Want an answer? Leave me your e-mail. Goku's still alive mostly because I say so. I'm sure we've all read some good excuses so I won't bother to repeat them.

Chapter 2 - Early Morning Rendezvous
Why?

That was the question on my mind as I flew away from Videl and Nina after helping out with a traffic accident. There were quite a few deaths today that could have been prevented if I had only known sooner.

If only they had been able to get a hold of me…

I sighed.

Why do I feel this compulsion to hide who I am?

I know why I hid from the general public. That was easy, I didn't want to be plagued with reporters day and night. My real question was why I hid from them. Videl and Nina more than anyone deserved to know.

Especially Videl…

Videl could use my help. Ki training could help her immensely.

So why do I feel that I have to keep it from her?

There were other reasons of course, the whole alien thing and all. But I didn't have to tell her that, I just had to tell her that I was the Gold Fighter, and that I could help her be better than she was.

I sighed as I cruised between two buildings, as going above them made it too easy for Videl to find me and follow me.

I thought back to earlier with Ryu. He hadn't told me much about himself, because he didn't know if he could trust me or not.

Could it be like that with Videl?

I shook my head. No, I trusted Videl to handle things on her own all the time. Of course that wasn't the same as trusting her with something like this, but the point still stood, I knew I could trust her not to go blabbing all over the place. I frowned then.

When did this turn to 'her' instead of 'them'?

I sighed as I thought about it. The more I thought about it, the scarier my line of thought became.

I, Gohan Son, liked Videl Satan.

Which is exactly why I can't tell her. She doesn't like the Gold Fighter in the least.

So therefore the question became, if I told her, would she like the Gold Fighter?

Or would she hate Gohan Son?

I shot straight up past the clouds, higher than her helicopter could fly. Some people suggested that I lived up here, and that being born and raised in the clouds was the secret behind my flight, but the truth was that it was just another security measure for fear that Videl tried to follow me home.

My new self-realizations impressing themselves on my mind, I flew home more slowly than usual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I closed the door to the house and stood outside, catching my breath.

That was not pleasant.

Sara had not been happy with Teepo, and for some reason I had been dragged into it.

"What happened?"

I jumped at Seventeen's voice. His not having ki was a little weird and he was one of the few people who could move quietly enough to sneak up on me. I turned around a little sheepishly.

"Teepo got kicked out of the Day Care Center…"

He visibly winced at that.

"That's not good."

I laughed.

"Understatement of the century."

Then I remembered.

"Hey, have you ever heard of a Gohan Son?"

He froze and turned around slowly. His face was a little pale.

"Where'd you hear that name?"

I frowned and crossed my arms. Seventeen tended to avoid conversations that disturbed him.

He's not getting out of this one…

"School. He's a classmate, and could probably give us a run for our money."

He nodded.

"I told you and Sara that my sister and I were originally built to assassinate someone right?"

I nodded, not really seeing where this was going.

"His father, Goku, was our target."

I arched and eyebrow.

"So mentioning your name might not be the best of ideas then?"

He shrugged.

"I'm not sure."

His eyes grew distant for a moment as he thought back before he continued.

"Not only did we fail to kill the guy, they forgave us. Eighteen's married to one of Goku's best friends now."

"And why didn't I hear about this earlier?"

We both jumped this time, and spun to find Sara behind us, hands on her hips.

"Because it never occurred to me that it was relevant?"

His tone of voice was obviously asking if this was an okay excuse. Sara's replying tone told us that it wasn't.

"So you're telling me that I could have had friends to talk to?!"

He gulped, and I was slowly edging out of her line of sight.

"I thought you were happy when it was just the two of us."

She sighed, and then smiled a bit.

"I am happy. But there are just some things that are easier to discuss with friends rather than your husband."

Then she swiveled around to look at me.

"You say you know this boy at school Ryu?"

Just how long has she been listening?

