A/N: Don't you just love these frequent updates? Good thing I already have this story completely written out.

Gohan: Then why don't you just post it all at once?! What's with all this suspense?

Cesna: I'm a review whore, that's what.

Gohan: Kinda selfish, don't you think?

Cesna: Actually, it's because I like the effect of not having the whole story all at once. Having to wait for the upcoming chapters, having to know what happens next NOW, but not having it. It simulates the feeling of being there yourself.

Gohan: ... That was the biggest load of BS I've ever heard in my life.

Cesna: ...*cries* Oh yeah. I'm sorry, once again, for the fan characters, and I just about cried when I learned it killed the story for some of you! I promise they don't make a whole lot of appearances, and the story I have out right now is the crappy version of how they all came in. I'm in the process of creating a story to better explain each of these characters and their backgrounds. Also, I really want to know how to italicize things for ff.net... *shrugs*

************

Videl's eyes shot open at hearing a door slam. Groggily, she brought up her head to see who was in the doorway. It was a young teenager, not looking a day older than thirteen. She appeared very upset, turquoise eyes filled with held back tears. She was panting, and she came over to sit down opposite to Videl on the other side of Gohan, her spiky brown hair messy with lack of care.

"You're Videl, aren't you?" She asked. "My name is Veda,"

Videl watched the girl with curiosity. "How do you know me?" She asked. Veda didn't take her eyes off of Gohan as she replied.

"Gohan told me about you," Videl blushed lightly. "But it looks like he still has more to say," She laughed, bringing her gaze to Videl's hands intertwined with Gohan's. She blushed deeply.

"I...I..." She muttered, trying to find a way around it. "I just wanted to comfort him," She said quickly, darting her gaze away.

"Right," Veda said with a smirk, now looking at her. "Adults are all so easy to read,"

Who was this girl, and how did she know Gohan? Videl thought as she brought her gaze back at her. Veda had a soft smile on her face, one that didn't fit her previous aura.

"Do you love him?" She asked. Videl was once again put on the spot.

'What is up with kids and upfront questions?!' She thought angrily. "I..." She sputtered once again, looking at the embrace that her hands were in. "I'm not sure," She whispered.

"You might want to find out while he's still alive, he only has a twenty five percent chance of pulling through this thing," Veda told her, leaning back in her chair. Videl was aghast.

"Wha...What?" She said, barley audible. If Veda wasn't a saiyan, she would have had a hard time hearing it.

"Hard to believe, huh?" Veda laughed, allowing a tear to run down her face. "Of all the people in the world... The nice, caring strong people..."

This person had to know Gohan really well; she seemed to know the side of him Videl had been searching to furiously for. "Are you his sister?" She asked.

She shook her head. "I have a complicated relationship with him... Maybe I'll tell you about it someday," She stood up and gave a weak smile. "I'm going to go now, think about what I said,"

Videl watched Veda as she left the room. Bringing her gaze from the door to her hands intertwined with Gohan's, she began to evaluate her feelings closely. Her grip tightened. 'Do I love him?' She asked herself, bringing her head back to the edge of his bed.

***********

The time eventually came when Videl had to go to school. She was a little late, because Bulma insisted giving her a vaccination. She walked in just as the bell rang, and trudged her way to her seat, in between Erasa and Sharpener. They both noticed her odd lack of attitude today, it seemingly replaced by depression. Neither of her friends said anything until the first class ended, and Videl had neither participated nor taken notes.

"Videl, is something wrong?" Erasa asked, leaning in slightly to her best friend. She didn't respond. "Ummm, Videl?" She asked, tapping her on the shoulder. Videl's head shot towards her friend.

"What is it?" Videl asked, oddly not violent.

"Are you okay?" Erasa asked. "You aren't... Mean today,"

"Mean?" Videl asked.

"Normally, you would have bitten Erasa's head off for tapping your shoulder," Sharpener said quietly. "Is something going on at home?"

Videl started laughing. "Oh, come off it, guys! What would be going on at home, I hardly ever see my dad anymore..."

"You want to spend more time with your dad?" Erasa asked. Videl grunted, now getting frustrated.

"I am completely fine with not seeing my father all the time, Erasa,"

"Then what is it?" Sharpener asked. "It isn't like you to be sad,"

"Who said I was sad?" Videl asked, making her words sharp.

"See! Your attitude is coming back!" Erasa said in an accusing way. "Something's bothering you, I know it!"

Angry that she was so easy to read, Videl sank in her seat, feeling trapped between two people who knew her too well.

"It's nothing," She said quickly, too quickly.

"Where's Gohan?" Sharpener asked, almost in a cruel way. "He isn't sick, is he? I just saw him yesterday,"

'Oh, he's sick alright, with only a 25% chance of living at that,' Videl thought angrily, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She became consumed by thoughts of him, distressing her further, which caught Erasa's attention.

