A/N: I'm gonna take this slow from here on out. We'll see where this goes...

Overcoming Fears & Patching Things Up

BOOM!

CLASH!

CRASSHHH!

The sound penetrated the orange morning skies, the clouds scattering as two specks clashed against one another, shaking the landscape violently, creating craters and cracks appear seemingly everywhere.

Yellow and black boots landed on the ground, screeching to a halt. Icy eyes went wide when an orb of ki came hurling towards her, slamming into her, pushing her further back, smoke sizzling from her crossed arms, which she used to protect herself from damage. Peering over her arms, she leaped backward when a ghostly blue shaped claw raked against the brown plain, tearing it apart.

A foot curved sideways, catching the woman across her left cheek, making her cry out in pain. Her curly orange hair whipped to the side as she used the hit to her advantage, twisting her toned body, making a turn until one of her feet touched the ground. Her lips lifted with satisfaction as she completed her turn and connected her boot against her opponent, feeling his bone shake with the blow.

Touching the ground with both her feet, the female beauty watched her crouching foe stand up straight.

Spiting blood from his mouth, having bitten his own tongue from the blow, the man grinned.

"Well, it looks like you're getting a hang of that new transformation of yours, huh Zangya!" Yamcha said, proud of her.

The female warrior dropped her guard, smiling brightly.

She had been hard at work since coming to Earth and joining the gang. When arriving on the planet with Bojack and her former 'teammates', she had revealed to Yamcha and the others that she was the only one that could not transform. Everyone, with the exemption of the imp Bujin for some reason, had the ability to do so…or at least she believed at the time. She had never been one to slack; she made sure to keep herself in top shape and always give it her all during her travels with Bojack. But no matter how much time and effort she put in her training, she was unable to unlock the secret to the special form. Sure Bojack had constantly promised her that he'd show her how to do it or more like help her acquire it, but over time, she figured out that he was merely toying with her; torture and agony along with obedience is all she learned from their 'training' sessions and on a side note, she still has nightmares of her travels on that dreadful ship, fearing the moment that brute would drag her back into the dungeon and beat her into submission, forcing her to commit hideous acts of genocide.

Moving onwards to the present, Zangya was just about to give up trying to learn the secret, but it was Yamcha who had promised her that he'd help her reach that level of power that she so desperately craved. She hesitantly explained her dilemma, even though she hated showing weakness and well asking for help is something she really wanted to avoid. However, that was thrown out the window the day Yamcha snuck to one of her solo training sessions. Catching him watching her from afar, she had told him to go away. When he didn't, she became angry and went in, recklessly assaulting his person. Mind you, the former bandit's skills and power had sharpened tremendously, so it's no surprise that he had effortlessly evaded, blocked and countered almost every attack she threw.

Out of rage, she hurled an insult, yelling that the only reason he's so strong was that he wielded Kogu's sword. He acknowledged that she was correct, but that that was irrelevant. He had a reason which was that he was only human. It was because of Alastor that he was able to go beyond his limits. He also added that she was the one that had helped him gain the power, even though at the time she had been doing it for selfish reasons.

"Let me repay you and help you too." He had said, warmly. "Trust me, I'll get you there in no time, as long as you listen and follow my instructions."

So because he insisted constantly (it had absolutely nothing to do with that million-dollar smile), she caved in. She eventually learned that the reason that she could not transform was because duh, her training was based on torture. Yamcha helped her relax her mind and body through mental and physical training. He made sure that at first, they should focus on training her mind, because Yamcha had quickly noticed that on their long sessions, the Hera-seijin would suddenly stop fighting with a strategic approach and fall into some kind of trance, attacking him animalistically. After scratching his head over it for a while, he figured out that her mindset was still stuck on Bojack's 'training' method or more like she fell into it when they sparred for long periods of time. So, their first task was to reprogram that mindset into a healthy one; Zangya wasn't happy about this.

