Chapter Twenty One- Shame
A man burst into the radio tower out of breath and causing a big scene. Bulma had just given the signal for takeoff a few seconds before. She tore her eyes off the liftoff to see the large man topple onto the carpeted floor in exhaustion.
"Videl!" The man gasped from the floor, "My daughter! Where is she?"
Bulma looked at the man on the floor with a questioning stare. Suddenly she could place him. His clothing was ripped and he certainly didn't resemble his usual self.
"Hercule?" Bulma said with a sudden urge to laugh and point, "What are you doing here?"
"Ruined! Running… My daughter! My beautiful Videl… Where is she?" Hercule cried groveling at Bulma's feet.
She was planning to milk it for all it was worth. But a second look at the pathetic man's face made her felt a surge of pity. Pity that Bulma didn't know she could have for him.
She raised her hand and pointed out at the ship that was disappearing into the distant sky. Hercule's face went whiter at this. He made several choking noises and toppled back onto his butt. He wrapped his arms about himself and began to pout quietly. It was the saddest thing that Bulma had ever seen.
"Bulma… Bulma?"
Bulma spun around at the sound of her future son's voice. She hit the on screen button and Mirai Trunks face zapped onto the screen along with a yawning Goku.
"Everything is A-OK!" Trunks winked at his mother's face.
Bulma let out a sigh of some relief. She took her seat in a leather chair in front off all the controls.
"That's great news. Keep in contact with me if anything changes. I want to be informed of your progress."
Trunks nodded as his other mother reminded him of everything they had discussed. Suddenly a large weeping man came up behind Bulma and looked up at Trunks with his big tear filled eyes. Trunks blinked and gulped, "Bulma… who is that?"
"Oh. Hercule wants to see Videl."
"Is she okay?" Hercule blubbered.
"What happened to him?" Goku asked snickering lightly.
"I guess everyone got mad once they found out that he didn't beat Cell and that Gohan did." Trunks said simply, "He got what he deserved in the end."
"Please… I just want to see Videl! She's all I have left. I want her back!" Hercule cried tears pouring down his face.
"Dun worry, Hercule," Goku grinned, "My son is taking perfectly good care of your daughter."
Hercule's eyes bulged out of their sockets. Goku rubbed the back of his neck apologetically,
"I mean, he is watching over her. Making sure she won't get hurt."
"Can I please just talk to her?"
Trunks looked over to Goku. Goku scratched his head in thought.
"Wait in till we get into stable conditions and I'll have her get back to you, Hercule."
With nothing more to do, Goku went back into the seating area. Mirai Trunks said he would join him as soon as he got the systems to auto pilot. Goku stumbled through the door to come face to face with Gohan.
"Hey Dad," Gohan smiled catching Goku before he fell over, "It's still a bit rocky so maybe we should take a seat."
"I'm okay," Goku said slowly catching his balance, "Trunks is trying to turn us in the right direction at the moment… It's going to be bumpy for a while. Better get used to it…"
Goku looked around as if suddenly realizing what was missing.
"Where are the girls?"
Gohan was just about to answer him when Trunk toddled up with a terrible grin of his face.
"Chichi dumped ya."
Although it was obviously not true, Goku took pretty much everything seriously. His face went a pale white and he began to stutter, "Where? Where did she dump me?"
Gohan gave Chibi Trunks a awful glare and attempted to comfort his father.
"Mom didn't dump you, Dad," Gohan explained. "Trunks is just trying to scare you."
"And he is doing a darn good job," Vegeta's drawl carried from his seat in the corner.
"Come on, Dad," Gohan snapped grabbing his father's wrist. "I'll show you they are alright. They just went to their rooms…"
Gohan had just reached the door when it slid open on its own.
There Videl stood in a black fighting gi with small silver dragon in the upper corner of her shirt. Underneath Gohan caught a glimpse of a silver shirt. Videl gave a little spin and smiled.
"How do I look?"
She had the same Dragon on the back of the gi too. Gohan was speechless.
"Cool!" Trunks smiled giving Videl a thumbs up.
"W-where did you get that?" Gohan asked in awe.
"Your mother," Videl smiled simply.
Gohan's jaw dropped to the ground.
"My mother?! When did she ever wear something like that?!"
"You make it sound like a crime," Videl pouted sticking out her bottom lip.
"It is if my mom wears it," Gohan gasped.
"Where's Chichi?!" Goku cried in anguish.
"Here I am, Goku."
