Here is the next installment of Reflection:

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of DBZ. Do I look it?

Okay, about Hercule being a complete ass in this chapter, it is for a reason. I need it as blackmail for a planned occurrence to take place in the near future. You'll understand in a little while.

Rinoakes: sorry, but they aren't going to make out, yet. ((I've never written a make-out scene, so when I do, sorry if it is really bad.))

Chapter 12: "prisons" and freedom

The rest of the week seemed the same for Videl. She would have to get up, put on training clothes, train, eat small breakfast, ride the bus to school, after school ride the bus back, do homework, eat quick dinner, train, sleep, repeat. By Saturday she was so tired that she couldn't even fight anything because she was so sore. Hercule finally got it into his brain that she needed to have a break, so he let her have the morning off to sleep, but she still had to train that evening.

'Only a week until I know my "training partner",' she thought as she got out of bed at about noon. 'It should be illegal to train your daughter in such a fashion! Really, I'm not made of stone like he wishes me to be. Heck, he isn't even made of stone. Gohan says that it was all a setup, meant for a stronger fighter, but was mistakenly played on me. His brother and his friend are going to get it!' She ate her brunch and headed to the training room, where she spent the rest of the day running, punching, and kicking until about 5:00pm when her dad let her go to dinner.

Passing by a mirror on the way, she looked at her reflection. Next to the mirror was a newspaper article with her saving a boy in a robbery. In the picture, she wasn't just skinny, but also healthily filled out. In the mirror, all she saw was worn out muscles and bones. She had over burned so much of her fat that she looked almost anorexic. 'Of course, Dad won't care about how I look. If he let me get this bad, so bad my pants don't fit right anymore, then why should I trust him to care.'

The maids didn't even seem to care. They would just serve her normal food, or so it seemed. Once while she was in the kitchen, she noticed that she was no longer getting 2 percent milk, but rather skim milk. None of her food was cooked with any fat, and all were low-calorie foods. 'I need that energy in those high-calorie foods,' she thought as she continued walking, 'Or soon I'll be all skin and bones.'

She didn't complain that night when she was served water, a salad, and a Lean Pocket. She didn't even ask for any more. She just went back to training as if nothing had fazed her, and she beat the stuffing out of the punching bag.

Training continued for almost the rest of the night. Hercule, feeling generous, was willing to give Videl Sunday off. He was even going to let her see her friends, as long as he knew the friends, and she only had one supervised phone call to meet up with them. She decided to call Erasa. She could use a complex system of codes and hidden messages to have Erasa contact Sharpener and Gohan, knowing her dad would stand over her shoulder.

This is how the conversation went:

"Hello?" asked Erasa.

"Hey, this is Videl. I am allowed to go out with friends for much needed fresh air.Can you pick me up?"

"Sure. What time do I need to be there?"

"I need you to be here at 7:00am. If something comes up, call me, and I'll get a car somehow."

"Will you invite the boys?"

"Sharpener and Gohan. No, dad wouldn't want me to call them, go figure. And I wouldn't ask him to let me hang with them.Don't forget to come. Did you get all that?"

"Sure. You need me to call the boys and ask them to come. Can do."

"Well, my dad is getting impatient, got to go."

"Bye."

End Conversation

"What took you so long?" asked her dad.

"Sorry, we had a few things we had to say, like the time and stuff. She said she was free. I'll be back as soon as I can tomorrow."

She said all of the above without a bit of hatred present in her tone or poise. However, she was boiling over with hate for her father. Most people looked to him as some sort of god, but….

That night she slept like a log, but she managed to get up in time to meet up with Erasa. Because of the hidden messages and stuff given the night before, she was sure that Gohan and Sharpener were at Erasa's house to wait for the arrival of Erasa and Videl. Videl managed to get away from her dad without a lot of hassle, and that was definitely a break from the previous treatment. After they had successfully left the Satan mansion and were on the way to Erasa's house in her topless car, Erasa started a conversation.

"Videl, why are you losing so much weight? Really, you have to tell me your secret so I can fit in my dress for the dance at school in two weeks. You remember hearing about that, right?" Videl nodded. "Good, but still, I could lose a little bit of this extra flab."

"Shut up. I'm not on this new diet by choice, you know. Dad decided somewhere in the back of his crazy mind that I need to become stronger and lose weight. As if. Look at me, I'm almost anorexic. I don't get anything with high calories, and I need it for training. Soon, I'll be so muscular and skinny that I won't be able to recognize myself."

"And that's bad?"

"Sure. It means that he is winning. Anyway, here we are. I hope they are ready to have some fun, because I am definitely ready."

