Wow, it seems that some of you guys really like this story, huh? You have no idea how motivated and happy that makes me! Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much for the encouragement and the reviews, it means a lot! I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, thanks! :D
Anyways, onto the story!
Disclaimer: Guys, if I owned DBZ, Vegeta and Gohan would be shirtless much, MUCH more often in the show. I mean, come on! In almost every single fight that Goku gets into, he loses his shirt, but I've never really seen Vegeta and Gohan lose their shirts in fights! Maybe once, but that's NOTHING! I swear to Kami, Goku ALWAYS loses his shirt in EVERY single DAMN fight that he gets into! Why don't Vegeta and Gohan lose their shirts as often as that? Huh? So, if you haven't guessed, I don't own DBZ. But if I did, I would make that change—Vegeta and Gohan would be shirtless WAY more often. You girls who are reading this, raise your hands if you agree with me. And be honest! And for those of you who were weirded out by my utter weirdness…sorry about that.
Well, hope you enjoy!
The sixth day was spent solely on training.
Videl had suddenly returned the next day with a fierce determination to somehow be able to fly with ease, not with the exhaustion that she often felt after she flew, which meant that her endurance definitely had to be built on.
For a while, Gohan simply spent time teaching her how to conserve her energy, so that she wouldn't exhaust herself with flight. Then, the only way to build endurance is through practice, so, for just about the whole day, they were floating, with Videl slowly getting better and better, not getting as tired as she used to and being able to gain more altitude and to be more mobile in the air. They continued all the time before lunch, and after lunch, Videl went right back to practicing on her floating and maneuvering.
Something had changed, though, since yesterday. Neither of the two could quite put their finger on what had changed, but there seemed to be something different for each of them. For some reason, Gohan felt…lighter, in a sense, as if he'd been carrying something very heavy but that it'd been relieved, and he hadn't even known that he'd been carrying it; Videl realized that she was smiling a little bit more often at Gohan, true, genuine smiles.
Neither of them truly knew what had happened, but they didn't mind the changes. They liked them, actually.
During training today, minimal talking was done, however, because Videl was so focused on learning how to fly with as much ease as Gohan and Goten did, and it left little room for conversation as she improved on her endurance, mostly by herself. As such, it gave Gohan more time to spend with his little brother in training him for the tournament, making the little boy significantly happier.
"Gohan," Goten whined slightly when he and his big brother were a far enough distance from Videl that she wouldn't hear their conversation. She wasn't even paying attention, closing her eyes intently and focusing on her flying skills.
Gohan recognized the slightly pouty tone in his little brother's voice, and looked down at the kid. They both had been taking a temporary rest, because Goten was tired out from training with Gohan so much.
"What is it, Goten?" Gohan asked.
"Why can't we train as Super Saiyans when Videl's around?" Goten complained.
Gohan sighed, shaking his head. "Goten, you know why we can't."
"No, I don't!" Goten insisted. "Why?"
The half-Saiyan teenager let out another slightly frustrated sigh. "Not everyone is as…gifted with powers as we are. You know what we are—you, me, and Trunks are half Saiyan, because Uncle Vegeta and Daddy are both Saiyans while Auntie Bulma and Mommy are humans. We're very, very powerful, and some of the humans don't want to accept the fact that there are aliens."
"But, Gohan," Goten said petulantly, "you're the one who beat Cell! Don't they already know?"
Gohan sighed once more. Kami, why the hell was he sighing so much? "Goten, it's…it's complicated," he tried to explain. "Not all of the humans know about our part alien origins, and some of them would, quite frankly, freak."
Goten seemed to actually begin to see what Gohan was telling him. "Is that why Trunks sometimes has trouble in school? He tells me about stuff that happens sometimes—once, he got in trouble for beating up a kid, even though he barely even punched him…"
"Yeah, because humans aren't nearly as powerful as us; it's why you don't go to school yet, not until I can teach you how to control your power, and why I just started school recently. Some humans just…aren't ready to find out about us yet."
"But I think Videl is! I mean, she saw you fly when you were the Great Saiyaman, so why can't she know that we're half-alien too?" Goten asked.
Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's a bit more complicated than that, Goten," he tried to explain. It wasn't as if he could just waltz right up to Videl and say: "Hey, Videl! So, I think that you should know that my father is really an alien who has super powers, such as the ability to shoot balls of energy from his hands and gives me immense strength, and we're able to transform into an even MORE powerful states which causes our hair to turn blond and our eyes turquoise. While we're at it, I think you should know that I was the one who really beat Cell, that I was the Delivery Boy. Oh, and I think you should also know that, when my dad was originally sent to Earth, that he was meant to destroy it, and if it weren't for a bump to the head that made him forget everything, we would all be dead because he was able to destroy this planet easily as a baby. Goten and I inherited his power. So yeah. No biggie."
Yeah, like that would ever happen.
"Well, I think that we could tell her," Goten pouted, looking down at the grass as he crossed his arms. "I think that she's cool!"
At hearing his little brother use that term that he rarely used, Gohan raised a black eyebrow at the kid. "'Cool'?" he repeated.
Goten nodded eagerly. "Yeah! That's what Trunks says, anyway, when he thinks that someone's OK. They're cool!"
Gohan had a good guess that it was the reason that the little boy was using that term. He usually never said someone was 'cool', but, since he was hanging out with Trunks, sometimes he'd pick up his habits unconsciously. Trunks called people 'cool' because it deemed him 'cool', and was sometimes something that the lavender-haired boy's mother said.
"Well, even though Videl may be 'cool', as you put it," Gohan said, putting air-quotes as he said the word, smiling a bit at the effect that the little lavender-haired boy was having on his little brother, "I still think that we should wait a little while before we tell her. She might freak out, and we don't want her freaking out, now do we?"
"Well…no, I guess we don't," Goten reluctantly admitted, playing with the grass absentmindedly. "But I still don't get why she would freak out. I mean, Mommy's a human, and so's Auntie Bulma, and Krillin and Yamcha and Tien…"
"Goten, would you consider any of them 'ordinary' humans?" Gohan asked.
