Gohan ran. And ran , and ran. And then ran a little more. It was all he could do to get her off of his troubled mind, and he felt as though he would go crazy any minute. Pretty soon his head would just explode, today he would have to see her again.
As he had walked slowly home through the bright winter morning the day after the night before, he had thought things over to great lengths. He had constantly told himself that he was doing the right thing, he didn't need a long term relationship to complicate his life. As if she would take him back anyway. Yes, he would continue as he had been doing for the last ten years or so. After the little 'chat' he had had with Videl, however, he had begun to have doubts about that as a valid lifestyle.
Could he really go on as he had done, for years to come. Maybe into his forties, even fifties, but after that? Who knew what would be in store for him them. He would be without a wife, no children to speak of, stuck in a nice apartment in the city, or maybe even back in the country where he had grown up. Is that what he really wanted?
The thought of having children brought his thought back to that night. Had they used protection? Normally he was calm and together enough to sort that sort of stuff out, but that night he had been hardly in any normal state. All night he had restrained from alcohol, and so had she, but he had still acted in an almost drunken state. Did she know whether they had used anything? He wasn't about to go and ask her whether he might have left her with an unexpected gift.
But the problem was there, and very real, even if they had used contraception. Didn't they occasionally spring a leak? He certainly hoped not, he didn't want a bucket load of saiyans running around unchecked. Even so, he was sure he hadn't got any others pregnant. She could, however, very well be walking around right now carrying his child. He groaned. Would he then have to ask her to marry him like Goten had done when he got his girl pregnant a few months ago? WOuld that be such a bad thing?
So here he was, running. The school was deserted, despite it being a Monday morning, with it being the first day back after christmas holidays, a day where the teachers and students alike mourned the lost time off, only the janitors were currently here along with himself. He had made his way here on foot, and was now jogging his way around the fields completely and utterly aimlessly. He wasn't out of breath, he never was after exercise, one of the obvious benefits of being a saiyan. He knew one thing, he would be eating a hell of a lot after this though.
Sunday, the day after, had certainly been spent that way, in his apartment, alone and feeling lonely for the first time in his life, scoffing away on the stockpiles of food that were amassed. His mother would never let him go hungry, and was constantly sending him food packages to fill his home and stomach, especially around holiday time.
He swallowed hard as he saw a car approaching the parking lot slowly. It trundled into an empty space, and a familiar figure emerged. Instead of continuing along his path around the track, he jogged over to her. Confusion was etched onto his face as he saw that she was alone. Miss Kendry normally brought Videl along with her, sparing her the journey on her own.
"Where's Videl?" He blurted out.
"Oh hi Gohan, you gave me a fright." She composed herself a little, taking far too much time to do so in Gohan's book. "Didn't you hear? She decided to take the option of training at a different school, one nearer to where she grew up, and nearer to the university. She said that she wanted to experience a few varying types of facilities. Can't blame her really. A bit sudden though, she only sorted it in the last few days."
Gohan stood with his mouth hanging open. She had left because of him, and only him. Not some story about 'varying types of facilities'. It didn't do much for his mood, he hadn't been in a terribly good one for a two weeks now, one of melancholy and despair at his actions.
"Where did she go?" He questioned quickly.
"Don't know. Even the principal doesn't know, it was up to the university that she attended. The fact that even you haven't heard the news yet should be testament to the fact that this was a shock. I really liked that girl. And I know that you did too, none of us could believe that you two seemed to be friends, and that you hadn't slept with her. I'm guessing that she was the one that you took home after the party? I was way too hammered to remember that night. All I can remember is Mr Toal dropping that wine bottle, did you see it!" She went on and on about some other bullshit. Blah blah blah was all the male heard, her ability to change subject was both intriguing and mind numbingly annoying.
Obviously somewhere in that gibberish, a 'goodbye' had been placed, because she was now walking away from him towards the main entrance, where she swiped her pass across the beam, allowing her entrance into the building.
