Sorry for the very late update :s

I was working on another story and I couldn't find the inspiration to finish this chapter, so sorry :(

But (huuuuge but) I've been working on a dialogue that's... well, very love/hate-ish. Here's a little spoiler of the scene:

(WARNING : SPOILER!!! SCROLL DOWN NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW)

It's some sort of dance sequence. By some series of unfortunate events, Gohan and Videl end up dancing on the night humans celebrate the spring (or whatever) with a ball. And there will be huge fight between them, with Gohan asking Videl why she hates him and Videl confronting him with his past. It's a real clash of the titans... very, very love/hate-ish.

(END SPOILER)

Okay, on with the chapter...

Enjoy!

Hundreds of miles away, under the same bright, caressing, radiant sun, the mother of all beings, the source of life, Videl was touched by the warm light too. But, unlike him, the object of his affections was in a graver demeanor than he was. While Gohan felt on top of the world, she felt she was at the lowest bottom.

While the little, still innocent boys and girls were playing with the sheep of the property, in the great, grassy meadows that surrounded Chrystler Castle, Videl for the first time had no attention or whatsoever to the beautiful environment.

She had been in deep thought ever since Erasa and she parted to devote themselves to their respective jobs, and she had kept her secret for herself.

She knew that telling Erasa about these unknown and unwanted feelings regarding the General would ease her heart and she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she could trust Erasa with this delicate information, as she trusted the ditzy blond with her life already.

But this wasn't an issue of trust, nor it was an issue of easing her heart. This was an issue of pride. Because no matter how deep she had fallen, no matter how low she had sunken, Videl still had her pride, a feat that so distinctively belonged to all those of the house of Satan.

If anyone, even if is only was Erasa, would know that she felt attracted towards General Gohan, how would that someone see her? She was considered as the daughter of a divine figure. Falling for the enemy was a big no-no.

She didn't think she could take it anymore if someone looked at her with an expression of despair. And her secret would doubtlessly reduce any human to nothing but a pile of despair.

Because she was forced into the position of a leader, a heroine… the reluctant ambassador of all human beings. Not a day went by that someone didn't say that her father would have been proud of her.

If only they saw the depths of her heart… If only her father did. What would they have said if they could take a peek?

And thus she had decided what to do. She would keep this secret for herself, hidden deep in her conscience, while she would let no sign out that would betray her emotions towards the General to the outside world.

Nobody was to know her true sentiments. She would carry her impenetrable mask, smiling and obeying submissively, and nothing would betray her attitude.

"Earth to Videl… Anyone there?"

Videl jumped up slightly when she heard a voice calling out for her. She had been in her thoughts so deeply that she had not noticed that someone was standing next to her.

"Woah, what's wrong with you?" A familiar male voice asked her as he sat down next to her onto the soft grass.

"Nothing, Jonah. I'm fine." Videl replied as she scratched her forehead so she could adjust her expression unnoticeably. She didn't particularly want to talk to Jonah right now. He had been following her like a faithful puppy from the day they met, always talking and chit-chatting, even though she would not say anything back and mostly nodded all the time.

Jonah was one of the few merchants of the property, selling the remaining goods that were produced on the General's land on the various markets in the nearby cities. It provided them with money to buy the things that couldn't be produced on the land, such as necessary herbs for medicines, silk, liquors and other luxurious goods that a man as powerful as the General would need. This meant that Jonah spent much of his time traveling with a few other men to sell the goods and he was only at home for a few weeks until he had to travel again for a long period of time.

When Videl met Jonah in the barn he had just came home from one of those travels. And since then he had sought out for her more than occasionally, for he had nothing at hands but to rest and prepare himself for the next journey. At first Videl appreciated his visits. It was nice to have someone to talk to when the children were playing in the lakes or in the meadows. But they were now at the point were they met each other every day and Videl was growing slightly tired with his conversations. He would ramble on and on about something and she would have no idea where he was talking about in the end. Especially since she was not such a talkative person and he had the monopoly of the entire conversation.