"Well…" Goten trailed off as he thought about it. Tien used to be an assassin, and he had three eyes to boot, and always hung around Chiaotzu. Yamcha was a former desert bandit who was terrified of women, and was not a pro baseball player, and always had Puar with him, and the floating cat was just about his best friend. Krillin used to be a monk, but was currently married to an Android, and, from what he heard, was Daddy's best friend. Mommy was married to Daddy, and was also the Ox Princess, daughter of his Grandpa, the Ox King, and was still a strong woman and a fighter. And Auntie Bulma was married to Uncle Vegeta, and she was a multibillionaire, heiress to the largest company in the world, and was probably the smartest human being on the planet.
"I guess they're all a bit different than what other kids think 'ordinary' is," Goten finally agreed with his older brother.
"And Videl isn't used to any of the stuff that they were all used to," Gohan continued, looking at his little brother. "I think I will tell her, Goten—just not now."
"Well…OK, as long as you tell her, so that we won't have to keep hiding. It's boring not being able to train seriously with you until she leaves!" Goten pouted
"You don't have to worry about that for too much longer," Gohan said, grinning at his little brother, his earlier light irritation leaving him in an instant. He could never stay annoyed at Goten for long. "As soon as Videl finishes learning how to fly, I'll dedicate most of my training time to help you, OK?"
"Yeah!" Goten agreed eagerly, his earlier pouts forgotten as he grinned brightly, launching up as he tacked his older brother in a hug. Gohan laughed as he was knocked backwards by Goten's force, not expecting it, and the little boy wrapped his smaller arms around Gohan's thick neck. The teenager grinned as he returned Goten's embrace for a few seconds, before the younger boy pulled back, smiling brightly at his big brother.
"I love you, Gohan," Goten told his brother truthfully, leaning in for another quick hug around his neck.
"Love you, too, squirt," Gohan replied with a grin. They both told each other that they loved each other at least once a day—Goten was such a sweet and caring boy that he honestly would tell his brother and mother that he loved them whenever he felt like it, feeling no shame at all, and Gohan would always reply truthfully and affectionately. He wanted Goten to know that he would always protect him, that the little boy was never alone as long as he was around, that he was always safe with Gohan.
"Hey," Gohan said as he grinned at the little boy. Hearing the slight eagerness in his big brother's voice, Goten looked up at Gohan's shining obsidian gaze. "How about I teach you a kata that Mister Piccolo taught me?"
Goten's eyes lit up with pure excitement. "YEAH!" he shouted eagerly, levitating off of the ground in his eagerness. Gohan hadn't taught him that many katas, and most of them were what his father had taught him. He couldn't wait to learn one that had been taught to Gohan by Mr. Piccolo!
After Gohan had taught Goten about twelve steps of the kata, Videl's voice suddenly sounded from where she was practicing her flying.
"Hey, Gohan! Check this out!" she called, her voice sounding eager.
Goten pouted. "Awh, but I won't be able to finish learning the kata!" he whined.
"Hey, I'll finish teaching it to you after she leaves, OK?" Gohan promised, grinning down at the little boy as he ruffled the black haphazard spikes that made up Goten's hair, a carbon copy of his father's hairstyle. "While I check on Videl, why don't you work on perfecting the moves?"
Goten had laughed as his brother messed up his hair even more, and was grinning now after what Gohan had told him. "OK, I will!" he replied eagerly, and began to do just that as he began to practice in the forest.
Gohan smiled, shaking his head slightly. What he wouldn't do for his little brother, he honestly had no idea. He would do anything and everything if Goten wished, just to see that little boy grin happily.
Seeing that Goten was doing fine on his own, Gohan went over to where Videl had been training herself. She was standing, her hands clenched into fists at her sides and sweat running down her forehead, but her blue eyes were alight with determination and pride.
"What is it, Videl?" Gohan asked her, casting one last glance at the cluster of trees where Goten was training as he ran a hand through his black hair, before turning back to his pupil.
"Watch this!" Videl told him, and, right after she spoke, she shot up into the sky. Gohan's eyes widened—he was thoroughly impressed with the work that she'd accomplished today. She had gotten up into the air relatively fast, considering that she had just learned about the mere existence of ki a few days ago. She was currently floating about thirty feet in the air, which was just about as high as she could go for now. She then began to do a small series of turns, weaves, and small zigzags in the air, moving left and right at a rather fair pace. Eventually, she seemed done, and landed on the ground, panting as she looked up at Gohan with pride easily showing brightly in her eyes.
"Wow, Videl!" Gohan said in surprise, his eyes wide. "That was really good! You've improved a lot since this morning!"
"Thanks," she said proudly, flashing him a smug grin. "But the bad thing is that, after I do that, I'm completely done." She said this through pants of breath as she held her knees, leaning over a bit.
"But, still, that's really good!" Gohan grinned at her. "All you need to work on is your speed a bit, to get you a bit faster, and your endurance. But besides that, you've got the hang of controlling your ki to fly!"
"You really think so?" Videl asked, looking up at him.
"Yeah! You learn things pretty quickly, and I'm sure that you'll completely get the hang of flying in no time," he praised her, obvious pride for his pupil in his voice.
Videl quirked another grin at him, before she sat down on the grass to help herself catch her breath. He followed her lead, sitting with his elbows resting on his slightly bent knees, while she sat with her legs splayed out in front of her, her hands planted firmly behind her as she supported her weight on her arms. Both of them were content to sit in companionable silence, before Videl looked at Gohan closely.
"Gohan?" she asked, looking away a bit.
"Hm?" he replied, turning towards her.
"Would you…could you tell me about what your father was like?" she ventured timidly, finally bringing her eyes to meet his obsidian ones as she shifted her position, now sitting cross-legged on the grass and her elbows resting on her thighs. He was surprised, that was for sure, but she didn't see any refusal within his eyes. It was now his turn to look away from her, averting his gaze. Then, he began to talk quietly.
