Memories: Part I - The Past leads to…
Gohan floated in darkness. The unseen chaos that bound him suddenly disappeared and he felt the sensation of falling. He spiraled deeper into the dark depths of his mind. Time had no meaning for him here, and he fell for what seemed to be a lifetime. His mind's eye was closed, shutting him off from seeing what was happening on the outside. The last thing he saw and felt before it became dark was Videl's ki spiking higher than any normal human to go and seeing her hit his body with a strange ray. The ray didn't do any physical damage to him, but whatever shackles that held him were now gone. Another effect was that he was cut off from feeling his physical body, making him totally detached from himself. He was truly lost now. For what seemed like an eternity Gohan fell through the darkness until he felt his feet lightly touch solid ground. A soft white light illuminated a rocky path before him.
Unable to tap into his powers, he began walking down the path. The sound of his footsteps echoed throughout the darkness. He tried stretching out his senses, but that didn't work either. The closer he got toward the end of the path the light illuminated more. The path seemed to stretch out infinitely.
"Hello!" he yelled. "Is anyone there?"
Silence. Getting frustrated, he started running down the path. After long moments of running he stopped. His ears picked up a faint sound that came from his left. Coming about, he crouched down in a defensive position. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
The darkness now in front of him lit up, revealing a thick, swirling mist. The mist slowly dissipated and familiar voices could be heard from it. It sounded like laughter…it sounded like…
"Dad!"
The last of the mist disappeared revealing a younger Goku throwing a very young Gohan up in the air and catching him when he came down. They were both laughing. What's going on here, Gohan thought. As he watched, he heard his mom's voice.
"Goku, Gohan, dinner's ready!"
"Okay Chi-Chi," Goku called back. "We'll be there in a few minutes!"
I remember this, he thought as he watched. Goku threw up the young Gohan one last time and caught him in his arms that turned into a hug. "Are you hungry?" Goku asked. The young Gohan nodded, smiling. "Do you wanna go on a trip after dinner?"
"A…trip?" he asked.
Goku nodded, his smile getting bigger. "I want you to meet my friends."
"F…friends?"
"Uh-huh. Krillin and Master Roshi…"
Gohan was lost in thought and didn't hear the rest of the conversation. I remember! I can't believe I almost forgot! Dad and I were playing outside right before he took me to meet Master Roshi and Krillin for the first time. He remembered how scared he was when he first met them too. Bulma was there too, he remembered. Things got off to a rocky start, but he overcame his fears and things started going well. Then everything changed. That when Radditz arrived.
Why am I seeing this? What does it all mean? The scene faded back into the darkness, leaving Gohan with more questions. He turned back to the path and started walking down it again, struggling to decipher the meaning of what was going on. A few moments later more whispers beckoned him from his past.
Turning to face the voices the same thing happened, but the memory was different. It was an earlier time, a time when Gohan had just learned to walk. He was inside his bedroom at night. The rain came down hard outside and a bright flash of light illuminated his room for a brief second. The following crash of thunder nearly shook everything in his room! Gohan watched as he saw himself hiding under the blankets. When another thunder-crack boomed, he saw his younger self leap out from the bed and run out of his room.
Seeing the memory caused Gohan to smile in remembrance. It was his first thunder storm and the thunder and lightning had nearly scared the wits out of him! The scene changed to his parents' bedroom where he saw his younger self tugging on his dad's arm, trying in vain to wake him up. Failing that, he ran over to the other side of the bed and tugged on his mom's arm until she woke up. He saw the tears well up in his younger version's eyes as he told the story to his mom. The older Gohan closed his eyes as the memory filled him. He didn't need to see mom's understanding smile, nor did he need to see her pick him up and hold him close to her. He remembered feeling so safe in her arms. Then dad woke up and mom told him the story. He remembered his dad's laughter and told him that he did the same thing to his grandfather when he was young. Gohan could almost feel the warm embrace of his parents as they cradled his younger self in their arms. Soon he was at peace and asleep, content with the protection and love of his mom and dad. The memory finished, it faded into the darkness.
The memory filled his thoughts, and it was a long time before Gohan moved again. Still, he was filled with the same nagging questions as before, and wasn't anywhere closer as to how or why he was seeing these memories.