She hated meditation. Just sitting down and doing nothing nearly drove her crazy! When the former bandit suggested that they would at times switch to mental image-training, she told him that she had no idea what that was. He showed her of course and Zangya soon found out that not only did she enjoy it, but that it made it much easier to meditate; she even did it by herself. When she imagined trained by her lonesome, she usually fought herself or Yamcha. When she felt more daring, she'd fight her former teammates…on rare occasions, Bojack himself, which ended with her curled on the floor in tears. Discussing this with Yamcha, he explained to her that Bojack represented her fear. Defeat him first and then they could begin her training.

Then months later…well…

Standing on all four with her head lowered in defeat, she heard laugher burst from the crimson beast.

"You'll never defeat me Zangya." He jeered, his blank yellow eyes gleaming sinisterly. "Even in your dream and this silly mind training bullshit you can't and that's just sad. I'm not real you know. I'm dead. But the fear, it's very real isn't it sweetheart?"

The female Hera-seijin moaned, her back straining when Bojack planted his huge boot on her spine, putting pressure on it.

"These people, these stupid Earthling you surround yourself with…you believe them to be your friends?"

"N-no…" She managed to voice, nearly screaming when he applied more force. "I-I'm just here to gain strength and then-then I'm leaving this planet!"

"I don't know about that. You seem awfully chummy with that Saiyan bitch."

Her eyebrow twitched.

Screaming loudly, she pushed herself, but yet again, the monster pushed her down. "And what about that human?"

Zangya froze, her icy orbs shaking with fear. Her eyes widened further when she realized that the fear, for the first time in forever was coming not for herself, but for others.

"Ahhh I appear to have hit a soft spot huh?" He laughed. "You care about them don't you? Do I have to beat you again to remove those pesky soft spots?"

"You c-can't…you-you're dead!" She hissed, her arms trembling from all the effort she was using to maintain herself on both hands and knees.

"I'm not…"He denied and unfortunately she was starting to believe him.

This was bad.

Yamcha had explicitly warned her that if she truly started to believe that the images within her mind were real, they would actually become a reality; meaning that if she 'died' while in her mind, she would become trapped within it and well, she might stay in that comatose state forever.

"That's right Zangya, I'm not dead. I never will be! Not in your mind at least and guess what? Once I kill you-" He removed his foot from her back and grabbed a tuff of her hair within one of his meaty hands. Her hair roots stung as Bojack lifted her up to eye level.

"You'll be stuck here with me…for eternality."

And like that, the will to fight left her…

"And once I've had my way with you, I'll leave this prison and continue what I do best; take whatever I want by any means necessary! I'll first use the Dragon Balls to wish to become a Kami!

She bit her lips, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Then I'll conquer the world!"

Her fists tightened.

"No, the Universe!"

Steam began to hiss from her body, her form trembling as the heat boiling inside her started to rise.

"And though it all, that Saiyan bitch and human trash will be going along for the ride."

Bra

"I'll make sure to program them just as I did with you!"

Yamcha

"They will be my top solders, just as you were!"

"And guess what?"

No

"You'll be stuck in my ship, in this damn coma, while I-"

Her eyes shot open, her body exploding with unadulterated rage. A green shield blasted the brute from her person, sending Bojack into the darkness.

Zangya felt her body pumping with power, more power than she has ever had. Her body pulsed, light green skin replacing her blue one. Unlike the others, she did not gain large muscle mass; she remained slender and tone and jagged blue and white lightning spun around her.

"What is this?!" Bojack expressed, his jaw-dropping in shock.

Faster than the red giant could react, Zangya was on him, slamming a powerful fist against his stomach, making him gasp in surprise. Leaping back, she twirl jumped over him, grabbing his head along the way. Using the momentum of her flip, she hurled him across the black void, following after him. Surpassing him by curving in front of him, she roundhouse kicked him to the floor. Slamming on his back, Bojack reverted to his green form, staring in astonishment at the Hera-seijin who had shot into the air.

"Phoenix Surge!" Her body combusted into red and orange flames, steam seeping from the pores of her skin as she grew hotter and hotter.

Holding her fist out, all the flames around her body balled inside her palm.

Seeing the panic look on Bojack's face, her lips quirked with glee, especially when he transformed back into his base.

His face looked just as horrified as it did when the teenage Saiyan boy slaughtered him.