"My dad…well, he was a good guy," Gohan murmured softly, his voice so quiet that Videl had to strain slightly to hear it. "He loved nature so much…he looked exactly like Goten—my little brother is a perfect carbon copy of our dad." He grinned the slightest bit at that, before his gaze turned slightly sad once more. "He never did anything wrong, always looking out for the wellbeing of others and also the animals, and was pretty easy to get along with. He always gave people second chances, even though some others wouldn't believe that they deserved mercy." In fact, two of Gohan's teachers and friends were both former enemies who had wanted to destroy the world—Piccolo, the Demon King, who had eventually been converted by both Goku and Gohan; and Vegeta, who came to get the Dragon Balls and nearly killed almost everyone that went up against him. Because of Goku's mercy on both of their parts, they became good people—even when Krillin tried to kill Vegeta after his first defeat on Earth after the deaths of Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu, Goku had told him to let him go. Now, the originally bloodthirsty Saiyan had a family who he cared for and was living peacefully on Earth.
"He was kind, compassionate, and protected us. He was the one who first taught me martial arts. He was almost like…like our guardian angel," the half-Saiyan teenager said with a small smile, remember that he had said those exact same words to Goten when he'd asked what his father was like. Gohan then let out another sigh—dear Kami, he felt like he was an old man with all of the sighing that he was doing. "I miss him," he said softly, looking away.
Videl didn't say anything, but she gently placed her hand on his slightly slumped shoulder, looking at him. His onyx eyes, which were full of sadness and longing, looked deep into her sapphire ones, which were full of compassion.
"I'm sorry that you had to lose him; it's obvious that you loved your dad a lot," she told him honestly.
"I'm all right…it's just, sometimes, I wish that he was here, because I feel so…confused, and lost…" Gohan trailed off, looking away once more, his eyes getting lost in another time. He then forcibly shook his head, shaking away the cobwebs of the thoughts that had been beginning to form, and let out yet another sigh as he looked into the distance. Clouds were gathering, suggesting but not exactly promising rain. "I wish he was here," he murmured, as if that wish could be granted through the Dragon Balls. However, since his father didn't want to come back, believing that he had been causing all of the trouble to happen on Earth, the Dragon Balls were unable to make that wish come true. He knew that his father was going to come back on the day of the tournament…but still, that was only for one day! After that, he wouldn't be able to see his father again until he died.
In a sign of comfort and companionship, Videl lightly squeezed his shoulder sympathetically, her silent way of telling him that he wasn't alone, before pulling it back and resting her elbow on her crossed knee, supporting the side of her face in her palm, as she played with the grass with her other hand. God, she really had grown soft in the past couple of days spent with him, and she had no idea why.
And then it suddenly hit her.
Gohan Son had been one of the first and only people to see her as something more than Hercule Satan's daughter. He saw her as Videl Satan, a strong girl in her own right, not because of what her father may have passed down to her. He wasn't hanging out with her for fame, to say that he was acquainted with the daughter of the World Savior…he did it because of who she was.
"Hey, Gohan…" Videl said softly after a few minutes of companionable silence as she looked up at him again. He turned his gaze to her once more, raising an eyebrow in silent inquiry of what she wanted to say now.
"…Thanks," she told him honestly.
When she didn't clarify on what she was thanking Gohan for, he said, "OK…for, uh, teaching you how to fly?" he ventured.
"Well, yeah, but…" She trailed off, unsure about how exactly she was going to word this. "Well, thanks for trusting me with some stuff, like telling me about your dad."
"It's nothing," Gohan said offhandedly, shrugging a bit. It really wasn't that big a deal.
"And…well…" Gohan turned back towards her when he realized that she had more to say. Videl took a deep breath, before finding the right words. "Thank you for treating me like…well, me."
"What?" he asked, confused.
"You don't treat me like I'm Hercule Satan's daughter. You treat me like…like I'm Videl. Like I'm me, not the daughter of the 'mighty World Champion' and the 'slayer of Cell' and all that crap. Just for who I am." She looked down at the ground. "Not many people do that. They look at me, and all they can see is that I'm the daughter of the World Champ, always living in his shadow. But…you didn't treat me like that." She brought her gaze back up to him now, and was smiling the slightest bit at him. "You're one of the first and only people not to want to befriend me just for fame and recognition and stuff…it's nice to know that you became friends with me not because of the fact that I am Mister Satan's daughter, but because of the fact that I'm me. And, well…" Videl was suddenly growing slightly self-conscious, but she had to finish. "Thanks for being a real friend, you know? You're one of the only people to ever be a true friend to me, and it means a lot."
The teenaged boy slightly fumbled for words, not having expected that. He thought that Videl was thanking him for teaching her, and for encouraging her, not for…all that stuff that she'd just said. He looked over at her to see that she was blushing lightly, her cheeks a bit red, but she bravely met his gaze.
"Well, you're welcome," he smiled lightly in reply, flashing her the classic Son grin. "It's no problem."
This caused Videl to smile back, at the way that he seemed to genuinely care about her, just to be her friend. "You know…I never met anyone like you, Gohan Son," she said with a small grin, admitting what she'd noticed aloud to him. "You're different than everyone else…and in a good way, too."
OK, Gohan had to admit, he was really confused now. "What?" he repeated his question from before.
Videl couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Well, I thought that you were nothing but a nerdy mountain boy the first time that I saw you…that you probably had no social life and that you might be a bit stuck-up since you knew so much…but you're the opposite. You're pretty nice—hell, I'd say you're kinda sweet, with the way you interact with Goten and stuff, and you treat people like true friends. And, you know, you're kinda cute."
At that, Gohan's cheeks darkened the slightest bit at her comment, while she grinned at him. She hadn't felt this completely confident for a while, being confident in herself—yes, she was confident, but it was mostly about her fighting ability. Not in her own personality, in her own self…it was hard to explain, but she knew that she suddenly felt very confident in that moment as she spoke things to Gohan that she never thought would leave her mouth. And she didn't regret it, either.