"Yes…"

"Get yourself invited over. I want to speak with his mother. Maybe go shopping."

Then she walked back in the house, closing the door behind her.

That was… odd…

I looked at Seventeen, who just shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I arrived home to about the usual scene.

That meant that there was frequent screaming and yelling, followed by a few clanging noises, after which three figures stumbled out the door. I shook my head sadly.

Probably fighting in the house again…

As I got closer, I realized that that couldn't possibly be the case. It wasn't like father to fight in a suit.

Wait, back up… dad in a suit?!

I looked down again, and sure enough, there was the infamous Goku Son, all dressed up. Next to him was Goten, also dressed up, and next to him was Trunks Briefs, laughing his butt off while nursing a couple of bumps on his head. They all were.

Goten's head shot up.

"Big brother!!!"

I swerved instantly to avoid Goten's assault, but Trunks managed to catch me off guard, head butting me in the stomach. Dad just looked up grinning and waving.

"Hey Gohan!"

There was a sudden ceasing to Mom's ranting in the family kitchen.

Uh oh…

I fought an urge to flee as she came barreling out of the house. Thankfully, she saw Goten first.

"GOTEN SON!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU YOUNG MAN! NO FIGHTING IN YOUR GOOD CLOTHES! ESPECIALLY THE NEW ONES!!"

Then, she redirected herself on me, dropping the angry tone for a moment.

"Come in dear. You have some clothes to try on as well. You're not going to argue are you…?"

She gave me a hard look at the last. I tugged nervously on the neck of my Gi, and lowered slowly to the ground, her eyes following all the way.

"No Ma'am."

She smiled.

"Good. Inside. Now."

I hurried in after, pausing only to singe the still laughing Trunks with a small ki blast to shut him up. Didn't work as well as I had hoped.

I went into my room where mom had a suit lain out already. Mom looked at me.

"Change into that, and no funny business like your father and brother."

She left to give me some privacy, and I began to change. I was just buttoning the cuffs before it occurred to me.

Why are we trying on clothes like this?

I exited the room and voiced my question to mom who was busy at the stove, the other three hovering around her already.

"Because we're going to Capsule Corporation this weekend, and I want us looking nice for once, not like a bunch of rag-a-muffins."

Dad frowned.

"But how can I spar with Vegeta in these things?"

Mom just gave him 'the look'. You don't argue with 'the look'. Only Vegeta had ever had the guts to try, and none of us wanted his fate. Dad just wandered back to the table and sat down, a frightened look on his face. Trunks started laughing again. Mom sighed.

"I'm not doing this to punish you Goku. Vegeta will be under similar restrictions…"

She then focused her gaze on Trunks and Goten.

"…as will Goten and Trunks…"

Trunks stopped laughing. I don't think he found it quite as funny anymore.

"…because it's not going to be just our friends this time. Otherwise I wouldn't waste my effort with all this."

I nodded as dad started to relax a little.

"Who else will be there?"

Mom shrugged.

"Bulma just said that some prominent figures in the community would be there."

"And him?"

Mom knew who I was referring to. We all did.

"He wasn't invited, mostly for his own safety…"

I nodded. Vegeta would likely rip Hercule Satan into little shreds.

"…but she said that she wouldn't be surprised if he just showed up anyways."

I rolled my eyes.

Great…

"Well, does this look alright mom?"

She finally turned fully from the stove and looked at me, dropping the spoon she was stirring with. She squealed and clasped her hands as Goten and Trunks fought over who would lick the spoon.

"You look wonderful!! My baby's so handsome!"

"So I can go change out of this then? Before something happens to it."

I nodded at the struggling Trunks and Goten. Mom nodded, then realized what the two were doing. As I left to change back into a Gi to spar with father, I heard some more clangs as mom went for her usual method of household enforcement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was confused.

Dazed and confused.