The next memory appeared much later down the path. This one he knew well. The memory was of the final moments during his battle with Cell. His Kamehameha Wave engulfed Cell, utterly destroying him. There was no repression here, but the memory burned in cold detail. He remembered the sorrow at the loss of his father and nearly his friends. It gave him some grim satisfaction to see the memory again as Cell slowly disintegrated in the Kamehameha Wave. Then the memory disappeared.
It took Gohan almost three years to come to grips with the guilt he felt over his father's death. Mom didn't fare much better, he thought as he remembered those dark years. But she had her father to console her; I didn't really have anyone. The only good thing that came about then was the birth of Goten. He made those years easier with his exuberance and youth. And Goku did return after a time. Seven years was a long time to wait, but he did come back. He never left since.
A lot happened to me before that Buu fiasco, he thought as he walked. Before dad came back I met…
The memory appeared as if on queue.
A slightly older Gohan stood across from his opponent. The large blue creature had called himself Bojack and his underlings were hell-bent on killing his friends. Gohan had taken care of the underlings easily as he had ascended to the second level of super saiyan. The untapped power that he held back inside him was released again as Bojack flew at him. Gohan leapt at his attacker, but the outcome was already decided. The two warriors struck each other, and the smallest fraction of a second later Bojack disintegrated.
Gohan knew this memory well. Before he was push over the edge to go second level he felt the presence of his dead father for the faintest of seconds. At the time, Bojack held the upper hand and all seemed lost. Bojack came at him with the killing strike but out of nowhere shot a Kamehameha Wave that knocked him back. He heard his father's words of encouragement and that's was sealed the fate of Bojack and his crew. Gohan smiled wistfully and knew that even though his father was gone, he still looked over him from the beyond.
At was after that time that he had finally come to grips with his guilt. Things started getting better then. Gohan watched in fond remembrance as the image faded. His adventures changed after that. Instead of saving the universe almost every other week, his new challenges took the form of heavy books and long tests. For the next five years or so his mom drilled into him the need for a good education. Goku never had a job while he was alive and money was always sparse, when they had any at least. So he tackled his books with the same mindset as if he was squaring off against Freezer or Cell. His hard work and dedication paid off and he was finally accepted into high school.
Those nights were very long, he mused as he walked down the path. Mom was always there to encourage me when I needed it. Then he smiled and rubbed his head as he remembered mom's frying pan of doom! When encouraging didn't work, she always had that to fall back on!
He chuckled to himself as he thought about it. It wasn't like it hurt or anything, but she was as hard on him as she could. It worked out for the better anyway; she had to stop because she ruined too many frying pans that way and they couldn't afford to buy more!
His followed his train of thought further up the timeline of his life that caused him to stop on the path. His eyes hardened and his expression turned grim as the sudden realization hit him. The reason why he was here in the first place and not bound anymore…
"Videl." The image appeared as soon as he finished speaking her name.
She was so beautiful! Her long, dark hair whisped around her as she pummeled and kicked the bank robbers. There wasn't any need for him to step in; she took care of them in no time. He had just taken care of other matters then, but he was in super saiyan form. She noticed him, but nothing happened that he cared to remember. He was shocked to discover that she was going to the same high school as him, and that lent itself to several awkward moments. The images of the memory showed those in blazing detail, causing Gohan to blush.
What an idiot I was! How could I have been so stupid? Mercifully, the image faded leaving Gohan to silently thank the heavens that no one was around to see that other than him!
He had barely taken two more steps on the path before the next memory appeared. He wasn't in the initial start of the memory, and what he saw didn't make much sense. This was definitely not his memory but someone else's, but whose? The image showed Trunks, Goten and Videl helping a small village take care of a large Carnosaur. Both Trunks and Goten beat the creature easily and the village rejoiced. Gohan's eyes widened as he inhaled sharply as it finally struck him. This must've happened shortly before…
The hulking brute that was Brolly filled the image of his memory. He smiled that evil smile of his as he caught Videl's leg and tossed her to the lake below. The image changed and Gohan now saw himself going one on one with the Legendary Super Saiyan. He blurred to super speed just in time to catch Brolly's ki strike that was aimed at his brother and friends. Using his strength he tossed the energy high in the air and screamed as he used his ki to create a protective barrier around himself and the others. The energy exploded but he was able to save them, although the others were knocked unconscious from the blast. That's when his anger overtook him and he went super saiyan. Throwing caution to the wind he flew straight at Brolly who waited for him eagerly.
The image changed again. Now he saw himself, Goten and his father, each firing their Kamehameha Wave attack at Brolly. The Legendary Super Saiyan was strong, but again with words of encouragement from their father, the briefly reunited family was able to save the day and destroy Brolly.
