Hi, everyone! Like I promised, here is a new chapter! This is where it starts to sound like the "Parent Trap."
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the "Parent Trap" plot line.
Chapter Six
Gohan sighed and finally put his book down after his sixth attempt to read it. It was killing him. This new feeling was practically tearing him apart. And the worst thing was that he didn't even know what he was feeling.
Was it sadness? Anger? Guilt? No, it couldn't be any of those things. He had felt all of them before. In fact, they were probably the closest friends he had. He was restless now. He needed to know why he was feeling this way. He needed a name for this new emotion; he didn't know why. You could say it was because Gohan liked to know the names of his enemies.
Then he had it. As if a bright light of recognition flashed before his eyes, he suddenly knew what he was feeling.
Loneliness.
Yes, that was it. He looked beside him at Freda, who was sleeping comfortably on their queen sized bed at the hotel. 'How strange,' he thought, looking at his fiancé, 'I'm engaged, and yet I've never felt so alone in my entire life.'
He sighed again. All his life he has been surrounded by friends and family. Not once did he ever feel alone. And then after Videl left… well, Gohan was too depressed to feel much of anything.
The phone rang, startling Gohan out of his reverie. He picked up the phone and answered it.
"Trunks, you better not be lying to me. If this is one of your pranks-"
"Videl, c'mon. This is Trunks you're talking to. I'm thirteen now. I don't do pranks anymore."
Videl was just leaving for work when she got a call on her cell phone. It was Trunks, calling to say that there was going to be a get together in Central Park. At night. In Central Park.
"No, you're right. They aren't pranks anymore. It's sophisticated entertainment. Trunks, do you know how many weirdoes are out there?" Videl said, trying to avoid a meeting between her and Gohan.
"Tsk, tsk. Honestly, Videl, don't remember any of your in-laws? Or have you been gone so long you have forgotten what they could do?" Trunks teased. He baited. He hooked. Now he just needed to reel her in. (A/N: LoL, to be honest with you, I don't think that's the real saying. If you know the real one, let me know.)
Videl was about to glare, but then remembered that Trunks couldn't see her. "Ok, but if I find out you set me up, I'm coming after you personally. This sounds really fishy, Trunks. I don't want to be a victim of your sophisticated entertainment."
She heard Trunks snort on the other end, "Please, like you have anything better to do." His tone grew more serious, "Please, Videl. For me?"
Videl thought about it. He was right. What else did she have to do tonight? "Alright, fine. What time should I be there and where do I meet you?"
Videl almost growled in anger as she looked left and right. Then she remembered she wasn't Vegeta, and decided not to growl.
There she was. Sitting on a bench in Central Park at 7:30, and she didn't see anyone she knew coming to greet her.
'Great,' she thought, 'Stupid Trunks! I can't believe I fell for it! Where is everyone? They were supposed to be here a half hour ago!'
She was just about to leave when she heard a familiar voice say, "Videl?"
Videl looked up and saw Gohan. "Gohan?" She cringed when she heard her voice squeak. She cleared her throat before continuing, "What are you doing here?"
Gohan looked at his watch, trying to disguise his shock and happiness. "Well, I was supposed to meet Goten here, and we're supposed to go out and do something…" (A/N: I know, weird spot for them to figure out what to do, eh?)
"Trunks told me I was supposed to meet everyone here for a-" She stopped and realization donned upon her. So he did pull a prank on her! That little monkey! He lied to her!
':Not really. He did say there was going to be a get together. He didn't necessarily say with whom:'
'Damn it!'
So, this was their plan all along. They would set Videl and Gohan up, making them think they were meeting other people when in fact they were meeting each other, and each other only.
"Gohan, I believe we have been suckered," Videl said with a short laugh.
Gohan, too, saw the light and chuckled as he sat down next to Videl. "You got to admit though, they're a clever pair of kids."
Videl just nodded and they sat in silence, not really knowing what to do next. Videl sighed and looked up at the sky, wishing for once she could see the moon. Or the stars for that matter.
"You know, one of the things I do miss about home is seeing all the stars."
Gohan looked at Videl, who was still searching for a sliver of a twinkle in the sky. (A/N: Oh, yeah, did I tell you? I did go to NYC a year ago. And seriously, you can't see any stars!)
When Gohan looked at her, he felt a sense of peace and tranquility overcome his sensation of loneliness. 'So this is what I've been missing. Videl.'
Without thinking, Gohan said, "I dunno, Vi, 'suckered' is kind of a harsh word."
Videl looked at him quizzically and felt shivers when she looked at him. There was so much warmth and gentleness in his eyes, she completely forgot what happened the past years and why they were in this position in the first place. Gohan lifted a large hand and cradled the back of her neck with it, leaning in so close she could feel his breath on her lips.
'Videl! C'mon snap out of it!' Her mind was telling her, though her heart was trying to force it away, 'Don't you remember, Videl? That woman he was with! Who was she? And why was she holding hands with Gohan?'
In the blink of an eye, Videl came back to reality and asked, "Gohan, who was that woman you were with?"
Then Gohan followed her trail back to the real world shortly after. Maybe later, if Gohan didn't screw it up, they can go back to that fairy tale moment and live like they were supposed to.
But right now, Gohan knew he couldn't lie to Videl, almost as much as he knew that they could never gain that fairy tale moment back again if he kept living like this. Gohan sighed and moved away from Videl. "She… is my fiancée."
He waited. He waited for the explosion, for the earthquake, for the volcanic eruption. He waited for any sign from Videl that said "Leave, before I kill you."
But it never came.
He reluctantly looked at his ex-wife and found something worse than any natural disaster.
He saw her cry.
She wasn't sobbing, there weren't even flowing tears. It was just one solitary tear that trickled ever so slowly down her cheek that made him feel as if he was stabbed in the heart.
"And you were about to kiss me?" she said softly, "You're engaged and you were about to kiss me?" Her voice grew louder. She stood up with her back to him, "All these years, Gohan, I have never felt so much regret for what I did. You have no idea how many times I thought about running back into your arms. Now I find out that you're getting married," at this point her voice started to break, "And you were about to kiss me. It makes me wonder now, Gohan, about all the times you were late coming home from work when we were married. Were you really working, or was someone working you?"
She turned around and almost leaped five feet in the air. Gohan was standing right in front of her, holding her shoulders and was ever so close that it made Videl's heart leap five feet.
"I would never, ever do that to you Videl," he said so firmly, it erased Videl's doubts completely. His voice softened, "I loved you too much."
He looked into her eyes and saw the same loneliness he felt just a while ago. He suddenly didn't feel so alone anymore. "I think I still do."
Videl let out a small gasp before Gohan finally kissed her, silencing any last minute protests.
Then, Videl didn't feel so alone anymore either.
TBC!
Woo-hoo! Wow, that really felt good! You know, I think I started it really good, but then I think I ruined it being all "dramatic" and stuff. cringes I dunno, tell me what you think!
P.O.G.!
Bye-Z!
