the library to head up to her room.
When she arrived in her room, she sat down heavily onto the bed, her full weight sinking into the down mattress. She brought her hands to her face and, as she rested her head in them, she realized they were trembling. It didn't take her long to figure out why she was trembling. The guilt she felt for what she had done threatened to overtake her. She couldn't believe what she had unwittingly done.
We have come so far in the last few weeks. I was really starting to like him and being with him in the library made me feel the best I've felt in a while. I've ruined it. I've ruined the relationship I was building up with the man I'm falling in love with, Videl thought, sitting up straight in shock at the revelation of that feeling, the thought occurring to her for the first time.
"I'm in love with him?" she whispered to herself, "No, I can't be. I haven't known him long enough." Yet, as she examined her feelings for the young Lord of Chatham, she knew that she would be deceiving herself by saying that she wasn't at least falling in love with him.
"Why couldn't I see it earlier?" she asked no one in particular. That's why her heart clenched when she heard him speak of his wife.
When did I start having these feelings for him? Videl mused. She soon realized that the beginning of the feelings occurred when Gohan offered to teach her the knowledge he gained at Oxford, one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her. As each day went by, she looked more and more forward to seeing him, subconsciously making sure her appearance was her best in order to appeal to him and trying to impress him by her love for knowledge, hoping he'd see a woman he could be with that was an equal, a partner. She didn't even want to think of the damage she had caused to their relationship by bringing up a subject that she now realized Gohan clearly didn't want to talk about, but did so because she wanted him to.
"God, what have I done?" she questioned, laying back on her bed.
***
The next few days were particularly tense. The comfortable, passionate conversations that had filled the library and the dining room were replaced with perhaps the coldest, most tense atmosphere that had existed between Videl and Gohan since their meeting. Not even the days before Gohan became Videl's teacher had things been so tense between them.
Videl could feel the strain as if it were a physical affliction. Her heart contracted with sadness every time she looked over at him, her feelings for him and the guilt she felt clenching up her throat. He stopped taking meals in the dining room. He also refused to come down to the library, even though Videl waited there all day, hoping he would show up so she could apologize, and he did so not by stating it outright, but passively by just not showing up.
Videl didn't feel right entering his study or personal chambers, so she could only hope he would come by the library for something he needed and she would just "happen" to be there and she would apologize. But, Gohan never came down.
Each day, Videl became more and more despondent with the situation and also more frustrated with it. She wanted the chance to apologize and get their relationship back to where it had been prior to this incident. Eventually, her feelings were going to overcome her morals and she was just going to perform a full out search for Gohan so she could get these feelings off of her chest. Little did she know how right she was.
Four days after Videl forced Gohan to bring thoughts of his late wife to the surface and voice them for the first time in two years, Videl had finally gotten fed up with being ignored and allowed the chance to say she was sorry. Waiting until after dinner, having the whole day to gather her nerve, Videl walked up stairs, a look of absolute determination on her face, and down the hallway to where Gohan's private rooms.
Stopping in front of the elaborately decorated wooden doors, she paused to compose herself before opening the doors, not even bothering to knock or announce her presence. She found Gohan sitting in the antechamber, sitting in a chair in front of the fire, reading a book while drinking a glass of wine. Gohan looked up at the sound of the door opening and was surprised to see Videl standing there with the most determined look he had ever seen on a woman's face before.
"Videl! What are you doing here?" he asked. Videl didn't even respond to Gohan's question; she just launched right into what she had planned on saying.
"Look, I don't know if you want to hear this right now or not, but I'm going to say it anyway. I'm sorry for asking you about your wife a few days ago. I shouldn't have pried into your personal past and I apologize for it. You may not have wanted to hear this right now, but I needed to say it. I've been feeling awful for forcing you to talk about your wife.
"It wasn't any of my business and I hope you forgive me. I just don't like the way you've been acting the last few days. It was like any indication that we were friends disappeared. You refused to come down for meals or anywhere else in the house, for that matter," Videl stated. Gohan smiled slightly, taken aback forcefully by her straightforward concern.