"It does have something to do with Gohan! What's wrong with him?" Erasa asked, putting a hand on Videl's back. "He isn't hurt is he?! Oh my gosh, Videl, tell me what happened!"

Videl shook her head slowly, closing her eyes, forcing back tears. "It's... Nothing..." She said adamantly.

"No way is a 'nothing' affecting you this badly! Come on, we can go talk about it somewhere in private!" She looked to Sharpener. "Do you want him to come, or do you want to talk in private?"

"Private, please,"

"Videl!" Sharpener said, but Erasa pulled her away before he could say more.

"We'll talk later," She said and escorted her away as the next teacher came in. She gave them a funny look. "Personal problems," Erasa said quickly, and the teacher nodded.

Life without love is terrible, but life without friends is impossible.

************

"Okay, Videl, we're alone... What happened to Gohan?" Erasa asked as they plopped down underneath a tree in the park. It was fairly empty in the park, the nearest person about fifty feet away. Videl sighed and didn't respond immediately. "Come on, Videl, he's my friend too!"

"Alright, fine..." She said quietly. "Gohan is very, very, VERY sick,"

"How bad is it?" Erasa asked.

"He probably won't live, that's how bad," Videl said, and then broke down into sobs. She hadn't admitted it out loud before, and she hadn't realized how terrible it sounded. Erasa went immediately to comfort Videl, drawing her close.

"Oh Videl!" Erasa said and began to cry with her. "He's such a nice guy!" She cried.

Nice guy? That didn't even cut it close, Videl thought unhappily as tears ran down her face and bled into Erasa's shirt. Did this event bring her so much more close to Gohan that Erasa still only considered him an acquaintance? Erasa befriended him before even she did, yet Videl felt like she had been friends with him forever. She clung tighter to her best friend. They stayed like that for a awhile, an embrace Videl needed for a long time, way before she even met Gohan. She lacked comfort from her friends and family, since she appeared to be so together on the outside. She only grew crueler as her insides crumbled away. 'Son Gohan... You're turning my world upside down...' She thought, but in reality, was he bringing her to life?

Were these emotions necessary to live life? Did pain really bring about happiness? She cried harder. Everything that seemed important to her in the past meant nothing now. Erasa, who was always so talkative, didn't speak. Even she could tell no amount of words could describe what Videl was going through. After a few moments of crying, she raised her head from Erasa's shoulder and looked off.

"Videl?" Erasa asked.

"It's Gohan..." She said, standing up. "...Something's wrong... I know it..."

"School, Videl..." Erasa reminded her.

"Screw school! Gohan's way more important than that!"

It was just then, seeing the look in Videl's eyes, that Erasa realized just how important Gohan was to her. 'Holy crap... What has been going on between them...?' She wondered as she stood up as well. "Okay, Videl, let's go see him,"

************

"Mom," Mirai said forcefully. Bulma had brought the laptop into the privacy of her lab, so she could work on something with the supervision of her future son. "Mom, you've been working for the past three hours, you need to take a break, and my wife is getting restless,"

"Trunks, I have to save Gohan. Do you know how badly it would hurt Goku if he were to die?"

Mirai shut up.

"Listen, you guys have a better medicine out, and I'm going to make it so the chances of his survival increase," She snapped. "There is no way I'm going to outlive the kid I've seen grow up, he has way to much life left to live,"

"I understand, but your burning out, Mom!" Mirai insisted. Bulma knew he was right, but she felt guilty about even thinking about taking a break. Gohan wasn't allowed to take a break from fighting off the disease, so why should she be so selfish as to take a break for herself? It hurt to just think about it.

"I'm going to fight this thing just as hard as he is!" She snapped. "Don't MAKE me turn this thing off!"

Mirai sighed. "You're the one who contacted ME..."

She ignored him and continued formulating a new medicine. "I wish there was a way to test this without making Gohan a guinea pig..." She murmured, growling when the molecular structure of her compound still didn't match the one Mirai had sent her. "I wish there was a way to teleport objects with these things..." Suddenly, she heard a scream. "Oh... SHIMATTA!!!" She yelled. "Trunks, that's Gohan, I have to give him more medicine..."

"Take me with you, I want to see him!" He insisted. Bulma snatched up the bottle of medicine and pocketed it.

"Fine, let's hurry!" She picked up the laptop and ran out.

"Like I can control how fast you get me there!" Mirai yelled. "Wait... Why don't I just come out there with some medicine?"