He was kind, though. Never in a bad mood, it seemed. And she did sometimes appreciate his efforts to talk to her, when she was feeling lonely and depressed. But now she would rather be alone with her emotions.

"You don't look fine. Are you upset or something?" Jonah asked her with concern. Videl smiled a little when she thought that though he could be slightly annoying, he was always sincere in his ways, something that she could not always attribute to herself.

"No, I just had a rough night." She replied wearily. It was true, though. Videl had slept only a few hours, as she had been pondering about her new revelation for the most significant part of the night.

"Oh, how so?" The male across her asked back.

"I just couldn't sleep, that's all." She assured. It was not like she wanted to go into details. Spilling half of the story to Erasa was bad enough, she didn't want anyone else to know.

He merely nodded, but eyed Videl suspiciously, just as Erasa had done this morning. But he decided to drop the subject, since Videl obviously didn't want to talk about it, using the following silence to turn the conversation conveniently to a subject of his liking, the subject he wanted to speak to her about.

"Have you heard the news yet?" He asked casually as he plucked a long blade of grass from the ground and started to tear it apart slowly.

This caught Videl's attention and she turned her head to the male next to her, question in her eyes.

"What news?" She asked.

Jonah waited for a while, leaning back onto the grass as he fixed his gaze on her in an exaggeratedly slow pace. He looked at her with a frown while he supported himself with his elbows, and Videl almost rolled her eyes at his attempt to make her more anticipated for 'the news'. He eventually told her as he, again in an exaggeratedly slow pace, looked over at the young children in the distance.

"The empire has been invaded."

Videl found that, despite herself, she was surprised when she heard the news. She knew with common sense that the empire wasn't invaded in a long time, or at least not in the meaning of invasion and the conversation suddenly awoke her interest.

"Invaded? By whom?" She asked as if she didn't believe it herself.

"Some guy called Ferdiad has defeated the first army of King Vegeta a couple of days ago. He claims to overthrow the King and free us all." He answered. Videl notice that he didn't look so enthusiastic as he should be. And nor was she.

"Who is this Ferdiad?" Videl asked skeptically, and Jonah let out a humorless chuckle.

"You won't believe it. He's a hybrid… half Saiyan, half human."

This actually startled Videl. She had never heard about a Saiyan-human hybrid. As a matter of fact, she was kind of appalled by the idea of a Saiyan and a human having sexual intercourse. It was just unheard of, it was something that was opposed to every moral, racial and ethical rule, because Saiyans and humans were both very different species. A lion and a deer wouldn't mate either, would they?

"Is that possible?" Videl asked in a whisper, looking at Jonah with an incredulous expression on her face.

"Apparently. But since he has human blood, he's bound to put an end to all the slavery." Jonah shrugged, obviously not believing it himself. Videl wondered why he wasn't as euphoric as he should be.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Videl started, voicing her opinion even though he obviously believed the same. "I mean, he also has Saiyan blood, and we all know how they think of us."

"Well, he does have a lot of reasons to tend more to his human than his Saiyan side."

Videl was puzzled by this. It was as if Jonah was trying to persuade himself into believing that this Ferdiad was really someone worth all the attention.

"How so?" Videl asked as she tentatively observed Jonah's behavior.

"Well, his Saiyan father was executed on the King's order and his human mother was hunted her entire life. Consequently, he must be very vengeful towards the Saiyans."

There was a short silence in which the young man gazed towards the distance with a thoughtful frown on his face while Videl studied his behavior and his facial expressions.

"You don't think this is good news." She eventually started. "You know that you should be exhilarated that someone is trying to free us, but you are not. Why is that?"

Jonah looked down and sighed deeply, his expression close to somber.

