At World's End
Chapter 5: Videl's Little Visit
Well, the little paragraph at the end of the last chapter is only the tip of the page from this chapter. This chapter is going to be a VERY long one. I'm sorry if it took me a while to post it, but hey, a girl's got things to do. [Yeah, like beg not to be grounded and figure out how to avoid her parents from seeing her report while trying to finish doing a science report so she does haven't repeat the class next year :(] There is a bug flying around in here and I can't get it out. Dumb windows. I hate heat . . .
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"Miss Videl?"
Videl's eyes flew open and she sat up with a start. "Melissa. Hi. Can I help you with anything?"
Melissa stared at Videl in an odd way, but then her facial expression changed back to the normal, solemn look. "I just came to remind you that you do, in fact, have school today and if you don't hurry and leave, you will be late."
Videl glanced over at her clock and groaned. 'So much for today's technology. Alarm clocks don't even work anymore. And everyone keeps trying to tell me that the world is a better place. Don't make me laugh!'
Videl quickly changed and ran downstairs. She was about to leave when her father stood in front of the door, blocking her way out. "I need to talk to you, Videl. The issue is very urgent and important. It related to you ramming your tongue down that weaklings mouth!"
Videl stared at her father in amazement and shock. "Excuse you! You don't think that I'm actually going to talk to you when you start a conversation by saying that to me? And if you do think I am going to talk to you, you've got another thing coming, also known as my foot meets your face!"
Hercule stared at Videl. "You are my daughter and you shouldn't dare to talk to your father like that! It's not your place to lecture me! Why, I'm the champ, who saved the world twice!"
Videl glared at him. "You are such a fake! You didn't save the world from Cell and you only helped, in a small way, to save Earth from Buu! Gohan saved the world from Cell. Goku and Vegeta saved the world from Buu, so don't go giving me your almighty power trip speech. Now, here is the deal. You don't talk to me or bother me, and I'll keep your secret. However, if you even try to bother me with whatever your problems are, I'll go national with your fraud! I wonder what the citizens of Earth will think of you then."
"You are my daughter and I order you not to threaten me with blackmail. I will not allow my teenage daughter to blackmail me. Not I, the World Tournament Champion!"
"Shut up!" Videl yelled, on the verge of tears. "You're not a champion! You're a fraud! A fraud! Don't you understand what that means? You're a lying, cheating scum!" Videl stormed past her father and out the front door, kicking the ground vigorously to fly off toward the school. 'I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I've promised myself a lot of things that I wasn't able to keep, but I will keep this promise, whether I like it or not.'
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Videl showed up at school a few minutes before classes started. She ventured around until she spied Erasa. Videl hurried over to her friend, trying to forget about her father and the huge blowout argument. It wasn't that Videl like fighting with her father, it was just a nerve that went off every time he pretended to be so strong and powerful. Even Videl could beat the crap out of him. "Erasa! Boy, am I glad to see you! I'm having the worst morning in history!"
Erasa had stars in her eyes. She leaned in closer to Videl. "Why didn't you tell me," she whispered excitedly, "that you and Gohan are an item?"
Videl stared in shock at her best friend. She grabbed Erasa's arm. "Who told you that?" Videl hissed. 'Oh boy, I knew this was going to cause some issues at school, but it's been one freakin' day and by the end of first period, everyone is going to be talking about it. I'll kill whoever told Erasa. I'll just kill them! Erasa has the biggest mouth ever!'
"You neighbor, Clinton, heard you father yell that you and Gohan were Frenching yesterday. Clinton put that together with the fact that you and Gohan were in the garden yesterday talking all hush-hush. Nobody knows for sure if you two are an item, but everyone knows that you two were Frenching yesterday! I was really upset that you didn't call me yesterday and tell me!"
"We weren't Frenching! We were just kissing!" Videl groaned. 'Shut up your huge mouth!' she scolded at herself. 'That was the worst possible thing I could have said.'
Erasa jumped up and down, clapping. "Omigod, Videl! You and Gohan are finally an item! This is great! I'm so excited! I've got to tell someone!"
Videl's eyes almost shot out of their sockets. "Are you insane, Erasa? You can't tell anyone that Gohan and I are dating. If word gets out, I'm doomed! If you tell one single soul about Gohan and me, I swear on my grave that I will haunt you down and kill you, Blonde!"
Erasa frowned. "All right Videl, jeez. You don't have to have a fit about it. I can keep a secret, honest. I mean, no one has ever trusted me with a secret before, but I can keep this secret and I will. But about the kissing thing," Erasa giggled nervously, "I kindda already told a few people."
Videl glared at her dearest friend. "And by a few people, you mean how many exactly?"
Erasa looked down at her feet and blushed. "Everyone I could." Erasa looked up at the frozen figure of Videl. "Oh, Videl! Please don't be mad at me! I was just really excited, that's all! I mean, you and Gohan together finally is really big news! But I swear, I won't tell anyone that the two of you are an item. Of course, Clinton was already telling people that you are, so if rumors start about that too, it wasn't me! I'm going to keep this secret! Of course, if everyone already knows, then it's not really a secret, it's just gossip between two people."
"And it had better stay between those two people, Erasa. Or else!" Videl yelled. She hurried into the main hall of school. Her life had gone from perfect to a living hell. 'This is just not fair. And if my father wasn't famous, then nobody would even care that Gohan and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. Being famous makes all eyes turn to you, even when all you want to do is disappear away from the world.'
"Hey," came a familiar voice from over her shoulder. Videl sighed and banged her head on her locker door. "Hi," she mumbled.
Gohan turned her around to face him. "Is everything all right?"
Videl leaned again her locker and sighed, shaking her head. "The whole stupid school knows."
Gohan was puzzled. "What does everyone in school know?"
Videl ran her hand through her hair, which she hadn't had time to put up. "The whole school knows about us," she said in a softer, lower voice. "I came to school and Erasa asked me why I didn't tell her. It seems my dearest neighbor, Clinton, saw us in the garden yesterday, and then he heard me talking to my father this morning."
"What were you talking to your father about?" Gohan asked.
Videl knew that starting then, she was going to have to start talking about things with Gohan that she hadn't before and she would have to trust him even more than she already did. But at that moment in her life, Videl didn't want Gohan to know about the problems she was having with her father. As a matter of fact, Videl didn't want anyone to know about the issues she had with her father. Just the thought of her classmates knowing about her private life at home was enough to make her crazy. And then came the whole new deal with Gohan. That was going to be a little harder to hide from everyone, seeing as how almost everyone already knew. 'I'm going to have to have a nice, little chat with Clinton at lunch about these little rumors.' Once Clinton told everyone about the incident with her father, she feared that reporters were going to be around every corner, trying to get the 411 in a live interview. If Videl thought her life was hell then, she couldn't imagine how it would become.
"We just don't see eye to eye sometimes and he was just a little upset with me this morning. It wasn't anything to worry about." Videl didn't like lying to Gohan - she didn't like lying at all, but she preferred to lie, rather than have her whole life being shared on national TV.
Gohan looked at her softly, as if he was going to say something, but then he must have changed his mind. "Well, I guess I'll see you after class."
Videl slammed her locker door closed. "In case you've forgotten, we have the same homeroom class, Gohan. You'll see me before class, during class, and after class. You're stuck with me for a while."
