Scars – Chapter 10
Gohan returned home to find that he had the house to himself. ChiChi had left a note on the kitchen table which read that she'd gone to town to get some groceries. Gohan had figured as much, ChiChi went every day to get groceries. Its was very fortunate that his family had the money from all the tournaments that his father had won, because without it they'd be eating fish morning day and night (with occasional rice on the side). Gohan grabbed a few apples out of the fridge to keep him company while he put his shoes on and went over his plan for teaching Videl the Kamehameha Wave properly.
Videl arrived about fifteen minutes after Gohan's apples were long gone. He heard her feet touch down at his doorway. He opened the door to be greeted by his best friend in her training outfit. Since Gohan had been teaching Videl, he'd given her a gi, but she didn't wear it very often. Instead, she preferred to fight in her bike shorts and a loose white t- shirt. Gohan was a little unhappy that she didn't seem to acknowledge him as her teacher, but it just wasn't like him to mention it.
Gohan greeted Videl with a grin. "So, you ready?"
Videl gave him a determined nod. "You bet, lets go!"
"Kay... well my Dad and Goten are at the lake where we usually train right now... er... so I thought maybe we'd go somewhere else. Somewhere that is already blown up... Follow me."
Gohan jumped into the air and sped off at a firm pace, Videl making a point of keeping up with him. He could fly lots faster, sure, but how rude is it to leave someone in your dust when you're trying to get them to respect you?
Gohan thought about various things that had happened on the scarred battlefield where he landed. It was the place where Frieza was slain by Mirai Trunks on the day that Goku returned from Yadrat. He remembered it well. The strange purple-haired teenager had given him the longest, saddest look he'd ever received from anybody. Ever since that day, Gohan had wondered on and off what it was that was so awful in Trunks' world. He knew about the androids and all the destruction they'd caused... he figured that actually living through such a thing was a hundred times more damaging than hearing about it.
That was also the first time Gohan had seen his father since his transformation into a super saiyajin on the planet Namek. He vividly recalled the way Goku had demonstrated his Instant Transmission technique, and he also remembered the dinner that he, his mom, and his dad had shared later that day. Everything had been good, then, even with the threat of the androids looming in the distance.
Gohan pushed his memories from his mind when Videl's hand touched his shoulder. He'd been floating quietly over the torn earth, caught in his thoughts.
"Hey wake up Gohan... looks like someone's battled here before..."
"Yeah... a lot of stuff happened here. Lots of different memories. Well, lets get down to business... come on."
Videl reminded herself that Gohan seemed to attach sentiment to everything. In his room, which looked tidy on the outside, was a whole slew of crap that Videl thought he should throw out, but whenever she started picking things up and frowning at them, he'd snatch them from her hands and explain briefly why each item was significant. Videl always felt like shaking her head and smiling at him when he did this, as it reminded her of how strongly Gohan felt about everything. She thought that someone walking around feeling so much was probably like a raw wound a lot of the time. That was the reason she avoided being so... girly.
She hopped to the dirt and began to do some stretches while Gohan mirrored her moves. They faced one another, and Gohan launched into his explanation.
"Ok Videl, to do a Kamehameha, you have to focus a large amount of ki into your hands, then launch it at a target. Its kind of like shooting a ki blast, except its stronger, and more difficult to hold. It takes a lot of concentration to focus your energy on a single point for more than a few seconds. First, you need to learn the moves, and when you have that down, I'll help you focus to form the blast. Sound good?"
"Yeah... lead on Sensei." Videl gave Gohan a cheesy salute and prepared to follow his movements.
Gohan spread his legs and demonstrated the correct way to position one's hands when performing the attack. Videl followed him, listening to the way he incorporated the words into his movements. Each syllable matched up with a movement; it seemed simple enough.
"Good. Now, I'll show you with the energy."
Gohan summoned a bit of ki and fell into the familiar movements. The energy collected in his palms in the form of a glowing white ball and he released it, destroying a rock that hadn't already been blown to bits in a previous battle.
"Now, do you think you can do that?" He asked his friend, facing her so he could help her out.
"Of course I can, you just watch."
Videl powered up so that she'd have some energy. She was already quite good with firing normal ki attacks, this just seemed like a fancy one that looked cooler. She slid through the movements, her energy pooling where her palms directed it. She fired the blast at a rock and watched, delighted, as it exploded into a thousand bits of rubble. She grinned and crossed her arms.
"How was that? Pretty good, huh."
"Yeah that was really good Videl! Great job! Now do you want to try doing one with more energy? Try it like this."
Gohan demonstrated the attack again, pushing his wave forwards and continuing to pump it full of power until a much larger target (an entire cliff) exploded, leaving a cloud of dust rolling over both fighters. Videl whistled and gave him a raised brow, looking at her hands.
"Gee... you really think I can do that?"
"Yep, that's the real power of the Kamehameha Wave... its more effective than lots of smaller blasts."