"I have a lot of reasons why I shouldn't be exhilarated." He answered wistfully, his tone indicating the end of this subject. This reply, so cryptic and vague that it was uncharacteristic for him, was completely unsatisfying for Videl, but as she saw his expression, she just decided that she didn't want him to spill his guts if he didn't want to. He had not persuaded her to tell him all that has bothered her before either, so she figured that the right thing was to just let him be, even though she was curious why he wasn't enthusiastic just like any other human, or enslaved race for that matter, would be.

Another silence followed, with only the carefree laughter of the children and the whining of the sheep on the background.

"So," Jonah spoke much lighter than before as he broke the short one-minute silence. "why are you not dancing with the euphoria you should feel. Don't you think this is good news?"

"Sure I do." Videl replied with a frown as she started to pick absently as the hem of her blue dress. "But I'm still a skeptic, I don't want to set my hopes on something that might not happen."

Jonah nodded understandingly.

"But then again, what if it will?" He asked rhetorically. "I mean, Ferdiad's reserve troops have demolish the King's best army, his first man had defeated General Gohan in a one-on-one battle… perhaps it will happen."

Videl resentfully acknowledged that the corner of her mouth twitched slightly when Johan mentioned Gohan's name, but she was surprised when she heard that he had been beaten.

"Has General Gohan been defeated?" She asked in surprise. "Wow, the guy who beat him must be one heck of a fighter."

Even she knew that the General was considered as the strongest Saiyan that lived in this time. Hearing that Ferdiad's first man has defeated the strongest of all Saiyans gave her a bit of hope for freedom, though she did not embrace it as willingly as she should. She attributed it to the fact that though he had been defeated, the General was still alive and capable of getting stronger every minute, making Ferdiad's chances smaller.

"Perhaps he will do it." Johan eventually said blankly. "Ferdiad's proving to be one of the biggest threats in centuries, defeating the imperial armies on their own ground. His victory has caused for turmoil in the political circles, the senators disagree with the King's decisions and loyalty fades. The empire is now divided in three groups: the senators, the militia and the ignorant mob, and the King can't satisfy all the parties any more. The stability is gone, there's hardly any sense of unity. And when that is gone, who knows if the empire is capable of protecting the borders."

"How do you know all this things?" Videl asked as she shook her head in confusion. She saw him smile slightly at her question, as if it reminded him of some pleasant memory.

"You can say I have a… friend in the senate. He's the senator of planet Ascaya, a fairly large planet in the east of the Saiyan empire. I used to be one of his slaves when I was a little boy, some sort of playmate for his young son so he would not be lonely when his parents were away."

He stopped here, his smile widening with the apparent affection in his eyes.

"I guess you could say that is was like a second son to the senator. And because he loved me, he set me free on my eighteenth birthday. But living as a free human in this empire is altogether impossible. I wouldn't be able to get a house and make some money, the government would take away everything I own. So instead, the senator lobbied with a few respectable men and he sold me to General Gohan, at whom I would have a considerable amount of freedom as a merchant. I still have contact with the senator, though. We write each other letters and I see him every once in a while. He enlightens me with all the information about the political issues."

Videl suddenly understood why Jonah was not so enthusiastic about the news that they would perhaps be freed. Because if the Ferdiad succeeded, then that would be dreadful for the senators. Perhaps they would loose their positions or, even worse, they would be killed by the rebels to destabilize the empire further. Altogether this meant that the invasion was dangerous for the particular senator Jonah spoke about. And Jonah seemed to care about him very much.

That was also something that Videl could hardly believe. A Saiyan who sees his human slave as a son? And a human slave caring for his Saiyan master as though he was his father? It was completely out of the stretch of the imagination. Saiyans weren't that kind, period. They couldn't relate that much to another species to hold affection towards someone not of their kind.

But then again, every race has its exceptions. She was not the one to say that all humans were representative for the entire human race, so she figured the even the Saiyans had their exceptions. Though she could not really picture it.

"So what is the latest news in the political circles?" Videl asked, intending to change the subject into something that was not as disputable as whether Saiyans could be good or not. To her relief, Jonah started talking about politics.

