Thank you for the lovely reviews that I've received so far on the first chapter! They totally make my day! XD And here's a nice, long chappie as a present! :D Hope ya like!
Oh, and some dialogue in here isn't straight from the anime…you'll understand when you reach it. XD But besides that, there's nothing else for me to say! So read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Me does not own DBZ. TOTALLY wish I did, though.
If there was one thing that Videl Satan prided herself on, it was her determination.
The daughter of Hercule Satan, world champion and the one who defeated Cell, would never let something that she deemed suspicious go unquestioned, and she would not give up in her goal. It was what made her such a good and dangerous opponent to anyone in her way.
When the mysterious Gold Fighter had made his second appearance on the same day that Gohan Son had come to her high school, she'd instantly been slightly suspicious of him from the start. Also, throwing in the fact that she'd been told that the clothing that the Gold Fighter had been wearing the exact same clothes that Gohan had been wearing that day, she'd only begun to suspect that something was weird with the new kid. Not to mention that, during gym, he'd managed to break all possible laws of gravity and physics when he jumped up fifty feet in the air to catch a ball hit by Sharpener; and also, during gym class, when a baseball thrown at a considerable speed by Sharpener hit him square in the face, it seemed as if he'd felt absolutely nothing at all—in fact, it seemed that the poor baseball had been hurt, all dented after the collision with Gohan's face. And there hadn't even been a mark on Gohan's face after the ball had made contact, and if he'd been in any pain, then he certainly hadn't shown anything!
After that, she knew that there was something definitely fishy about Gohan Son, and she decided that she would be the one to uncover the secrets that he was hiding.
The day after Gohan had been enrolled into Orange Star High, a new and flamboyant hero had appeared—the Great Saiyaman. When anyone talked about him or began to mock this new hero for his odd name or stupid poses that he did with corny pick-up lines and his retarded outfit, Gohan had always jumped to the mysterious new hero's defense. But the thing that had really given him away was after he helped her save people from a bus that had been hijacked, after he'd called her by name, and after she thought that she slightly recognized the Great Saiyaman's voice. It was then that she decided to have a little discreet test to see if the Great Saiyaman really was Gohan as she'd expected, and he'd fallen for it unconsciously.
It was on the way back to school that she demanded to be taught how to fly the next day, and also demanded that he enter the World Martial Arts Tournament in hopes of actually having a worthy opponent, after finding out that he was also the son of Goku Son. If not, she'd reveal to everyone that Gohan was really Saiyaman.
On their first day of training, Videl had been completely shocked when she learned two things: one, that Gohan had a little brother; and two, that Gohan was really amazingly sculpted with muscle.
Who knew that Gohan Son had been hiding muscles under those loose-fitting clothes of his that made him look so scrawny? It didn't make sense—how did Gohan, the nerd, have such perfectly toned muscles? It had been the first time that Videl had seen him in any type of gi, either, and the purple fighting outfit left his arms and some of his chest bare. His arms had been perfectly sculpted with muscles that she'd had the odd feminine urge to touch, and what had been shown of his bare chest showed strong, rock-hard pectoral muscles.
She didn't dwell on that, however, and simply focused on being taught how to fly. But first, she'd needed to learn how to access her ki, her inner energy, which, unlike her father had said, was apparently real. He taught her how to do that, and also taught her how to float. Yesterday, though, she'd been a bit surprised at Gohan's mother, Chi-Chi, when she had asked Videl when she was going to get married to Gohan; it was actually a thought that was slightly humorous, and it was made even funnier when Gohan's reaction happened and he spewed his food into his little brother's face.
Before she left, Gohan had told her that she should cut her hair. For some odd and unfathomable reason, Videl had begun to blush as she'd gently held one of her black pigtails in her hands as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through the strands, asking him with if he liked girls with short hair. For some reason, her heart had begun pounding like crazy.
It was then that he'd said that he just thought that it'd be more beneficial for her in a fight. Not that he thought that she'd look better with shorter hair.
Videl had raged at him after that, her face flushed red as she yelled at him. Who did he think he was? She would do whatever she wanted to do with her hair, and he couldn't make her do anything that she didn't want to!
However, she did agree with his statement once she'd cooled down when she got home, and had cut her hair.
The look on Gohan's face when she'd exited the jet had been completely priceless, though, she remembered with a small smirk. However, he didn't let it hinder them as he continued to teach her the basics of teaching someone how to fly.
"All right, well, let's start off with something simple," Gohan mused aloud as he looked at his student, who was slightly impatient as she waited, her foot tapping on the ground and her arms crossed against her chest as she waited for him. She'd been here for fifteen minutes, and they hadn't begun training yet! However, she noticed Gohan stole a glance once again at her newly cut hair.
Videl couldn't stop a small smirk from forming on her features at that.
"Did you practice your floating at home?" Gohan asked her as he absentmindedly tucked his thumbs under the red belt around his waist.
"No, I couldn't," Videl replied, annoyance in her tone. "Dad would absolutely freak if I showed him that I could float—he still believes that your energy-ki-things are just a bunch of tricks, and that the flying is all a trick, too."
At that, Gohan felt a prick of annoyance. Now, in all honesty, he didn't really mind the fact that Mr. Satan had taken credit for the defeat of Cell—didn't mind it most of the time. The pros were that he was able to live a somewhat 'normal' life (if it could even be called that) and that his family and all the other fighters that attended the Cell games would also have their privacy.
However, because Hercule Satan had taken credit, the other humans on the planet believed that a human had been strong enough to save them; and, when he ridiculed the other true warriors on television, everyone had gone along with it. How was it possible for people's hair to turn blond and shoot energy beams out of their hands and fly and move at speeds so fast that they were unable to be seen? Hercule Satan said it wasn't and that they were just cheap tricks, and everyone on Earth believed the lies that they were spoon-fed by him.