"Um…thanks, Videl, I guess…" Gohan trailed off, feeling slightly awkward. Videl had never acted this way around him before! What had suddenly gotten into her…and when had she suddenly thought of him as 'cute'?
The awkwardness that Gohan was feeling was easily broken when his mother was hollering for them to come to the house for a late lunch. His ravenous Saiyan appetite getting the better of him, the moment that he heard those words, he instantly leapt up from the ground, jumping to his feet in an eagerness that rivaled a kid who had been locked in a candy store for the night. Then, almost as if it was an afterthought, he turned to Videl, slightly hesitant at the gesture that he was about to do.
"Hey…you need any help?" he asked, unknowingly repeating the same exact words that he had said just five days ago to her, as he extended his hand towards her in a physical offer to help him up.
Of course, Videl's first reaction to that would be to snap an insult back at whoever offered that, shouting in their faces about how they thought that she was unable to take care of herself when she was perfectly capable of doing so, thank you very much, and then stomp away from them angrily. However, Gohan wasn't just anyone, and she realized that he didn't do this because he thought she was weak. He had even admitted that he thought that she was strong. Maybe she was just feeling really, really good about how much she'd been able to accomplish today, and the praise that Gohan had given her as well, but she was in a significantly good mood today.
So, when she saw Gohan's hand outstretched in an offer to help her up, she allowed a light smile to grace her lips, before she took his hand.
Gohan's eyes widened a bit, having expected the same results that she had given him the last time he had offered to help her up. However, he didn't comment, and grinned back at her as he easily hefted her up with his left arm, her right hand in his left one.
"Let's go see what your mom made for lunch," Videl told him, grinning.
"Yeah," Gohan replied. However, they didn't make a move for a few moments, before both of them suddenly realized at the exact same moment that they were still holding hands. Both of them let go at the same time, slight crimson blushes forming on their cheeks, before Videl went in front of Gohan, going inside of the house while he followed after her.
The half-Saiyan was truly surprised at the way that Videl had acted today. Maybe what had happened yesterday changed both of them for the better in their attitudes for each other…or maybe she just was feeling odd today. He was so confused, especially with the brashness that Videl had spoken to him, outwardly telling him that he was 'kinda cute.' He doubted that she told anyone that.
He shook his head, his brain beginning to hurt from trying to puzzle the black-haired, sapphire-eyed girl out.
Females were completely impossible to understand.
Chi-Chi watched with a smile on her face as Gohan was speaking to Videl, showing her how to increase her flying speed. She was watching him intently, her blue eyes seriously taking in every move that he did, nodding to if he ever told her anything. It was the seventh since he'd begun to train her, and she'd noticed a few changes in the Satan girl and in her own boy as well. Changes that, she hoped, would eventually lead to marriage, she thought with another wry smile. The two made a very cute couple, and they didn't even know it!
"Mommy?" Goten asked, absentmindedly eating the snack that she had given him that looked like a rather large meal for an extremely obese person but was merely a snack for the little half-Saiyan boy.
"Yes, honey?" Chi-Chi replied, turning towards her little boy.
"Can I go to Trunks' house today?" he asked, eating another dumpling that she had given him, the special ones that she only made for her boys.
"Well, I'll have to call Auntie Bulma first…but, if she doesn't mind, then sure!" Chi-Chi replied. Trunks had been grounded for something that he'd done, which meant that he hadn't been allowed to actually play with Goten. However, Bulma had been generous enough to let him use the phone to call Goten, but the limit was ten minutes, which was how Goten had found out about Vegeta being irritated with Gohan for waking him up early; the little boy's punishment ended today. It would be good for her son to spend some time around Trunks, so that Gohan and Videl had more…privacy. She thought that last part with a wicked smirk, but hid it from Goten. She then went over to the phone, dialing Bulma's cell phone number.
After two rings, Bulma picked up the phone, and nearly shouted, "What the hell do you want from me?"
"Um…Bulma, it's me, Chi," Chi-Chi stated, slightly confused.
"Oh, hey, Chi. Sorry about that, but it's just these damn solicitors, calling every single damn phone in Capsule Corp., and they absolutely refuse to stop calling," Bulma explained peevishly to her friend, rolling her eyes even though Chi-Chi couldn't see it. The raven-haired woman didn't need to see it, though, because she knew that the blue-haired genius was doing it by the tone of her voice. "They've been bugging me for the past hour, and Vegeta's already destroyed two of the phones that I forgot to make Saiyan-proof."
Chi-Chi laughed a bit. "Yeah, they're annoying, aren't they," she said sympathetically.
"Annoying as hell," Bulma sighed in reply. "Anyways, though, why'd you call me? What's up?"
"Oh, well, I wanted to know if Goten could come over; he wants to see Trunks," Chi-Chi explained, while Goten bounced in his seat excitedly as he listened to the conversation, hearing Bulma's voice clearly speak from the phone.
"Well, sure, he can come over!" Bulma replied with a smile. "Let me just confirm it with Trunks, even though I'm sure that this kid'll be absolutely ecstatic that he's coming over. Give me a moment." Then, she pulled her cell phone away from her ear, and then shouted, "TRUNKS!"
About three seconds later, the lavender-haired boy was obediently in front of his mother, his blue eyes slightly scared and harried. "I didn't do it!" was the first thing out of his mouth. "Dad wanted to do some training that wasn't in the Gravity Room today because it was messed up and I told him that it wasn't a good idea to do it in Grandma's garden but we had already started sparring and we couldn't stop and it was Dad's fault he did it we didn't mean to blow up some of Grandma's flowers and I'm really sorry even though it isn't my fault please don't ground me again—"
"OK, kid, slow down," Bulma said, holding her hand up at an attempt to stop the tirade that had been coming from her son's mouth. "First of all, you weren't in trouble…but I might not say the same thing now." This was said with a stern glare from her blue eyes at Trunks, who was now wearing a slightly sheepish expression on his face.
"It…it wasn't?" he asked, his voice slightly high-pitched, the way that it gets when you accidentally blurt something out that you didn't mean to say.