"I'm sorry if I've worried you over the last few days. I don't blame you for anything, so there's nothing to apologize for. The reason why I've been ignoring you, however, is because of your question, but I'm not mad. It's just your question brought up several memories of my late wife that I've worked at forcing into the back of my mind again. I'm feeling all right again now, however," Gohan explained. Videl looked away as her eyes filled with tears at Gohan's admission that she had caused him emotional pain.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's because of me that you've become detached the last few days. I'm happy that you forgive me, but I can't forgive myself for undoing so much progress we've made in the last couple weeks. We were finally becoming friends and I ruined it with my curiosity," Videl said. Gohan shook his head as he walked towards Videl.
"You didn't ruin anything," he said grabbing her upper arms in comfort. Videl looked up at him and he could see the tears in her eyes. His stomach turned at the thought of her being this worked up about it, about how much it affected her.
You damn, selfish idiot! Gohan berated himself.
"I didn't?" Videl asked, "We're still friends?" Gohan nodded.
"Of course. I wouldn't force away my own student for showing curiosity." A great weight lifted from Videl's shoulders as she smiled broadly at him in relief. Gohan was captivated by the way the smile brightened up her face, outright staring at her. Videl, too, stared back at Gohan, overcome with the urge to kiss him. And, so she did.
Faster than Gohan could react, Videl stood on her toes and kissed Gohan straight on the lips. Gohan froze in shock at the feeling of those luscious lips pressed against his own. He was just beginning to enjoy the feeling when Videl pulled away, her eyes wide with shock and horror.
Her hand raised to her mouth to cover her gasp. Her trembling hand lowered to rest at her side and her mouth opened and shut several times as she struggled for something to say. She struggled to get out the word 'sorry' before turning and running out of the room in shame. Gohan just stared blankly at the spot Videl was just standing in before going back and sinking into his chair, fully dazed by the kiss.
Why did she do that? Gohan wondered, unable to come up with an answer. Slowly, he raised his fingers up to his lips, still able to imagine the feeling of her lips on his. He was surprised to find that he had enjoyed the kiss and wondered why he felt so.
He sat there all night, after closing the door, staring at the fire as if begging it for answers as to why he felt the way he did, why his stomach danced with butterflies, why his heart pounded erratically when he thought of the kiss. The answer he got no less than surprised him. The last time he had felt like that was with Isabel when he first kissed her. Gohan felt his heart rate only increase with the realization.
"I'm in love with Videl," he stated clearly, wondering how it had come about so fast. If felt like only yesterday that he thought of her as a cold-hearted bitch.
Things were different then, though. That was before I discovered how sharp her mind is, how intelligent she is, Gohan thought. He smiled at more memories.
How cute it is when she's trying to work something out and her nose scrunches up, how her cheeks flush with happiness and excitement when she's learning something new; how she's not afraid to speak her mind on any subject. The more Gohan thought about the things he liked about Videl, the more he realized he was hopelessly falling in love with the blue-eyed goddess that entered his home not two months ago.
"How could I have missed this?" Gohan asked himself. He knew the answer to that question even before he gave voice to it. He hadn't felt happiness in so long that he had forgotten what it was.
It had started when he first met Videl, before his mother announced she had gotten Videl to become his mistress, when he first laid eyes on her, taken away by her beauty and grace. It only deepened when he found out she wasn't just a pretty face with a rigid outlook on life, that there was a soul and a spark of intelligence behind those sparkling blue eyes that he eventually learned betrayed her every mood. He groaned as he rose from his chair, his answers found and his emotions spent, and went into his bedroom. Just how was he going to handle this?
----------------------
Well, I said this chapter would be out later, but I guess I lied about that. After tomorrow, I have nothing to do until the end of the weekend when I have to work on my prelab for my circuits class, so I can write to my little heart's content. Whoohoo!
So, what did you think of this part? Sappy, eh? I told ya so. But, at least their in love...::sigh:: But, just watch out. Everything isn't going to end happily ever after. This a test of Gohan's determination, remember? Nothing 'testing' has happened to him yet, so prepare for a few bumps in the road coming up in a few parts. Baibai!
Disclaimer: ::FateChica shakes her head sadly:: If any of you think I really own DBZ (which I wish I did own) you should get a reality check...big time...But, just in case you don't, here's the reality check: I don't own DBZ, other, luckier people do.