Gohan shrugged. "I guess you're right."
Videl sighed and shook her head. 'Things are going to be very different. I can already feel it.'
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Right after her fourth class, Videl hurried out into the courtyard for lunch. She found Clinton easily, talking to some of his brainiac friends. Videl tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, smiling, until he saw her. As soon as his eyes caught hers, his smiled turned to a frown and he started to look a little uncomfortable. "Vi-Videl. How, um, nice to see you. It's such a lovely day out today, isn't it?"
Videl grabbed his shirt. "We so need to talk, Clinton." With those words, Videl dragged him over behind the school building. Videl tried to stay calm, but it wasn't easy. She just wasn't the calm type of person. "Where do you think you get off telling everybody about my personal life?" she hissed at him, getting in his face. Clinton stood up straight, but he was still at least two inches shorter than Videl. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "No need to get angry, Videl. When you and Gohan are kissing in your family's big garden, one can't help but notice."
"Clinton, you were spying on me! You wouldn't have known if you haven't been looking over the fence into the garden! Why do you think we put that stupid fence up? To keep people like you from looking into the garden!"
"Well, actually I wasn't exactly planning on spying on you. You see, I was really using my telescope to study the constellations for the Science Club's annual fair, but I noticed out of the corner of my eye from my balcony you and Gohan going at it in the garden."
Videl's face burned she was blushing so hard. "We weren't going at anything, Clinton! You'd better stop saying that were we Frenching, because we weren't! Just stay out of my personal life or you're asking for it!"
Clinton actually smiled, making Videl want to slam her fist into his face and break his dorky looking glasses. "Asking for what? If you even try to harm me, I'll tell everyone about your father and how he didn't save the world. Then, he won't have any control over anything anymore and I won't have to worry about all the reporters in my yard, trying to videotape your father."
Videl gasped. "You little RAT! You heard that?"
Clinton nodded and then smiled again. "Hi, Gohan," he said.
Videl spun around and about three feet away from her, Gohan was just standing there. Clinton tried to dash off as Videl tried desperately to find something to say, but Videl grabbed him by his shirt to keep him from running away. 'I'm not going to let the little, dorky, rat get the best of me. No sir, no way.' "You try messing with my family affairs, and I swear to God that I will bring pain to your whole skeletal frame!" Videl hissed and then let him go.
Now all she had to worry about was Gohan. Somehow, she feared that explaining this to Gohan was going to be a little harder. She walked over to him slowly. "How much of that did you hear?" she asked him softly.
"Enough," he said stiffly.
"Enough for what?"
"Enough to know that you lied to me."
Videl was shocked. "I didn't lie to you! I would never lie to you. Well, okay that might be a lie, but I would only lie to you if it was really important and a true secret."
"You shouldn't have any secrets from me, Videl. You should trust me enough."
Videl crossed her arms across her arms. "Okay, that is not fair. That whole secrets' road is a two-way road, buddy. It's not like you don't have secrets from me. The point is, I didn't lie to you, Gohan."
"You said that this whole deal was nothing to worry about. Your father's whole fraud case is on the line and you call that nothing to worry about? If people found out about that, Videl, you're whole life could be ruined."
"Listen, Gohan, I don't need you to be lecturing me on what to worry about. I mean, I have a lot of other, more important, things on my mind right now than the whole deal with my father. Clinton may be a little scum, but he's lived next door to us since we moved in and I know him well enough to know that he's not going to tell anyone about my father's little secret. And, by the way, Gohan, you don't need to be worrying about my issues. I'm a big girl now. I don't need to whole city trying to take care of me and to protect me. I'm going to be fine all on my own, without your help or anyone else's."
"Videl, I'm not saying that you need anyone's help. All I'm suggesting is that you might want a little assistance in this case because it seems like it's just a tad bit over your head. And I'm not trying to make you feel bad or get you angry, but this is a very serious issue. I would like to help you, but if you don't want my help, I will withdraw my offer."
Videl felt like screaming at him. "Gohan, just . . . I don't know! Just go away for now. I can't handle all this at once!" Videl stormed off and Gohan watched her retreating back. 'What's going on with you, Videl? Was it something I said?'
After all his classes for the day, Gohan wondered around the halls of the school, trying to find Videl. He spotted her by her locker. He hurried over to her. Videl had her face in her locker and her shoulders were shaking. Gohan walked up behind her and touched her shoulder softly. Videl turned around to face him, and Gohan noticed that she had been crying. 'What's going on here?' Gohan wiped a tear away with his forefinger. "Do you care you tell me why you're upset? Maybe something that someone said or did?"
Videl smiled softly. "It's nothing very important. You don't even need to worry about it, Gohan. I'll be fine. It's just been a very rough day and I have a feeling that tomorrow is only going to get worse. But I'll be fine."
"Videl," Gohan started, not knowing what to say, "why won't you tell me what's bothering you? I don't like seeing you upset like this."
"Gohan," she said, closing her locker door and turning around back around to face him, "Some things are just a little too hard to explain. I wish you wouldn't worry about me. I'm going to be just fine. Look, I wish I could stand here and talk to you longer, but I'm afraid I have to get home."
Gohan watched as Videl's slender frame disappeared into the mob of students leaving to go home. Gohan quickly flew home, where Trunks and Gohan were playing tag out front. As soon as they saw Gohan, Goten flew straight towards him and threw his skinny little arms around Gohan's arm. At the same time, Trunks flew up and slapped Goten on the shoulder. "You're it!" Trunks shouted triumphantly.
"No! It doesn't count because Gohan's base and I'm touching Gohan's arm, so I'm on base. You are still it!" Goten said, stinking out his tongue.
"Only one little problem, there," Trunks said. "There isn't a base today! You're it!"
Goten let go of Gohan and powered up into a Super Saiyan. "That isn't fair, Trunks! I'm going to get you!"
Trunks pulled down the bottom of his eyelid and stuck out his tongue at his best friend. "Come and get me, slow poke!" Trunks yelled and powered up to a Super Saiyan also.
Gohan sighed and headed into the house, where Chi-Chi was running around the kitchen like a mad man. Gohan laughed out loud when he saw his father in one of his mother's aprons, trying to help get dinner fixed. Chi-Chi kept picking up the frying pan in a threatening way and Goku would laugh nervously and apologize for whatever he had done that time.
As Gohan walked into the kitchen, his mother screamed as a thick cloud of flour covered the kitchen, leaving the three family members coughing. As soon as they could see, Chi-Chi glared at Goku. Goku smiled and threw his arm behind his head. "I guess I don't know my own strength. Sorry, Chi-Chi."
Chi-Chi glared at her husband. "Well, there go the cookies for dinner. If you want any food tonight, you had better get your butt over to Capsule Corp. and borrow some flour from Bulma. I am not happy with you, Goku! I don't know what possessed me into letting you help around here!"
Goku smiled and kissed her cheek. Then his placed his two fingers onto his forehead and winked, transporting himself to Capsule Corp. Gohan sighed, flour all over his school clothes and head. "Good afternoon, Mother."
Chi-Chi turned to face her eldest son. "Well, the only sane male member of this household is home! It's good to see you. Now would you please help me with this dinner? All your father managed to do was dirty up the whole kitchen. Sometimes that man just drives me crazy! Of course, he makes up for it in other ways."