The lives of the Saiyans had become a little bit harder, because the humans just couldn't fathom the fact that aliens had saved them, that there actually were aliens on the planet Earth. From what he heard, Trunks was having a little trouble in school keeping his power in check, and Gohan was silently grateful that Goten wasn't going to school yet—even though he knew that he would want to eventually, since his best friend was doing it. Vegeta was sometimes caught by the paparazzi, since Capsule Corp. was almost always being attacked by greedy reporters—however, those things never really made it to the newspapers, because the reporters were either scared half to death by Vegeta or screamed at by Bulma. Goku had been ridiculed by Hercule himself during the Cell Games, something that simply irked Gohan to no end.
However, he wouldn't complain. At least he was still here, able to actually protect the planet he loved and cherished, the planet that was his home.
"Well, let's see how your floating is going, then," Gohan said, nodding towards her.
Videl closed her eyes, remembering what Gohan had told her yesterday about harnessing her inner energy and using it to help her. First, she relaxed, and then she focused, gripping the hidden energy, her ki, within her, and, once she managed to grab hold of it, gently pushed it under her.
Gohan noticed with approval that she was able to float a couple of inches off the ground, a small bit higher than she had managed yesterday. Her eyes were squeezed shut with her intense concentration, her fists clenched at her sides.
"Great job, Videl!" Gohan praised.
"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate," Videl snapped in reply. She lost slight control over her floating, and landed back on the ground suddenly, making contact with the grass. Irritated that her control had been interrupted, she shot a slight glare at Gohan with her fiery sapphire blue eyes.
"You messed me up," she told him in an irate tone, wiping a few beads of sweat off of her forehead that had formed with her effort of floating.
"Heheh, sorry about that," Gohan replied sheepishly, unconsciously rubbing the back of his head in a manner that was exactly like his father's. "But you've actually got this down pretty well. I think that we should work on building up your endurance, though."
Videl looked out of the corner of her eye, where Goten was happily flying in loops through the air. The little boy remembered what Gohan had said, and was not flying any faster than he had been yesterday, when he first learned how to fly. He was laughing as he made different designs, or dove towards the ground only to pull up a sheer millisecond before he made contact with the ground.
"How long did you say it would take me until I can fly like him?" Videl asked, pointing towards Goten.
Gohan quickly glanced at his little brother, relieved that the boy wasn't going any faster than he had yesterday. He then turned to Videl as he thought.
"Well, I'm not completely sure," he answered honestly, "because everyone learns at different rates. But…I'd say two weeks, tops, for you to learn how to fly like he is."
That left her two more weeks to completely perfect her technique when she managed to get away from her father, so that she would own it by the tournament.
"Hey, that's not bad!" Videl grinned slightly, put in a slightly better mood than before. "You really think I can learn it that fast?"
"Yeah," Gohan replied, shrugging. "You're already a martial artist, and you've got a pretty good hang of controlling your ki so that you can fly. Flying isn't that hard, actually, once you know what to do. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time."
Hearing the sincerity in his tone, Videl couldn't help but smile completely at him.
Gohan noticed that she looked very different when she smiled—not smirking or lightly grinning or a smug smile of pride, but actually smiling. He realized that it was something that was very rare and that affected her appearance in a good way. Her face seemed to light up a bit, and now the slightly illuminated features of her face were more pronounced by her shorter black hair—Gohan decided that he liked it cut short. Her dark blue eyes also seemed to sparkle a bit, as if a single star was caught in each of their depths.
The words left Gohan's mouth unbidden, but he didn't regret them.
"You look really pretty when you smile."
At that, Videl's eyes widened, and she turned to look at him, feeling a little heat come to her face.
"Come again?" she asked, unsure if she had heard correctly, her voice not quite as steady as she wanted it to be.
"You should smile more often," Gohan continued, as if Videl wasn't nearly floundering with what to say to him in reply. "You don't smile that often, but your smile makes you look really nice. Your eyes sparkle when you smile, did you know that?"
Videl felt the blush take over her cheeks, and she knew that she must've been as red as a beet. "Um…ah—" She cut herself off, mentally scolding herself for sounding like a dumb idiot. But how was she supposed to react?
Videl Satan was used to people being so scared of her that they'd wet their pants from their fear. She was used to the compliments about her fighting prowess, about how strong she was, about how skilled she was in martial arts, about how she fought crime, and about how competitive she was; even though she was a girl, she was possibly one of the strongest people in the world. Compliments towards her strength and being feared by criminals and showered with fame because of her dad were the things that Videl was used to.
What she wasn't used to, however, was someone telling her that she looked pretty when she smiled.
No one had ever really complimented her on her looks before—well, with the exception of Sharpener, but he was a flirt with most of the girls in the school. And those compliments were very rare coming from him.
She didn't know why her heartbeat was suddenly racing, and why almost her entire face burned. But…no one had ever said anything like that before. No one had ever told her that she looked prettier when she smiled. No one told her that her eyes sparkled when she did so.
No one…except for Gohan, the boy who seemed to be full of surprises.
Gohan wasn't sure why Videl was suddenly blushing so fiercely that it seemed like she was sunburned. All he had done was state a simple fact. Maybe he'd offended her in some way, somehow? With girls, he could never be sure how they felt.
"Um…th-thank you, Gohan," Videl stammered slightly. Inwardly, she cursed herself. Why was she suddenly barely able to articulate comprehensible sentences? All because of a few simple words that he'd told her?
Thankfully, neither of them really had to worry about that any more, being interrupted as a blur of orange and black whizzed right in between them.