Six months passed. Gohan turned thirty, Goten got married, and a baby was born. Hoorah. For all Gohan knew, he could be a father too, but for some odd reason, he just felt that he wasn't. Videl hadn't been pregnant when she had left. Was that a good or a bad thing? He thought back to the first time he had held his nephew. The feelings were indescribable. Chichi had told him that he would make an incredible father. Those words filled him with pride but they also stung. The only woman he could imagine being the mother to his children didn't want anything to do with him. She had moved apartment and he couldn't reach her by telephone. He had searched for her tirelessly, but to no avail. Even his ki sensing abilities hadn't helped.
Gohan hadn't met another woman for months afterwards, but then one day, in a bar near his apartment, he had started speaking to a girl as easily as he once had. She wasn't what one would call a girl though, she was actually older than he was, by almost ten years. She was thirty eight, or so she had told him at first. In truth she was closer to forty two.
But she looked incredible for her age, curves in all of the right places, long dark hair, strong blue eyes. Kind of reminded him of someone. Maybe that was why he had been so attracted to her. She looked so much like Videl it wasn't even funny.
Rosette Swan had rolled into Orange Star City on business, but had also been on the lookout for a place there, due to the relocation of her business. Incredibly, Gohan had seen her again, and then again after that. It wasn't long before she was calling what they had a 'relationship', he had even taken her to his little brother's wedding. His first long term relationship in his thirty years, what a joke.
Sometimes he would even stay overnight at her apartment, and surprisingly enough, he managed to fall asleep with her in his arms on occasion. But that wouldn't last long, he would wake up just an hour or so later with a crick in his neck and cramp in the back of his leg.
She was a bit too tall, when compared to her, and she lay her head on his neck far too high, so he had to lean his head back, resulting in the neck problems. And her weight seemed all wrong, he couldn't shift her right on top of him like he had with her, so he was unable to shift into a comfortable position. She didn't even fit into his arms correctly. Put simply, even with all of her attributes, Rosette was not Videl.
He looked to his side, and there she lay, where he had rolled her after he awoke during the night. She began to stir, and tilted her head up to him. "Morning." She said drowsily. He simply gave her a smile.
As usual, she was wide awake within record time and sat up beside him. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Andrea is coming to stay with me for a few days next week."
Ah, yes, the prodigal niece, who she never shut up about. He wondered why he was still in this relationship, absolutely everything reminded him of Videl. Not only did Rosette look the spitting image of his only love, her niece sounded exactly the same by description. Despite the numerous times he had been told, all he actually knew was that she was in her early twenties and was training to be a teacher.
"Poor girl, she's still in a bit of a state over some man." He mumbled to feign is interest in her continuing. "She loved him, but the bastard went and broke her heart." Hmm, uncanny coincidence. He was also a bastard that broke someone's heart.
"She'll arrive in two days, and I want you to meet her."
"Did you tell her about me?"
"Only that I met a wonderful man, and that I couldn't wait to introduce him to her. I value her opinion on these sorts of things, much like I valued her mother's. My sister has been gone for years now, and we are quite close, Andrea and I."
Two days later, it was late evening and Gohan was pacing back and forth in Rosette's living room, awaiting her and her niece. She had gone to pick her up from wherever she lived, where that was, Gohan didn't know. It was probably near Videl's apartment judging from current form.
His head jerked up as he heard the familiar turn of the key and chatter of voices. He heard his girlfriend telling her niece that she wouldn't tell her his name until they met.
For a second or two Gohan was in shock, Andrea could have been Videl's identical twin, she was a perfect match. Then a number of things hit him like a freight train.
Videl A Satan.
Andrea's mother had married a martial artist, Videl's father was a martial artist.
Those vibrant blue eyes that he had fallen in love with stared at him with incredulous disbelief, the long, raven black hair flowing freely around her small shoulders.
Videl had made no move to suggest that she knew who he was, and vice versa. He hoped to keep it that way for now. The two moved forward slowly but surely to each other.