Gohan nearly chocked on her tongue. "Mother! Please! Have you forgotten that I'm your son?"
Chi-Chi smiled. "You and Goten are my little reminders."
Gohan started coughing. 'I can't believe I'm having this conversation with my mother! She's my mother! I don't want to know what she and my father do! Doesn't she understand how disgusting that is?' Gohan's left eye started to twitch.
"So, Gohan, how are things going with Videl? I heard that you might be dating her. I must say, I was very upset that you didn't tell me in person. I'm your mother for Dende's sake!" She threw down the spatula and put her hands on her waist. "I understand that these things might be a little embarrassing at first, but I would like to find out my son's affairs before the news stations have it on the five o'clock news!"
Gohan almost dropped the eggs he was cracking and putting in the stirring bowl. "They said that on TV?"
Chi-Chi sighed and kneaded the dough. "Of course. We're talking about Videl, darling. Every step that child takes is on live coverage. I feel so sorry for the poor dear."
"Yeah, me too."
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Videl woke up to a soft knocking on her balcony sliding glass door. There wasn't enough light to see, but she figured it was Gohan. "You realize that there is a front door to my house, don't you?" she asked as she slid the door open. Videl gasped, for the person at the door wasn't Gohan. "Yes, my dear Videl, I do realize that. But how am I supposed to kidnap you if your maid knows I'm here?" Videl's voice was caught in her throat. She tried to close the door, by the person stepped into the room and grabbed her arm. "Now, now, Miss Satan, don't try to escape because you know it's no use."
Videl tried to get away from her capturer, but it wasn't any use. She struggled with him for a while, but after a while, he had pinned her to the floor. He gagged her and knocked her on the head before flying off toward the hideout where he had to wait for Gohan. 'Poor little girl. She never saw it coming. Not my problem. I mean, why does Cooler have me kidnap a little girl? Why can't I just kill her instead? The whole kidnapping thing just doesn't work for me. I wonder, if I just dumped her body into the river to drown, Cooler wouldn't be too mad, would he?' The capturer froze into mid air above a great lake. 'I'm mad at the bastard anyway. He stole my lady figure. He won't care if she's dead, as long as Gohan and Goku still comply.' The capturer smiled. He quickly tied Videl's arms behind her back and then bent her legs back and tied them to her arms. 'I don't think she'll be able to escape from that. And I thought this business was going to be bad. I have to admit, I'm enjoying myself.'
Videl's eyes fluttered open and she tried not to panic when she realized that she couldn't move her arms or legs. Her capturer pulled the duck tape off her mouth. "I want you to be able to scream as you hit that freezing water. I want you to scream as loud as you can so Gohan can hear you right before you die. Ready? Scream!"
And before Videl knew what was going on, the beast let go of her and she went falling. She managed to glance under her and she noticed that she was going to fall into a large lake. No matter how scared she was, she had enough pride not to give the monster the satisfaction of screaming. But as she got closer and closer to the large body of water, her nerves got shorter and shorter. About twenty yards above the water, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "GOHAN!!!!!" Videl closed her mouth just as she hit the surface of the water. She felt like screaming her lungs out she was in so much pain. Her body hit the water in a twisted form. She felt pain in her whole body, but it was mostly in her arms and legs, which hit the water first, breaking the way for the rest of her.
The capturer laughed loudly enough for her to hear. "Hope you have a good swim!" he yelled. "It will be your last!" he laughed as he flew off.
Videl wasn't having much luck. Pain shot through her entire body, and she was running out of air. She needed to surface. She knew she had to. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't. 'Come on! This really sucks! I have to live! I won't die for that creeps satisfaction. I refuse to die! Gohan, you'd better save me.' Videl managed a little movement with her arms and legs. As soon as her head touched the surface, she gasped for air and threw her chin up. She was going to float until Gohan showed up.
Cooler's servant flew back to the hideout where the guard let him in. "I don't see the girl with you," the guard observed. "I don't know what you did, Gabster, but Cooler isn't going to be too happy."
"Well, screw Cooler. Kidnapping didn't suit me, so I killed her. And I had a damn good time doing it, too. We'll see how Cooler takes it. We don't need live bait."
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Gohan shot up straight. He knew he had been dreaming about Videl. But this dream wasn't a nice one. He remembered the way she had screamed and the way her body had hit the surface of the water. He knew he was being silly, but he was still upset about it. He quickly picked up the phone and dialed Videl's number. It rang once, twice, three times, and then the answering machine picked up. Gohan slammed down the phone. Before he could think about it, he was out the front door and flying toward Videl's house.
He reached her balcony and his heart fell when he noticed the sliding glass door was open. He went in. The bedroom door was locked and the bed wasn't made, but it was empty. "Videl?" he whispered softly, trying to ignore the feeling in his gut. He tried to stay calm and he recalled the dream. 'It can't be possible. Oh, Videl, where are you?'
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Videl closed her eyes. She was too weak to search for Gohan's signature and teleport. She just wasn't able to. A tear ran down her cheek. 'Gohan, please come find me. I don't want to die.'
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Gohan gasped as he felt himself being pulled away. The world seemed to swirl a little and then he was surrounded by water. He automatically started kicking for the surface. He gasped for air as he reached. Gohan shot up into the air. He pulled in his breath as he caught view of Videl floating on the surface of the water about 50 yards over. Gohan flew quickly over to her. "Gohan," she whispered, smiling. "I knew you'd find me."
Gohan picked her up out of the water. He untied her arms and legs and threw the rope into the water, She wrapped her arms around his neck and her body went limp in his arms as he quickly flew her back to his house. Chi-Chi was sitting on the couch when Gohan arrived at his house. She gasped and ran over to him when she saw Videl's condition. "Omigod! The poor dear. Quickly, Gohan get her upstairs into a bed and wrap her in blankets. I'll go put some water on the stove to boil. Go!" she ordered him.
Gohan carried Videl up the stairs and into his room that he shared with Goten. Goten was sound asleep in his bed, so Gohan was forced to put Videl in his bed. He covered her in his blankets.
Videl forced her eyes open slowly. The first thing she saw was Gohan's face. She smiled softly. She tried to talk to him, but instead she started chocking on water she had swallowed. Videl coughed and coughed until she spit out the saltwater that was in her lungs. She managed to lean over to side of the bed and throw it up on the floor, instead of on the bed. She took a deep breath. "Hi," she said weakly.
"Hi yourself," Gohan said, relieved.
Tears clouded Videl's vision. "I think I broke my leg. It hurts really bad."
Gohan helped her lay back again. He placed his hand on her forehead. "We'll have a doctor come look at it as soon as we can. Are you feeling okay? Do you have any other injuries?"
Videl smiled. "I've had better days." She loved the feeling of having him so close to her. "Thank you for saving me. I knew if I survived long enough, you'd come and find me."
Gohan nodded. His heart felt her pain. He ran his hand through her soft hair. He felt her fingers entwine with his. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. But Videl wasn't satisfied. 'I almost die and all he can do is kiss my forehead. Come on!' Videl muttered something under her breath.
"What?" Gohan asked. Videl shook her head. "Gohan?" she asked. "Yeah, Videl?"