Bulma placed her hands on her hips. "No, it wasn't, but it seems that I need to have a little talk with you and your father," she told him with a slight sigh. "Well, let's drop it for now—but don't think that you'll get away with whatever you did. I called you over to ask how you'd feel about Goten coming over today. Chi-Chi's on the line and asked me."
"Yeah!" Trunks instantly replied, grinning as he punched his fist in the air.
"All right, I'll tell them. Don't think that you won't be in trouble with whatever you both did, though, mister. I swear, damn Saiyans… Go take a shower and put on a fresh change of clothes—you stink almost as badly as your father does when he trains in five-hundred times gravity."
Trunks, at first, had cringed at what his mom said. At that last sentence, though, he grinned brightly, before running upstairs to his room to do just as his mother had said.
Bulma sighed, placing her phone back on her ear. "Sorry that took so long, Chi," she apologized. "So, that's a yes for today. Gohan's gonna come by and bring him?"
"Yes," Chi-Chi nodded, while Goten leapt in the air for joy as he began to float around the house, zooming around in his eagerness. Instantly, Chi-Chi turned away from the phone and screeched to her son, "GOTEN! NO FLYING IN THE HOUSE!"
"Oops! Sorry, Mommy!" Goten apologized, and instantly sat back down again. However, he was just about bursting with eagerness in his seat.
"All right, I'll be expecting them any moment now," Bulma said. "You know, we should hang out sometime for some quality girl time, huh?"
"I agree," Chi-Chi said with a small grin, "but not today. Soon, though, all right?"
"Yes—I need more estrogen and less testosterone for one day," Bulma said with a sigh, and Chi-Chi laughed a bit at her friend's oddness and sense of humor. "Well, see ya soon, Chi!"
"See you, Bulma," Chi-Chi replied, before she hung up the phone and turned towards her youngest son. "Now, Goten, I know that Auntie Bulma will probably repeat this, but I'm telling you now—I don't want you causing too much trouble there. Listen to Auntie Bulma's rules, all right? And no complaining when Gohan comes by to pick you up, understand?"
"Yes, Mommy," Goten agreed obediently, even though most of what she'd said had gone in one ear and right out the other.
Chi-Chi nodded, and then went over to the door, before she called for her firstborn child. "GOHAN!"
Gohan had been talking to Videl, telling her how to still be able to control her ki even though she would be flying fast, and how to conserve her energy so that she wasn't as exhausted after flight. She had been listening intently, but he was then interrupted by his mother's voice screeching his name out. Knowing better than to ignore his mother, he quickly excused himself, running over to where the raven-haired woman was waiting.
As Gohan talked to his mother, Videl waited, mulling over the events of the past few days in her head. It was hard to believe that, a little over a week ago, she hadn't believed that such things like ki existed. Then, she had met Gohan, who had been very…well, odd. He had a freaking super hero alter ego, and he could fly, for crying out loud! And yet, even though he could do all of that, he was…sweet. He wasn't vain, or conceited, and really cared for both his mother and little brother. And he was one of the only people who didn't seem to care about someone's social status. He became people's friends for who they were on the inside, not so that he could possibly receive fame and fortune. Videl remembered that he said that he knew Bulma Briefs, but he didn't seem to make a big deal out of it, not proudly proclaiming it to everyone he knew that Bulma Briefs was a close family friend of him.
It was a nice change from most of the people that Videl knew.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Gohan, who came over to her with Goten eagerly sitting on his older brother's shoulders.
"Hey, Videl, I have to leave for a little bit," Gohan told her, holding onto Goten's ankles while the little boy held onto the sides of his face, resting his chin in Gohan's black hair. "I have to bring Goten over to a friend's house; they just scheduled a play date, so I have to bring him over there. I won't be too long—I should be back in…two hours, give or take?"
"Two hours?" Videl asked, looking at Gohan with shock. "Where are you going?"
"We're gonna see Trunks and Auntie Bulma and Uncle Vegeta!" Goten replied eagerly as he leaned over the teenager's head, grinning brightly at the young woman, not noticing Gohan slightly wincing.
"And, uh…sometimes, they wanna talk with me, so I'm not sure how much longer it's gonna take than if I just drop him off there without any talking," Gohan admitted, leaving out the fact that he might also be delayed by a grumpy Saiyan prince demanding a "quick" one hour spar with him. He decided to stick with the excuse that the heiress of Capsule Corporation enjoyed to talk to people quite a bit, which was actually true. "Because Bulma almost always wants to talk with me when I visit. It won't be that long. Really," Gohan added as he saw the look that Videl gave him as she arched one eyebrow in disbelief. "While I'm gone, why don't you practice flying a bit faster, or not using so much of your energy? I'll be back as soon as I can, OK?"
Biting the inside of her cheek, Videl condescended with a nod, while Gohan flashed her a grin.
"All right. Be back before you know it!" Gohan told her as he began to levitate himself in the air.
"Gohan, can you go really, really fast?" Goten asked his older brother eagerly. "Please please please please pleeeeeeease?"
The half-Saiyan teenager grinned at his little brother now, gripping the little boy's ankles a bit more. "All right, but you've got to hold on tight, all right?" he told Goten. In reply, the little boy moved his hands up to Gohan's hair, grabbing two tight fistfuls of his black locks as he smiled with glee. Making sure that Goten was secure, after a few moments, Gohan suddenly blasted away as he began to soar to Capsule Corp. Goten let out happy peals of laughter as Gohan sped them away to their friend's house.
Videl watched them leave until the almost indiscernible speck that was Gohan faded away into the sky. It was then that she let out a slight sigh, shaking her head as she began to practice was Gohan had told her.
That kid was full of surprises, she mused. He was definitely different than any other guy that she'd met.
Why are you thinking about Gohan so much? Videl suddenly asked herself sternly, shaking her head. You should be practicing your flying, not thinking about how Gohan is so nice to his little brother and how much of a sweetheart he is and how surprisingly kissable his lips seem—
Ack! Stop that, girl, stop it RIGHT THERE. Where the hell are you GETTING this? Videl shouted at herself. Oh, yeah, she knew that she was now arguing with herself. Anyone that would point that out to her would get a punch in the face right about now.