Gohan stood there as the image faded. He was still somewhat confused at the image as a whole. The middle and ending were right, but the beginning wasn't part of his memory. What did it mean? What were these images trying to tell him?
The image that appeared next wasn't his memory at all. He watched an argument between Videl and her father Mr. Satan. Judging by the heated words and the story that Videl told it had to happen soon after they killed Brolly. Mr. Satan dismissed the story as a hallucination at first, then came up with several improbable theories as to how it was a trick of the lights, mirrors, and other things. Videl pressed further, trying to get her father to believe her, but he wouldn't hear anymore on the subject. He accused her of falling into the wrong crowd and forbade her from seeing Gohan and the others. After all, they didn't measure up to The Strongest Fighter in the World! Gohan watched as Videl stormed off angrily as Mr. Satan brushed her off and reinforced his own ego with boasting of his prowess. Then he began laughing. The laughter faded away slower than the image did.
Gohan was completely at a loss. The memory was Videl's, he was sure of it! But why was he seeing this? How could he be seeing her memory? She never told him about that incident or any other regarding her father and herself. What was going on?
Lost in thought, Gohan didn't notice that he was walking on the path once more. Because of that the next image that appeared almost caught him completely by surprise. He was relieved to note that the memory was his own, and a happy one! Gohan and Videl went flying together that day. She had bugged him ceaselessly to show her the fullest extent of his powers and he finally relented. They soared through the air together for most of the day searching for a particular place. The object of the search was a place far enough away from populated areas and places teeming with life. Gohan finally picked a small desert on an island in the middle of the ocean. They landed and he collected himself for what he was about to do. He already warned her to raise her ki as high as she could in order to protect herself from injury. At first he told her to be farther away from him when he changed, but she was adamant. Sighing in defeat he compromised with her to shield herself.
When she agreed he began raising his ki. Letting his emotions take complete control of him, he screamed as he clenched his fists. The tiny island shuddered as he raised his ki to its limits! The desert sand around him immediately turned into glass and began breaking up as his screams rose in intensity. The ground split outward with Gohan at the center. The ki that he gave off caused the glass to fly out in all directions, but Videl did as she was told and her dull white aura protected her from the glass. The wind picked up to gale force and she strained against his power to stay rooted to her spot. She looked at him in awe as she saw his hair change color from black to gold as his aura changed from white to that like gold fire. The rumbling slowly died down as Gohan finished his transformation to super saiyan. By the time he stopped screaming he was a full super saiyan. Videl stared in amazement, but he wasn't finished yet. Using his own power, he shot forth of beam of ki at Videl that surrounded her. Getting alarmed, she looked into his hard eyes. He told her that he wasn't done yet and she wasn't powerful enough to avoid getting hurt, so he used his power to protect her. When she nodded that she understood he continued the transformation.
He took in a deep breath and exhaled. He screamed. Without warning, the ground exploded beneath him sending shards of earth up high into the sky! The ground under Videl's feet exploded also and she screamed in fright from the display of power. But his power did its work well and she remained unharmed, if a little shaken. Gold light burst from the cracks in the ground as the island threatened to shake itself apart! Videl watched as she saw his arms and legs suddenly bulge with muscle. His chest expanded, as did his neck. The golden light was nearly blinding as water began rushing up from the tears in the ground. The light continued getting brighter as he screamed until all she could see was pure light. Then the world around here exploded in a bright flash of light!
When her eyes adjusted back from her temporary blindness, she gave out a cry of astonishment as she looked down. There was no trace of an island anywhere! Both her and Gohan hovered over the endless expanse of the ocean. She slowly lifted her eyes to look at him. He hovered across from her, about a foot taller now that his transformation was complete. She was at a loss for words, seeing for the first time the true magnitude of his power! His expression had softened and he floated over to her telling her that now she could see why he, Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten were not the pretenders that her father said they were. If she had any doubts before this they were all gone now. She was totally unprepared for the sheer power of him, never guessing in her wildest dreams that he was as strong as he was! She gingerly reached out her hand and touched his chest. Her fingers slowly traced his muscles until she felt his beating heart. Mesmerized by the feeling she floated closer to him. Gohan didn't know what to make of her reaction. The nearness of her and the way her fingers danced across his chest sent a rush through him that he'd never felt before! The suddenness of her actions caused him to involuntarily drop out o super saiyan form. But she didn't seem to notice.