"Goten!" Gohan shouted over to his little brother. "What's going on?"
"Sorry, Gohan!" Goten apologized, stopping in mid-flight, hovering in the air without any visible effort at all, making Videl slightly envious of him. Her blush was beginning to decrease, her face turning back to a normal temperature, as she looked at Goten. The kid was only seven, and yet he seemed to easily be able to fly as if it was second nature to him. Why wasn't she able to easily fly like he could? Gohan said that Goten had already known how to use ki…but still, he was a kid!
"What were you doing?" Gohan repeated his question, looking at Goten with only a lightly stern look in his eye.
"Well, I was chasing this butterfly, and then I saw an even prettier one fly right between you and Videl!" Goten replied, grinning. "And I didn't want to let it get away, so I chased that one, and I caught him, see?" Proudly, Goten showed that he'd managed to trap a lovely butterfly in his palms. Its wings were shaped delicately, and colored lovely hues of aqua, blue, and black, with small splotches of purple.
"Yeah, I see," Gohan replied with a small smile at his younger brother. "But you know that you have to let it go, right? Even though you caught him, you still have to let him go, or else he won't be happy."
"Yeah, I know," Goten said, slightly pouting, but he let the butterfly go anyway. Then, he grinned. "Now I can chase him even more now!" he exclaimed, and, just like that, was right back into his chipper mood, before flying after the pretty butterfly.
Videl raised her eyebrows at Gohan. "You seem to care a lot about nature," she noted quietly.
"Yeah, I do," Gohan answered honestly. "I grew up here, around the trees and the animals. My dad…he always cared a lot about nature, and would protect the animals whenever he could." At the mention of his father, Gohan looked away slightly. "He really loved the animals—he's the one who taught me the importance of nature in our lives." Then, he shook himself slightly, not allowing his mind to go back to things that he'd rather not think about, things that he'd rather not see, as he remembered his father. Goku would sacrifice himself for everyone…
"Hey, let's continue to practice controlling your ki," Gohan said, changing the subject instantly.
The black-haired young woman realized that he wanted to change the subject, and, for once, she didn't press him for details.
Videl managed to be able to float a full two to three feet off the ground; however, after she accomplished that feat, she was exhausted from how long it took her to build up all the focus and energy needed to keep her up in the air.
"How—in the world—do you do it so—easily?" Videl asked in awe, speaking through small pants of breath. "And Goten—he doesn't seem—nearly as breathless—as I feel…"
"I told you, Goten already knew how to manipulate his ki very easily," Gohan said, grinning a bit. "But I'm also surprised that he picked it up pretty quickly—it took me quite a while to learn how to fly without any real effort."
Videl simply panted for a little while longer, lying down on the grass, her legs splayed out in front of her while she supported her upper body with her palms as they rested in the grass. Gohan was sitting with his legs crossed, simply waiting for her to catch her breath.
Then, Chi-Chi's voice sounded from the kitchen. "Gohan! It's time for lunch! Get your brother, and Videl can come over here!"
At there mere mention of food, Gohan instantly sprung up from his sitting position. "OK, Mom!" he called back, and then looked at Videl. Companionably, he extended his hand towards her. "Hey, need any help?"
Instead of taking his hand and thanking him for the gesture, Videl's blue eyes suddenly lit up in a fiery rage. "WHAT?" she nearly shouted in his face. "Do you think that I'm not able to take care of myself just because I'm a bit TIRED?" She batted his hand away with an air of fury and disgust as she made herself stand up, glaring at him venomously. If looks could kill, Gohan had no doubt that he would be very, very dead—but, hanging around with people such as Vegeta and Bulma gave you a partial immunity to glares like these.
Only partial, though.
"I…I wasn't…" Gohan floundered for words, unable to understand what, exactly, he'd done that was apparently wrong in her eyes. All he'd done was offer her a hand—it was a common gesture that he often did, with Krillin and Yamcha and all his other friends, and most of them didn't find it insulting. It was just offering a comrade help, and he didn't understand what was wrong with it.
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much," Videl snapped angrily at him. Then, she let out an aggravated sound as she stomped over to where Chi-Chi had called her, not turning to look back at Gohan.
Goten suddenly appeared next to his brother, having seen the exchange between Videl and Gohan. "What was that?" Goten asked his older brother.
Gohan watched as Videl clomped over to their house, obviously aggravated and annoyed. Gohan let out a sigh as shook his head, slowly following Videl, and he felt Goten run up alongside him.
"Goten," Gohan replied, his voice slightly confused and a note of defeat within there as well, "I honestly have no idea."
"Gohan…take care of the animals…for me…" Sixteen rasped out, while nine-year-old Gohan looked on in stunned horror at what was happening in front of him. Sixteen's head continued to speak, his ice blue eyes, the eyes that had been identical to Seventeen and Eighteen's eyes, looking at Gohan with emotion that he hadn't believed a robot could have. "It's all right…to release your power, Gohan…just, please…protect nature. I love…the little birds…and all the animals…please…protect them…for me…"
Suddenly, Cell's foot came down, ruthlessly crushing the head of the Android in a single motion, and Sixteen, just like that, was dead.
A strangled, choked sound escaped from Gohan's throat as he looked at the remnants of Android #16, and tears silently began to fall down his young face.
"Well, now he's finally gone," Cell said smugly. "Now, without any further interruptions, let's continue."
Gohan was unable to see anything through the misty tears that were clouding his vision. And that was when it happened.
When Cell rubbed his foot over the crushed remains of Sixteen, as if to cleanse the earth of his existence, Gohan could only see a bird. Sixteen had loved the birds. He had loved nature. Especially the birds.
And then, something inside of him snapped.
