Last time on Hidden Bars:
The one thing AJ did in the middle of the night was the one thing no one knew about. She closed her eyes, gave out a long breath, and raised her arms to the sky. She was focusing on her chi, letting it roam free within her body without the need to power up. She could feel her energy moving around inside of her.
**
Gohan had never felt this before.
Her power was not as great as his own, but he was able to sense her powerful chi without the need to power up.
It was something so unique, so original that even when his father and him trained in the room of Spirit and Time they never active this state of control. They were able to stay in their warrior form in every day activities but it was nothing like this. Even then they couldn't move in their full power outside of the battlefield like she was able too.
He watched in amazement, not even realizing that he remembered something about his father.
**
A feeling appeared from within Gohan. He wasn't sure what this feeling was but he couldn't help but to feel… He couldn't describe it, there were no words that could perfectly describe how he felt. A gentle smile formed and a light blush came to his cheeks.
Was this happiness?
Hidden Bars
Love
-Son Akito
It was a nice a sunny day.
The birds were chirping, the grass was green, the sky was bright blue, the sun beat down just perfectly that it was the prefect day.
At least outside the castle walls it was a prefect day, but inside of them was a different story.
The King stood outside his balcony looking out into the city. He thought about how prefect this place was, and how differently it could all turn out. He thought about his daughter, and how much she reminded him of his late wife.
And then he thought of the boy, and he thought about his past.
The King had heard of the golden collar child who was strong enough to destroy worlds. He heard the stories about the hollow look in his eyes, but there were short moments that only for a second you could see his twisted pain.
He wondered if this was the best place for him. Clearly the child had to be under some supervision before being set free into the real world. What better way to learn this by guarding someone else.
This could be a huge mistake. That child could destroy them all. He knew this in the back of his mind, yet when he looked down into those twisted eyes he knew the boy could never do such things with his own free will.
Maybe this could be the one thing he could do to fix everything, maybe this was the only way to fix everything.
"Incoming message."
The King turned around to notice a red flash on his computer screen. Walking away from the balcony he turned to the screen.
"Accept message," the King spoke as the caller appeared before him.
"Turns out we have much to talk about," the caller spoke.
"Yes," the King turned his head to the window. Yes, saving that boy would be the only good thing he'd ever do, "Yes we do, Vanlash."
**
It had been a few days since Gohan caught AJ dancing in the middle of the night, and since then he hadn't been able to get his mind off her. All the could think about was her body moving in that prefect way, her small figure swaying back and forth. It was too much that every time he looked at the girl, a deep red blush came to his cheeks.
"It's so clear you're in love with her dude," Gohan glanced over to Hazuki, they both standing back in the distance as AJ gave one of her many speeches.
Gohan didn't say anything at first, but he thought of the idea. Was he in love? Or what was love? He had been trapped for so long that he didn't quite understand what that meant anymore.
"I mean, I see the way you look at her," he grinned, "And you gotta get that out of your head, ya hear, how can you protect her with those love sick puppy eyes of yours?"
"Wouldn't I be able to protect better?" Gohan looked out at the Princess, "If I was in love with her?"
Hazuki glanced over at Gohan, shocked at his answer before laughing, "Well, maybe. It depends on what kind of love you have for her."
"What do you mean on what kind of love?" Gohan asked, he never knew there were more then one type of love.
"Well," Hazuki turned to Gohan, with a huge grin on his face, "There is the type of love you have towards someone but it's more like a friendly love or a family love. Then there is the type that you think you are in love with them, but it turns out you were just filling a void you have deep inside of you. Then there is that one true love, that love that when you are around that person that you can't picture yourself without them. Sometimes it's kind of hard to figure out what type of love you have, but unless you have that one true love-love, don't waste your time with AJ."
"Why do you say that?" Gohan blinked, still trying to figure out the different types of love their are.
"Well," Hazuki turned back to AJ, with a more serious look on his face, "It's because that girl has been though a lot, and the last thing in this world we need is to her heart to break even more."