Zangya loved it.

Cocking her hand back, she threw it forward, crying out. "Phoenix Blast Attack!"

A beam of orange, red and green energy escaped her hand, slamming into Bojack, successfully wiping him out from her mind.

When Zangya had awakened, she found herself clutching Yamcha like her life depended on it. Apparently Yamcha had felt her distress and hurried rushed to her aid.

Instead of pulling away from him in embarrassment like usual, she held onto him even tighter, whispering that she did it, she finally won.

When she did pull away, she got to witness his smile.

She fell in love that day.

Back to the present, Zangya watched Yamcha carefully as he contemplated their next move.

"Alright, this is it."

"Huh?"

"This is it. No more training from me after this." A wolfish howl broke through the sky as a loud bolt of lightning rained down onto Yamcha. When the dust settled, his yellow wolfish eyes bore into Zangya's icy ones, the ghostly blue beast hovering threatening behind him, its claw held out ready to attack.

"And if I lose?" She said, activated her Phoenix Surge form. Her body was enveloped in a wild aura of flames, yellow sparks bursting from her.

"Don't!"

"Gohan…you're staring again."

"Huh?"

"You're staring at her."

The half Saiyan hurriedly removed his eyes from what was captivating him so much and returned to the paper on his desk.

When he and Sharpner had arrived at the school entrance, Gohan's heart had skipped a beat as he saw her coming toward his direction. Finally, after years of feeling horrible about his actions he was going to get a chance to speak to her so that he could ask for her forgiveness. He now knew he shouldn't have just ditched her like that, especially after what they had just gone through not a day later, but he did. He had convinced himself that it was the best thing to do at the time, as the mere thought of hurting her scared the living daylights out of him. Unfortunately, by leaving her behind, he had still hurt her emotionally and well sometimes emotional pain can be just as bad as physical. In fact, he understood this better than anyone since he had thrown himself in suicidal battles with the Saiyan Prince to temporarily numb the emotional ache he felt years ago when Cell had murdered his father right before his eyes because he didn't listen. If he had just killed the Ivory Cell the moment he had overpowered him, he would have realized that his father had gone to stop the other Cell from making the wishes with the Dragon Balls, since he apparently had been the only one sense him while he was fighting with the Ivory one.

Thankfully, he had grown to accept his father's death and he hoped that he would grow to accept this too.

So imagine his surprise when Videl simply breezed right passed them without a mere thought, not bothering to even look at them. Their blonde friend ran pass them seconds after, turning and strolling in reverse with an apologetic expression as she pushed the school's doors with her back and entered in. Gohan sighed in dejection, his friend giving him a sympathetic look as they followed them inside.

Once in class and properly introduced (more like the teacher flaunting him around, pretty much insulting the other students in the room, which the half Saiyan hated. It's not like they had a mother down their throat constantly cramming books into their mind), he sat next to Sharpner, but not before noticing the beautiful raven-haired girl sitting next to Erasa. She was so engrossed with her assignment, that she probably didn't realize he had been introduced.

Now here he was, staring at a completed paper, utterly bored; and because he was so bored, he occasional eyeballed Videl. Sharpner had contently nudged him in his ribs, pointing out that he was going to burn a hole through her head if he stared any harder, but he couldn't help it. The manner in which she fidgeted with one of her pigtails when in deep thought was making his heart melt. Her tongue, which stuck out to the side of her lips every time she dipped her head down to scribble something down caused his stomach to flip several times over. Did she always do these things? He really wanted to know and he feels like crap because he could have known these adorable traits of hers if he had just not been an idiot back then. She had been his girlfriend for Kami's sake! And now, he might never-

Gohan grunted when he felt an elbow against his ribs again.

"Gohan, you seriously need to stop." His friend whispered, not taking his eyes off his paper. "She's probably already figured out that you've been eye raping her-"

"Hey! I'm not eye raping Videl!" Gohan shot up with indignation, defending himself.