"Oh. Kay... so I just do what I did before... only keep using ki till it explodes the target?"
"Yes."
This time Videl summoned more power up before she started her attack. She moved through the motions and fired the blast at a cliff, like Gohan had. She pumped energy into the blast, not realizing that she was still screaming 'ha' as she did. She felt her power draining, and just before she was completely exhausted, the cliff exploded and toppled downwards, sending a plume of smoke and dust up into the air, and littering both Gohan and herself with bits of debris.
Videl panted and wiped her brow, surveying the damage with great pride. "Whew.. *pant, pant* now that was hard... I'm beat!"
Gohan moved closer and rubbed Videl's back, smiling brightly at her. There was dust on both of them, but they ignored it. "That was really good... I can't believe you're such a natural at this stuff, excellent! Now that you've learned it, finally, do you want to spar a bit with me Videl?"
The young woman gave Gohan an annoyed look. "No... I'm whipped... you'd kick my butt. Man now I'm hungry... you think there's something to eat at your house?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course there is... you got enough energy to fly home?"
"Yeah, of course! Like I need you to carry me like some kinda little kid, you're way too soft Gohan. Lets go. By the way... thanks for showing me. Its kinda cool that I'm learning all this stuff..." Videl gave Gohan a smile, her eyes bright. "Sometimes I wish I was half-saiyajin like you, so I could really spar with you. It bugs me that you always hold back."
Gohan shrugged, frowning. "You mean... you're jealous?"
"No... just curious about what its like..."
Gohan blushed, looking at his feet. "Oh... well.. uhm... I'm not sure... I've always been me. If I didn't hold back I'd hurt you... I don't want to do that Videl... you... you mean a lot to me." Gohan looked up, trying to meet Videl's eyes. She evaded his stare, shifting.
"Yeah... I know Gohan. I didn't mean it like that. I meant I want to be strong like you."
"I know you meant that. But you're perfect the way you are Vidi, you know? If you changed then you wouldn't be you."
Videl was getting the distinct sense that Gohan was trying to tell her something. She frowned at him, catching his deep stare. "Son Gohan, are you trying to tell me something?"
Gohan blushed horribly, his face looking guilty. "No..."
Videl punched him in the shoulder. "You're a horrible liar... come on, lets get to your place before I die from starvation.
Gohan saw this as a loophole to escape a rather embarrassing situation. "Hey, isn't that supposed to be my line?"
"I'm borrowing it."
They jumped up and flew back to the mountains, where they shared lunch over the well-loved kitchen table.
Gohan returned home to find that he had the house to himself. ChiChi had left a note on the kitchen table which read that she'd gone to town to get some groceries. Gohan had figured as much, ChiChi went every day to get groceries. Its was very fortunate that his family had the money from all the tournaments that his father had won, because without it they'd be eating fish morning day and night (with occasional rice on the side). Gohan grabbed a few apples out of the fridge to keep him company while he put his shoes on and went over his plan for teaching Videl the Kamehameha Wave properly.
Videl arrived about fifteen minutes after Gohan's apples were long gone. He heard her feet touch down at his doorway. He opened the door to be greeted by his best friend in her training outfit. Since Gohan had been teaching Videl, he'd given her a gi, but she didn't wear it very often. Instead, she preferred to fight in her bike shorts and a loose white t- shirt. Gohan was a little unhappy that she didn't seem to acknowledge him as her teacher, but it just wasn't like him to mention it.
Gohan greeted Videl with a grin. "So, you ready?"
Videl gave him a determined nod. "You bet, lets go!"
"Kay... well my Dad and Goten are at the lake where we usually train right now... er... so I thought maybe we'd go somewhere else. Somewhere that is already blown up... Follow me."
Gohan jumped into the air and sped off at a firm pace, Videl making a point of keeping up with him. He could fly lots faster, sure, but how rude is it to leave someone in your dust when you're trying to get them to respect you?
Gohan thought about various things that had happened on the scarred battlefield where he landed. It was the place where Frieza was slain by Mirai Trunks on the day that Goku returned from Yadrat. He remembered it well. The strange purple-haired teenager had given him the longest, saddest look he'd ever received from anybody. Ever since that day, Gohan had wondered on and off what it was that was so awful in Trunks' world. He knew about the androids and all the destruction they'd caused... he figured that actually living through such a thing was a hundred times more damaging than hearing about it.
That was also the first time Gohan had seen his father since his transformation into a super saiyajin on the planet Namek. He vividly recalled the way Goku had demonstrated his Instant Transmission technique, and he also remembered the dinner that he, his mom, and his dad had shared later that day. Everything had been good, then, even with the threat of the androids looming in the distance.
Gohan pushed his memories from his mind when Videl's hand touched his shoulder. He'd been floating quietly over the torn earth, caught in his thoughts.
"Hey wake up Gohan... looks like someone's battled here before..."
"Yeah... a lot of stuff happened here. Lots of different memories. Well, lets get down to business... come on."
