*~*

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. The plot is mine.

*~*

EDITING COMPLETED: 4/10/2004

*~* Chapter Five *~*

International Hercule Day: Part Two

The Parade

Goten snuck into his big brother's room the next morning with the phone in his hand. He crawled onto his bed. "I'm here, Trunks. What now?"

"Is he saying anything?"

Goten scratched his head. "Saying anything? He's asleep, dummy."

"So, STUPID! My mom said that people can talk in their sleep."

Goten stared at his brother. "Nope. He's not talking."

"Darn it! Well, wake him up. My mom wants to ask him about something. About his DATE tonight."

"Oh, right. THAT." Goten giggled.

"I've got an idea, Goten. Do you still have that whistle I gave you the other day?"

Goten pulled the whistle from around his neck. "Sure do."

"Okay. Put the phone next to his ear. Then blow as hard as you can."

"What?"

"I'm going to blow my whistle too. Just do it!"

Goten did as he was told and then blew. Really hard.

Gohan jumped up, sending the phone flying across the room. He began to wave his arms around. "Ahh! Stop screaming, Mom! I'm up!"

Goten began to laugh.

Gohan glared at his younger brother. "What are you doing?"

The younger Saiyan grabbed the phone. "Bulma wants to talk to you. About your date with Videl." He handed his brother the phone. "Are you SURE I can't go?"

"I'm sure." Gohan took the phone from his younger brother. "Hello?"

"Morning, Gohan. How are you feeling?"

"Just fine, Bulma. Thanks for asking."

"You're not nervous? Tonight's the big night . . ." she teased.

Gohan chuckled. "I've got no reason to be nervous."

"Right," said Bulma sarcastically. "Anyway, the limo will be waiting for you outside of your school at four thirty. Then you can pick up Videl, take her to dinner and then return to the school in time for the dance. How does that sound?"

"Great. I'm going to head out and see the big parade in a while. Are you going to come?"

Bulma snickered. "Why would I want to go see that glory-hungry fool celebrate himself? Why are YOU even going? You're the one who really beat Cell."

"I promised Videl I'd go to see her. She'll be in the parade."

"Oh, really? Well then, maybe I'll come to get a glance at this girl we've been talking about. Besides, I think Trunks wants to go and see the other floats they're going to have."

"How about I drop Goten off at your place on my way to the city? That way he can go with you and Trunks to see the parade."

"Sounds good."

"Alright. See you soon."

"Bye."

Gohan climbed out of his bed and stretched. His little brother grabbed his leg and began to jump up and down. "I'm going over Trunks' place?"

"Yep," replied Gohan.

The younger boy cried with delight. "Yipee! Can I stay over his place tonight? Huh? Can I?"

"Go ask mom, squirt."

Goten happily darted from the room.

Left in peace, Gohan gently took the picture of his father off of his bookcase. Dad . . . I miss you so much. I wish I'd just beaten Cell in the first place so that you wouldn't have had to stop him from blowing up. God, if I'd just LISTENED to you . . .

It was all his fault . . .

*~*

When Videl woke up, her heart was slamming in her chest. She was a bundle of nerves, but not about the parade, but the dance. In a matter of hours, she'd be going on her first date, going to her first dance . . .

Chill, Videl. You can think about that later. Right now . . . you need to get ready for the parade.

She had to find something special to wear- after all, Gohan would be there, like he'd promised. She wanted to impress him, to help take his mind off of his father's death.

Videl shuffled through the clothes in her dresser before finding something she liked. She decide on a pair of sky blue knee pants and white tank top, both of which Iria had bought for her on her birthday, hoping that she would wear them one day.

Videl put on the outfit and stared at herself in the mirror. The outfit was cute and it gave her a lot of room for movement, just in case she was needed to fight crime during the parade. A satisfied smiled lit her face until her gaze drifted up to her hair, which she'd left in it's usual two messy ponytails. Well, I might as well go all the way.