Blushing profusely he tried to move, but couldn't. The sensations of her touch and the closeness of her nearly sent him reeling! Suddenly shaking herself out of her spell, she looked up at his blushing face. She recoiled her hand and hovered away from him, a shocked and embarrassed expression on her face. They were both blushing hard and an awkward silence followed. Videl was the one who eventually broke the silence with a question. She asked if he could train her so she could get as powerful as him. His mind was still racing and he nodded without really hearing her. She smiled as she looked at him and then she did the unexpected. She floated over to him and kissed him on the cheek! She whispered a thank you in his ear and then she flew off toward home, leaving Gohan hovering there in shock as the image faded back into the darkness.
Gohan's smile widened as he blushed at the memory. I guess that's how things got started between us. But most things start out small and grow over time. He jogged briskly down the path, eagerly awaiting the next image. While he ran he started to connect everything together. It was kind of inevitable that they would get together, he reasoned. They were alike in so many ways and their differences didn't cause any strife between them. His thoughts drifted back to when he began her training in earnest. The World's Tournament was coming up and everyone was going to be there. He was excited because his dad was granted a reprieve and he would be on Earth for a full day. Everything started going fine until Videl met up with her opponent Sloppovich. Everything spiraled down after that. They met the Supreme Kai and learned about the creature known as Buu. He was out from getting his energy taken from him by Sloppovich and his friend, with a little help from the Supreme Kai. That started that dreadfully long battle with the Buu creature and the universe was eventually saved when Goku destroyed Buu with his Spirit Bomb. The Earth had been destroyed but the dragonballs were recovered. The Earth was wished back and everyone who was killed by Buu. The good guys had won the day, but it was too close for comfort.
After the fight with Buu, things started to settle back down. He continued his training with Videl, who redoubled her efforts to become the best that she could. Eventually she talked Bulma into making her a superhero suit like Gohan's and now there were two warriors, affectionately named by the populace Saiyaman I and Saiyaman II. Ever since her death, she had changed. He guessed that what happened earlier when she kissed him was a fluke because she was all business when it came down to training. He decided not to even raise the subject to her, but soon events transpired that brought about a new evil to Earth, an evil named Hildegarn.
Gohan heard the low growl of the dark god that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. Th image appeared to his left and he saw the massive form of Hildegarn swat Videl into a building. She struck it with a sickening crunch and landed hard on the concrete below. All of the other Z Fighters were down except for Goku who floated across Hildegarn in his 3rd level super saiyan form and Trunks who had taken the sword from the fallen warrior Tapion. Trunks attacked, cleanly cutting the tail off the dark god. Hildegarn smashed Goku into a tall building and was following through with another punch that would have crushed his father, but Goku struck first. Using a technique that no one had ever seen before, his fist struck out toward Hildegarn and his energy formed into a golden dragon that surround the dark god and exploded, destroying the evil once and for all. The image darkened, leaving the path before him.
I think I know where this is going, he thought to himself. I'm starting to understand now.
The time after Hildegarn's defeat was one of peace for the world. He had resumed his studies and was getting grades good enough to get him seen by several large scientific Universities. In the meantime he continued his training with Videl who was growing stronger and getting better at using her ki. Eventually they had to find a larger area, as Gohan's backyard became too restrictive if he was going to teach her. She had found a quaint island in the middle of the ocean that was perfect for them.
The area surround Gohan lit up and the island took the place of the darkness. He looked up in confusion and saw stars in the night sky. He touched a fern and was shocked to actually feel it. It seemed so real! He heard himself and Videl up on the hilltop; he looked up and saw the two of them deep in training. She blocked his kick with her forearm like he taught her and she countered with a leg-sweep but he flipped over it and sailed down the hilltop, landing not even five feet away from where he stood. The other Gohan didn't seem to notice him and he looked up and saw Videl leap down from the hilltop and fly into him, sending a flurry of punches and kicks at him. He leapt backward, raising his arms up to block the blows, but she kept at him. Gohan tried to get out of the way of the two as they came at him, but he was too dumbfounded to move. The combatants passed right through him as if he wasn't there. He turned to follow the combat and saw himself block her strikes and lift his legs up ward to kick her. She anticipated the attack and flipped over him, but he was faster and gently brought his knee up to her midsection as she landed. He knew that it wouldn't hurt her but the attack did cause her to lose her balance and she fell splashing into the ocean water.