"Andrea, this is Gohan." She held her hand out to shake, and Gohan took it in his own. Both of them felt a sudden lurch in their stomach at the contact. Gohan noticed the warm softness of her touch that had sent him almost into oblivion six months before, and Videl the largeness of his, and how it fitted so well to hers, almost fully enclosing it, reminding her of how well their bodies fitted together. The shock was evident on their faces, but Rosette simply brushed it off at surprise to the other one. Videl, to give her her real name was probably in shock to find a young, good looking man, and Gohan at Videl's beauty.
They both said hi to each other, the word almost coming out as a whisper, both of them still in shock. "Well, I'll allow you two to become acquainted with one another while I put the kettle on."
As soon as she was out of earshot, Gohan spoke up. "Andrea? Why the hell does she call you that?" He whispered sharply, blaming Videl for the confusion.
"It's my middle name idiot. You forgot me soon enough though didn't you? Moved on quick , when are you leaving my aunt by the way?" She retorted quickly, incensed at his presence. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening, she had hoped that she would never be forced to see him again. She was young, she would get over it - his words. But they had been far from the truth, and she was nowhere near getting over it, unlike him, who was now shacked up with her aunt, of all people.
"There isn't anything real between your aunt and I." That was supposed to sound good, but it sounded in his mind like it portrayed him pretty badly, and her face seemed to agree with it. "I'm in lo-"
"Coffee or tea?" Rosette had returned, and both quickly swapped their faces for much happier and welcoming ones.
"Tea please Rosette, two sugars, like I used to have it."
"Same for me dear, you know how I like it."
She wandered back into the kitchen slowly. "Glad to see that you two are getting along so well."
"Same for me dear." Videl mocked. "Just how long were you going to string along that poor woman." She deliberately skirted the question of what he was going to say. Did she really want to know that?
He looked and felt flustered. "Oh, I don't know, she was a fallback I guess." Why was everything that he said coming out wrong.
"I'm sure that she would love to hear that." The she in question was now walking slowly into the room, carrying three mugs carefully in her long fingers. The time for talk of old times was over, now was the time to look clueless as the two former lovers were told all about each other's lives by Rosette.
The hour was growing late, but only one party was getting tired. The other two had far too much on their minds to sleep.
"I have to get to bed, I'm up early in the morning. Are you going you two?" Rosette asked.
"No, I think that I'll have a quick drink before I go."
Videl glared at Gohan, she had to discuss some things with the man alone. "Me too, I'm not tired at all yet."
"All right, goodnight." With that, and a quick peck to the cheek for both of them, she was gone. Gohan stood up, moving to get himself a drink.
"What would you like?" He questioned the young woman before him. As ever, she looked irresistible. Her slender yet powerful, ivory legs sliding out from a modest but flattering skirt, and a fairly loose blouse revealing just enough skin to entice yet leave almost everything else to imagination.
"You know what I have." She said with a smile, the first unforced one that he had received all night. He did know what she had, brandy and lemonade, an odd concoction in some eyes, but one that was easily attainable from the well stocked bar. He poured her drink, and got a whiskey for himself.
He went and sat down right beside her, where she sat with her legs up underneath her, her shoes taken off hours before. She didn't object when he landed within millimetres of her, a lot of contact ensuing. "Do you think that she suspected anything?"
"No." She said, almost blankly, but a hint of emotion still present.
Gohan sighed and loked down into his drink. "I looked for you, you know? Everywhere, but I couldn't find you, you hid well."
"I wasn't hiding."
He laughed at her trying to cover the fact that she had been hurt. "Yeah, whatever." He paused. "I'm really sorry about everything."
"I bet you are." The doubt was evident in her tone.
"It's true, I was foolish. I've never been in a serious relationship before, and I was scared. I was afraid of what I felt, and what that might mean." Videl was so comfortable around him, despite everything and hadn't noticed that she had shifted her weight onto the other side, and she now had her chin on his shoulder, looking straight at his face as he talked, looking into his now empty glass. "Did you honestly think that all you were to me was a one night stand?"