Out of the shadows, Chichi arrived at Videl's side. At the sight of her, Gohan's, Goku's, and Chibi Trunks' jaws dropped. There was a thud behind them that clearly sounded as though Vegeta had fallen out of his chair.
Chichi hair was pulled back into a snug braid with some bangs on the side of her face. She wore a fighting gi much similar to Goku's except for some more girlish touches added to it. If some one didn't know better they might have thought Chichi was Gohan's age.
"Mom," Gohan was finally able to gasp.
"So… What do you think?" Chichi asked.
"Amazing," Goku stuttered, "What made you change?"
"What Vegeta said," Chichi announced. "I'm gonna prove that I don't just do laundry all day."
"Typical Onna," Vegeta snorted.
"Where did you get these clothes?" Gohan gulped.
"Where do you think?" Goku muttered finally coming to his senses, "She makes them. But I must say, this one looks better then the ones she used to wear."
"Used to…?"
"Well, those were a bit inappropriate for Gohan to see…"
"WHAT?!" Gohan shouted in disbelief.
"When you are an Amazon Princess and daughter of the Ox King certain things are require,." Chichi sighed patting Gohan gently on the shoulder.
"When were you planning on telling me all this?!" Gohan cried.
"It was on a need to know basis. You didn't need to know."
"ARGH!"
Trunks came back from the cockpit to see everyone in the room arguing. He almost fainted on the sight of Chichi. Confused, he turned to his chibi self who seemed not to be involved.
"What's going on?"
"You're asking me?" Chibi Trunks replied, "I don't know the half of what grown ups go on about."
Finally, Trunks managed to gain some ground back.
"Well, Bulma's calculations were wrong. We'll be on New Moon in just a couple of hours. And in a few minutes we'll have sight of it," Trunks explained to his crew. "Oh, Videl. Your father wishes to talk to you. Follow me."
Videl slapped her forehead and burned a bright red.
"He finds me everywhere I go! What am I going to do about these clothes? What will he say?!"
"Videl?" Hercule gulped down his tears upon seeing her arrive, "My baby! My sweetheart! My daughter! MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!"
Videl blushed lightly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mirai Trunks exit. She didn't notice Gohan enter after him he left.
"I am on a adventure, father." Videl smiled sheepishly, "I am helping out a friend."
"In space?!" Hercule cried, "I want you back down on earth right this second!"
"But father! That's impossible!"
"Then I'll come up there and make you turn that ship around…" Hercule faltered.
He began to sob heavily. Videl felt her heart sink knowing she couldn't comfort him. She had never seen her father look so frightened and alone before.
In the darkness, Gohan sat feeling just as guilty. Hercule really did love his daughter and for once he felt as though he couldn't protect her.
"Daddy…"
"You know already that I wasn't the one to defeat Cell," Hercule muttered softly. "It was a child named Gohan. I admit now. I am sorry for lying to you. I am sorry for lying to you of all people. I am sorry for lying to you and sorry for lying to your mother."
"Father, please…"
"I was so darn foolish," Hercule cried, "I thought I could get away with the scam I was pulling. Gohan didn't ever show his face again so I thought that he wouldn't care if I took his fame. And… He didn't. That son of a dog let me take his fame… and it hurt me more then helped. I led myself to believe I was actually worth something… That I was important."
"Dad! You are important! You're my father! And I lo-"
"Hercule."
Videl spun around to see Gohan emerge from the darkness. Hercule's face paled recognizing him in a instant.
"Gohan, what are you doing here?" Videl hissed.
"Hercule, you are important!" Gohan said ignoring Videl. "You gave those people out there protection. You gave them something to believe in. You gave them faith. You gave them hope."
"B-but it was a illusion… I wasn't really anything but a coward. A-a filthy st-stinking coward."
"No, it wasn't," Gohan smiled shaking his head, "You might have lied but the hope you gave was not fake. You built cities and towns. You rebuilt hope in a world which was dying."
"You could have done just the same…" Hercule said softly.
"I was eleven years old," Gohan retorted. "Hardly able to have a nation depending on me. You, on the other hand, saved me. You saved me so that I would not have the pressures of the press and the eyes of the world on me. How would that make people feel that their fate relied on me?"
"But you did save them…"
"Yes. I did," Gohan smiled, "But they don't need to worry about me as their hero. It's best that they keep you."
"That's impossible now," Videl stated, "Everyone knows you beat Cell."
"But… What they also know is that Hercule rebuilt their dying nation," Gohan pointed out. "So Hercule, maybe you should stop being hero, and be mayor… like you have been doing. At least that way you are being honest."
"I-I guess I could try…"
To Be Continued…
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