Videl felt herself blushing. "Would you please kiss me?" Gohan was surprised by her forwardness and felt himself blushing as well. He slowly leaned down. Just as his lips were about to reach hers, a soft tap on the door was heard. Videl frowned. 'You are not getting away with that. I don't care if it is Majin Buu at the door, you still owe me a kiss.' Before Gohan could jerk up, Videl forced her head off the bed until her lips met his. Gohan was surprised, but he wasn't disappointed. Ignoring the fact that his brother was sleeping in the room and he mother was at the door, Gohan let himself be kissed. Videl rested her head back on the pillow and they kept kissing.
"This is touching, really, but Videl needs to sleep, not to make out," Chi- Chi said.
Gohan pulled away from Videl slowly and stood up to face his mother. She handed him a washcloth and a bucket of hot water. "I was going to have you do this for her, but I don't think I can trust the two of you in here with supervision. I have an eight-year-old son sleeping in the corner, thank you very much."
Chi-Chi dipped the washcloth in the water and rung it out. Then she folded it twice and placed it on Videl's forehead. Chi-Chi noticed how pale Videl's skin was and how blue Videl's lips were. "I think you might have a little frost bite."
Videl smiled. "Well, if that's all I have to worry about, I think I'll be just fine."
Chi-Chi smiled and dipped the wash cloth into the water again and placed it back on Videl's forehead. "I'll be back in a moment with some hot chocolate to help cheer you up." Chi-Chi smiled and left.
Gohan sat back down on the bed and slowly took Videl's hand in his. "I can't say that I know how bad you feel, but I do feel awful about what happened. I just wish that I could have found you faster. I didn't tell you this before, but before you pulled me into the lake, I had a nightmare and I could see everything that was happening to you. I called your house and you weren't there, so I went over. You had disappeared and I was really worried. That's when you pulled me into the lake."
Videl smiled faintly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about getting you wet. I guess I was just too weak to help your surface. And I want to thank you again for saving me, Gohan. You saved my life."
Gohan squeezed her hand softly and kissed her forehead. Videl placed a pale, clammy hand against his cheek. "Gohan . . . " she whispered and she closed her eyes and let her hand drop as she fell asleep.
"Videl," Gohan whispered back. He stood up and tucked Videl in before he headed downstairs to tell his mother to lay off the hot chocolate. But Chi-Chi was pouring it into mugs when Gohan reached the kitchen door. "Mother, Videl fell asleep."
Chi-Chi nodded and handed him a mug. "Here. Why don't you have one? I'll go wake your father up and fill him in on the recent events. Maybe he'll want the one I made for Videl . . . " She muttered something under her breath as she hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the shadows of the night.
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Videl woke up with pain shooting through her entire body. She spit out the first words that came to mind, and they weren't exactly the nicest ones.
"What does that mean?" asked a small voice. Videl screamed softly and jerked her head to the side to see Goten laying in his bed, facing her. "Gohan says that sometimes, but I still don't know what it means. Every time I ask him, he just says something weird and tells me to pretend that I never heard him say that."
Videl smiled softly at the adorable little model of Gohan. "And he's right. Your brother is very smart."
"Thank you," came another voice from the door. Videl turned around and greeted Gohan with a wide smile. "Hey!" she said cheerfully, momentarily forgetting about the pain coursing through her body. "I was hoping to see you this morning."
Gohan smiled. "And I was hoping you were well enough for me to kick you out of my bed now," he teased. Then he caught Goten's glance. "Hey, buddy! I heard Mother calling you. She wants you to go help her make breakfast because she's still mad at Dad for yesterday's little incident."
Goten nodded and jumped out of bed, running out of the room and slamming the door behind him. Gohan walked over and sat down on the bed while Videl pulled herself painfully into a sitting position. "I missed you," she whispered softly, "and I couldn't stop thinking about you last night."
Gohan blushed slightly and took her hand in his. "Yeah . . . " He didn't know what to say. Videl squeezed his hand. "Gohan, I . . . " Videl paused and shook her head, "oh, never mind. So, what happened with your father yesterday?"
Gohan smiled and turned so that he was sitting right next to Videl. He slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest, but kept her eyes on his face to listen to the story. Gohan shook his head. "Nothing happened, really. Dad just got back from the dead and he didn't have anything to do. Mother did not want him fighting, so he decided he wanted to help out around the house. Dad tried to help Mother with dinner, but he was a little too powerful for that and he ended up breaking the flour bag so that it got all over the kitchen, my mother, Dad, and me. She was really upset and made him go get more from Bulma."
Videl smiled and closed her eyes. "I'll never let you or your father near my kitchen when . . . " she trailed off, just blushing at the thought.
"When what?" Gohan questioned.
Videl shook her head. "Nothing. I mean, it's not important." Gohan nodded. Videl looked up at him with her beautiful eyes and stared into his. "Videl . . . "
"Gohan . . . "
Gohan lowered his head and Videl craned her neck upward so that their lips touched. It felt wonderful to Videl to have Gohan with her like that. To know that nothing would be right, but things with Gohan felt perfect. When she slowly broke away from him, she rested her hands on his chest and curled her legs up under her, trying to relieve herself from pain. "Can't we just stay like this forever?" she asked Gohan.
The bedroom door opened. "I'm afraid not," came Chi-Chi's voice, "the doctor's here to have a look over Videl."
Gohan tried to scramble out of the bed, but Videl held onto him. If there was one thing she hated more than her father, it was doctors. She clutched Gohan's undershirt until her knuckles turned white. Gohan kissed her forehead and pulled away from her softly.
'Why you little terd!' Videl thought. 'Gohan, you'd better not leave me in here with a doctor!' But Gohan had already left the room and a short, plump man took his place. The little man introduced himself as Dr. Brown and started examining Videl. 'Oh, you owe me big time, Gohan. I'd better get a lot out of you if you expect me to cooperate with this, this doctor!'
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"Well, it seems as if Miss Satan has broken her left leg. She seems to be healing fast, so a cast will not be necessary. Just make sure she stays off of it and gets plenty of sleep and rest. Have a nice day," the doctor said as he left.
Videl sank back into Gohan's soft, feather pillows. "Have a nice day," she mimicked in a sarcastic voice. "Why don't you try having a nice day with a broken leg? That guy just makes me so angry!"
Gohan smiled softly at her as he took his place, sitting on the bed. "Gohan, I don't want to rest," she told him, "I want to get better and back to normal so I can get on with my training! All this relaxing is going to weaken me and I don't want to end up with all fat and no muscle!"
"Videl," he muttered, kissing her forehead, "stop worrying. My father went to fetch something that will get you into tip top shape. So just relax until he gets back."
Gohan went to stand up, but Videl grabbed his arm. "Please don't leave me here by myself," she begged. "I'm bored out of my mind as it is. I need you to keep me company. Please?"
Gohan stared at the beauty laying there in his bed. 'Videl is sleeping in my bed. My bed! My bed; my bed; my bed. And she wants me to stay with her!'
Videl smiled softly at him and Gohan sighed. Videl inched over and Gohan sat down on the bed next to her. "You see? That wasn't so hard after all, now was it?" she asked him, cuddling up to him and resting her head on his chest.