----------Judgment of the Heavens----------
Over the next few weeks, Gohan and Videl saw little of each other. With the exception of mealtimes and random meetings in the hallways, they avoided each other at every cost. The only time they were even civil to each other was when Chi-Chi and Goku dropped by for a visit, sometimes bringing Goten along with them. It wasn't very polite, avoiding each other, but it was the only way for them to peacefully coexist.
It seemed that their mornings were always full of biting remarks of the other's character, their arguments turning bitter by the end of the morning. But, after a few weeks, it started turning into routine, both of them feeling as if they had to continue to argue while in each other's presence, though, once the next meal came around, they ate in silence, displaying none of the fire they showed towards each other earlier in the morning. It was as if the fight had been taken out of them.
In some way, Gohan was beginning to subconsciously look forward to his morning bouts with Videl, giving the perfect opportunity to release a great deal of tension that he built up over the previous day. The servants all noticed a slight change in their master, that he wasn't as quick to snap as them in dealing with them. They didn't know why the change had occurred, but they were grateful for the slight respite from their master's acidic tongue.
But, it didn't occur to Gohan how much he looked forward to breakfast and fighting with Videl until after Videl had been there for a month. On that cloudy day, Videl woke up uncharacteristically early. Glancing over at the clock, she noticed that it was only 7:00 in the morning. Her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I never get up this early in the morning. I must have slept really well last night," Videl mused out loud as she got out of bed and got dressed. Satisfied with her appearance after having pulled her hair back, Videl exited her room, finding that she had nothing to do until breakfast was served. She briefly considered going back into her room to read, but quickly remembered that she had read all the books in her room that had interested her.
I could finally explore the manor, Videl thought, the thought occurring to her that she had been living there for a month, yet hadn't explored anything outside of her room. With that, she set off to get to know the manor better, to discover its secrets.
After about an hour of exploring, peeking into galleries and various sitting rooms, Videl opened a large set of double doors. Once the doors cleared from her view and she got her first glimpse of the room in front of her, she gasped. It was a library, bigger than any one she had ever seen before anywhere. Not even her old house she lived in when her mother was still alive had a library as big as this.
She wandered into the room, her footsteps echoing lightly on the wooden floor, interrupted every once in a while when she walked over a rug. She turned in a circle, taking in the whole room. Where was she to begin? She didn't know where to start, so she picked a random bookcase and started scanning the books.
It didn't take her too long to find a book that interested her, a book on ancient Roman history. Grabbing it, she found somewhere to sit, a large armchair, and sat down, curling up in it as she opened the book and was quickly entranced.
***
A couple of hours later, a fully dressed and awake Gohan exited his room. On his face was an excited look of determination, a look that betrayed his true emotions about going to breakfast each morning. He was indeed looking forward to crossing wits and tempers with Videl, an encounter that had become ritual for them each morning and happened without fail. Until that morning, that is.
Gohan quickly made his way to the dining room, prepared to meet Videl quip for quip and insult for insult. Therefore, he was very surprised to see that the table was set, food was sitting at the table, but Videl was absent from her usual seat. A look of confusion passing over his features, Gohan sat down and served himself breakfast, but didn't touch it. His upbringing forced him to wait to see if Videl would appear so he wouldn't appear rude by eating before she got to the table.
He waited for about 10 minutes, his food growing cold in front of him. Heavyhearted for reasons he couldn't consciously figure out, Gohan decided that Videl wasn't going to come down to breakfast and began eating his now lukewarm food. Finishing his meal in silence, Gohan stood up and walked over to his study, all the while wondering where Videl was.
I wonder if she's all right. I hope she's not sick, Gohan thought before shaking his head to clear the thought.
"Why do I care anyway?" he asked himself in muttered tones as he entered his study. As he sat down at his desk, he was overcome with the urge to leave and search for Videl, to find the reason why she hadn't joined him for breakfast. He quickly quelled the urge, declaring it silly and childish, and sat down at his desk to take care of some accounts of his. He worked halfheartedly for a few hours, his mind not really with his work, before tossing the papers in his hand onto the desk with frustration.
"Why can't I get any work done?" he questioned, standing up from his desk and turning to look out the window at the view of his estate. He sighed.
"Well, whatever the reason, I'm just wasting my time here," Gohan grumbled, "I might as well give up for the day." An urge tugged urgently on his subconscious, the urge to find Videl and, finally, after ignoring it all morning, Gohan's subconscious surrendered to the urge.