"Her heart is broken?" Gohan asked in an innocent tone, looking back at the Princess.
"I don't know all the details," Hazuki said, watching as the Princess finished her speech, her people clapped for her, yet he could tell that the smile she pasted on for these people were not her real smile. She looked perfectly happy but when he was around her as much as he had been the last few years, he was able to tell that she never really smiled. It sadden him because Hazuki was never like this, he never felt the need to mask himself and he was able to be free with his emotions. Even though he was there to watch after her, he knew he couldn't protect her from everything, "But I just know it is."
Gohan watched Hazuki's expression change as they talked about the Princess, and as Hazuki walked away towards the Princess he thought about her broken heart. As he walked up to the Princess and Hazuki he thought about when he found her dancing in the middle of the night and for some reason her broken heart made sense.
Was she dancing for someone? Was she dancing because of someone?
The young guard wanted to know the reasons. He wanted to know AJ so he could figure out what type of love he has for her.
"Great job AJ," Eva ran up to AJ, Hazuki, and Gohan with a huge smile on her face. She had been in the background talking to the officials, "They all just loved you and thought you did a great job."
"Really?" She smiled shyly, turning to the boys, "How did you two think I did okay? I was kind of nervous."
"Nervous?" Hazuki lifted his eyebrow, "You're a freakin' Princess, why do you have to be nervous if these guys like you or not."
"Because," AJ cheeks became red, "If they don't like me they won't ever support me when I become Queen. I need them on my side for official reasons."
"But why?" Hazuki asked, rubbing the back of his head, "I mean if you're Queen you should be able to do whatever you want."
"It doesn't work that way," Eva turned to Hazuki, "She can't snap her fingers and do whatever she pleases, there are a lot of steps in between she has to take."
"I don't get it," Hazuki started to become bored.
Yet Eva wouldn't leave it at that, "How do you not know this? It's simple really, once AJ becomes queen she will have many officials and with those officials they will decide what is best for her kingdom. If she has to do all that by herself she would surely go crazy. This way she has some help."
"I'm already going crazy," AJ breathed out, glancing over at Eva with a nervous smile on her face.
Gohan didn't say a word, but just watched as AJ moved, and he could tell she was burnt out.
"Let's do something fun," and without realizing it, the saiyan was speaking. The three of them glanced over at Gohan, surprised at him.
"... Like what?" AJ asked, shocked at Gohan's request.
And just like that Gohan was put on the spot light. He never did good on the spot light, and when he was put in this situation it was never a good thing.
Their glares reminded him of his past. Even though their surprise was by his idea, it was still surprise and he didn't like it.
It reminded him of fear, it reminded him that normal life would never be normal again. His eyes slightly widen, his breath quickly changed. He knew this change was happening and tried everything in his power to act normal.
To Eva and Hazuki it looked like he was just thinking about something to do, but to AJ it looked like something was happening to him.
"Hey, why don't you two head back home," AJ asked as she put her hand on Gohan's shoulder, gripping it to let him know that she knew something was wrong, "Gohan and I will think of something to do and get back to you."
"Okay," Eva said as she tugged Hazuki, "Let's go. You heard her."
"Buuut," Hazuki glanced behind him as he noticed AJ leading Gohan in the other direction.
"Just go," Eva dragged him back to the castle to let the Princess and her guard have some time alone.
AJ turned her head back, noticing Hazuki and Eva were walking away and sighed in relief. She knew Gohan wouldn't want them to see him like this. Gohan was in a trance, it was like his body was able to move around freely but his mind was trapped.
She sat Gohan down against a tree, as she sat across from him. AJ looked down at the ground, tugging at the grass. She waited until his trance was gone so they could talk. This didn't happen all the time, but when it did it scared AJ. She wanted to know what was going on with him, she wanted to know why he was like this.