A scream that seemed to be unable to be formed by human vocal chords escaped from his throat, sounding more animalistic than human. His power escalated, spiraling upwards and upwards and upwards, and tears were running down his cheeks in relentless rivers.
All he saw was Sixteen gently stroking the feathers of a blue bird that had landed on his large hand.
Sixteen loved the animals. Nature. All he wanted was to take care of it.
And he wouldn't be able to any more. Because he was dead.
More screams came from Gohan's throat, before his power finally, finally stopped rising. He heard the others speaking, but didn't hear them, as his screams suddenly stopped. His throat was hoarse, and tears were still visible on his cheeks, having left small tracks on his rather dirty face. The wounds that Cell had given him before, however, didn't seem to hurt at all any more, and he only felt this power, this power and this uncontrollable rage that was threatening to completely consume him, take over his entire being.
And he welcomed it.
Gohan glared venomously at Cell through his teal eyes, knowing that he would make that monster pay for everything that he'd done—
Green skies and blue grass was what five-year-old Gohan saw…and that blue grass was covered with red blood.
Vegeta was dying, his red blood pooling around him as he struggle to stay alive, desperately trying to speak to Gohan's father, Goku, 'Kakarot'.
Vegeta's death would leave a mark; Dende's hadn't. Frieza had simply blown up the young Namekian on the spot, disintegrating him to ashes before any of them could speak. And then, he had fought Vegeta, and completely and utterly beat the Saiyan prince. Vegeta was coated with blood, coughing out some of the red liquid as he spoke to Goku through mouthfuls of the vital crimson liquid that should've been inside of his body.
There was no way that Vegeta was going to live—Frieza had shot him directly through the heart. But Vegeta refused to die until he finished speaking with Goku.
"Your father…my father, the king…all killed, because of…him," Vegeta weakly said, sputtering more blood and phlegm onto the blue grass.
Then, TEARS began to fall from Vegeta's eyes. True tears, mixing with the blood all over him, trailed down the proud, yet beaten Saiyan prince's face.
"Please, Kakarot…avenge…your people…" The ground was soaking up the salty tears that Vegeta shed, while Gohan could only watch in pure fear and horror, slightly shielded by the body of his mentor. Piccolo was in between him and Frieza, so that, if the white lizard tried anything, that Piccolo would be able to try and somehow protect Gohan. But the tears falling from Vegeta's eyes was all Gohan could focus on, the salty tears that were coming from the eyes of the proud, "emotionless" Saiyan prince.
"Hmph, even having your heart run through won't shut you up," Frieza said, his disgusting, slightly feminine voice sounding both amused and angered beyond belief.
"Kakarot…I beg of you, please…" Vegeta's life was slipping away, but he needed to tell the last pureblooded Saiyan this. He NEEDED to. He needed this promise. He WOULDN'T die until Kakarot understood. His tears made his vision blurred, mixing with his blood, but he didn't care. Kakarot needed to know. It was Vegeta's last request.
"Frieza…must die…by a Saiyan's…hands…"
And, with that, Vegeta, the last, proud prince of all the Saiyans, drew his last breath, before Death took him with its cold, cruel talons.
And Frieza was only smirking—
Everything suddenly seemed to go in slow motion for Gohan, and yet, it also seemed to go too fast to comprehend.
The nine-year-old boy watched, paralyzed, as the thick energy beam pierced through the clouds of gathering smoke. The smoke where the terribly familiar energy of Cell had been felt.
The beam hit a target:
Mirai Trunks.
The lavender-haired, blue-eyed half-Saiyan son of Vegeta and Bulma from an apocalyptic future began to fall backwards. His sky-blue eyes—the same shade as his mother's—were wide, his overlong lavender hair falling in front of his shocked, tanned features, the features that were a carbon copy of his father's. Blood suddenly began to pool around the large, gaping hole in the middle of his body. He landed on the floor with athudas he began to fiercely cough up blood.
Vegeta's onyx eyes were wide as he saw the body of his future son fall to the ground, gasping out only one word:
"Trunks…"
Gohan watched in horror as Yamcha ran over to Mirai Trunks, who was struggling to live, desperately trying to cling to life. But it was in vain.
"Hm, who'd I hit?" the terrible, acidic voice of Cell sounded from the clouds. "Ah, Trunks." With that, the smoke completely dispersed, revealing Cell in his perfect form as he smirked with an air of superiority about him.
With a sickening, sudden jolt, Gohan noticed that the faint, shaky rising and falling of Trunks' chest had stopped. Trunks was dead.
No…not another person. First his father, now Mirai Trunks? Someone else killed by Cell? No, no, NO!
Gohan wasn't able to think truly coherent thoughts, only able to look at Cell with hatred in his eyes. His father's completely selfless sacrifice, after losing him not moments before…it was for nothing?
Vegeta was still unable to believe it, his eyes wide. His obsidian eyes were full of denial, and behind that, pure, venomous anger and hatred.
"T-Trunks…" he repeated, his mind unable to wrap around it. No, his son…the son that he'd tried to push away…was…dead? His son, who had only wanted to get to know the father that he'd never known…who hadn't stopped trying to get to know the surly prince, even though he'd tried to make it clear how he couldn't care less about him…who had somehow managed to wedge his way into the what was left of the cold, withering remnants of what was once a heart within Vegeta's chest…
Trunks…Trunks, his son…was…
Dead?
Vegeta suddenly roared, a wordless roar of pure agony as he made the Super Saiyan transformation in an instant, his obsidian hair turning blond and his black eyes turning turquoise as another scream, this one yet again of no words, made it through his throat.
Gohan knew, in that instant, that Vegeta really cared for Trunks.