Chapter 5: Videl's Little Visit
Well, the little paragraph at the end of the last chapter is only the tip of the page from this chapter. This chapter is going to be a VERY long one. I'm sorry if it took me a while to post it, but hey, a girl's got things to do. [Yeah, like beg not to be grounded and figure out how to avoid her parents from seeing her report while trying to finish doing a science report so she does haven't repeat the class next year :(] There is a bug flying around in here and I can't get it out. Dumb windows. I hate heat . . .
++++++++++
"Miss Videl?"
Videl's eyes flew open and she sat up with a start. "Melissa. Hi. Can I help you with anything?"
Melissa stared at Videl in an odd way, but then her facial expression changed back to the normal, solemn look. "I just came to remind you that you do, in fact, have school today and if you don't hurry and leave, you will be late."
Videl glanced over at her clock and groaned. 'So much for today's technology. Alarm clocks don't even work anymore. And everyone keeps trying to tell me that the world is a better place. Don't make me laugh!'
Videl quickly changed and ran downstairs. She was about to leave when her father stood in front of the door, blocking her way out. "I need to talk to you, Videl. The issue is very urgent and important. It related to you ramming your tongue down that weaklings mouth!"
Videl stared at her father in amazement and shock. "Excuse you! You don't think that I'm actually going to talk to you when you start a conversation by saying that to me? And if you do think I am going to talk to you, you've got another thing coming, also known as my foot meets your face!"
Hercule stared at Videl. "You are my daughter and you shouldn't dare to talk to your father like that! It's not your place to lecture me! Why, I'm the champ, who saved the world twice!"
Videl glared at him. "You are such a fake! You didn't save the world from Cell and you only helped, in a small way, to save Earth from Buu! Gohan saved the world from Cell. Goku and Vegeta saved the world from Buu, so don't go giving me your almighty power trip speech. Now, here is the deal. You don't talk to me or bother me, and I'll keep your secret. However, if you even try to bother me with whatever your problems are, I'll go national with your fraud! I wonder what the citizens of Earth will think of you then."
"You are my daughter and I order you not to threaten me with blackmail. I will not allow my teenage daughter to blackmail me. Not I, the World Tournament Champion!"
"Shut up!" Videl yelled, on the verge of tears. "You're not a champion! You're a fraud! A fraud! Don't you understand what that means? You're a lying, cheating scum!" Videl stormed past her father and out the front door, kicking the ground vigorously to fly off toward the school. 'I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I've promised myself a lot of things that I wasn't able to keep, but I will keep this promise, whether I like it or not.'
++++++++++
Videl showed up at school a few minutes before classes started. She ventured around until she spied Erasa. Videl hurried over to her friend, trying to forget about her father and the huge blowout argument. It wasn't that Videl like fighting with her father, it was just a nerve that went off every time he pretended to be so strong and powerful. Even Videl could beat the crap out of him. "Erasa! Boy, am I glad to see you! I'm having the worst morning in history!"
Erasa had stars in her eyes. She leaned in closer to Videl. "Why didn't you tell me," she whispered excitedly, "that you and Gohan are an item?"
Videl stared in shock at her best friend. She grabbed Erasa's arm. "Who told you that?" Videl hissed. 'Oh boy, I knew this was going to cause some issues at school, but it's been one freakin' day and by the end of first period, everyone is going to be talking about it. I'll kill whoever told Erasa. I'll just kill them! Erasa has the biggest mouth ever!'
"You neighbor, Clinton, heard you father yell that you and Gohan were Frenching yesterday. Clinton put that together with the fact that you and Gohan were in the garden yesterday talking all hush-hush. Nobody knows for sure if you two are an item, but everyone knows that you two were Frenching yesterday! I was really upset that you didn't call me yesterday and tell me!"
"We weren't Frenching! We were just kissing!" Videl groaned. 'Shut up your huge mouth!' she scolded at herself. 'That was the worst possible thing I could have said.'
Erasa jumped up and down, clapping. "Omigod, Videl! You and Gohan are finally an item! This is great! I'm so excited! I've got to tell someone!"
Videl's eyes almost shot out of their sockets. "Are you insane, Erasa? You can't tell anyone that Gohan and I are dating. If word gets out, I'm doomed! If you tell one single soul about Gohan and me, I swear on my grave that I will haunt you down and kill you, Blonde!"
Erasa frowned. "All right Videl, jeez. You don't have to have a fit about it. I can keep a secret, honest. I mean, no one has ever trusted me with a secret before, but I can keep this secret and I will. But about the kissing thing," Erasa giggled nervously, "I kindda already told a few people."
Videl glared at her dearest friend. "And by a few people, you mean how many exactly?"
Erasa looked down at her feet and blushed. "Everyone I could." Erasa looked up at the frozen figure of Videl. "Oh, Videl! Please don't be mad at me! I was just really excited, that's all! I mean, you and Gohan together finally is really big news! But I swear, I won't tell anyone that the two of you are an item. Of course, Clinton was already telling people that you are, so if rumors start about that too, it wasn't me! I'm going to keep this secret! Of course, if everyone already knows, then it's not really a secret, it's just gossip between two people."
"And it had better stay between those two people, Erasa. Or else!" Videl yelled. She hurried into the main hall of school. Her life had gone from perfect to a living hell. 'This is just not fair. And if my father wasn't famous, then nobody would even care that Gohan and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. Being famous makes all eyes turn to you, even when all you want to do is disappear away from the world.'
"Hey," came a familiar voice from over her shoulder. Videl sighed and banged her head on her locker door. "Hi," she mumbled.
Gohan turned her around to face him. "Is everything all right?"
Videl leaned again her locker and sighed, shaking her head. "The whole stupid school knows."
Gohan was puzzled. "What does everyone in school know?"
Videl ran her hand through her hair, which she hadn't had time to put up. "The whole school knows about us," she said in a softer, lower voice. "I came to school and Erasa asked me why I didn't tell her. It seems my dearest neighbor, Clinton, saw us in the garden yesterday, and then he heard me talking to my father this morning."
"What were you talking to your father about?" Gohan asked.
Videl knew that starting then, she was going to have to start talking about things with Gohan that she hadn't before and she would have to trust him even more than she already did. But at that moment in her life, Videl didn't want Gohan to know about the problems she was having with her father. As a matter of fact, Videl didn't want anyone to know about the issues she had with her father. Just the thought of her classmates knowing about her private life at home was enough to make her crazy. And then came the whole new deal with Gohan. That was going to be a little harder to hide from everyone, seeing as how almost everyone already knew. 'I'm going to have to have a nice, little chat with Clinton at lunch about these little rumors.' Once Clinton told everyone about the incident with her father, she feared that reporters were going to be around every corner, trying to get the 411 in a live interview. If Videl thought her life was hell then, she couldn't imagine how it would become.
"We just don't see eye to eye sometimes and he was just a little upset with me this morning. It wasn't anything to worry about." Videl didn't like lying to Gohan - she didn't like lying at all, but she preferred to lie, rather than have her whole life being shared on national TV.
Gohan looked at her softly, as if he was going to say something, but then he must have changed his mind. "Well, I guess I'll see you after class."
Videl slammed her locker door closed. "In case you've forgotten, we have the same homeroom class, Gohan. You'll see me before class, during class, and after class. You're stuck with me for a while."
