Written By: Demod20
Two Months Prior...
Videl was feeling beat. Her body ached, her bones groaned and her muscles gave off a dull burn. It was almost a passive feeling at this point. The training that Piccolo had put her through for the past decade -or something verily near that amount of time- had transformed her from the barely superhuman girl who was abused by Babidi's magic to something entirely new. Pain was so constant it hardly bothered her; to feel any form of relaxation would be a betrayal, in her eyes, of the effort she put herself through after all this time.
Still, upon getting out of her messy bed with an even messier bed-head, she yearned for something to wake her up before resuming her daily routine. Stumbling out in just her birthday suit, she hobbled together a spare training gi out of her spacious closet and groggily entered her shower. After setting the right temperature for her shower, she entered in and hissed at the feeling of hot bullets of moisture pouring over her lithe body.
To the average eye -both expert and leering- she hadn't aged a day since her senior year of high school. The curse, the permanent black M tattooed on her forehead, saw to that. She was practically in a constant state of stasis, giving her inhuman amount of power, endurance and precarious amount of emotional turbulence. It was hard to rein in completely, at first, but like the pain of daily punishment her sensei and sparring partners put her through, it was now a switch she can willfully turn off or on.
As beads of hot water sloughed off her shoulders down her bosom and the slope of her back to caress her midriff and down below one could make out the contours of consequences to this regiment. A faint discoloration of pink spread just below her navel, the final blow Erasa had left during their fierce fight all those years ago. The other was a clawed mark jaggedly scraping from her left collarbone down to her torso's upper right side; this one earned when she got caught in Piccolo's claws. The discoloration enamored her forearms up to her biceps and triceps with inconsistency, partially from continuous abuse of her curse to heal her body after straining her endurance and techniques through her limbs. Even her legs had various faint scars of cuts, bludgeoning and burns.
This was the price to pay for becoming stronger. It was a price she paid for willingly, and she knew she'd do it again. As she washed soap across her body, suds sensually brushing across her nubile frame, she sighed in contemplation. She hadn't seen Erasa very much as of late and the result of the tedious training was starting to make her feel a bit downcast. She'd never let anyone show it and it was easy to lose herself when she was in the moment of fisticuffs with the Nameccian or either of the Saiyan half blooded boys. It was only in the quiet moments that she truly began to feel alone.
The only other person that kept her company, was her eccentric father. She thought about their relationship as she washed her hair, letting the soap get into the grimy knots and wash away blood or soot that got into the roots. They had settled their disagreements years ago. Now they lived with both tolerance and understanding. Though he'd never approve of her disconnect with his previously overbearing parenting, she'd never stop loving her father unconditionally, regardless if she looked down upon his neverending compulsive lies he gave to nearly every person he came into contact.
Despite what happened, she had no real malevolent bias against Mr. Buu. He was strangely different from the pink devil that had almost killed her sensei and herself all that time ago. Temperamental and insufferable at times, he may be, but he was innocently endearing -like a fat, overgrown kid who laughed at simple things and ate a ton-. That and the family dog, Bee, was a nice addition, which more than likely kept her father as much company as it did the Djinn.
With how little she spent at home, he needed all the attention in the world he could acquire from his two additional house guests.
Finishing with the rinsing, she turned off the faucet and stepped out into the luxurious tiled bathroom. Only having need of the towels, she wrapped one around her head and another around her lower body, getting to work on getting all the droplets off her. Had she been her younger self, she'd have taken thrice as much time cleaning and even more on touching herself up so she'd look her best going to school with Erasa. Such thoughts invoked a twitch of pain and her eyes watered a little at good times long gone.
Wiping her eyes with her head towel, she combed the medium length hair back and proceeded to put a simple yellow braid to keep her bangs out of her eyes. Dressing in her gi, it was one of her simpler ones from before. A white gi with a black obi tied around her waist, she didn't feel the need to be dressed in anything complicated today. It was just another day after all, it wasn't uncommon to trade out shredded or soiled apparel for newer clothes.
The only thing she made sure to grab on the way out was a black headband to cover her forehead. If there was one thing she didn't need people looking at, it was the reminder of her mistake. She already punished herself in the confines of her solitude, she didn't need that impeding her training.
Sighing, she opened her window and leaped out, free falling for a few seconds before catching herself with her own ki. Hanging levitated for a few seconds, she gently glided up with her arms pushing to lay flat on her sides as she rose up high into the air. Once she was clear of the small, rich community she belonged to, she let loose a concussive burst of air pressure and launched herself at high velocity with a streak of bright red left in her wake.