Gohan was suddenly hit with the idea to wander his manor, a disguised need to find Videl. Gohan turned and walked out of his study. He walked down a hallway, just ambling along, taking the time to appreciate the surroundings that belonged to him yet, were ignored by him most everyday. It was not too much longer later that he found himself in front of the open doors of his library. His brows furrowed in confusion.
"I don't remember leaving those open," Gohan murmured. Pushing open one of the doors, Gohan peered into the library, glancing around for clues as to why the doors were open. His gaze falling onto the middle of the room, his eyes grew wide with fascination.
Sitting in his favorite chair, curled up with a book, sat Videl, a look of utter rapture on her face as she read. Gohan had never seen her so relaxed, so unguarded, that it touched him. The fact that learning, reading, the pursuit of knowledge was something that was so important to her endeared him to her in a way he hadn't been expecting at all. Greatly intrigued at the sight in front of him, Gohan entered the room and walked over to Videl.
Out of the corner of her eye, Videl noticed movement and looked up to see Gohan approaching her. Taking note of her place in the book, she closed it and smiled up at Gohan as he stopped in front of her, not in the mood to get into a fight.
"Good morning," she said. Gohan chuckled.
"It's past morning, Videl," Gohan said. Videl's eyes widened in surprise.
"It is? I didn't notice. I was too captivated by this book," she explained. Gohan smiled slightly, amused by her obliviousness as she was drawn into her book.
"What are you reading?" he inquired. She lifted it and showed him the cover.
"A book on the history of the Roman Empire. I find that period of history utterly fascinating and this book is very encompassing of the time period," Videl said, setting the book back on her lap as Gohan took a seat in the armchair next to hers, "So, why didn't you ever tell me about this library? I would have loved to have known about it earlier." Gohan chuckled, the first time Videl had ever heard him laugh.
"Well, you didn't ask me about it," he pointed out. Videl's cheeks darkened with an embarrassed blush.
"Oh, well, I suppose that is true," she said.
"Well, I didn't know you liked to read, so we're even. Have you always liked to read?" Gohan asked, engaging in their first real conversation. Videl nodded eagerly.
"Oh, yes. I've always loved it. I've always loved learning and I was very engrossed in my studies when my mother was alive," Videl explained, a somber tone entering her voice.
"I'm sorry about your mother," Gohan said, his words sincere. Videl smiled gently at him.
"It's all right. She died a long time ago. I would have continued with my studies, but, when my mother died, my father, who had made a very respectable living as a merchant, wasted all of his money on drink to dull the pain. He was very in love with my mother and it ruined him when she died," Videl explained. She purposely refrained from telling him of her forced prostitution, too ashamed to speak of it. Gohan looked at her with sympathy.
"That must have been hard for you. But, I am happy to see that your passion for learning hasn't in any way diminished. There aren't enough women with your penchant for learning," Gohan said. Videl nodded before looking at him curiously.
"Do you like to learn?" Videl asked. Gohan smiled broadly.
"Oh, I love it!" he exclaimed, "In fact, I was teased about it quite a bit when I was at Oxford." Videl's eyes shot up in surprise, clearly impressed.
"Oxford? That's amazing. I would have loved to attend university if women were allowed," Videl sighed. Gohan smiled.
"Well, I could teach you some of the things I learned. Then it would be like you attended Oxford yourself," Gohan said, slightly surprised that he made the offer so readily. But, it was clearly worth it when Videl's blue eyes sparkled with excitement, her face flushed. Gohan's heart skipped a beat at the sight.
"Really? You would do that? I mean, even after the way I treated you?" she asked. Gohan nodded.
"I would be willing to put our behavior towards each other behind me if you would," Gohan negotiated.
"So would I," Videl said quickly, "I am sorry for my behavior, by the way." Gohan shook his head.
"Nothing to worry about it. So, will you agree to becoming my student?" he asked.
"Of course!" Videl exclaimed. Gohan smiled.
"Great! Now where do we want to start?" Gohan asked. Videl glanced down at her book.
"Well, history would be a good place to start," she said, smirking slightly. Gohan smiled back and nodded.
"Good idea."
***
-A few weeks later-
Videl's eyes appeared right above the top of her book. She stole yet another quick glance at the person who allowed her to stay in his home and taught her knowledge from his own schooling experience. Gohan, himself, was currently occupied with his own book. Videl let out an inaudible sigh, though it was a happy one.