Gohan shrugged. "I guess you're right."
Videl sighed and shook her head. 'Things are going to be very different. I can already feel it.'
++++++++++
Right after her fourth class, Videl hurried out into the courtyard for lunch. She found Clinton easily, talking to some of his brainiac friends. Videl tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, smiling, until he saw her. As soon as his eyes caught hers, his smiled turned to a frown and he started to look a little uncomfortable. "Vi-Videl. How, um, nice to see you. It's such a lovely day out today, isn't it?"
Videl grabbed his shirt. "We so need to talk, Clinton." With those words, Videl dragged him over behind the school building. Videl tried to stay calm, but it wasn't easy. She just wasn't the calm type of person. "Where do you think you get off telling everybody about my personal life?" she hissed at him, getting in his face. Clinton stood up straight, but he was still at least two inches shorter than Videl. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "No need to get angry, Videl. When you and Gohan are kissing in your family's big garden, one can't help but notice."
"Clinton, you were spying on me! You wouldn't have known if you haven't been looking over the fence into the garden! Why do you think we put that stupid fence up? To keep people like you from looking into the garden!"
"Well, actually I wasn't exactly planning on spying on you. You see, I was really using my telescope to study the constellations for the Science Club's annual fair, but I noticed out of the corner of my eye from my balcony you and Gohan going at it in the garden."
Videl's face burned she was blushing so hard. "We weren't going at anything, Clinton! You'd better stop saying that were we Frenching, because we weren't! Just stay out of my personal life or you're asking for it!"
Clinton actually smiled, making Videl want to slam her fist into his face and break his dorky looking glasses. "Asking for what? If you even try to harm me, I'll tell everyone about your father and how he didn't save the world. Then, he won't have any control over anything anymore and I won't have to worry about all the reporters in my yard, trying to videotape your father."
Videl gasped. "You little RAT! You heard that?"
Clinton nodded and then smiled again. "Hi, Gohan," he said.
Videl spun around and about three feet away from her, Gohan was just standing there. Clinton tried to dash off as Videl tried desperately to find something to say, but Videl grabbed him by his shirt to keep him from running away. 'I'm not going to let the little, dorky, rat get the best of me. No sir, no way.' "You try messing with my family affairs, and I swear to God that I will bring pain to your whole skeletal frame!" Videl hissed and then let him go.
Now all she had to worry about was Gohan. Somehow, she feared that explaining this to Gohan was going to be a little harder. She walked over to him slowly. "How much of that did you hear?" she asked him softly.
"Enough," he said stiffly.
"Enough for what?"
"Enough to know that you lied to me."
Videl was shocked. "I didn't lie to you! I would never lie to you. Well, okay that might be a lie, but I would only lie to you if it was really important and a true secret."
"You shouldn't have any secrets from me, Videl. You should trust me enough."
Videl crossed her arms across her arms. "Okay, that is not fair. That whole secrets' road is a two-way road, buddy. It's not like you don't have secrets from me. The point is, I didn't lie to you, Gohan."
"You said that this whole deal was nothing to worry about. Your father's whole fraud case is on the line and you call that nothing to worry about? If people found out about that, Videl, you're whole life could be ruined."
"Listen, Gohan, I don't need you to be lecturing me on what to worry about. I mean, I have a lot of other, more important, things on my mind right now than the whole deal with my father. Clinton may be a little scum, but he's lived next door to us since we moved in and I know him well enough to know that he's not going to tell anyone about my father's little secret. And, by the way, Gohan, you don't need to be worrying about my issues. I'm a big girl now. I don't need to whole city trying to take care of me and to protect me. I'm going to be fine all on my own, without your help or anyone else's."
"Videl, I'm not saying that you need anyone's help. All I'm suggesting is that you might want a little assistance in this case because it seems like it's just a tad bit over your head. And I'm not trying to make you feel bad or get you angry, but this is a very serious issue. I would like to help you, but if you don't want my help, I will withdraw my offer."
Videl felt like screaming at him. "Gohan, just . . . I don't know! Just go away for now. I can't handle all this at once!" Videl stormed off and Gohan watched her retreating back. 'What's going on with you, Videl? Was it something I said?'
After all his classes for the day, Gohan wondered around the halls of the school, trying to find Videl. He spotted her by her locker. He hurried over to her. Videl had her face in her locker and her shoulders were shaking. Gohan walked up behind her and touched her shoulder softly. Videl turned around to face him, and Gohan noticed that she had been crying. 'What's going on here?' Gohan wiped a tear away with his forefinger. "Do you care you tell me why you're upset? Maybe something that someone said or did?"
Videl smiled softly. "It's nothing very important. You don't even need to worry about it, Gohan. I'll be fine. It's just been a very rough day and I have a feeling that tomorrow is only going to get worse. But I'll be fine."
"Videl," Gohan started, not knowing what to say, "why won't you tell me what's bothering you? I don't like seeing you upset like this."
"Gohan," she said, closing her locker door and turning around back around to face him, "Some things are just a little too hard to explain. I wish you wouldn't worry about me. I'm going to be just fine. Look, I wish I could stand here and talk to you longer, but I'm afraid I have to get home."
Gohan watched as Videl's slender frame disappeared into the mob of students leaving to go home. Gohan quickly flew home, where Trunks and Gohan were playing tag out front. As soon as they saw Gohan, Goten flew straight towards him and threw his skinny little arms around Gohan's arm. At the same time, Trunks flew up and slapped Goten on the shoulder. "You're it!" Trunks shouted triumphantly.
"No! It doesn't count because Gohan's base and I'm touching Gohan's arm, so I'm on base. You are still it!" Goten said, stinking out his tongue.
"Only one little problem, there," Trunks said. "There isn't a base today! You're it!"
Goten let go of Gohan and powered up into a Super Saiyan. "That isn't fair, Trunks! I'm going to get you!"
Trunks pulled down the bottom of his eyelid and stuck out his tongue at his best friend. "Come and get me, slow poke!" Trunks yelled and powered up to a Super Saiyan also.
Gohan sighed and headed into the house, where Chi-Chi was running around the kitchen like a mad man. Gohan laughed out loud when he saw his father in one of his mother's aprons, trying to help get dinner fixed. Chi-Chi kept picking up the frying pan in a threatening way and Goku would laugh nervously and apologize for whatever he had done that time.
As Gohan walked into the kitchen, his mother screamed as a thick cloud of flour covered the kitchen, leaving the three family members coughing. As soon as they could see, Chi-Chi glared at Goku. Goku smiled and threw his arm behind his head. "I guess I don't know my own strength. Sorry, Chi-Chi."
Chi-Chi glared at her husband. "Well, there go the cookies for dinner. If you want any food tonight, you had better get your butt over to Capsule Corp. and borrow some flour from Bulma. I am not happy with you, Goku! I don't know what possessed me into letting you help around here!"
Goku smiled and kissed her cheek. Then his placed his two fingers onto his forehead and winked, transporting himself to Capsule Corp. Gohan sighed, flour all over his school clothes and head. "Good afternoon, Mother."
Chi-Chi turned to face her eldest son. "Well, the only sane male member of this household is home! It's good to see you. Now would you please help me with this dinner? All your father managed to do was dirty up the whole kitchen. Sometimes that man just drives me crazy! Of course, he makes up for it in other ways."