She did not think that Gohan was cute. And she knew that she was lying to herself, because she remembered that, just the day before, that she had blatantly told him that he was "kinda cute". What had gotten into her yesterday?
Well, there was no taking her words back, was there? And, hey, she wasn't the only one who noticed Gohan's good looks. The first day that he had come into their school, Erasa had squealed eagerly to Videl that the new guy was "such a cutie".
Stop. Thinking. About. Gohan, Videl snapped to herself, and completely immersed herself in the practice of flying, making sure to exert herself so that she couldn't possibly think about the nerd-in-question that she suddenly began to notice was cute.
An hour and a half flew by quickly when she was furiously focusing on flying. Before she even really knew it, Gohan was back, landing in front of her and barely making a sound as he landed on the grass. Videl, rather pleased with the progress that she'd made, floated back down to the ground as well as he walked up to her, seeming slightly out of breath.
"Hey, you OK?" Videl asked him, noticing that he seemed to be favoring his left side.
Gohan lightly winced, exhaling a bit sharply, but he nodded, lightly clenching his teeth together in pain. Crap, Vegeta had been absolutely brutal in the spar—probably wanted to show off to Trunks just how much stronger his father was than the defeater of Cell, Gohan thought with an internal roll of his eyes. As such, he had a badly wrenched shoulder from it being turned in a direction Gohan thought was impossible for it to go unless it broke, which it hadn't, miraculously. Thankfully, however, no bones were broken, and the cuts had already stopped bleeding, and the bruising wasn't that bad, honestly. Gohan promised himself that, next time, he would somehow find a way to wiggle himself out of sparring with Vegeta.
The young human woman wasn't exactly buying it, but it seemed as if Gohan was fine. So, she let it slide for now.
"So, did you work on your flying while I was gone?" he asked, absentmindedly rolling his shoulder to somehow ease the pain and tension of his pulled muscle, lightly rubbing his sore left shoulder with his right hand.
"Yep," Videl told him proudly, a slightly smug smile on her face. "Check this out!"
Once she said that, she launched herself into the air even faster than she had the day before, and performed a series of acrobatic flips and whirls in the air. She had to slow down a bit, of course, but she was able to fly faster than she had yesterday, and with slightly more control over her movements. She then landed back on the ground, rather out of breath, but not nearly as much as she usually felt after she flew that much, only slightly panting, able to grin smugly at him as he looked at her with shock on his face.
"Wow, Videl, that's even better than yesterday!" Gohan complimented her, nodding at her with a grin, before slightly wincing again at the pain that was in his shoulder and now had moved to his back, his sore muscles screaming in protest from even the lightest move. When he'd confronted Vegeta two days ago about the nightmares, it hadn't been nearly as bad as this, because it had been rather early in the morning and had only been both of them. Maybe the Saiyan prince wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he definitely liked to show off whenever possible, and, since Gohan and Vegeta had an audience that day that consisted of Trunks and Goten, the Saiyan prince had been merciless. Of course, Gohan had returned the favor—he had a feeling that Bulma wouldn't be too happy when she found out about the rather bad cramp that he had given Vegeta in his leg, causing him to limp a bit and shoot Gohan dirty looks after the spar had been over, and Gohan had returned the favor.
"Thanks—I remembered what you'd told me, see?" Videl told him with a light grin.
"You've just about perfected flying," Gohan told her honestly. "Maybe two or three days more will be enough for you—one day would be used as a test run to see how far you can fly. You've done enough work today, though. You can go home if you want." In all honesty, Gohan just wanted to somehow mend his shoulder—maybe he could pop by at Kami's Lookout (well, Dende's now, he guessed) and ask Dende to heal him, even though he wasn't sure that the Namekian was allowed to use his healing powers on such a minor injury…or he could go see Korin and see if he would give him half a Senzu bean. All he knew was that his shoulder hurt like crazy—he wasn't even able to reach the spot to massage it, prompting him to slightly grimace some more.
"Hey, are you sure you're all right?" Videl asked, placing her hands on her hips. "And don't say that nothing's wrong—you look like you're in pain. What happened?"
"Um…well, I kinda got into a little fight with someone over there…" Gohan admitted, not exactly mentioning who had given it to him. "And, uh…let's just say that this person doesn't like to pull punches…"
"A fight?" Videl repeated, looking at him oddly. "But you're not the type to pick a fight with someone."
"Yeah, I know," Gohan responded, nodding fervently. "I didn't want to fight. But…um…I was kinda forced into it." Vegeta had just about dragged him away from the videogames that he had absentmindedly begun to play with Trunks and Goten (they had been playing Tennis on Wii Sports, and, as Bulma had looked over at the force with which the half-Saiyans were swinging the remotes, and the pure speed used in their movements, she had been more than glad that she'd had the sanity to design 'Saiyan-proof' remotes that could actually pick up their movements) and demanded a spar with him immediately. And saying "no" to the Saiyan prince was something that very few people accomplished—Bulma was one of the brave souls who dared to defy him sometimes. But Gohan…he couldn't exactly refuse what Vegeta had told him.
"Well, how bad is it?" Videl demanded to know, her gaze now becoming scrutinizing as she looked him over with her blue eyes, looking more closely than she had before at him. She saw the faint bruises that were beginning to form on his pale skin, and there was the fact that he definitely seemed to be favoring his left arm. He had been holding his shoulder, trying to rub it.
"Not too bad—just got a few cuts and bruises, but I messed up my shoulder, and now my back's acting up," Gohan confessed, as he tried to rub his sore muscle some more. "It's pretty sore, and it hurts a bit, and I can't really reach it."
The young woman then got a thoughtful look on her face, grinning a bit at the other teenager. "Hey, maybe I can help. You want me to give you a massage?"
"What?" Gohan asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"You know, a massage," Videl said, stressing the word out as if he was stupid. "It's when—"
"I know what a massage is," Gohan interrupted her, shaking his head. "But how will that help me?"