She picked up her brush and took out her two ponytails. Videl stroked her hair with the brush so many times that her dark hair began to shine. When she was satisfied with that, the braided her hair and tied the end with a blue scrunchy. She completed her new look by slipping on a pair of sneakers.

When she looked in the mirror again, she barely recognized herself.  Videl grinned to herself. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off, Son Gohan.

*~*

Gohan landed in the front yard of Capsule Corp and set his little brother down carefully on the ground. Like a bullet, he took off into the house, leaving Gohan to follow at a slower pace.

"Trunks! Trunks! TRUNKS!!! I'm here!" cried Goten as he threw open the door and entered the dome shaped house.

Vegeta appeared out of nowhere, startling both of the boys. "What the hell is all this screaming about?"

"I'm here to see TRUNKS!!" exclaimed the younger boy, unable to hide his excitement. "I wanna show him this move I just thought of and-"

"Alright! Stop your rambling. It's giving me a headache!" said Vegeta in his usual pissed-off voice.

"Oh . . . Sorry, Mr. Vegeta sir. I'll try to be quiet," muttered Goten.

"The brat you're looking for is in his room," supplied the Saiyan prince. Goten took off, shouting Trunks' name the whole way.

Vegeta turned his gaze to Gohan. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. I was just . . . leaving."

"Be gone, then, unless you're going to spar with me," Vegeta growled.

Gohan wisely left the house and flew off for the parade.

*~*

The streets of Satan City were filled with people from all around the world who'd come to see the Hercule Day parade. Gohan could barely believe that all of these people came to see Videl's father. With the parade starting in less than thirty minutes, people were lining up along Main Street, awaiting the commencement of the event.

Gohan had spent about an hour and a half before the parade began making sure that all of his arrangements for the dance were in order. His last stop was the flower shop, where he ordered a dozen roses and a vase that he planned on giving Videl.

Gohan exited the shop and almost immediately spotted Bulma, Chichi, Vegeta, Trunks and Goten standing on the side of the street, waiting for the parade to begin. He smiled as Vegeta used his big muscles and intimidating glare to open up a spot close to the street so that their view wasn't blocked by anyone or anything.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

His mother smiled at him. "Hello, Gohan."

"I wasn't expecting you to be here, Mom."

"Bulma picked me up at the last minute. We came to see your girlfriend," said Chichi slyly.

Gohan flushed. "She's NOT my girlfriend, Mom. I thought we already established that!"

Bulma chuckled, noticing Gohan's red cheeks. "Come on, Gohan. You can tell us if you like her."

"I don't! Gosh, you guys are so frustrating!" exclaimed Gohan.

Vegeta snorted. "You're telling me. I had to ride with them all the way here."

His wife gave him a look. "Well, mister, you could have flown."

He snickered. "And waste my energy? I don't think so."

Goten, who was sitting on the ground, began to wave his arms. "LOOK! There they come! Ohhh, look at the horsies!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "So easily amused."

A large band started to play as a giant float made it's way down the street.

"Wow, it looks just like the earth!" cried Goten.

"Because it's supposed to look like it, dummy," replied Trunks. "Look, there's a girl on top! I bet SHE'S Videl."

Goten yanked on his brother's pant leg. "Hey, Gohan, is that Videl? It sorta looks like her . . ."

Gohan concentrated on the young woman sitting on top of the earth float, waving at the crowd. Gohan had never seen Videl in anything other than shorts and a T-shirt, and this girl was wearing a pair of form fitting knee pants and a tank top. "I don't know . . ."

Chichi shook her head. "That CAN'T be the same girl that came over to the house. She looks more . . . feminine."

Vegeta suppressed a laugh. "The boy can't recognize his own mate."

Gohan ignored the comment and kept his gaze on the beauty on the float.

Goten bit his lower lip. He knew that smile. It was the same one she'd given him when he'd fallen into Gohan's room while they were studying. "HEY, VIDEL!!!!!! LOOK OVER HERE!!" shouted Goten.

Videl heard someone calling out her name. She gazed at the crowd and smiled when she saw little Goten jumping up and down on the side of the street. Then she saw Gohan.