Videl reminded herself that Gohan seemed to attach sentiment to everything. In his room, which looked tidy on the outside, was a whole slew of crap that Videl thought he should throw out, but whenever she started picking things up and frowning at them, he'd snatch them from her hands and explain briefly why each item was significant. Videl always felt like shaking her head and smiling at him when he did this, as it reminded her of how strongly Gohan felt about everything. She thought that someone walking around feeling so much was probably like a raw wound a lot of the time. That was the reason she avoided being so... girly.
She hopped to the dirt and began to do some stretches while Gohan mirrored her moves. They faced one another, and Gohan launched into his explanation.
"Ok Videl, to do a Kamehameha, you have to focus a large amount of ki into your hands, then launch it at a target. Its kind of like shooting a ki blast, except its stronger, and more difficult to hold. It takes a lot of concentration to focus your energy on a single point for more than a few seconds. First, you need to learn the moves, and when you have that down, I'll help you focus to form the blast. Sound good?"
"Yeah... lead on Sensei." Videl gave Gohan a cheesy salute and prepared to follow his movements.
Gohan spread his legs and demonstrated the correct way to position one's hands when performing the attack. Videl followed him, listening to the way he incorporated the words into his movements. Each syllable matched up with a movement; it seemed simple enough.
"Good. Now, I'll show you with the energy."
Gohan summoned a bit of ki and fell into the familiar movements. The energy collected in his palms in the form of a glowing white ball and he released it, destroying a rock that hadn't already been blown to bits in a previous battle.
"Now, do you think you can do that?" He asked his friend, facing her so he could help her out.
"Of course I can, you just watch."
Videl powered up so that she'd have some energy. She was already quite good with firing normal ki attacks, this just seemed like a fancy one that looked cooler. She slid through the movements, her energy pooling where her palms directed it. She fired the blast at a rock and watched, delighted, as it exploded into a thousand bits of rubble. She grinned and crossed her arms.
"How was that? Pretty good, huh."
"Yeah that was really good Videl! Great job! Now do you want to try doing one with more energy? Try it like this."
Gohan demonstrated the attack again, pushing his wave forwards and continuing to pump it full of power until a much larger target (an entire cliff) exploded, leaving a cloud of dust rolling over both fighters. Videl whistled and gave him a raised brow, looking at her hands.
"Gee... you really think I can do that?"
"Yep, that's the real power of the Kamehameha Wave... its more effective than lots of smaller blasts."
"Oh. Kay... so I just do what I did before... only keep using ki till it explodes the target?"
"Yes."
This time Videl summoned more power up before she started her attack. She moved through the motions and fired the blast at a cliff, like Gohan had. She pumped energy into the blast, not realizing that she was still screaming 'ha' as she did. She felt her power draining, and just before she was completely exhausted, the cliff exploded and toppled downwards, sending a plume of smoke and dust up into the air, and littering both Gohan and herself with bits of debris.
Videl panted and wiped her brow, surveying the damage with great pride. "Whew.. *pant, pant* now that was hard... I'm beat!"
Gohan moved closer and rubbed Videl's back, smiling brightly at her. There was dust on both of them, but they ignored it. "That was really good... I can't believe you're such a natural at this stuff, excellent! Now that you've learned it, finally, do you want to spar a bit with me Videl?"
The young woman gave Gohan an annoyed look. "No... I'm whipped... you'd kick my butt. Man now I'm hungry... you think there's something to eat at your house?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course there is... you got enough energy to fly home?"
"Yeah, of course! Like I need you to carry me like some kinda little kid, you're way too soft Gohan. Lets go. By the way... thanks for showing me. Its kinda cool that I'm learning all this stuff..." Videl gave Gohan a smile, her eyes bright. "Sometimes I wish I was half-saiyajin like you, so I could really spar with you. It bugs me that you always hold back."
Gohan shrugged, frowning. "You mean... you're jealous?"
"No... just curious about what its like..."
Gohan blushed, looking at his feet. "Oh... well.. uhm... I'm not sure... I've always been me. If I didn't hold back I'd hurt you... I don't want to do that Videl... you... you mean a lot to me." Gohan looked up, trying to meet Videl's eyes. She evaded his stare, shifting.
"Yeah... I know Gohan. I didn't mean it like that. I meant I want to be strong like you."
"I know you meant that. But you're perfect the way you are Vidi, you know? If you changed then you wouldn't be you."
Videl was getting the distinct sense that Gohan was trying to tell her something. She frowned at him, catching his deep stare. "Son Gohan, are you trying to tell me something?"
Gohan blushed horribly, his face looking guilty. "No..."
Videl punched him in the shoulder. "You're a horrible liar... come on, lets get to your place before I die from starvation.
Gohan saw this as a loophole to escape a rather embarrassing situation. "Hey, isn't that supposed to be my line?"
"I'm borrowing it."
They jumped up and flew back to the mountains, where they shared lunch over the well-loved kitchen table.