"Oh, it's crazy in the senate. There are more than three hundred senators who all represent a planet in the empire and all of them have different views on the Ferdiad-issue. Not that it really matters, though. The only opinion which truly matters is the King's. He has absolute power and nothing happens without his permission."

"But what is the function of the senate then if the King has that much power?"

"Well, it's a very complicated system, but from what I hear, they have some sort of counseling function. Basically they advise the King on everything that's relevant in the empire and formally spoken, they are powerless."

Videl frowned and shook her head in confusion.

"What kind of system is that? That's no democracy." She said indignantly.

"Well, no-one ever said it was. I don't think they know what democracy is. But you're missing the point of the whole thing. I said that formally spoken, they are powerless, right?"

Videl nodded wearily, not really understanding where this was going.

"The point is that in reality, the situation is a whole lot different. The senators are mostly heads of very old and respectable families. Long ago, their ancestors supported the dynasty of Vegeta I and they proclaimed him King. A reward for their loyalty was money, honorary titles and, of course, land. The senators of today have inherited the wealth and titles of their ancestors, as well as the land, which have now expanded to a planet for each senator.

But the King still has a dept towards all those men whose ancestors have supported his ancestor. That is why he must follow at least some of the advise which he receives. It's all a very feudal system, all based on dept and honor."

"But those are not decisive factors. The King can still do anything he likes. If he has the absolute power he can even dissolve the senate, can't he?"

Jonah seemed to consider that, while Videl watched him tentatively. She absently noticed that this was the most animated conversation she had ever had with the male next to her.

"I suppose he could, theoretically speaking." Jonah eventually answered slowly. "But he would be crazy if he did that. A planet is a planet by people living there. And just like the land, those people are property, or at least subjects, of the senators. And that means that a senator can call upon everyone on his planet to fight for him. He doesn't even have to pay them. After all, he is the owner of the land, so when the senator asks it, his subjects can't refuse if they don't want to loose everything they have. As a result, every senator has a private army, that might not be as big as the King's army individually, but when combined, they could squash the Royal army like a nasty bug. So you see that this is how everything stays in balance. With the constant threat of being overthrown, the King would be mad to ignore the senate, let alone dissolve it. If you consider this you come to the conclusion that the King is not nearly as powerful as he seems.

And there's even more." He continued, hardly ever pausing. "With him not leading the armies of the empire, the Royal legions may have sworn their allegiance to him, but they are truly loyal to their commander. And that is General Gohan. That makes him about the most powerful man in the empire."

Videl groaned when she heard that. Something inside of her just didn't want to recognize that he was indeed a very significant person. She hated the fact that everyone around her, even all the humans she knew here, was so convinced that he was a great general, a great master and a great man. It was as if they had forgotten that it was thanks to him that thousands of men have met their ends, that it was thanks to him that the lives of millions of people have been destroyed.

But on the other hand she found herself being incredibly eager to hear more about him. The more she knew about him, the more she wanted to know. It was embarrassing, but she couldn't help it.

"Most powerful man…" She muttered resentfully. "Well, he definitely shows that of. God, he's so arrogant. I wonder why he hasn't killed the King and claimed the throne yet. Must be very good for his ego."

She couldn't stop the hateful array of words. It was as if another person was speaking. And it was as if that person wanted everyone, including Videl herself, to believe that she loathed the General. And Videl believed it. She really did loathe her master, he was a Saiyan after all. But Jonah just looked at her with suspicion, his brow knitted in a frown.

"I think you've got it wrong." He started as he again watched the children in the distance. "The general is a good guy. And most loyal too. He'll never betray his King."

That was just so not what Videl wanted to hear. It angered her even a little, hearing that Jonah also thought good of the General. But what angered her the most was her own reaction. Because she wanted to hear more, say more… know more about him. And she couldn't help herself, but she rambled on about him again.

"Then he is the only god damned Saiyan who is foolish enough to take orders from superiors who aren't even superior to him."