He was staring at her with a dazed look on his face. It's working . . . She waved at him, and he nervously waved back.

Bulma turned to Gohan. "You didn't tell me she was so pretty!"

"Well . . . I . . ."

Chichi snorted. "She didn't dress like that when she came to our house. I clearly remember the T-shirt and the black shorts."

Gohan was speechless. Where had the old Videl gone?

*~*

Videl was tired of waving and smiling halfway through the parade. Her arm was sore and it felt like her face was frozen. She lowered her arm and relaxed the muscles in her face.

She jumped when the phone clipped onto the waistband of her pants began to ring. What could it be? And during the parade?

"Videl here. What is it?"

"Videl, the mayor and his assistants are being held hostage in the conference center. The men inside are threatening to kill him."

"I'm on my way." Videl jumped off the float and ran towards the conference center.

*~*

Goten began to whine as the floats stopped moving down the street. "What's going on? Why did everything stop?"

"I don't know, Goten," murmured his older brother. Gohan had a bad feeling . . . something big was about to go down.

To confirm his suspicions, someone in the crowd shouted, "THE MAYOR'S BEING HELD HOSTAGE IN THE CONFERENCE CENTER!"

"Videl," whispered Gohan. "She's probably gone to help. Mom . . ."

Chichi sighed. "I understand. Just go. And BE CAREFUL!!"

Goten watched as his older brother ran off through the crowd. "Trunks . . . my brother's gonna save the day. Wanna go watch?"

"Alright!" The two boys jumped up and followed Gohan.

Bulma groaned. "We might as well follow them. They might get in the way." The adults quickly went after the two eager Saiyans.

*~*

When Videl arrived on the scene, the police informed her of the situation. There was a total of seven hostages being held on the top floor of the building and two thugs inside. Videl thanked them and rushed inside.

She took the stairs up to the sixth floor, careful not to make a sound. She then crept down the dark hallway until she heard the deep voices of two men.

"This city doesn't listen to the needs of its people!" cried one of them. "Maybe this will open their eyes!"

"Yeah. Instead of spending money on that damn parade, they should be improving the streets and schools! We're here to make a statement."

Videl used their voices to find the men. She peeked into the room where they were and spotted the hostages.

One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . six . . . Where's the seventh? Were the police misinformed? She shook her head. Never mind that. I'm going to take down those two men.

With that thought, she entered the room, ready for battle.

Meanwhile, Gohan was just arriving at the conference hall. He looked around for any signs of Videl. She's probably already inside. And with all these people here, I can't become Saiyaman . . . Darn it!

"Gohan! Gohan!"

He turned around to see Erasa running up to him, dragging Sharpner behind her.  She looked frantic, and Gohan knew that something had gone wrong.  "Videl's already inside," said Erasa. "But . . . the police just learned that there's a bomb inside the building. And Videl doesn't know."

Gohan's heart stopped. "Damn!"

Sharpner crossed his arms over his chest. "There's nothing that we can do now. Videl can take care of herself."

Gohan was engaged in an internal war. Did he go inside the building as himself? Should he go at all?

Gohan then made up his mind. He handed Erasa his bag, then ran past the police barricades and into the building, ignoring the shouts of the policemen and his friends. He quickened his speed when he got inside.

On the sixth floor of the conference hall, Videl, having taken down the crooks, began to untie and un-gag the hostages.

But she didn't notice the hand of one of the men had moved. "Then we'll all go down," he mumbled softly and pressed the button on the detonator.

When she'd released all of the hostages, a woman turned to her. "They took my little girl! I-I don't know where they put her. Please, you HAVE to find her!"

Before Videl could reply, Gohan burst into the room. "You all have to get out of here! There's a bomb in the building!" he exclaimed.

"Gohan? What are you doing here?"

"There's no time for that. There's a bomb in here and-"

One of the crooks spoke up. "The boy's right. And it's already begun the countdown. You've got five minutes, people, before you're all blown to bits."

Videl let out a growl and kicked the man in his face, silencing him. "I should leave you two here, but . . ." She and another man picked up the men and headed for the door.