"Better luck next time," he said laughing as he stretched his hand out to her.
"Humph!" she pouted, soaking wet. "I'll get you yet Gohan!" She took his hand and he lifted her up. He didn't notice her wicked smile as the instant she stood facing him she hooked her leg around his, causing him to lose his balance.
"Wha?" he said as he tried to compensate by flipping in the air, but her weight was suddenly against him and all he accomplished was landing on his back with Videl on top of him.
"Gotcha!" she said smiling as water dripped off her onto him.
"That wasn't fair," he complained smiling. "You cheated!" He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"You weren't expecting it, and I got you fair and square," she said. "Deal with it."
Gohan watched smiling as he saw Videl get the better of him. Yes, she did cheat. It was dirty, underhanded, and cheap, but she was right; he never expected it. He smiled as he saw her kiss him on the lips.
"What was that for?" he asked, blushing.
Her smile never left, but the wickedness part was gone, replaced by something else. "You make me so happy, Gohan. I can't imagine being happier with anyone else."
Gohan was oblivious. "Huh?"
She sighed in exasperation. "You, dummy! I've tried giving you hints here and there but you're blind! So I guess I'll have to use the direct approach." She pressed her body against his and kissed him hard on the lips. Her tongue gently probed beyond and she felt his body tense, but she didn't stop.
Finally she let go. She looked at him with the same smile and waited to see the dawning of understanding come over his face. She didn't have to wait long.
"Oh," he said blinking. She rolled her eyes in defeat, but then he smiled and kissed her back passionately.
The newly found couple disappeared, but the island remained. It was true, Gohan thought, he did miss all the signals. But then again, he'd never been in that type of predicament before. He also knew of what he was, and he wasn't a human, but a hybrid of saiyan and human. With all that he'd been through in his life he had erected defenses against such a thing happening. Given what he was, there was an inherent danger in such a union. He'd overheard some horror stories from Bulma about her relationship with Vegeta and he knew the relationship of his father and mother wasn't always kosher. He had always dreaded the idea that he would find someone that he would develop feelings for. Their race had this tendency to get into trouble with some very powerful beings. In fact, trouble seemed to seek them out specifically and there was generally a lot of property damage in their wake, not to mention the lives of innocent people who were caught in the middle. Having someone caught in the middle there somewhere, especially a family, wasn't right in his eyes. He'd always thought he would grow up alone, but that didn't really bother him because he had his family and his friends. Videl had single-handedly turned that safe idea of a world upside down!
Gohan knelt down where he and Videl kissed all those months ago and ran his hand across the sand. It was warm to the touch and the moonlight glistened off of it. He stood up and began walking to the hilltop. The walk up to the top took some time, but he was rewarded with a beautiful view of the moon high above the ocean. He sat down and closed his eyes, deep in thought. His mind was still full of questions, like why was he seeing these memories in the first place? Why and how was he seeing memories that weren't his own? What was the purpose behind it all, and who was behind it?
He was so lost in thought that he didn't feel a slender hand land on his shoulder and gently squeeze it. His meditation was broken however when he heard a very familiar voice.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Videl?"
To be continued…
A/N: It's not the best written chapter I've done, and it's a bit long, but I'm proud of it. Since this story is also about how Gohan and Videl got together I thought this would be an appropriate place to do it (and it's only took me 14 chapters to get there!). I also tried to give the story justice since Akira Toriyama hasn't given us the definitive story of how they got together. This chapter is a bit dry but has a lot of story in it. I hope I didn't alienate too many readers because of it. Since there are like, a billion Gohan/Videl romances out there I tried to make this one my own and make it believable at the same time. It's hard to do this, you know? I'm trying to be careful by not writing anything that has been written before, and if I had, somebody please send me a link to the story. I haven't found many Gohan/Videl romances that I liked, but there are a few gems out there. If, by some chance, I'm writing something that's already out there I'd like to say that it's unintentional and I'm not copying stories that other established authors have put their hard work in.
That's about as disclaimer-ish as I can get and I thank you for your time. For all those who wanna know about the next chapter, here you go: Videl and Gohan are together again and more of the plot is explained. WARNING! There will be some lemony bits and other some such throughout the next two chapters. It's kinda integral to the story (and I can still get away with it considering the story rating) but if that's not your cup o' tea you can skip it. When the action picks up again I'll give a summary of what plot you might have missed.
That's all for now, see ya next chapter!