And Gohan had killed Mirai Trunks too because of his own stupid, stupid, stupid arrogance—
Yamcha. Chiaotzu. Tien. All of them were dead. Little Gohan hadn't been strong enough to help.
And now, Piccolo had thrown himself in front of Gohan when the five-year-old had frozen in fear when Nappa aimed a blast directed towards him. Piccolo, the heartless green alien, who had taught Gohan for a year before the two Saiyans came.
It had been in vain.
"No! PICCOLO!" Gohan screamed as his mentor fell on the dirt, collapsing in front of him. Gohan turned Piccolo's body over so that he was facing the pained face of his teacher.
"No, Piccolo, you can't…you can't leave me…!" Gohan said, tears threatening to escape from his eyes.
"Hmph…I can't believe I've been reduced to this…giving up my life…for a whiny brat…" Piccolo said, his voice holding slight humor in it even as he shuddered with the effort to breathe.
"P-Piccolo…" Gohan trailed off, unable to take it. He wasn't strong enough. He hadn't been strong enough to protect them.
Piccolo smirked at his protégé. "Gohan…you know…you're the first person…not to treat me like a monster…" He coughed, his eyes only half-lidded as he wheezed a bit in his pain. "It felt…kinda nice…"
"N-no…no, no, Piccolo, please! You can make it, just…please, don't die!" Gohan begged.
But Piccolo only continued to smirk. "You know…I guess this past year…wasn't that bad after all…kid…" And then, Piccolo's eyes closed as the last breath left his body.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!
It was the only word going through Gohan's mind as he allowed the tears to fall, before screaming out of pure pain. Krillin was beaten to the side, and now, Gohan was the only one left to do anything for anyone.
And Piccolo had just died.
The little boy suddenly began to power up, causing Vegeta to whip his head in Kakarot's whelp's direction when his scouter beeped, signaling that the boy's power was rising rapidly.
All Gohan knew was that the big, fat, stupid Saiyan, Nappa, was going to pay for killing Piccolo—
"This is the only way to save the Earth," Goku said sadly, looking at all of his friends.
"Goku, no! You don't have to do this!" Krillin said, desperately trying to make his best friend see reason.
Goku gave a sad smile. "Krillin, this is the only way, we know that. I'll never forget any of you…take care of Gohan and Chi for me?"
With that, he pressed two fingers to his forehead and winked out of sight.
"NOOOOOOOOO! GOKU!" Krillin shouted, but it was too late. Goku had already gone.
Suddenly, Goku appeared in front of his son, making Gohan gasp in fright. Goku grinned as he turned to face his only child.
"Gohan, you've made me proud, son," Goku said, smiling gently. "Take care of your mom for me, OK?"
It was then that Gohan understood what his father was going to do. "No! No, Dad! D-don't do this!"
"WHAT?" Cell roared, enraged. His monstrous form continued to blow up as he drew bigger and bigger, preparing to self-destruct. However, his plans were going to take a little U-turn.
"Goodbye, everyone," Goku said in finality. "Bye, Gohan. I'll always be proud of you, son."
Then, he used Instant Transmission to transport himself and the self-destructing Cell to a different planet.
"NO!" Gohan screamed, reaching out for his father, but only gaining empty space. "No…" he whimpered, feeling tears begin to collect in his eyes. Then, everyone felt the familiar energy signal of Goku suddenly turn to nothingness.
He was dead.
"NOOOOOOOOO! DADDY!" Gohan wailed, screaming up into the sky, before he collapsed on his knees, crying with all of his heart. He fiercely gripped the soil with his hand, making a fist, his tears being soaked up by the dry ground.
He killed him.
If he hadn't been so proud of himself, if he hadn't felt the need to make Cell suffer, if he had just KILLED HIM when he had the chance…Goku would still be alive. He would still have his Daddy.
Daddy wouldn't be dead.
If he'd just killed Cell…
But his stupid, stupid, cursed arrogance had let Cell make his move.
Gohan had KILLED his own father, and there was nothing to do to bring him back now.
The tears coursed down Gohan's face uncontrollably, knowing that his father was gone forever.
And it was ALL his fault—
Gohan's eyes snapped open, his heart beating rapidly against his chest as he shot up like an arrow in the bed. His breathing was slightly accelerated as his black eyes darted around the room, and then he let out a sigh of relief as he realized that he was safe now.
He then let out a long, heavy sigh, leaning back against the wall as he ran his fingers through his slightly sweaty thick black hair, shaking his head.
These nightmares weren't often; when they did strike, however, they struck Gohan hard. They would always quickly switch their scenery, changing from one painful scene to the next, where person after person after person died…
Gohan shakily let out a breath, trying to control his breathing as he gasped for air a bit. In the nightmares, it would almost be as if he was reliving the entire thing once more—all the terrible emotions that he'd felt in those moments would surface as if it was happening once more. Too many times he'd had to relive the death of Piccolo at the hands of Nappa, too many times seeing Vegeta broken and bloody as he begged for Goku to avenge his people, too many times reliving Sixteen's final plea before Cell ruthlessly crushed his head, too many times reliving the second death of his father that had been all his fault…
The half-Saiyan teen let out another shaky breath. Once was enough for all those terrible experiences, but sometimes, the nightmares would come. He hadn't had a nightmare for quite a while now, and the appearance of these nightmares shocked him.
Instinctively, he looked over to his right side, where Goten lay sleeping. It seemed that he hadn't been disturbed by the movements of his older brother, a small smile on his innocent face which looked exactly like their father's as he slightly faced Gohan. Gohan watched him with a small smile on his face, feeling sadness and protectiveness as well.