Gohan nearly chocked on her tongue. "Mother! Please! Have you forgotten that I'm your son?"
Chi-Chi smiled. "You and Goten are my little reminders."
Gohan started coughing. 'I can't believe I'm having this conversation with my mother! She's my mother! I don't want to know what she and my father do! Doesn't she understand how disgusting that is?' Gohan's left eye started to twitch.
"So, Gohan, how are things going with Videl? I heard that you might be dating her. I must say, I was very upset that you didn't tell me in person. I'm your mother for Dende's sake!" She threw down the spatula and put her hands on her waist. "I understand that these things might be a little embarrassing at first, but I would like to find out my son's affairs before the news stations have it on the five o'clock news!"
Gohan almost dropped the eggs he was cracking and putting in the stirring bowl. "They said that on TV?"
Chi-Chi sighed and kneaded the dough. "Of course. We're talking about Videl, darling. Every step that child takes is on live coverage. I feel so sorry for the poor dear."
"Yeah, me too."
++++++++++
Videl woke up to a soft knocking on her balcony sliding glass door. There wasn't enough light to see, but she figured it was Gohan. "You realize that there is a front door to my house, don't you?" she asked as she slid the door open. Videl gasped, for the person at the door wasn't Gohan. "Yes, my dear Videl, I do realize that. But how am I supposed to kidnap you if your maid knows I'm here?" Videl's voice was caught in her throat. She tried to close the door, by the person stepped into the room and grabbed her arm. "Now, now, Miss Satan, don't try to escape because you know it's no use."
Videl tried to get away from her capturer, but it wasn't any use. She struggled with him for a while, but after a while, he had pinned her to the floor. He gagged her and knocked her on the head before flying off toward the hideout where he had to wait for Gohan. 'Poor little girl. She never saw it coming. Not my problem. I mean, why does Cooler have me kidnap a little girl? Why can't I just kill her instead? The whole kidnapping thing just doesn't work for me. I wonder, if I just dumped her body into the river to drown, Cooler wouldn't be too mad, would he?' The capturer froze into mid air above a great lake. 'I'm mad at the bastard anyway. He stole my lady figure. He won't care if she's dead, as long as Gohan and Goku still comply.' The capturer smiled. He quickly tied Videl's arms behind her back and then bent her legs back and tied them to her arms. 'I don't think she'll be able to escape from that. And I thought this business was going to be bad. I have to admit, I'm enjoying myself.'
Videl's eyes fluttered open and she tried not to panic when she realized that she couldn't move her arms or legs. Her capturer pulled the duck tape off her mouth. "I want you to be able to scream as you hit that freezing water. I want you to scream as loud as you can so Gohan can hear you right before you die. Ready? Scream!"
And before Videl knew what was going on, the beast let go of her and she went falling. She managed to glance under her and she noticed that she was going to fall into a large lake. No matter how scared she was, she had enough pride not to give the monster the satisfaction of screaming. But as she got closer and closer to the large body of water, her nerves got shorter and shorter. About twenty yards above the water, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "GOHAN!!!!!" Videl closed her mouth just as she hit the surface of the water. She felt like screaming her lungs out she was in so much pain. Her body hit the water in a twisted form. She felt pain in her whole body, but it was mostly in her arms and legs, which hit the water first, breaking the way for the rest of her.
The capturer laughed loudly enough for her to hear. "Hope you have a good swim!" he yelled. "It will be your last!" he laughed as he flew off.
Videl wasn't having much luck. Pain shot through her entire body, and she was running out of air. She needed to surface. She knew she had to. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't. 'Come on! This really sucks! I have to live! I won't die for that creeps satisfaction. I refuse to die! Gohan, you'd better save me.' Videl managed a little movement with her arms and legs. As soon as her head touched the surface, she gasped for air and threw her chin up. She was going to float until Gohan showed up.
Cooler's servant flew back to the hideout where the guard let him in. "I don't see the girl with you," the guard observed. "I don't know what you did, Gabster, but Cooler isn't going to be too happy."
"Well, screw Cooler. Kidnapping didn't suit me, so I killed her. And I had a damn good time doing it, too. We'll see how Cooler takes it. We don't need live bait."
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Gohan shot up straight. He knew he had been dreaming about Videl. But this dream wasn't a nice one. He remembered the way she had screamed and the way her body had hit the surface of the water. He knew he was being silly, but he was still upset about it. He quickly picked up the phone and dialed Videl's number. It rang once, twice, three times, and then the answering machine picked up. Gohan slammed down the phone. Before he could think about it, he was out the front door and flying toward Videl's house.
He reached her balcony and his heart fell when he noticed the sliding glass door was open. He went in. The bedroom door was locked and the bed wasn't made, but it was empty. "Videl?" he whispered softly, trying to ignore the feeling in his gut. He tried to stay calm and he recalled the dream. 'It can't be possible. Oh, Videl, where are you?'
++++++++++
Videl closed her eyes. She was too weak to search for Gohan's signature and teleport. She just wasn't able to. A tear ran down her cheek. 'Gohan, please come find me. I don't want to die.'
++++++++++
Gohan gasped as he felt himself being pulled away. The world seemed to swirl a little and then he was surrounded by water. He automatically started kicking for the surface. He gasped for air as he reached. Gohan shot up into the air. He pulled in his breath as he caught view of Videl floating on the surface of the water about 50 yards over. Gohan flew quickly over to her. "Gohan," she whispered, smiling. "I knew you'd find me."
Gohan picked her up out of the water. He untied her arms and legs and threw the rope into the water, She wrapped her arms around his neck and her body went limp in his arms as he quickly flew her back to his house. Chi-Chi was sitting on the couch when Gohan arrived at his house. She gasped and ran over to him when she saw Videl's condition. "Omigod! The poor dear. Quickly, Gohan get her upstairs into a bed and wrap her in blankets. I'll go put some water on the stove to boil. Go!" she ordered him.
Gohan carried Videl up the stairs and into his room that he shared with Goten. Goten was sound asleep in his bed, so Gohan was forced to put Videl in his bed. He covered her in his blankets.
Videl forced her eyes open slowly. The first thing she saw was Gohan's face. She smiled softly. She tried to talk to him, but instead she started chocking on water she had swallowed. Videl coughed and coughed until she spit out the saltwater that was in her lungs. She managed to lean over to side of the bed and throw it up on the floor, instead of on the bed. She took a deep breath. "Hi," she said weakly.
"Hi yourself," Gohan said, relieved.
Tears clouded Videl's vision. "I think I broke my leg. It hurts really bad."
Gohan helped her lay back again. He placed his hand on her forehead. "We'll have a doctor come look at it as soon as we can. Are you feeling okay? Do you have any other injuries?"
Videl smiled. "I've had better days." She loved the feeling of having him so close to her. "Thank you for saving me. I knew if I survived long enough, you'd come and find me."
Gohan nodded. His heart felt her pain. He ran his hand through her soft hair. He felt her fingers entwine with his. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. But Videl wasn't satisfied. 'I almost die and all he can do is kiss my forehead. Come on!' Videl muttered something under her breath.
"What?" Gohan asked. Videl shook her head. "Gohan?" she asked. "Yeah, Videl?"