"Sit down, and I'll show you the wonders that a good massage can do to you," she grinned, gesturing towards him. "Well, go on."
Cautiously, Gohan sat down. She was acting weird again, like she had yesterday, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that she was acting the slightest bit odd. He felt her ki move, and she was right behind him as she sat behind him, both of them cross-legged. She brought her hands up to his broad shoulders, and he tensed slightly.
"All right, now, all you have to do is relax, and let the massage work its magic," Videl smiled, as she began the massage. When she'd had sleepovers with Erasa, they had both pampered each other with manicures, pedicures, and all that other girly stuff. Massages were included, and she had also gotten herself massaged a couple of times and had learned how to give good massages. Sometimes, she gave her dad a little massage when he pulled a muscle from doing something not so smart in his gym. Needless to say, she had experience in the art of massaging, and couldn't wait to see Gohan's reaction.
Gohan relaxed, just as she told him to, and felt his muscles slowly lose their tension in them as Videl began to gently massage his back, causing him to close his eyes as he allowed her fingers to massage his back. Surprisingly, it felt rather good, and he found himself unconsciously leaning back as she continued to rub his back. She began to knead the muscle that was sore, in the exact right spot.
"That's perfect," Gohan mumbled out, making Videl snicker internally as she continued to rub the spot that it seemed to have been bothering him. "Right there." It was then that he began to lightly and unconsciously make a sound that resembled something like a purr, causing Videl's eyes to widen, as she looked closely at the back of his head, before turning her head a bit to see his expression. His face nearly made her laugh, but she kept it in as she continued to massage him gently but with just enough pressure to feel nice.
His face had been one of pure relaxation. His eyes had been closed, his mouth slightly open, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Those sounds that resembled purrs still rumbled from his throat, and Videl had to force her laughs back down her throat. He was like a big, sleepy, lazy lion right now, she swore. He was rather strong, but right now, he was just about harmless, completely at ease because of her gentle massaging.
"So, what do you think?" Videl asked, continuing to knead the spot, one hand moving across his back to continue to massage the rest of his back, eliciting more gentle purrs from him as he continued to gently lean back unconsciously into her hands, while she smirked knowingly. She couldn't get over the sound of his purring—it was absolutely adorable.
"This feels nice," he replied honestly, purring a bit more as her gentle fingers continued to massage him in the perfect spots, easing the soreness and tension in his muscles. Nice was actually an understatement. Fantastic was more of the word to describe it.
"Glad you like it," Videl replied with a knowing grin, bringing her hands up to his neck momentarily and massaging there before going back to the muscles on his back that he'd showed her were a bit sore. When he purred some more in pleasure, Videl couldn't help but laugh. "You freaking purr," she finally blurted out, grinning a bit. "You have no idea how freaking cute that is."
Gohan didn't even reply, his chest still rumbling with his gentle purring of contentment, prompting Videl to laugh some more as she shook her head.
Eventually, she finished the gentle massage, with Gohan still leaning back lightly into her hands. When it stopped, Gohan's purring stopped as well; at this, Videl was a bit disappointed—Gohan purring was just so absolutely freaking cute—but she didn't actually say that aloud.
The boy turned around, facing her, his face still very relaxed as he gave her a lazy grin. "Thanks for the massage, Videl," he told her. "I fell a heck of a lot better now."
"Hey, it's no problem," Videl said with a grin in reply. "Friends help each other out, even with things like sore muscles."
Gohan smiled back at her, while Videl mulled over the choice of words that she'd chosen.
Huh. In the past few days, she'd already considered Gohan a friend. A true friend. She'd known that he'd considered her a friend, that he'd befriended her before, but she hadn't admitted to herself that she felt the same way, that she considered him one of her close friends.
"So, you've finally admitted to yourself that we're both friends?" Gohan asked her, grinning broadly.
Seeing him grin, Videl couldn't help but smile a bit at him in return as she overcame her initial slight surprise. Then, she nodded.
"Yeah," she replied, smiling truthfully at him. "Yeah, I guess we are."
"Great job, Videl!" Gohan praised his pupil as Videl landed on the ground, barely even out of breath after flying fast and performing a series of acrobatic flips in the air. "That was a great improvement from yesterday!"
Videl smugly inspected her fingernails. "I know," she replied proudly, her blue eyes full of pride and smugness as she looked at her teacher, smirking at him.
It had been eight days since Videl had first begun to learn how to fly, and, in all honesty, Gohan was very surprised at how easily she'd managed to get the hang of flying and how quickly she had learned how to control it. Of course, she wasn't even nearly as good a flyer as the more experienced people, such as Krillin or Tien, but she was just as fast as Goten, which was what she wanted. Gohan was sure that she could be able to learn how to fly even faster on her own if she wanted to, based on the way that she had been able to just about teach herself for the past three days. All she really needed to learn from him was how to control her ki, which she'd managed to gain a good hold of by the fifth day.
Just now, Videl had gone just as fast as Goten, and had maneuvered in the air with just as much agility as he had done, too. (Of course, Goten could fly much faster than he had when he was showing off in front of Videl the first day that he'd learned how to fly, but Videl didn't know that.) It was very good progress for her, and Gohan was very impressed by the progress that she'd shown.
"I…am awesome," Videl continued smugly, very, very proud of herself.
Gohan laughed, sitting down on the grass. "Isn't that a little…I don't know, vain?" he teased.
"It's not vanity if it's the truth," Videl shot back with a grin, also taking a seat on the ground.
The boy laughed again, shaking his head at her, before he lowered his body to the ground, resting on his back so that he was looking up at the sky. His right hand was resting behind his head, his left arm resting next to him on the grass, his palm turned upwards. She mirrored his movements, leaning back as well on the ground next to him, on his left. She leaned more on her right side, however—her back was on the ground, but her left leg was lightly crossed over her right one and leaning a bit towards her right side. Both of her hands rested absentmindedly on her waist, her right one on top of her left one. Both of the teenagers simply looked at the blue, blue sky, watching the clouds pass by them lazily, as a gentle breeze brushed by them softly.