Goten hadn't had to go through the pain and agony that Gohan had—he hadn't seen his father, so he never really knew what it was like to lose him. Unlike Gohan, who had instantly been thrown into battle at the young age of four, Goten was growing up in a time of peace, and Gohan wouldn't have it any other way. He didn't want his younger sibling to know what it was like to see your friends all killed in front of you by a heartless monster; to feel the agony of losing your mentor when you were too weak and scared to save him; to see a proud prince beaten down, broken by the tyrant that had tortured him for almost all of his life; to see an enemy who turned out to not be so bad after all, begging you to do what he could not; to see a boy from a terrible future killed by a cheap shot, while his father, who had constantly denied him, went insane over the death of his son and lunged blindly for the person who had killed the boy, not caring about his own well-being; to see your father killed right in front of you, knowing that you had been able to prevent his death, but, because of your pride, he was now dead.
The last seven years had, thankfully, been peaceful, so both Gohan and Trunks grew up in an era of peace, fighting because they enjoyed it, not because they were forced to do it or else the planet would be destroyed.
Gohan looked at the clock near their bed—the red numbers read 5:39 a.m., and the sun hadn't even begun to rise yet. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep after the slightly unsettling nightmares, Gohan decided to get out of bed and get ready for the day. He'd gone to sleep a bit earlier the day before, and he felt a little tired, but he could manage.
The appearance of the nightmares, though, unsettled Gohan. Why had they suddenly been so vivid, so clear that he felt the piercing agony of losing all those people once more? He was lucky that he wasn't hit with everything that he'd gone through; however, that had been one of the longest and most terrifying nightmares that he'd had in quite some time, and it unnerved him.
To shake himself from this odd feeling of foreboding, Gohan looked over at Goten once more, who was still sleeping peacefully and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon, sleeping like a rock. He allowed another small smile to form on his features as he looked at the little boy, deciding to let the kid sleep in if he wanted to. He'd used up a lot of his energy with Gohan during their Super Saiyan spar before Videl came and after she left, and he'd entertained himself with chasing animals while he'd been teaching Videl. He was probably exhausted, though he probably wouldn't admit it, simply because of the fact that Trunks trained with his own father just about every day in the Gravity Room, which Goten thought was a lot harder than sparring with his older brother.
Gohan cast his little brother one last, protective glance, before he began to get ready for the new day.
Videl noticed that there was something…off about Gohan.
She wasn't sure what. But there was something different about him today that she couldn't place her finger on. He was sometimes distracted during their flying lesson, his eyes seeming as if they weren't here in the present at times, and sometimes his eyes would widen, face contorting with pain for a second, before he tried to hide it. However, Videl didn't miss any of that, and also didn't miss the fact that he wasn't smiling and joking around nearly as often at he usually did.
Something was up, and she wanted to know what it was.
She knew that something was definitely wrong when Gohan got that far-away look in his eye once more, not paying attention to her floating.
Videl snapped her fingers right in Gohan's face; the muscular teenager seemed startled as his body jerked as he was brought back to reality, quickly shaking his head and muttering a few things under his breath, things that didn't sound like any words she knew. Almost as if…they were in a different language.
However, she didn't pay it any mind, and was only focusing on the matter at hand.
"Gohan?" she asked, trying to search his pale features for any clues as to what was bothering him. "You've been acting kind of weird this morning."
"Huh?" Gohan replied, giving her his full attention now, his head whipping around so that he made eye contact with her.
"See?" Videl said with a light sigh. "You've been kinda distant all morning, and you're not joking around as often as you usually do. What's up?" However, the tone that she was using made her question sound more like a demand.
Gohan had no idea how Videl had managed to see how visibly shaken up the nightmares had left him. All the pain and grief was fresh in his memory, and he often found himself getting flashes of what happened in the past due to small sights that unintentionally triggered a memory. A little blood on the grass from his earlier spar with Goten, the scent of it hitting his strong Saiyan nose, suddenly made the scenery change to blue grass and green skies, where Vegeta was bloody and broken as he shed tears for his lost pride and his lost people; or, Gohan would see Mirai Trunks viciously coughing up blood, a huge, gaping hole where his midsection should have been from a cheap shot from Cell. A pretty little bird would place him back in the Cell Games arena, watching as Sixteen spoke to him before Cell crushed the Android's head without remorse, and make him remember the single bird that he had seen fly through his mind, remember how gentle Sixteen was with the animals, before his anger had snapped and he'd made the ascension to Super Saiyan 2. And always, always, the death of Goku would simply pop into his head—sometimes when he looked at Goten, sometimes when he looked at all the animals, making him remember his father…
The fact that he was having flashbacks in the middle of training only added to the unease of Gohan. The nightmares that he had usually didn't affect him physically; but these had been so vivid that they were causing him to momentarily relive little moments of the nearly traumatizing memories he had. And Videl had begun to notice the effect they were having on him.
"It's nothing," he tried to reply nonchalantly, thinking that he sounded convincing enough.
However, Videl's feminine instinct kicked in. When a guy says that something is 'nothing,' then obviously there's something that's going on.
"Come on, Gohan, do you think I'm stupid?" she asked him, placing her hands on her hips. Gohan quickly recognized this as the battle stance of the female gender—it was almost the same stance that his mother had taken when she yelled at his father for sneaking him off to train, and also the same stance that Bulma often took right before she was about to go into a rant about something that Vegeta did (like break something in the Gravity Room, which Bulma thought was way too often).
"Look, Videl," Gohan said, his voice even sounding the slightest bit tired. "I'd really rather not go into details—let's just drop it, OK?" He was almost begging her to simply let this conversation slide.
But Videl was not one to be easily deterred from her goal. "Look, there's obviously something bothering you, and it's affecting the way you teach. I'm not sure exactly what is bothering you, but maybe it'd help if you got it off your chest."