Videl felt herself blushing. "Would you please kiss me?" Gohan was surprised by her forwardness and felt himself blushing as well. He slowly leaned down. Just as his lips were about to reach hers, a soft tap on the door was heard. Videl frowned. 'You are not getting away with that. I don't care if it is Majin Buu at the door, you still owe me a kiss.' Before Gohan could jerk up, Videl forced her head off the bed until her lips met his. Gohan was surprised, but he wasn't disappointed. Ignoring the fact that his brother was sleeping in the room and he mother was at the door, Gohan let himself be kissed. Videl rested her head back on the pillow and they kept kissing.
"This is touching, really, but Videl needs to sleep, not to make out," Chi- Chi said.
Gohan pulled away from Videl slowly and stood up to face his mother. She handed him a washcloth and a bucket of hot water. "I was going to have you do this for her, but I don't think I can trust the two of you in here with supervision. I have an eight-year-old son sleeping in the corner, thank you very much."
Chi-Chi dipped the washcloth in the water and rung it out. Then she folded it twice and placed it on Videl's forehead. Chi-Chi noticed how pale Videl's skin was and how blue Videl's lips were. "I think you might have a little frost bite."
Videl smiled. "Well, if that's all I have to worry about, I think I'll be just fine."
Chi-Chi smiled and dipped the wash cloth into the water again and placed it back on Videl's forehead. "I'll be back in a moment with some hot chocolate to help cheer you up." Chi-Chi smiled and left.
Gohan sat back down on the bed and slowly took Videl's hand in his. "I can't say that I know how bad you feel, but I do feel awful about what happened. I just wish that I could have found you faster. I didn't tell you this before, but before you pulled me into the lake, I had a nightmare and I could see everything that was happening to you. I called your house and you weren't there, so I went over. You had disappeared and I was really worried. That's when you pulled me into the lake."
Videl smiled faintly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about getting you wet. I guess I was just too weak to help your surface. And I want to thank you again for saving me, Gohan. You saved my life."
Gohan squeezed her hand softly and kissed her forehead. Videl placed a pale, clammy hand against his cheek. "Gohan . . . " she whispered and she closed her eyes and let her hand drop as she fell asleep.
"Videl," Gohan whispered back. He stood up and tucked Videl in before he headed downstairs to tell his mother to lay off the hot chocolate. But Chi-Chi was pouring it into mugs when Gohan reached the kitchen door. "Mother, Videl fell asleep."
Chi-Chi nodded and handed him a mug. "Here. Why don't you have one? I'll go wake your father up and fill him in on the recent events. Maybe he'll want the one I made for Videl . . . " She muttered something under her breath as she hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the shadows of the night.
++++++++++
Videl woke up with pain shooting through her entire body. She spit out the first words that came to mind, and they weren't exactly the nicest ones.
"What does that mean?" asked a small voice. Videl screamed softly and jerked her head to the side to see Goten laying in his bed, facing her. "Gohan says that sometimes, but I still don't know what it means. Every time I ask him, he just says something weird and tells me to pretend that I never heard him say that."
Videl smiled softly at the adorable little model of Gohan. "And he's right. Your brother is very smart."
"Thank you," came another voice from the door. Videl turned around and greeted Gohan with a wide smile. "Hey!" she said cheerfully, momentarily forgetting about the pain coursing through her body. "I was hoping to see you this morning."
Gohan smiled. "And I was hoping you were well enough for me to kick you out of my bed now," he teased. Then he caught Goten's glance. "Hey, buddy! I heard Mother calling you. She wants you to go help her make breakfast because she's still mad at Dad for yesterday's little incident."
Goten nodded and jumped out of bed, running out of the room and slamming the door behind him. Gohan walked over and sat down on the bed while Videl pulled herself painfully into a sitting position. "I missed you," she whispered softly, "and I couldn't stop thinking about you last night."
Gohan blushed slightly and took her hand in his. "Yeah . . . " He didn't know what to say. Videl squeezed his hand. "Gohan, I . . . " Videl paused and shook her head, "oh, never mind. So, what happened with your father yesterday?"
Gohan smiled and turned so that he was sitting right next to Videl. He slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest, but kept her eyes on his face to listen to the story. Gohan shook his head. "Nothing happened, really. Dad just got back from the dead and he didn't have anything to do. Mother did not want him fighting, so he decided he wanted to help out around the house. Dad tried to help Mother with dinner, but he was a little too powerful for that and he ended up breaking the flour bag so that it got all over the kitchen, my mother, Dad, and me. She was really upset and made him go get more from Bulma."
Videl smiled and closed her eyes. "I'll never let you or your father near my kitchen when . . . " she trailed off, just blushing at the thought.
"When what?" Gohan questioned.
Videl shook her head. "Nothing. I mean, it's not important." Gohan nodded. Videl looked up at him with her beautiful eyes and stared into his. "Videl . . . "
"Gohan . . . "
Gohan lowered his head and Videl craned her neck upward so that their lips touched. It felt wonderful to Videl to have Gohan with her like that. To know that nothing would be right, but things with Gohan felt perfect. When she slowly broke away from him, she rested her hands on his chest and curled her legs up under her, trying to relieve herself from pain. "Can't we just stay like this forever?" she asked Gohan.
The bedroom door opened. "I'm afraid not," came Chi-Chi's voice, "the doctor's here to have a look over Videl."
Gohan tried to scramble out of the bed, but Videl held onto him. If there was one thing she hated more than her father, it was doctors. She clutched Gohan's undershirt until her knuckles turned white. Gohan kissed her forehead and pulled away from her softly.
'Why you little terd!' Videl thought. 'Gohan, you'd better not leave me in here with a doctor!' But Gohan had already left the room and a short, plump man took his place. The little man introduced himself as Dr. Brown and started examining Videl. 'Oh, you owe me big time, Gohan. I'd better get a lot out of you if you expect me to cooperate with this, this doctor!'
++++++++++
"Well, it seems as if Miss Satan has broken her left leg. She seems to be healing fast, so a cast will not be necessary. Just make sure she stays off of it and gets plenty of sleep and rest. Have a nice day," the doctor said as he left.
Videl sank back into Gohan's soft, feather pillows. "Have a nice day," she mimicked in a sarcastic voice. "Why don't you try having a nice day with a broken leg? That guy just makes me so angry!"
Gohan smiled softly at her as he took his place, sitting on the bed. "Gohan, I don't want to rest," she told him, "I want to get better and back to normal so I can get on with my training! All this relaxing is going to weaken me and I don't want to end up with all fat and no muscle!"
"Videl," he muttered, kissing her forehead, "stop worrying. My father went to fetch something that will get you into tip top shape. So just relax until he gets back."
Gohan went to stand up, but Videl grabbed his arm. "Please don't leave me here by myself," she begged. "I'm bored out of my mind as it is. I need you to keep me company. Please?"
Gohan stared at the beauty laying there in his bed. 'Videl is sleeping in my bed. My bed! My bed; my bed; my bed. And she wants me to stay with her!'
Videl smiled softly at him and Gohan sighed. Videl inched over and Gohan sat down on the bed next to her. "You see? That wasn't so hard after all, now was it?" she asked him, cuddling up to him and resting her head on his chest.