Ever since Gohan had made the offer of becoming her teacher, the two of them had taken to spending most of their time in the library together, either Gohan teaching Videl something new or each of them spending time in their own, individual pursuit of knowledge.
Videl allowed a small smile to creep its way onto her face, hidden effectively from Gohan by her book. In the last few weeks, something happened she hadn't thought possible a month ago: she was beginning to respect Gohan. Yet, despite this budding respect she had for her teacher, Videl couldn't help but be curious by Gohan's past. In all the time she had been living there, she hadn't the smallest idea as to why Gohan acted the way he had when she first met him, guarded and distant. She wondered what had changed Gohan from the cheerful young man she had heard about from his family into the man she had met.
As the days passed, her curiosity about his past had only grown by leaps and bounds. All she had been able to gather was that he had been married not too long ago and now he wasn't. She hadn't a clue as to what had happened to his wife, whether she left him or died. Every new day that came her way brought her a small bit of courage, adding up until she felt she was finally ready to ask him about his past.
She knew she had the courage to ask Gohan that day, but was waiting for the perfect opportunity to present the question. She had been stealing glances of him constantly throughout the day, waiting for him to be unoccupied just for a few moments so she could seize the opportunity. She kept her eyes on Gohan for only a few seconds more before turning back to her book; she would check back again in a little while.
She continued to read for several more minutes before, out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement. Glancing up, she saw that Gohan was reaching for the glass of water he had set there earlier and was taking a sip. Videl knew then that she finally had her opportunity, but she waited until he set the glass back down on the table before asking her question.
"Gohan?" she started, catching the attention of the young man in front of her.
"Yes?" he inquired, "Did you want something?" Videl looked away, her courage that she had mere moments ago disappearing in a heartbeat.
"I wanted to ask you a question, but it's on a rather personal nature and I don't know if it's my place to ask it," she admitted. Gohan smiled at her.
"It's ok," he said, "You can ask it. You won't offend me at all and I consider you enough of a friend to allow you to ask personal questions. What is it?" Videl looked up at him and smiled shyly.
"What was your wife like?" she asked, noticing him stiffen slightly with her words, "I mean, I know you were married, from what I can gather from whispered talk of the household servants and I was just curious, is all. You don't have to answer the question, if you don't want to, now that you know what it is." Gohan shook his head.
"No, it's ok; I can answer the question." Gohan stood and went over to the sole window in the room, gazing outside. Videl joined him, standing a couple of feet behind him while he gathered his thoughts. Sighing, Gohan took a seat on the window seat, motioning for Videl to sit next to him.
Videl looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer the question, but not pushing for a response; she'd let him answer in his own time. He didn't speak for several moments, but when he did, it was sudden.
"Her name was Isabel," he said, shocking Videl as she hadn't known he was going to speak so suddenly. "I met her at a social function one evening and it was love immediately. Though her social standing wasn't as high as mine, neither of us cared. Once an agreement was made between our families, we were married." Gohan smiled at the memory.
"We were happy," he said, "I was hopelessly in love. She was beautiful, kind, yet not afraid to speak her mind on any subject matter." Videl smiled, though her heart clenched slightly hearing him speak of a woman so fondly, a feeling she didn't know why she was experiencing. She quickly shook the feeling aside, chiding herself for being childish.
"Where is she now?" Videl asked. With that question, tears sprung to Gohan's eyes; he couldn't believe he was going to tell Videl about the death of Isabel, but part of him was happy that he was finally able to talk about it to someone.
"She died two years ago," Gohan choked out. Videl gasped in shame.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. What happened?"
"She died in childbirth. There was a complication during the delivery and both her and the baby, my son-to-be, died." A couple of tears rolled down Gohan's cheeks as his mind revisited the day his life ended. Videl didn't know how to comfort Gohan, so she did the only thing she could think of: she grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly as a form of comfort.
"I'm sorry," Videl said, not able to say anything else, feeling bad for having brought up painful memories of something he would have rather kept tucked away in a back corner of his mind. Gohan gently extracted his hand from hers, but he didn't look at her. Instead, he stood up, facing away from her.