Videl and Erasa walked into the house to see Gohan and Sharpener bored and watching TV. They seemed to have given up on talking, and instead see what was on. Erasa walked into the small living room first, followed shortly by Videl.

Gohan was the first to turn around. He saw Erasa, but when Videl came in, he almost forgot what was going on. 'She sure is losing a lot of weight,' he thought, 'Sure, I saw her at school, but she seems even smaller now. I hope she is ok.'

Sharpener was immediately at Erasa's side, showing that they had almost paired up as a couple, but not officially, yet. Gohan was similarly at Videl's side.

"What do you guys want to do?" asked Gohan.

"I think we should go shopping!" exclaimed Erasa. Sharpener muttered under his breath something about being able to guess that. "I know that perfect store we can go to. We need to get Videl a few things to take home to remember the day. What do you need, Videl?"

"I guess I need a dress for that dance. I wouldn't want to use that one Dad had me wear when he introduced the idea of the mansion stay. I still can't look at the color pink without thinking about it."

"Great idea. I know of a great clearance sale going on for dresses not too far from here. I'm sure we can find something there. If not, we can always try another store."

The group of four got into the car, Erasa driving, Sharpener in the passenger seat, and Gohan and Videl in the back.

The store was about twenty minutes from the house, so on the way, Videl told everyone about the evilness of her father—about the inadequate meals and no privileges; about the training until her body couldn't feel anything, then passed out when she got to her room; about the bus trouble; about the talking; about how she was unable to get her dad to hear a word she said.

When she was done, Gohan tried to speak a few words of support, "Videl, I'm sure that he is trying to be a good father, but I also think that he is not good at it at all. I tr5ied to convince him about the robot problem, but he wouldn't hear it. I told him exactly what happened, the power-ups and downs and all, but he was too dense. Once school ends, I suggest you move out, because it is way too hard on you."

"All I wish is that he learned that I'm not made of stone. I'm strong, I guess, but not the muscle-bound daughter that he seems to want. Whatever. I only have a few more months before I graduate, and then I can leave him for good."

"That's the spirit!" Erasa exclaimed. They were almost there.

Gohan tried to start a new conversation. "What are you going to do when the new person comes to your house?"

"I'll rip him to bits if he is a crazed Hercule fan. But, if not, I may become his friend. I have to know the type person before I make a decision. As for treating him hospitably, I'll just treat him as well as he treats me when no one else is looking. I don't care what Dad says about that."

They arrived at the store in good time. Videl started looking through all the dresses—all of which were 50 percent off—and found a few that she couldn't decide between. One of them was a strapless dark green dress that reached her mid thigh at the shortest point, and was as low as her knee. It went diagonally so the longest point was on her right side, and the shorter side was on the left. At the bottom of the hem were light green ruffles.

The next dress was a dark red off-the-shoulder dress. It reached down to her knees, and had a slit on either side that went up to her mid-calf. There was also a design of a white rose on either strap.

The last dress was a plain dark blue short sleeve dress that reached an inch past her knees. The only thing special about it was the collar was off center. It went down to a sort of scoop, and kept going until it reached the same distance on the other side, then it went straight up.

She posed with each of the dresses, and let the boys decide the dress. The blue one was out first, only because it made her look a little older than wanted. The choice between the remaining two was a hard one, indeed. Gohan like the red one because he said it was more her color, making Videl think, 'I wonder how many times his mom makes him shop. He obviously understands colors.' Sharpener liked the green one because he said it looked more her style, but we all know what he was really thinking: 'ooooohhhh…she is so pretty when she wears those strapless dresses.' Boys are so predictable.

To break the tie, Erasa had to decide. She wanted to go with Sharpener's idea, but she also wanted Gohan to be the one to pick out the dress to carry out the "plan". She decided that the red was a prettier dress, and so that was the one Videl got.

Videl got the dress using her credit card…the only privilege she managed to keep. She was the one in charge of it, so that was why.

After the dress shopping, they all headed to the movies, where they spent a great deal of time and money. They were late for one showing of the movie they wanted to see—Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ((I haven't seen this one, and I don't own it. I do want to see it though.)). They blew off the extra time by playing the video games and eating junk food. Erasa almost force fed Videl because she was so skinny.

They all enjoyed the movie, and after that they all headed to Erasa's house to have some fun there before Videl had to go home.

END CHAPTER

Whew…that took a long time…I got sidetracked the whole time, but managed to write it in one day. Next chapter is fun at Erasa's house. SOON, I'll have the drawing and the month. This is such a long story so far…oh well.

I hope the coded message didn't confuse you. They had a setup where they would emphasize a word, then put the words together and you make a sentence.

PLEASE REVIEW!