Sharpner's forehead slammed onto his desk in disbelief as Erasa's jaw dropped down in horror, not believing what she just heard from her friend's mouth. As for the rest of the class, they all looked at the half Saiyan first before slowly turning to Videl, who had her hands covering her whole face, which was most likely burning with mortification.

Clearly also embarrassed, he nervously started to ramble to save face. "Uhh, I didn't mean it like that! I would never rape Videl! Or anyone for the matter! That's a horrible thing to do!"

"Gohan…" Sharpner tried, he really tried to get him to stop by pulling him back down with one arm while still keeping his head down, but he failed.

"I mean, do you guys even know what eye raping even means? I'll explain! It's when-"

The bell suddenly rang and all the students high tailed it out of the class, some mumbling that they now fear for their safety while others laughed.

Well, not all; Gohan, who had slumped down in his seat in shame had stayed, along with Sharpner who exchanged tight smiles with Erasa; Videl reminded put, probably still trying to disappear from the class.

"All of you can leave also; just remember to do the assignments on pages 265, 275 and 283 by next week. I have a feeling that you four had hardly paid attention in class today, so I decided a second reminder was necessary." The teacher said.

Before anyone could blink, Videl was out the door, Erasa racing after her as she's been doing the whole day.

Sharpner mumbled Gohan to get up so they could leave, which he reluctantly did, however as soon as they made it to the door, the teacher's voice stopped them.

"Gohan, a word."

His blond friend gave him a reassuring smile, giving him a pat on the back while telling him he'd meet him outside as he left.

"Kami, I've never been so humiliated in my life!" Videl exclaimed, leaning against her locker. "Not only was he eye raping me pretty much the entire class, but then he verbally talks about doing it!"

"Well, he was actually trying to defend himself from something Sharpner said." Erasa pointed out, blowing and popping the bubble gum she was chewing.

"But he kept on going and going, digging himself into a deeper hole!"

"He was nervous, you know how he is. Believe me, when I say this, that boy hasn't changed at all. Well, at least when it comes to personality. His looks, however, wow, if I wasn't gay. Even I have to admit he's gorgeous."

Videl sure couldn't deny that.

Videl suddenly began to fidget with one of her pigtails. "Erasa…I gotta ask. You don't seem to be as angry as before about this situation. Are you not mad at him anymore? It seemed to have bothered you a lot, which I still thought it was silly."

Erasa gave her a look. "Why does that even matter? Anyways, if you wanna know, no. I'm over it, have been for years now. I still do think he's an ass for leaving you like that, crying and shit. He clearly loved and still loves you. He left you cause he didn't want you to be in harm's way. He knew that when trouble comes, whether he liked it or not, you'd still go to help out. But you can take care of yourself and I guess him thinking you as weak pissed me off also when you're as powerful and badass as they come."

Videl smiled at her friend's compliment at the end. "While all that's true Erasa, that wasn't the biggest issue, well at least for him."

"It wasn't?"

She shook her head. "Are you forgetting what happened three years ago?"

Erasa snorted. "As if I could! Those space pirates scared the hell out of me! Creepy shadow things appearing from the ground? Nope! Get out of here with that shit!" she said, shivering at the mere thought of them.

"Bojack, Erasa." Videl stopped fidgeting. "After Gohan lost control and killed him, he turned on us remember? An-and my dumbass thought that 'through the power of love' I could bring him back to normal if I stood my ground as he launched himself at me. But if Bra hadn't been there, I would have died…"

"Oh…so he was protecting you from himself then," Erasa said, finally understanding it all.

Videl nodded.

"Well, now I feel like an idiot!" the blonde blushed in embarrassment. "I think my stupid feelings back then clouded that shit or something. But eh, doesn't matter anymore. Just give him a chance again or just make up and be friends."

"Erasa…I can't friend-zone him."

"Then ask him to be your boyfriend. Believe me, he won't say no."

"No, he has to ask…" the blond rolled her eyes, smiling in amusement when her friend looked away shyly.

"Damn V, I don't know how you can be cute yet so hot at the same time. I've been with girls who are cute or hot, not both. You somehow pull off both." She stated, a cheeky grin in place.

Videl gave a sarcastic smile. "That's so sweet."