"It's all right," he said, though Videl could clearly tell that he wasn't, "Look, we're going to have to stop our lessons early today. I'm not feeling really good, so I think I'm going to rest for a while." Videl nodded, though Gohan couldn't see it.
"I hope you feel better," Videl said, her heart sinking to her toes. Gohan didn't respond to her words, simply walking away without a response, leaving her alone in the library to dwell over what she had done. Tears of frustration and guilt rising in her throat, Videl waited a couple of minutes to try and collect herself before following Gohan's example and leaving the library to head up to her room.
When she arrived in her room, she sat down heavily onto the bed, her full weight sinking into the down mattress. She brought her hands to her face and, as she rested her head in them, she realized they were trembling. It didn't take her long to figure out why she was trembling. The guilt she felt for what she had done threatened to overtake her. She couldn't believe what she had unwittingly done.
We have come so far in the last few weeks. I was really starting to like him and being with him in the library made me feel the best I've felt in a while. I've ruined it. I've ruined the relationship I was building up with the man I'm falling in love with, Videl thought, sitting up straight in shock at the revelation of that feeling, the thought occurring to her for the first time.
"I'm in love with him?" she whispered to herself, "No, I can't be. I haven't known him long enough." Yet, as she examined her feelings for the young Lord of Chatham, she knew that she would be deceiving herself by saying that she wasn't at least falling in love with him.
"Why couldn't I see it earlier?" she asked no one in particular. That's why her heart clenched when she heard him speak of his wife.
When did I start having these feelings for him? Videl mused. She soon realized that the beginning of the feelings occurred when Gohan offered to teach her the knowledge he gained at Oxford, one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for her. As each day went by, she looked more and more forward to seeing him, subconsciously making sure her appearance was her best in order to appeal to him and trying to impress him by her love for knowledge, hoping he'd see a woman he could be with that was an equal, a partner. She didn't even want to think of the damage she had caused to their relationship by bringing up a subject that she now realized Gohan clearly didn't want to talk about, but did so because she wanted him to.
"God, what have I done?" she questioned, laying back on her bed.
***
The next few days were particularly tense. The comfortable, passionate conversations that had filled the library and the dining room were replaced with perhaps the coldest, most tense atmosphere that had existed between Videl and Gohan since their meeting. Not even the days before Gohan became Videl's teacher had things been so tense between them.
Videl could feel the strain as if it were a physical affliction. Her heart contracted with sadness every time she looked over at him, her feelings for him and the guilt she felt clenching up her throat. He stopped taking meals in the dining room. He also refused to come down to the library, even though Videl waited there all day, hoping he would show up so she could apologize, and he did so not by stating it outright, but passively by just not showing up.
Videl didn't feel right entering his study or personal chambers, so she could only hope he would come by the library for something he needed and she would just "happen" to be there and she would apologize. But, Gohan never came down.
Each day, Videl became more and more despondent with the situation and also more frustrated with it. She wanted the chance to apologize and get their relationship back to where it had been prior to this incident. Eventually, her feelings were going to overcome her morals and she was just going to perform a full out search for Gohan so she could get these feelings off of her chest. Little did she know how right she was.
Four days after Videl forced Gohan to bring thoughts of his late wife to the surface and voice them for the first time in two years, Videl had finally gotten fed up with being ignored and allowed the chance to say she was sorry. Waiting until after dinner, having the whole day to gather her nerve, Videl walked up stairs, a look of absolute determination on her face, and down the hallway to where Gohan's private rooms.
Stopping in front of the elaborately decorated wooden doors, she paused to compose herself before opening the doors, not even bothering to knock or announce her presence. She found Gohan sitting in the antechamber, sitting in a chair in front of the fire, reading a book while drinking a glass of wine. Gohan looked up at the sound of the door opening and was surprised to see Videl standing there with the most determined look he had ever seen on a woman's face before.
"Videl! What are you doing here?" he asked. Videl didn't even respond to Gohan's question; she just launched right into what she had planned on saying.
"Look, I don't know if you want to hear this right now or not, but I'm going to say it anyway. I'm sorry for asking you about your wife a few days ago. I shouldn't have pried into your personal past and I apologize for it. You may not have wanted to hear this right now, but I needed to say it. I've been feeling awful for forcing you to talk about your wife.