"No." She managed to sigh out. "But that was what made it worse. I thought that if you did actually care for me and then were able to walk away like that, then we would never be together. I didn't want to walk around that school and see you every day and think what could have been."
"What made you think that I wouldn't want to be with you afterwards, even after I went that morning?"
"The testaments of dozens of women about you and your actions told me that you would never change. I chose to believe them, and in doing so decided to walk away myself, or rather run away. Plus, I still wasn't a hundred percent certain that you did have feelings for me."
Gohan turned his head and saw how her own was positioned, resting on his shoulder. Their faces were barely an inch apart, lips almost brushing against each other. Gohan stared deep into her eyes, the longing he held for her obvious to even a stranger. To Videl however, it was obvious what both he, and she were expecting to happen. She closed her eyes slowly, and allowed him to make the first move. They had been drinking wine all night, and it was beginning to show.
She felt his lips softly caressing her own, his yearning desire becoming more obvious as he deepened the kiss, something that she followed along with. It wasn't long before she found herself being firmly placed on his lap, her skirt hitched up a little as she straddled his hips. Her hands roamed underneath his clothing, as did he, both searching for the spots that they had discovered six months before. Both empty glasses lay on the floor, luckily not smashed as the two of them continued something almost lost many months prior.
Videl felt completely disgusted with herself. Not that she hadn't enjoyed the night before, it had been wonderful to be back in those arms again, after months of waiting and wondering. But it was hardly something to be proud of, ending up on her aunt's sofa with her aunt's boyfriend, both of them completely naked.
She had a pounding headache, brought on by the buckets of that wine her aunt had unleashed on them. Even if she had been sober the night before, she knew that it would have still happened just as it had. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, his feelings had finally become clear.
Sort of, he hadn't actually admitted to caring for her at all, or to have feelings, let alone to be in love. All he had said was - 'did you honestly think that all you were to me was a one night stand?'
That sentence hardly counted for professing your love to someone. Back on the topic of her aunt, she was not too worried. Hadn't she said that Gohan was just a fling? She had been flattered by his approaches at the time, him being a younger man and all, but soon realised that he harboured feelings for someone else despite his attempts at concealment. Little did she know that it was her own niece.
She wrapped her robe around her and tied it loosely at the waist. Slowly she walked into the en suite batroom that accompanied the guest bedroom and tried to switch the shower on. The knobs seemed to be having little effect, and Videl was hardly in a mood to attempt to repair the plumbing. Dazedly, she wandered out into the hall, and into the bathroom her aunt used that was attached to the upstairs hallway.
Inside, she twizzled the knobs, and found that the water was fine. After finding a temperature that suited her, she began loosening the sash around her waist, but stopped halfway when she found that she had left all of her bathroom stuff in the room that she was staying in.
She turned, leaving the water running, to see a half naked man stood within the doorframe, sleep evident in his eyes. With a squeal, she turned around, embarrassed at her, and his predicament. What was Gohan doing here still? Didn't he have a home to go to, or work? Of course, summer vacation, just like herself. And she called herself a woman of intellect. The look on Gohan's face was one of similar shock though.
He walked up behind her as she mumbled her apologies to him. He tilted his head forward, breathing softly onto her cheek and neck. "Don't." She stated, attempting to sound firm, but sounded shaky more than anything.
"Last night..." He trailed off, not sure of what he wanted to tell her. Instead, he began gently kissing along the soft skin of her neck that was exposed to him, moving the fabric of the robe slowly off her shoulder blades. She moaned underneath him, and made no attempt to escape.
"What about Rosette?" She asked him, hoping that he wouldn't stop.
"What about her? She knew that what was between us was nothing special, it meant nothing to me. Besides, she's still in love with her ex-husband. I'll just have to tell the truth."
"And what's that?" She whispered. The sound of the water pounding was beating an almost deafening drum beat inside her head, and she was worried that she might not hear what she hoped he was about to say.
"That I've fallen in love."