Gohan raised his eyebrow at her, as if saying, 'Why do you care?'
"It's kinda weird, not seeing you grinning and joking," Videl admitted, looking at him. "I mean, when I get in a mood, I often vent to Erasa, and afterwards, I often feel much better after telling her. Talking actually helps."
Gohan's surprise showed clearly on his face. This was coming from Videl, the one who believed in fight first and ask questions later? Now, the only thing that would make this day even weirder was Vegeta suddenly telling him that training wasn't really all that important. Like that'd ever happen.
"Don't look at me like that," Videl defended herself as she snapped back at his look. Then, she let out a sigh as her tone slightly softened. "Gohan, maybe it'd be easier for you tell someone else what you're going through. Something's obviously bothering you; maybe if you tell someone, it won't feel nearly as bad."
Gohan's onyx eyes made contact with Videl's sapphire ones, as he searched her gaze for any lie. However, Videl wasn't lying, and was actually trying to help him out when she felt that he needed it. He was the one who broke eye-contact first as he looked away from her, focusing his gaze on his little brother, who was, once again, chasing a little animal around while he waited for Gohan to leave Videl alone so that the little boy could perfect his flying skills.
He hadn't told anyone about his occasional, vivid nightmares because he hadn't wanted anyone worrying about him. However, he did want to tell someone—anyone…but it couldn't be Videl. She wouldn't understand and wouldn't believe most of it.
"Please, Videl, just…just drop it," Gohan pleaded quietly, looking at the ground. "I can't…"
The pure agony that flashed deep within his obsidian eyes was what made Videl stop pestering him. Maybe, in this situation, talking about whatever was bothering him with her wouldn't be the best thing.
To Gohan's surprise, Videl easily said, "All right, fine—you're off the hook this time."
Gohan felt relieved, and a small, familiar grin made its way back to his features. "Thanks," he told her sincerely, and then he felt that he had to give her a more understandable reason about why he wouldn't speak to her about his problems. "It's…it's just—"
"You don't have to say anything, Gohan," Videl interrupted him. "Let's just change the topic before I change my mind and start bombarding you with questions again."
At that, Gohan couldn't help but laugh a bit, shaking his head, while Videl smiled the slightest bit in accomplishment. Now this was the Gohan she knew—the one that almost always had a gentle grin on his face, the one who would laugh at anyone's attempt at a joke.
"OK," Gohan agreed, grinning. "I think that you'd be able to go a bit higher now—you just need to push your ki even further under you. You wanna try and see how high you can go?"
Videl nodded, her blue eyes becoming determined as she focused on her ki, and tried to push herself up even higher than she had before. The teenaged boy nodded in approval of her progress, and then, the slight flicker of a very familiar energy caught his attention.
"Can you keep on working on that? I'm gong to go check on Goten," Gohan said to her, glancing towards the direction his brother was in.
"Sure," she answered, and Gohan flashed her another quick grin before going over to where he'd felt his little brother's energy flicker upwards a bit.
Eventually, Gohan reached where Goten was—the little boy was near a large cliff, which had three large holes in it that were obviously caused by energy blasts.
"Goten!" Gohan shouted, causing the little boy to jerk in surprise as he turned around to face his big brother, a slightly sheepish grin on his face.
"Oh…hi, Gohan!" he replied, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment as he tried to hide the cliff that he'd very obviously been blasting ki attacks into.
"What were you doing?" Gohan asked, his voice slightly stern.
"Nothing!" Goten instantly said. Then, when he saw Gohan's knowing look, he caved. "All right," he admitted with a little mope. "Well, you know that Trunks can do energy blasts, right? Uncle Vegeta taught him how to."
"Yeah," Gohan replied, his tone suggesting that Goten further explain himself.
"Well, I wanted to practice my targeting, too, because I'm not exactly good at controlling it," Goten admitted as he nudged the ground with his boot absentmindedly, not making eye-contact with his big brother. "And since I don't know when you're going to train me, I decided to get a head start on it, and then ask you to help me out later…"
Gohan sighed. "Goten, you have to be careful," he gently scolded the little boy in front of him. "If you weren't able to control it, you could cause some severe damage. Remember, you're very, very powerful—one mistake, and the forest could be in flames. Just be careful, and next time, tell me, OK? And I'll help you a bit with your energy control after Videl leaves, OK?"
Goten, still pouting a bit, looked up at Gohan. "OK," he relented, deeming disappointed that he wouldn't be able to really train now.
Gohan couldn't help but grin at his mope. "Hey, kid, it's not like I'm not ever gonna train you," Gohan said, smiling as he affectionately ruffled his little brother's thick black hair, causing Goten to laugh the slightest bit at the familiar gesture. Then, Gohan picked Goten up and placed the little seven-year-old boy on his broad shoulders, making Goten laugh with delight as Gohan held his ankles so that he wouldn't fall. Goten always loved it when Gohan picked him up, because Gohan was so tall compared to him, and it provided him a great view. He often wondered if this was what his father had done to Gohan, before he died.
Goten couldn't wait to finally meet his father who he'd heard so much about from everyone. Everyone had good things to say—well, except for Uncle Vegeta, but Goten couldn't remember when Uncle Vegeta did have something good to say about anyone, really; however, Goten still loved him. He loved everyone in their family of friends, and he was sure that he was going to love his father just as much as he loved Mommy and Gohan.
The oldest half-Saiyan grinned as he looked up at Goten, who was touching the leaves of the trees he was able to reach now because of his perch on Gohan's tall shoulders. The little boy was laughing, making Gohan grin. His temporary flashbacks had stopped now, and for that he was grateful. He just wanted to take this moment and keep it forever—these little moments of peace that meant so much in the end.