When she saw him like this it made her feel guilty. She had heard some stories about the boy who destroyed world, and for the longest time she thought this person was a heartless being. Yet when she meet Gohan she realized he was anything but heartless. He has so much heart that the things he had no control over were eating him up inside. He lived with the guilt that Vanlash and his crew should be carrying.
She had a feeling they did other things to him that made him in their control. She knew it would hurt but she wanted to know, she wanted to know everything.
There was something about him that moved her, there was something about him that wanted to make her a better person. If she could help him, then maybe she could find a way to better herself.
She was good at hiding her true self. Her true self doesn't want anything to do with becoming Queen. She for so long have wanted to be a normal person. She wanted to go to school full time, to have friends to hang out with that didn't work for her, she wanted to have a boyfriend and go out with him. She wanted so many things but because she was a Princess she could not have none of it.
Out of everything she wanted she wanted her mom. Her mother had died at a very young age, and even though her father did the best he could, it wasn't enough. Every girl needs a mother to look up too.
She looked up and noticed Gohan watching her, her eyes widen, wondering how long he had been out of it.
"You okay?" She asked as Gohan continued watching her. She waited for his answer, at first she thought he didn't hear her, and before she was about to ask again he spoke.
"I'm fine," he said, glancing down at the ground, noticing all the grass AJ pulled out of the ground.
"You don't seem fine," she said gently, leading forward towards Gohan.
"You don't either," he whispered, and as soon as he said it and saw the look in her eyes he regretted it.
She leaned back, her eye wide as if she was about to cry right there in front of Gohan.
"I'm sorry Princess," he said, leading back against the tree, "I shouldn't of said anything at all."
"No, you're fine," She smiled up at him, shutting her eyes so he wouldn't have to see her pain.
"I saw you dancing," Gohan said, as he watched her eyes open, "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't want to hide it from you anymore, but you're beautiful when you dance."
She didn't know what to say, "Thank you." She finally whispered. Yet to her dancing wasn't to do because she wanted to be beautiful.
"How do you do it?" He whispered, "How do you get to your full powerlevel without fighting?"
She smiled, still looking at the ground, pulling out the grass below her, "Your power doesn't have to be used for just fighting, you know. It can be used for a lot of things. When I dance, I feel like I am able to use my power in a different way. In a way that doesn't have to be so violent," she paused, glancing up at Gohan, "Your power doesn't have to be used for violence, if you want you can use it for a lot of things. I just like to dance, so that's what I use my power for when I am not fighting."
"I don't understand!" Gohan yelled, standing up, " I don't understand how you can use your power for something good. I could never do anything good with what I have deep inside. It's only used to hurt, to destroy, to kill... Nothing good ever comes out of what I have."
Gohan was panting, looking down at AJ. He expected her to be scared, he expected her to run away and scream. He wouldn't be surprised if she called up Vanlash, threw him back at him and then he could use his power for the way it was built to be used.
Yet, she stood up and placed her hands slowly on Gohan's red cheeks. His breathing became even more rapid when she leaned closer to him. He didn't know what to do so he stayed still, his eyes watching her every movement.
She looked up into his eyes, using her fingers to brush the hair out of Gohan's eyes. She looked up at him and noticed all his fears. She could see more then ever the pain that he was going though. For so long this boy thought his power was only used for hate when it could be used for so many other things. She wanted to rid him of this pain. She wanted him to see he could be so much more.
"I'll teach you," she whispered, her fingers in his hair, "I'll teach you how to use your power for something beautiful."
And before Gohan could say another word, AJ brought his lips to hers and kissed him. It was her first kiss, and by the way his lips trebled she could tell this was his first kiss too. It made her happy, that this simple thing to everyone else would now mean the world to them both.
She parted from him, and she looked into his eyes and saw his shock.
Gohan was too stunned for words, she had just kissed him. She kissed him and at that very moment Gohan knew what type of love he had for AJ. This was his one true love-love, the kind of love you couldn't picture yourself without.
"Now," AJ smiled, grabbing his hand, "Let's go find something fun to do."