It came out sharper that she had intended, silencing Jonah for a while as he looked at her even more suspiciously, while she was still picking on the hem of her dress, a frown on her face. Both of them didn't say anything for a short while, feeling some sort of disagreement between them. It was Jonah who was brave enough to break the silence.

"I think he feels very ashamed about his defeat." He started quietly, as if he wanted to persuade Videl to believe otherwise about her master.

Videl turned his gaze towards him, waiting for him to continue, despite her short rant. When he didn't she grew a little impatient.

"Who? The General?" She asked, more as an attempt to get Jonah to speak.

"Yeah. With Saiyans, it's either winning or dying. Losing is not an option. And he lost. I think he feels he has lost his honor." Jonah muttered tonelessly, staring absently in the distance.

"It's good to lose every once in a while. Keeps your feet on the ground. Maybe now he will see that he is a mortal man, just like all of us." Videl replied a little less sharp tone than she had previously, though her sentiments were still the same.

Another quiet moment followed. She heard Jonah sigh beside her and when she turned her head to watch him. He had his eyes closed, enjoying the warm rays of the sun that touched his face.

He was kind of cute. Even Videl couldn't deny that. He had some sort of adolescent charm, a boyish youthfulness. That wasn't really strange, though. He was only twenty-one, two years older than her.

Most of the older girls on the property were all over him, and they had more than frequently told Videl that she was so lucky that he wanted to spend time with her more than she would have liked. But still, she couldn't find herself being attracted to him. He was more like a friend that anything close to what she considered 'boyfriend-material'.

All of a sudden, when she thought about attraction, she found herself thinking about the General and she stared to compare him to Jonah.

Jonah, as she had thought before, was kind of cute. His youthfulness made him endearing. He had auburn hair that came to his earlobes, falling down in a ruffled and wild style. He had a pale skin, with slight freckles across his nose, and he had beautiful green eyes. He had shaved off the small fringe of beard with which she saw him for the first time and now his face looked even younger. Altogether, he was definitely good-looking.

And then the General. He was so different from Jonah. Whereas the latter still was a boy, General Gohan just breathed masculinity. He had a rough, but exceptionally handsome face, with black eyes and equally as dark hair. His skin was tanned and on some places scarred, doubtlessly thanks to all the battles he had fought, and he had a very visible scar on his cheek. He was tall and muscular, but rather slender than bulky. Jonah was tall too, but he was more lanky, whereas the General was graceful. He had some sort of attitude, something that just held so much authority, which made him on the one hand insufferable for her, but on the other hand very attractive thanks to the power that radiated from him.

And she came to her conclusion were the difference between the two men exactly lay.

Reluctantly she admitted that though Jonah was cute…

… the General was gorgeous.

"How good do you the General?" She asked all of a sudden. She didn't want to ask it, she scowled at herself for asking it, but she had done it nonetheless. She just wanted to know… She was so eager to just hear about him. And afterwards she would make a hateful comment, something she also couldn't help, just to prove that she did loathe him… resent him… dislike him… hate him… and everything in between.

To her delight she saw that Jonah didn't think the question was a strange one and he answered it without suspicion.

"I've talked to him a couple of times. He asked about my father…the senator I mean…I never really knew my actual father. He told me the senator and he could get along quite well and that he is one out of a few senators who is actually decent. And we talked about politics. The General had some quite interesting views and opinions and even some good ideas about conscription, as far I can tell with my limited life experience. But he never had the ambition to go into politics. "Too much corruption and endless debates that lead to nothing", he said. He belongs to the army; war is his calling."

Jonah let out a humorless chuckle, surprising Videl a little.

"Yeah, he's a good guy. I think that, if we weren't so different, we could have been friends."

"But he's so obnoxiously arrogant." Yes, there she went again, blurting out half-truths, as if that made the General a lesser man.

"Well, they all are." Jonah shrugged indifferently. "Every Saiyan is arrogant and feels himself superior towards us. But there is more to Gohan than you would think. If you just try to be nice and have a small talk with him every once in a while, you'll find out that he's a decent guy. He really is."