Thanks to the aid of her energy, she didn't need to shield her eyes and let the warm curtailing light of the plasma her pores projected. Her blue eyes glared ahead and headband flapping along with her ruffling uniform. The blood colored aura sped her along, enabling her to reach God's Palace in a matter of minutes what'd normally take hours or even days to reach conventionally. Soaring up to the stratosphere, she decelerated just enough so that she'd let gravity land her feet with a gentle pair of taps of her bare feet.
Surprisingly, Piccolo wasn't around the outside of the palace grounds. Instead, she saw one of the boys turned men, practicing on his own on the Palace; namely Trunks.
He was performing a number of machine gun punches, following up with snap and roundhouse kicks in the kata that he was honing his body upon. Dressed in only a sleeveless tank top of black color and 'Prince' in red on the front with 'Saiyan' also in red emblazoned on the back. Blue slacks and a pair of black-white boots with similar white gloves wrapped around his hands, giving him the purely casual air to his person.
If there was one thing she appreciated with the passage of time was that she could see a genuine outward improvement to someone who was just a brat a decade ago. His lavender hair was now adorned into a upper back ponytail, his jaw broader and his nose stronger, a lot like his father's. Even the brows that creased into that familiar scowl was so much like the Prince of all Saiyans, she'd almost have a hard time telling who the mother was if not for the hair and eye color. Her silent observation from afar told her he truly has grown, both physically and emotionally.
Smiling ruefully, she squatted low and then kicked off the tiled platform, disappearing in mid-flight.
When she did reappear, Trunks had spun around and caught her incoming punch as it materialized from invisibility. The pair's fist and palm contact buffeted the air, shaking the Palace's floor and producing a howling wind that reverberated across the still heavens. Regardless of the fierce interruption, the two only exchanged wry grins, their greeting seeming far more natural to them while wholly unnatural to any 'normal' person.
"Hi," Videl finally spoke, retrieving her fist back while Trunks pulled his own arm back.
"Hey there," He replied, trying to stand up and lean in a cool posture. "I could feel somebody's ki coming this way. Piccolo wasn't here, for some reason and Goten's being busy with academics at the moment. I had some free time and thought I'd get some good exercise. You had great timing, actually; was hoping you'd show up."
"Oh? You sure you weren't disappointed sensei wasn't here to run you through the ringer?" The daughter of Mr. Satan asked dubiously with an arched brow and a half smile.
"Nah, he's fine and all, but I rather just train with you. Without Goten to keep my wits sharp and my body sharper, I couldn't rely on anybody else to watch my back," He proclaimed with a proud thumb up to his chin -a reflexive habit he gotten from his late father-. However, even at saying that, he couldn't help but blush a little with embarrassment, looking away and scratching his chin while Videl stared at him intensely. "You're amazing, Videl. I just like being around you, you know?"
"Flattery won't make you stronger, Trunks," Videl laughed dryly, dropping into a stance of a balled left fist to her side and right leg bent forward and left leg kept tight behind. With the right hand held up like a poised set of claws, she furrowed her brow with intense concentration as she saw the prince-ling shrug and settle into his own father's standard stance. They readied themselves, inhaling and exhaling, letting their ki build up slowly and making the Palace rumble with air swirling ominously about them.
Then, in an instant, they disappeared from view.
Loud clashes exploded the sky around the Palace, calculated enough to avoid fragmenting the ancient aerial structure. Thunder shook their proximity and lightning sprayed from each bodily clash. Their frames only existing in the visible instance whenever they touched; a fist to fist, an elbow to forearm, a shin to a sole, whichever body part utilized for their engagement.
Separating after a forearm clash, they spitfire dozens of kikōha, each one colliding into the other and exploding around them. Like a stream of fireworks, purple, gold and red lit up the horizon and spread out their fierce fight throughout their divine vista. In the middle of the cacophony of explosions, the pair reunited in a pair of streaking halos of violet and crimson, a vibrant flash flaring out with their fists connecting mutually against each other's jaws.
Even as they grimaced from the contact of knuckles meeting their cheeks, it didn't deter them in the slightest. Pulling back, they threw another punch. Followed with a kick. Then a knee. Soon it was a flurry of relentless attacks that continued to erupt sporadic electricity from the bio-energy they let loose on each flash and maneuver. The assault made neither pull back or give the other advantage.
Still, despite the blows they received, they couldn't help but flash feral smiles. They were at complete peace and were utterly thrilled by the battle they were having. The adrenaline spurred them on, pushing past their ordinary limits and Saiyan with Earthling fought for the next two hours with relentless wild abandon. Eventually one or the other suggested they take a break before renewing their feverish melee and both agreed to a short recess.
"Damn, Videl. You certainly don't know how to hold back, do you?" Trunks asked with a pain-filled grunt, tossing a water bottle over to the raven haired girl as he pressed an ice pack against his face.