"It is?" Erasa grinned. "Can I get a kiss?"

"On the cheek."

"Now, when you say cheek-"

"Videl!"

She whirled around when she heard her name shouted, looking for the source. Her blue eyes widened when Gohan stopped in front of her, staring at her nervously. Her first impulse was to tell him off, but the words didn't spill out of her mouth when she got a good look at him. With his now shorten spiky hair and mature facial structure, he undeniably looked handsome. Unfortunately, his uniform was just…too formal and baggy; it hid his physique, which likely was tone, hard and muscular as it always was…did it get hotter in here or was it just her?

"Uhh Videl?" Gohan tried again.

The teenager yelped when she felt something pinch her butt, bringing her back to Earth. She knew her assailant had been her blonde friend, so she ignored it, silently telling herself she'd beat her ass later. No wait, I won't. She'd probably like that...

"Y-yeah?"

"Uhhmm, I just wanted to say…" Gohan trailed off when to his horror he realized that he didn't know what to say to his ex. Sure he had envisioned seeing her again and apologizing profusely for what he did, but then what? Ask her out to eat, like perhaps an actual date? Did she even want to go on a date with him after what happened all those years ago? Maybe he should stop overthinking things and ask and if she says no, then they can just remain friends…right?

Or maybe it would be best to invite her, along with their other two friends for ya know, a friend friendly get together. Yeah! That is a perfect idea!

Wait! No! If he did that, he's taking a big risk! He'd be screwing himself over and fall into the pit of despair that was known as the…

Friend-zone…

Nope!

"Do you want to go out with me sometime?" He asked, his voice giving off confidence.

Videl blinked, surprised that he would ask so casually, considering everything that's happened, but… "Going out as friends or like on a date date?" she threw a question back, her eyes shaking hopefully.

As Gohan's doubt started to make its return, he nearly retrieved his words, thinking that a friendly hang out would be better, but thankfully, his 'superfriend' Sharpner elbowed him on the side, which Videl had missed because she was much too engrossed with his eyes, as she had finally realized that she really wanted to reconnect with the half Saiyan…and not in a friend friendly manner.

Without a moment more to waste, Gohan went on, intending to response what they both craved, but-

"Attention all students! Head over to the auditorium for an exciting announcement from our world savior, the champ himself Mr. Satan!"

The group nearly ran over as students scampered to the auditorium, eager to hear what Mr. Satan had to say; they knew since this was the world champion, the Earth's greatest protector, the one who not only accomplished such feet as defeat the mad tyrant that went by the name of Cell (rumor has it that there had been more than one Cell and that the champ was able to defeat them all with one hand behind his back), but also destroyed a group of space pirate's that had come to invade the planet about four years ago.

Erasa and Sharpner cursed at the interruption, but nevertheless headed to the auditorium to hear the bull-crap that the 'champ' had to say…and to think that they admired this guy years ago…

As for Videl, she pressed her lips together, annoyed at the ill-timing of her stupid father's announcement. However, as she saw Gohan waking off with his head ducked down, she rushed towards him. When she caught up with him, walking side by side, she grasped his large hand.

Gohan looked stunned when he felt Videl…his Videl not only grab his hand but remain locked with his as they continued to make their path to the auditorium.

Though the half Saiyan did not glance at her, he smiled when he felt her smaller hand give his a gentle squeeze.

All was right again.

A blazing green hot fist crashed with a giant blue translucent one, causing clouds to scatter, the powerful shockwave pushing back the two fighters. They both breathed shakily, heavily, their lunges struggling to take in precious air into their mouths. Sweat…they were both drenched in sweat, their hair wet like mops and clothes sticking against their bodies like a second skin.

Without warning Yamcha's beast's clawed hand materialized from behind the Hera-seijin, the blue hand swiping at her upper back, making her eyes widen in shock. She went limp and started to plummet down to the ground.

Yamcha froze briefly, shocked that he had finished the match and might have severely damaged her, but snapped out of it and flew as fast as he could before the Hera-seijin could collide with the ruptured earth soil.

Imagine how surprised he was when her falling body faded like it was never there in the first place.