Sara's mind seemed to change direction so fast it often left me reeling to catch up. A few days ago she wanted nothing more than to be left alone, at least that's how it seemed to me, with Seventeen, and now she wanted to branch out and make friends starting with whoever I could meet through Gohan.

This will not go well…

Not having Teepo with me, I felt comfortable enough to attempt to fly all the way to school instead of stopping outside and running in. I was not however, stupid enough to fly over people's heads in dragon form. That would generate too many questions. Hopefully if anyone saw me at that height they would think I was Gohan.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of yellow. Coming to a halt and flipping around I saw that it was a bright yellow jet-copter, with the word 'SATAN' printed on the side. It was headed in my direction.

Fast.

Crap…

I poured on the speed, easily out running it, but I had to continue past the school.

It followed.

Son of a…

Another flash of gold to my left revealed Gohan flying by, more than likely laughing his ass off. I jetted in his direction, hopefully to throw off pursuit. I hovered next to him for a moment.

"Keep her busy for me?"

Gohan laughed.

"Sure. But if she's already seen your face enough to recognize you it's your own fault."

"Keep laughing pretty boy."

I flew off, hopefully to go in a loop that would lead me back to school. The copter flew off after Gohan, but with one catch. Someone exited and was headed in my direction.

Not my day…

I still couldn't land at the school, and I was running out of tricks to keep Nina far enough back to not be able to recognize me later. I was going as fast as I dared in the city, what with the effects of sonic booms on glass and stuff.

She was getting closer all the time now. I might have been faster, but she knew all the short cuts. I could feel her ki paralleling mine back behind me about two hundred feet or so. I couldn't turn; every time I did she cut a diagonal and got closer. I swore in my mind as she cast something and started going a bit faster closing the distance.

I banked suddenly, going through a narrow alleyway, then shot straight up, and looked back.

Terrific.

I now had two options, discovery or…

Sara would kill me…

Not if she doesn't know…

It'd be broadcast all over the news…

Only if someone believes her…

Crap. No more time…

I pulled together my power and heard something like a cross between a roar and a scream in my head as my skin gave off a white glow. My senses shifted and enhanced as my body became that of a dragon. Now I didn't run. Either she had recognized me and I was now screwed, or I was completely in the clear. I looked down.

She was stopped, mouth agape.

She obviously knew what I was.

Interesting…

It's hard to describe the feeling that comes with being in dragon form. A sort of focused calm comes over you, the knowledge that you can do anything, yet no urge to explore what your true limits are. It's a feeling that says you can do more than this, but if just enough gets by, why bother?

Not quite laziness, though that has been used to describe elder dragons on occasion, just contentment.

So I waited, floating, flapping my wings instead of using my ki, knowing that I could demolish her, demoralize her, terrorize her, or simply ignore her and there wouldn't be much she could do about it.

But she too, was waiting. I frowned then, giving a light sniff to the air. There was a peculiar scent in the air.

Fear.

Well, she definitely knows what I am. Terrific.

Then, her wings stopped beating, and she collapsed in mid air.

NO!

I'm not sure what it was, but something inside me wouldn't let her fall. I'm sure it's not my sense of decency. That probably helped, but the majority of what I felt was something deeper, primal, more instinctive.

Some small voice deep inside screaming at me to catch her in words I couldn't ignore.

Collapsing my wings to my back for less wind resistance and pushing myself down with my ki, I shot down like a bow from an arrow.

I almost wasn't fast enough.

Almost.

We were five feet about the ground when I was able to pull up without harming her.

I placed her gently on the roof, and the voice within quieted. I flew off slowly then, checking often for pursuit. Landing gently on the roof, I looked around once more, seeing nothing, feeling nothing, I changed back into my human form, and walked down the stairs. At the bottom I checked my watch.

It's half-way through first period.

I sighed and looked around, then ducked into a nearby empty classroom as I felt, then watched Nina and Videl go by. I looked back at my watch.

Screw it; I'll just wait for second.