"I was taught otherwise." Videl muttered stubbornly.

"Oh, let me guess… June and Ellie?" He asked with a chuckle, causing Videl to smile as well, though it was only slightly.

"They told me that I was not to speak to him, unless I was spoken to." She said truthfully.

"I should have known." Jonah replied brightly. "But come on Videl, not to be rude, but they are quite old, they don't know anything better than to be respectful. That's good in any other case, but Gohan is still quite young, he can appreciate a conversation that is not about politics or war. A man of his power is always in the company of more experienced, older men. He knows only a few men of his own age. Poor guy has grown up way too fast."

Videl let out a small laugh when she thought about that. Ironic that Jonah had said that.

"Well, you can say anything you want, but he is most definitely not poor." She said with a chuckle as she looked at the castle in the distance. Jonah smiled at her comment, but remained silent.

"I hope they will spare him, though." He mused vaguely, confusing Videl as she didn't know what he was talking about.

"The rebels, I mean." He explained quickly when he saw Videl's expression. "I pray that, if it ever comes that far, Ferdiad will not lower himself to Saiyan levels and kill them all out of revenge."

Videl didn't know exactly what to say about that. She knew that she should hope that Ferdiad would kill all the Saiyans in the end. Just so they got what they deserved. But, and this startled her greatly, she found out that she wasn't exactly sure what to think any more. As a lack of knowledge to know what to respond to Jonah, she said the only thing that she could think about.

"Amen."

Jonah turned his head towards her in surprise, obviously not expecting her short reply.

"I didn't know you were religious." He exclaimed and Videl grimaced.

She wasn't. But it was the only diplomatic answer she could think about at that moment.

It was twilight. The sky was dark and the stars shone faintly under the thin veil of clouds, while the horizon was still pink and orange, for the sun had set not too long ago. It was the moment of the day that Videl felt most peace. It was the moment that it was still warm, but the closest to night. And she welcomed the upcoming night, in whose darkness she could crawl away when she was alone in her room, unseen by anyone.

But that had to wait, for now she was headed towards the slave quarters, where she would dine with Erasa or the other females who had their rooms in the castle. She was late though, the children and she came home way too late. She hurried so she would not be the only one in the dining room who was still having her meal.

She just came across the kitchen when Stella came out with two carts full of food.

"Videl, thank goodness." Stella breathed with relief and Videl made her way to the older woman.

"What's wrong? Do you need help?" Videl offered anxiously and Stella smiled gratefully.

"Oh, that would be great, hun. Could you take this cart to the General's quarters, then I'll take this one to his other guest."

Videl froze in her spot when she heard Stella's request, while the latter said something about a little incident in the kitchens and that the other two guest already had their food and that the General and his other guest were still waiting in their rooms for their dinner.

"Just walk in, bring him his dinner and wish him a pleasant evening, that's all." Stella added, before she already dashed away with the other cart and Videl couldn't say anything to stop her.

Videl swallowed deeply as she looked at the cart full of food. So she was to bring this to the General?

She noticed that she had started shaking.

This is something she could not take right now…

Why did this have to happen to her? Her of all persons!

But it was a simple task… she just had to go to his room, drop it off and wish him a good evening. That wasn't so difficult, right?

But what if he said something back? What if he started about the previous evening, when she bumped into him in the chamber with the statues where she was not supposed to be at that time? What if he asked her questions?

She stood there for a few minutes, considering her options, which were either go and face the General, or run away now and leave the cart here.

But she didn't want to get Stella into trouble. Because if she didn't bring him his food, he could get angry with her.

So slowly and reluctantly, she resigned and with the unpleasant feeling of nervousness and apprehension in her stomach, she made her way to the General's quarters.

Okay, that's it for now. I've been working on the next chapter for ages. I really want it to be perfect, with the tension between them portayed correctly. So it could take a while... or not. I'm not sure.

Anyway, let me know what you think about think chapter.

You'll do me a favor ;)

So, please review!