"Speak for yourself, Saiyan boy," Videl seethed as she held a towel wrapped bundle of ice over her own jaw. "You, Goten and Gohan are all monsters. It's taken me ten years to get where I am and you're just a little winded. But don't let that make you think this is my best. I've got some tricks up my sleeve; a little trump card doesn't hurt against a guy who can turn golden, right?"
"Haha, I guess you're right about that!" Trunks laughed raucously, wincing afterwards as he pressed his ice pack further onto his face. His eyes looked on at Videl with a far-off daze in his blue irises. Nursing on her water bottle, she looked back at him, causing him to avert his gaze and try to drink from his own bottle. When he noticed she was the one staring intently back at him, he coughed and cleared his throat. "So..."
"Was there something you wanted to say, Trunks?" Videl asked pointedly.
Almost gaping, the son of Vegeta had to feign a stoic countenance to avoid letting her see completely through him. Grinning a bit, he smiled beyond the ice pack with a shrug, "Maybe I do. Do you want to hear it?"
"I asked, didn't I?" She inquired, almost icily as she scowled at him. "Out with it!"
Geez, I forgot she can be instantly cranky sometimes, Trunks thought to himself with a wince. Shaking his head, he bit his lower lip and rocked himself on his haunches, trying to think up the best way to go about saying it. The longer he contemplated, the more he was intimidated by Videl's burning coals for eyes. He swore they were turning red with how long he was hesitating.
Gritting his teeth, he decided to just own up to it; it's what his father would do, right?
"Videl!" He began to say sternly, his eyes wide and his hands placed on his knees as he stared straight at her without fear in his voice. "Will you go out with me?!"
The question alone was enough to break Videl's stony expression. Her eyes bulged, her face warmed to a beet red and her mouth dropped open. Seconds later she clenched it shut and covered it with her hands as she shuffled around on her knees awkwardly to put her back to him to hide her bashful state. With Trunks sweating bullets, his knuckles turning white as he clutched his knees tightly, he waited what felt like an eternity for her to respond.
"Why me?" She finally asked, her voice a surprising meek and quiet tone.
"Do you even need to ask?" Trunks asked rhetorically, a gentle smile working its way onto his face. "It's because I wouldn't ask anybody else. You're the strongest, stubborn and most reliable girl I know. I'd never ask anybody I know 'cos you're the only one I'd ever ask this question."
"Are you for real?"
"Huh?"
"I-I mean," She hiccuped, wiping away unseen tears as she kept as still of a voice as possible while keeping her back to him. "Is that the truth? No matter how messed up I am, no matter how many bad decisions I've made, you'd still-?"
"I'm sure, Videl," He answered evenly, his fingers trembling on his knees with anticipation.
Breathing deeply, the daughter of Mr. Satan shuffled around to face Trunks. Doing her best to suppress a stupid smile, she managed a crooked grin as she shrugged in a mock casual laid back manner and said, "Sure, Trunks. I'll go out with you."
"Really?!" Trunks cried out, his serious expression instantly breaking to show an enthusiastic smile with bright eyes -his hands finally releasing the death grip on his aching knees-.
"Yeah, no sweat," She tried to brush it off, using the ice pack to conceal her right eye moistening up, biting her lower lip so she wouldn't quiver visibly. "It sounds...nice."
And from that day on, Videl knew that life's monotony had changed to something unexpected. For once, this kind of change was pleasant and she took the leap forth into something unexpected. Regardless of how odd the circumstances, the proposal was something that made her feel one thing that she hadn't truly felt in over ten years.
Happiness.
A/N:
LastationLover5000: So, this was an extra chapter written by my friend Demod20 at my request. I'm sure everyone is wondering "Videl and Trunks? OK why?", so here's a little extra chapter to show how it happened. Consider this like the omake pages that Toyotarō places in the volumes for extra details of the series. I never expected to enjoy Videl the way I do, so I love showing her in more detail, but I figured November — with a new game and our next chapter of Heart (shameless pluuuuug) coming up — I wouldn't be able to write much this month. So this is to tie you all over in case I can't! Enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you all soon in the next Exciting chapter of the Erased Chronicles!
Demod20: I had fun writing this. It's not often that I write a Videl so...callous, is the word, right? I tried to emphasize that -with a little fanservice accordingly, haha- with the scars being detailed on her. She's lived a hard life, going day in and day out through constant pain and having to hamper her emotions. Thanks to the mark, she'll barely change at all on the outside and won't be able to age like her friends' and family will. The only thing that brings her momentary euphoria is her training, and w/ Trunks, it's brought to a whole other level -especially as of lately, as you can see in this chapter-. I hope I captured a genuine feelzy interaction between these two. I approve of this pairing as much as I approve of the weird yet endearing MaixTrunks from Battle of Gods. Hope you all enjoyed this little fun flashback!