"MY DAUGHTER! SHE'S STILL IN HERE!" cried the frantic mother.

Videl swore. "Now what, Gohan?"

"You get them out. I'll find the little girl."

"But-"

"GO!!" He shoved her out of the room. "And go fast!"

Damn it, Gohan. You better know what you're doing . . . Videl and the others took off.

Gohan listened for the cries of a child. Nothing. He softly swore. "Hey, is anyone here! Can you here me?"

Nothing.

The little girl could be anywhere in the building. How was he ever going to find her in time?

Suddenly, Gohan's sharp ears picked up the sound of beeping. Maybe, if I'm lucky . . .

He followed the beeping to a room. The door was locked. Gohan kicked it in and swiftly entered the room.

A frightened little girl was tied up and gagged . . . next to the ticking bomb. Gohan quickly untied the girl and took the handkerchief from her mouth.

"I want my mommy!" she cried, clutching onto Gohan's shirt.

He glanced at the bomb. Twenty seconds and counting. He'd never be able to make out of the building before time ran out on foot, if he flew, then he'd be seen . . . which left . . .

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five . . .

I've been meaning to try this out . . .

Four, three, two . . .

Gohan placed two fingers on his forehead and-

*~* Meanwhile, back outside *~*

Videl spotted Chichi and Goten standing just outside the police barricade with worried looks on their faces. She went up to them.

"Videl . . . did Gohan go in there?" asked Chichi.

She nodded. "We might want to step back. A bomb is about to go off."

The blue haired woman next to them gasped. "A bomb? And Gohan's still in there?"

"Yes. He went to find a little girl . . ." Videl drifted off. Her heart was pounding as she kept her gaze on the entrance to the building. "Come on, Gohan . . . where are you?"

A sudden explosion shook the ground as the building blew up, debris shooting out towards the crowd. Vegeta stepped forward and raised his power level a bit so that the debris fell harmlessly in front of them.

When everything settled down a bit, Videl stared up in horror at the burning building. "GOHAN!! GOHAN!!" she cried out. Videl tried to run towards the building when a strong hand grabbed her arm.

She looked up at the muscled man that was with Chichi.

"He'll be fine," said the man, his voice very calm. "Trust me."

The man let go of her arm and Videl stepped back.

Trunks, who'd grabbed onto his mother's leg, stared in shock. Where was Gohan? He looked up to him so much . . . after all, he'd defeated Cell at just eleven. Could he actually be . . .?

Goten glared at his friend, knowing what he was thinking. "My brother is stronger than that, Trunks. A little explosion wouldn't even put a dent in him."

No one said anything for a while until . . .

Videl gasped. Gohan, with a tiny girl in his arms, came from around the back of the building without a scratch on him. He handed the girl over to the police.

Videl ran forward and this time no one tried to stop her. She pulled Gohan into a big hug. "I thought you were dead! You scared me!"

"Uh . . . Videl! You're choking me!" he gasped out.

She released him and punched him in the stomach. Gohan winced. "What was that for?"

"For being stupid!! For putting yourself in danger by going inside that building!!! What the hell were you thinking?!! You could have been killed!!!"

Gohan looked around. People were beginning to stare. "Gosh, Videl. Calm down. I'm fine and I saved your life and the lives of the others. If it weren't for me, you would have never known that bomb was in there until it was too late!"

She glared at him. "Fine. You're right about that. But don't try anything stupid like that again."

"Okay. I won't," he said, a tiny smile on his face.

Videl looked him over. "How did you get out? And without a scratch?"

"I . . . uh . . . went out the back way! Yeah! It was a lot shorter than the front!"

She rolled her eyes. "Right. Let's go talk to your mom. I'm sure she's worried."

The two went over to Chichi and the others. Gohan's mother pulled him into a tight embrace as Trunks and Goten were jumping up and down, screaming, "Gohan saved the day! Gohan saved the day!"

Videl went off to speak to the police and check up on the little girl. Vegeta turned to Gohan. "How'd you really get out of there?"