"It wasn't any of my business and I hope you forgive me. I just don't like the way you've been acting the last few days. It was like any indication that we were friends disappeared. You refused to come down for meals or anywhere else in the house, for that matter," Videl stated. Gohan smiled slightly, taken aback forcefully by her straightforward concern.
"I'm sorry if I've worried you over the last few days. I don't blame you for anything, so there's nothing to apologize for. The reason why I've been ignoring you, however, is because of your question, but I'm not mad. It's just your question brought up several memories of my late wife that I've worked at forcing into the back of my mind again. I'm feeling all right again now, however," Gohan explained. Videl looked away as her eyes filled with tears at Gohan's admission that she had caused him emotional pain.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's because of me that you've become detached the last few days. I'm happy that you forgive me, but I can't forgive myself for undoing so much progress we've made in the last couple weeks. We were finally becoming friends and I ruined it with my curiosity," Videl said. Gohan shook his head as he walked towards Videl.
"You didn't ruin anything," he said grabbing her upper arms in comfort. Videl looked up at him and he could see the tears in her eyes. His stomach turned at the thought of her being this worked up about it, about how much it affected her.
You damn, selfish idiot! Gohan berated himself.
"I didn't?" Videl asked, "We're still friends?" Gohan nodded.
"Of course. I wouldn't force away my own student for showing curiosity." A great weight lifted from Videl's shoulders as she smiled broadly at him in relief. Gohan was captivated by the way the smile brightened up her face, outright staring at her. Videl, too, stared back at Gohan, overcome with the urge to kiss him. And, so she did.
Faster than Gohan could react, Videl stood on her toes and kissed Gohan straight on the lips. Gohan froze in shock at the feeling of those luscious lips pressed against his own. He was just beginning to enjoy the feeling when Videl pulled away, her eyes wide with shock and horror.
Her hand raised to her mouth to cover her gasp. Her trembling hand lowered to rest at her side and her mouth opened and shut several times as she struggled for something to say. She struggled to get out the word 'sorry' before turning and running out of the room in shame. Gohan just stared blankly at the spot Videl was just standing in before going back and sinking into his chair, fully dazed by the kiss.
Why did she do that? Gohan wondered, unable to come up with an answer. Slowly, he raised his fingers up to his lips, still able to imagine the feeling of her lips on his. He was surprised to find that he had enjoyed the kiss and wondered why he felt so.
He sat there all night, after closing the door, staring at the fire as if begging it for answers as to why he felt the way he did, why his stomach danced with butterflies, why his heart pounded erratically when he thought of the kiss. The answer he got no less than surprised him. The last time he had felt like that was with Isabel when he first kissed her. Gohan felt his heart rate only increase with the realization.
"I'm in love with Videl," he stated clearly, wondering how it had come about so fast. If felt like only yesterday that he thought of her as a cold-hearted bitch.
Things were different then, though. That was before I discovered how sharp her mind is, how intelligent she is, Gohan thought. He smiled at more memories.
How cute it is when she's trying to work something out and her nose scrunches up, how her cheeks flush with happiness and excitement when she's learning something new; how she's not afraid to speak her mind on any subject. The more Gohan thought about the things he liked about Videl, the more he realized he was hopelessly falling in love with the blue-eyed goddess that entered his home not two months ago.
"How could I have missed this?" Gohan asked himself. He knew the answer to that question even before he gave voice to it. He hadn't felt happiness in so long that he had forgotten what it was.
It had started when he first met Videl, before his mother announced she had gotten Videl to become his mistress, when he first laid eyes on her, taken away by her beauty and grace. It only deepened when he found out she wasn't just a pretty face with a rigid outlook on life, that there was a soul and a spark of intelligence behind those sparkling blue eyes that he eventually learned betrayed her every mood. He groaned as he rose from his chair, his answers found and his emotions spent, and went into his bedroom. Just how was he going to handle this?
----------------------
Well, I said this chapter would be out later, but I guess I lied about that. After tomorrow, I have nothing to do until the end of the weekend when I have to work on my prelab for my circuits class, so I can write to my little heart's content. Whoohoo!
So, what did you think of this part? Sappy, eh? I told ya so. But, at least their in love...::sigh:: But, just watch out. Everything isn't going to end happily ever after. This a test of Gohan's determination, remember? Nothing 'testing' has happened to him yet, so prepare for a few bumps in the road coming up in a few parts. Baibai!