She slapped her forehead as she ran down the hallway. "Why didn't I think of that? Of course, you still have a time machine... I AM SO STUPID!" She couldn't believe in the stress of the day's events, she completely forgot about that option. She ran into Gohan's room and placed the laptop on a table, facing Gohan's bed. Gohan was howling in pain, thrashing about like an injured animal. Goku and Chi-Chi had beaten her to the room, and were already trying to calm or at the very least soothe him.

"Watch out!" Bulma screamed and filled a teaspoon with a dose of medicine. "Hold him down, Goku!"

He did so, and Bulma brought it to Gohan's lips. "Come on, Gohan... Take it!" Gohan broke free of his father's grasp, and knocked the spoon away from Bulma. She angrily watched as it hit the ground. "Goku! Can't you do any better?!"

"I was trying as hard as I could!" He said helplessly, falling to his knees beside his son. Mirai watched in horror from his screen. Chi-Chi simply cried on the sofa, feeling worthless.

"Gohan!" A female voice cried and bounded into the room, almost pushing Bulma aside. Bulma could only look on, stupified by the sudden entrance, and realized quickly it was Videl. Again.

Doing only what felt comfortable, Videl took his hands into hers. "Calm down, Bulma needs to give you this medicine, it'll help the pain..."

Even Erasa, standing in the doorway, was amazed, as Gohan seemed to hear Videl and calmed his thrashing, gritting his teeth and sweating. If Goku wasn't still so suprised at Videl's entrance, he would have made a quip along the lines of 'Wow! We should make her Gohan's nurse or something, she knows what to do better than any of us!'.

"Good... That's it... Calm down..." She said quietly. "Common, Bulma, now would be a good time,"

"Oh, right!" Bulma exclaimed, still in shock of seeing Videl barrel in. She pulled out another dose, and was this time successful in giving it to Gohan. Soon, Gohan's tense muscles relaxed, and his grip on Videl's hands loosened. Videl smiled and backed away slightly, relieved to see Gohan's expression of pain fade.

"Who's that?" Mirai suddenly asked, not recognizing Videl. She turned back, smiling at the laptop.

"I'm a good friend of his," She replied. This made eyebrows quirk. Previously, she would only introduce herself as a classmate of Gohan's.

"We've only known him a couple of months, Videl," Erasa suddenly blurted. Videl only smiled a response. She inched her gaze back to Gohan, who was in deep slumber. 'Gohan, I'll visit again today after school... But I have to go now,' She nodded. As if he could read her mind, he narrowed his eyes and shifted. 'Don't worry, it won't be long,'

"Well, I'd better be going, I've got a class to attend..." Videl said simply and walked to the door. Everyone just stared after her as she and Erasa left.

"Well... Okay," Bulma sighed and started laughing.

"That was really... Sudden," Chi-Chi said, then blinked a few times.

"And quick! In and out, how funny," Goku said, almost giggling. "Like a drive through!"

"And that is just your style, you big oaf," Chi-Chi said happily and hit him lightly on the arm.

"Speaking of which..." Goku said, rubbing his stomach. "I'm starving!!!! Let's go get some food!"

Chi-Chi and Bulma fell over anime style, sweat dropping.

***********

Videl came back that afternoon, as promised, but she didn't get as much of a response from Gohan as before. He simply lay there, which worried her. She voiced her concern to Bulma, who hesitantly hooked up machines to him to monitor his life signals, so they wouldn't have to wait until he started screaming to give him medicine. She left a little earlier that night than she normally would have.

Bulma saw Videl out of the building that night. She was about to get in her car when Bulma placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Videl..." She started. Videl blinked her large, blue eyes at her, curious. "Do you... um... I know this is a personal question... but..."

"Yeah Bulma?"

"Well, Gohan's like a son to me, so I simply just have to know... Do you love him?" She blurted out. Videl leaned on her car, crossing her arms, unsure of how to answer her.

"...I care about him a lot, I'll leave it at that," She sighed.

"Because, well, you know the odds aren't with him... And..." Bulma's voice trailed off, unsure of how to continue the conversation, or if she even wanted to. Videl smiled.

"I know it, but I have faith he'll come through," She said. "I'll make sure he will, okay?"

Bulma smiled weakly, and chuckled softly. "Of course," She said lightly. "That goof. So many people care about him..." She sighed deeply, thinking of how this disrupted so many lives. 'Son Gohan... You are so much like your dad...' Bulma thought blissfully. 'You have to pull through it too...'

"I'll come back tomorrow after school again, I think I need some sleep," Videl yawned.

"Yeah, we all need it..." Bulma said, thinking about the lack of sleep she was getting. She could almost hear Mirai's nagging voice in the back of her head. "I'll see you later, Videl,"

"Bye Ms. Bulma," She said happily and got into her car. Bulma watched as it sped off.

"...If he dies, Videl... Don't let it destroy you..."

Although, she herself didn't know how she would go on if Gohan died.