"Huh?!"

"Surprise!"

Yamcha's mouth dropped, pain exploding from his lower back as he felt a scorching foot slam into it, sending him downwards, his body bent forwards awkwardly. The terrain cratered when the former bandit became imbedded into it, his pain-filled groan escaping his lips as he rolled to the side and sat up; he most likely would have dropped onto his back if it wasn't for his sword, Alastor.

Now completely drained, he unsheathed his sword from his back, using it as a crutch by digging it into the ground and pushing himself up. He barely had time to gasp as he saw a boot punt his weapon away, causing him to crumple back first onto the dirt again.

Growling with annoyance, he tried to sit up, but soon found he couldn't when he felt a foot press down onto his chest, keeping him stationed.

Looking at Zangya, who was now back to her base also, his eyes narrowed when he saw a playful twinkle within her eyes.

"Looks like I won, master…" She said, stepping back and sweeping her orange wet locks to the side.

"Y-yeah, I guess you did." He agreed, standing up straight. For some reason, the manner in which she said 'master' made him feel uncomfortable…

Looking at her wet form, he gulped. He couldn't see through her blue shirt but considering just how tight the thin clothes stuck to her skin, he's almost certain that she wasn't wearing a bra. That thought…didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. In fact, there were many instances when he perhaps ya know, wondered what it…no they looked like? They were probably as blue as her right? What about her-

"Yamcha…"

He shook his head and blinked and almost stumbled back when he saw Zangya's face in front of his, her eyes staring into his curiously as one of her small hands reached for his cheek, smoothing out gently the slightly angry welt on. He flinched.

"Looks like I'm too hot to handle." She winked.

If it had been any other day, he would have cringed at her catchy line. If it had been any other day, he might have even laughed a little and throw lame one-liner back with her, making equally cringe-worthy comments.

But not today.

With reflexes faster than the Hera-seijin could respond too, as she had fully dropped her guard, Yamcha grabbed her thin wrist and jerked her forwards, twirling her form back to him.

"Hey! What are you-"

Zangya's insides melted, her body nearly turning into jelly when she felt Yamcha's lips crush onto hers fiercely. Without hesitation, she kissed him back, making sure to mold herself against him, making sure to show him with her body how much…just how long she's wanted this.

They both fell onto the grass, Zangya landing on top of him and continuing to passionately kiss him. She moaned when she felt his rough hands travel under the back of her clothes, touching her sweaty blue-skinned back.

And just as he ripped her shirt from the back, making her gasp in excitement, he stopped.

She paused and removed her lips from his, tilting her head to the side at his astonished expression. Her eyes widened comically when she was suddenly thrown back, Yamcha abruptly standing up causing her to fall on her ass.

"No way…it can't be…" He whispered, turning from the gorgeous alien and facing the plain sky behind him, stunned.

Holding the blue rag that was once her shirt against her chest, she frowned, fuming at the interruption. Her face was then overcome with worry, worry that he would say that what had happened was a mistake.

Turning back to her, he sighed, shaking his head. "It's not what you think. This…me and you." He gestured to one another. "I want this."

"Then why did you stop?"

His eyes brightened. "Because this is something I need to see to believe!"

"But can't you just do it later?"

"Nope, right now!" He ignited his aura, eying her with a smile. "Don't you feel that Ki?"

Zangya rolled her eyes. "Uhh yeah, it's just Bra powering up or something."

"Of course you wouldn't know since you've never met him!" He stated in realization. "Get another shirt and catch up with me!" Giving her a salute, he blasted off to Mount Paozu, leaving a disgruntle Hera-seijin behind.

Watching his fading form, she sighed deciding that she'd shower first and then meet up with him.

"I should have just let go of my shirt before he took off…" She muttered angrily as she stomped her way inside Yamcha's home.

She snorted shortly after, believing that he would have left anyway.

A/N: This closes out the Gohan/Videl part, so the story can finally move on from that.

This fanfic is sort of in hiatus or more like very slow to random bursts of updates. Like the next one will be ready soon, but after that, beats me lol

(Posted: 3/8/2020)

~Gater~