Videl had stopped trying to float a bit higher—she'd managed a full four feet, and she was absolutely exhausted. She turned towards where Gohan had left to go get Goten, and saw them both coming out of the dense trees. What she saw made a small smile come to her face.
Gohan was carefully holding Goten by the ankles as the little boy was sitting on his big brother's shoulders. A few leaves and twigs were in their hair—Goten had sometimes grabbed at a tree branch, causing the leaves to fall and some branches to break—but they were smiling, even though they were both slightly dirty. The moment that Gohan placed Goten on the ground, the little boy tackled his older brother, surprising Gohan as the sheer strength and energy of the seven-year-old as he was knocked down by Goten. Both the brothers laughed as they engaged in a brotherly play-fight that wasn't even a spar, with Goten pretending to beat Gohan up while Gohan often pretended to die, only to spook Goten when he'd suddenly "come back to life."
"My boys are so close to each other. It's hard to believe that they're nine years apart in age," mused a voice from behind Videl, and she turned to see Gohan and Goten's mother, Chi-Chi, behind her.
Videl nodded, turning back from Chi-Chi to watch as Gohan deliberately allowed Goten to have the upper hand. Gohan was making a great exaggeration of passing out at the moment, and had his eyes closed, his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Goten was giggling, poking Gohan to try and wake him up. When he pulled back, a puzzled look on his face, Gohan suddenly opened his eyes and yelled "BOO!" in Goten's face, making the little boy laugh hysterically as he jumped backwards with fright, almost falling off of his perch on Gohan's chest now.
"Goten seems like a sweet kid," Videl said quietly.
"He is," Chi-Chi agreed. "And he looks up to Gohan like he's some type of god." The raven-haired woman smiled over at the blue-eyed teen. "Both of my boys are very polite, and I'm glad that they get along with each other."
"Gohan's so good with Goten," Videl murmured, watching as Gohan lightly blocked the half-hearted punches that Goten was throwing his way, making sure that neither of them was hurt.
"Well, Gohan was Goten's father figure, besides a few other males," Chi-Chi said. "Gohan has been a positive influence on him, at least." However, not all the males of their group had a positive influence on little Goten, and she could name a certain Saiyan prince right off the top of her head. Vegeta was such a bad influence on the boy…but it also made sense why Goten would worship him. Trunks thought that his father was the strongest, coolest, most awesome person ever on Earth, and absolutely adored him. It only made sense that Goten would feel the same way, since his best friend did.
Chi-Chi got a mischievous glint in her eye as she said, "You know, he treats Goten almost like his son. I know that he'll make a great father one day."
"Yeah, I guess," Videl replied absentmindedly, not noticing the teasing glint in Chi-Chi's dark brown eyes. "He seems to be really good with children," Videl continued absentmindedly.
"And what are your thoughts on my oldest son's looks?" Chi-Chi asked. Videl suddenly realized what she'd been saying, and what Chi-Chi was now relating it to, and the blue-eyed girl found herself blushing fiercely.
"N-no…it's not like that, ma'am," Videl instantly stammered out, looking away from the older woman.
"Oh, please, don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel too old," Chi-Chi said, grinning at Videl. Thankfully, however, she didn't bring the subject back to Gohan, and Videl was truly relieved for that.
She looked back at where Goten and Gohan were still locked in a brotherly scuffle, and couldn't help but smile once more at the warm scene. She'd always wanted a younger sibling, but had never gotten one. However, she was content to simply watch Gohan play with his little brother. It seemed that Gohan had snapped out of whatever had been bothering him this morning on her own, and Videl was grateful. She couldn't imagine Gohan the way that he had been this morning—it just wasn't fitting for him.
It was apparent that he'd been through some pretty tough stuff in his life. He'd lost his father, that much she knew, and had to be the main male influence on his little brother's life.
However, he took his role seriously and tenderly. It was obvious that he cared for Goten, and that Chi-Chi was proud of her sons. The love that went around this little family was almost tangible in its intensity. Even though they weren't the richest people in the world money-wise, they had friendship and love between them.
It was then that Videl decided that she really wanted to get to know Gohan.
And not just because Gohan Son seemed to be a mystery to her, and that she could hold something against him when the time was right.
She just wanted to. She wanted to get to know the young man who was so gentle with his little brother, who was obedient to his mother…
And who blatantly would tell her that she looked pretty when she smiled, and that her eyes sparkled when she did that.
I know that some of the dialogue from the nightmares isn't completely accurate, but, at the moment, I am unable to go check out those episodes again to get the exact words. Some of the words I remember from the manga (which is also awesome XD) but that's about it. And I absolutely LOVE little awkward interactions between Gohan and Videl, I just find them so darned entertaining XD.
Well, chapter lengths, from now on, will be more like this length, and I'm not sure how fast I'll update, but I'll try to update this as fast as I possibly can. The only good thing is that summer vacation is almost here, and homework is slowly dwindling down in its amounts, so I'll probably have more time to write stuff for you guys! Yay! :D
Oh, and about Gohan's nightmare—for some reason, I've always had the feeling that, every now and then, he'd get nightmares of the traumatizing things he'd seen as a kid. The poor baby had seen so much death at such a young age, and had been forced to fight—I would think that something like that would cause nightmares, like PTSD or something. I know it would for ME. If you don't like it, tell me, and I shall apologize in advance, but please don't flame! I am new to writing for this fandom, please keep that in mind! (It doesn't mean that I don't know much about DBZ—I'm borderline OBSESSED :D)
Anyways, enough about all that. Jeez, my A/N's are always so long! And I'm only making it longer…oops.
Ok, guys, thank you for reading, and please, please review! Hearing what you have to say TOTALLY makes my day! XD