Gohan grinned. "Instant Transmission."

Bulma raised an eyebrow. "I thought that Goku was the only one who could do that."

"I've been working on my own version of it for a while. It's not that hard to learn," replied Gohan.

Goten hopped onto his brother's back. "You saved the day without being Saiyaman! You rock!"

Gohan chuckled. "Thanks."

*~*

"LOOK AT THIS!!! IT'S ALL IN THE PAPERS!! IT'S ON THE NEWS CHANNELS!! IT'S EVEN ON THE DAMN INTERNET!!! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY?!!"

Videl stared at her enraged father. "I have NO idea what you're talking about."

Hercule tossed a newspaper onto the table in front of them. "Imagine my surprise when I asked for today's paper and saw THIS on the front page. 'Satan Videl's New Love Interest'?!"

Videl picked up the paper. "Holy . . ." The newspaper had printed a picture of her hugging Gohan outside of the conference hall. "Look, Dad . . . I thought that he was dead. You see, he went into the building and-"

"I read the damn article Videl. I know what happened. Is he your boyfriend?"

"No."

"So then what's this about you two going to the school dance together?"

Videl's eyes widened. How did they find out about that? "Our names came out of the draw box, Dad. We have to go. And besides, it was YOUR idea to have the stupid drawing anyway!"

"I'm going to do a background check on him before you two go to this dance tonight. This weakling could be some sort of pervert or something."

Videl rolled her eyes. "Since when have you cared what I do or who I'm friends with?"

"Young lady, this all affects me! I-"

"EXACTLY! Everything has to be about you, Dad! You never asked me if I wanted to move into this mansion, if I wanted to change school districts, if I wanted to live with Mom, or-"

Hercule slammed his palms on the desk. "I'm THIS close to not letting you go to the dance! Now shut your mouth!"

Videl winced and forced back tears, her hands formed fists at her sides. Her father was being curler than usual, and she knew why. "You've been drinking again, haven't you?"

"I have not!"

"Don't lie to me. I can smell the damn alcohol on your breath!"

Her father looked furious. "What did I say? I did NOT have anything to drink."

"Whatever." She turned to leave.

"And your curfew is ten."

"But the dance doesn't end till one!"

"Do you want the curfew to be nine?"

She sighed in defeat. "No sir."

"That's what I thought. Now get out of here."

Videl fled from her father's study and up to her room. She collapsed onto her bed and began to sob. [2]

I hate him . . . I wish that Mom had at least tried to get custody of me when they divorced. But I guess that she didn't want to be tied down with a kid.

Videl sat up when the phone rang. She picked it up. "H-hello?"

On the other end, Gohan frowned. He could tell that something was wrong with her. "This is Gohan. Are you okay Videl?"

"I . . ." She wanted to say yes, or to tell him to mind his own business, but she really needed someone to talk to. "No. I had a fight with my Dad."

"Oh, no. He didn't HIT you, did he?" asked Gohan, anger in his voice. "If he did-"

"No! He didn't lay a hand on me. He's just becoming harder and harder to ignore. And he w-was d-drinking again . . ."

"Gosh . . . Is there something I can do? Do you want to cancel the dance thing or-"

"No way. It'll be a chance for me to get away from my problems for a little while. How about you? How are you holding up?"

Gohan sighed. "Just fine, I guess. I try not to think about what happened to my father, but the memories continue to haunt me."

"It sounds like a night out will do both of us some good," she replied. "I'm really looking forward to tonight, Gohan."

"So am I."

"You're a great guy, Gohan. I'm glad that you're my friend."

"And I'm glad that you're MY friend Videl. I'll make sure you have a wonderful time."

Videl smiled. "I'm sure you will."

When she hung up, Videl felt a whole lot better. She looked at her clock. Three thirteen. She picked up the phone again and punched a few numbers. "Erasa, I just bought this dress for tonight and . . ."

TBC . . .

Next Chapter: Gohan and Videl go out on their big date. Dinner, dancing and fighting crime . . . how romantic!