There was silence between them, hearing nothing but the birds chirping and the soft sound of the wind passing over them in a gentle breeze. It made Videl's short black hair gently brush a bit over her pale features, along with the softly swaying grass, looking at the sky through half-lidded eyes. Gohan closed his eyes, his own black hair not tickling his face—the breeze wasn't strong enough to move the thick hair that Saiyans had—as he simply relished in the peace of the moment.
"Hey, Gohan?" Videl suddenly spoke up, not making eye contact with him.
"Yeah?" the half-Saiyan replied, still watching the clouds pass by them gently.
"…Have you ever felt…like you have to live up to other's expectations?" she asked him quietly. "Like, you had to be what other people…wanted you to be, and you weren't even sure what, exactly, you wanted to be. Who you wanted to be. You just…you had to live up to the expectations of others. Has that ever happened to you?"
Gohan gave her a humorless laugh. "Oh, yeah, I know how that feels," he replied morosely. I guess that kind of happens when you're your planet's only hope at the age of five years old, and you know that if you fail that your planet will be destroyed, Gohan thought without a trace of humor as he continued to look at the clouds.
"Being the daughter of the World Champion and all that stuff…everyone expected me to be strong, too. I had to be strong. I had to live up to the World Champ's title, to be an acceptable legacy," Videl murmured, her blue eyes pensive. "It makes me wonder…what if my father wasn't so famous? What if he was a normal guy? Hell, what if I had a normal life, not having a super-famous dude for my dad?" She sighed, shaking her head, realizing how weird she was sounding. "Sorry if I'm making no sense," she told Gohan absentmindedly. "But…"
"Hey, I get it," Gohan told her, turning towards her for a moment and flashing her a quick grin, before he turned his gaze back to the sky. "It's just as if, sometimes, everyone expects you to be what they envision you to be. My mom wanted me to be a scholar, my dad wanted me to be a fighter. I had to live up to both of those expectations. It's one of the reasons why I miraculously understand calculus," he joked, causing Videl to laugh a bit at him, shaking her head as she looked over at him.
"Yeah, sometimes, it's almost as if…you're not free to make your own choices," she went on, sighing a bit. "And now I'm sounding like a damn philosopher. I have no idea where this is coming from, Gohan."
Gohan laughed. "It's not that weird," he told her, smiling at her. "I've seen and heard weirder than this, trust me."
Videl smiled back at him, before turning back to look at the sky.
"Hey…if you could wish for one thing, what would it be?" Gohan suddenly asked her curiously, turning towards the blue-eyed girl, suddenly wondering what someone like her would do if she had gotten the special privilege to use the Dragon Balls.
"If I had one wish?" Videl repeated, looking into the sky, deep in thought. "Can it be anything that I want?"
"Anything at all," Gohan replied with a small nod.
"Well…if I could wish for one thing…" That was tricky. Videl honestly didn't know what else she would want—she just about had everything that she wanted because her father was so rich. And then, it hit her. Gohan had said that it could be anything, right? "You better not tell anyone this, and you better not laugh, all right?"
"My lips are sealed," Gohan promised, crossing one finger over his heart very solemnly, making Videl crack a grin at him.
"Well…I would wish that…that people wouldn't look on the outside to judge a person, or who their parents are, but judge them because of who they are, you know what I mean?" she said in answer to his question. "You know—people not judging me as being only the 'daughter of Hercule Satan', or not judging you to being 'son of Goku Son' and things like that. The people that aren't exactly gifted with good looks but are very nice and kind people—I would wish for people to see that instead of the not-always-appealing outside. Even though I know that such a thing is impossible, but…it's nice to think that people could become like that."
She looked at Gohan, waiting for his reaction, glaring at him slightly with her sapphire eyes, as if daring him to laugh at her.
"Why would I laugh at that? I think that's a great wish," he told her honestly, grinning. "It would be nice not to be judged by appearances—isn't it funny how we have the saying, 'never judge a book by its cover', and yet that's always what people do?"
Videl nodded at him, secretly glad that he hadn't found what she'd said amusing. "All right, now, your turn. What would you wish for?"
"I would wish that my friends and family were always safe from threats," Gohan replied instantly. "So that they won't get hurt, so that I won't lose them. So that…I wouldn't have to lose them…like I lost my father," he confessed quietly, looking up at the sky. "I don't want to lose anyone else. Something happening to Mom or Goten, or Bulma, or one of my friends, like you…I wouldn't be able to bear it. That's why I'd wish that. So that I know that they're safe. I'll protect those that I care about with my life—I'd go through hell and back to keep those that I love safe. So…that's why."
He waited for the slight taunting that was sure to come with his slightly corny explanation, of spewing stuff about how much he loved his family and friends, even though he hadn't been lying in the slightest bit.
He was surprised when Videl didn't retort with teasing, and he suddenly felt her soft hand in his palm. He looked up to see that she'd moved her right hand over to his upturned left one, so that it was resting on top of it, almost as if they were holding hands, and she was looking at him with a small smile.
"I think that's a very sweet wish," she told him. "And it makes total sense. It's not stupid."
Gohan grinned, slightly interlacing their fingers together. They weren't exactly squeezing each other's hands, but their fingers were lightly interlocked with each other. "Thanks for understanding," he told her gratefully.
"Hey, it's nothing," she told him nonchalantly, smiling at him. "I can tell that you love your mom and your little brother a lot. I can also see that you miss your dad, but you don't let that stop you from protecting the rest of the people that you care about. I think that's something to be admired."
The teenaged boy laughed a bit, staring into her mesmerizing dark blue eyes, which were as dark as the sea before a storm as she looked at him with emotions such as compassion, understanding, and slight admiration in her eyes. She returned the favor, looking deep into his dark onyx eyes, the eyes that were such endless pools of darkness that Videl was afraid that, if she wandered too far, that she'd drown in them. They were showing his contentment and his gladness that someone else slightly understood him—even though they both had drastically different conditions of growing up, they both did have quite a few similarities between themselves. They both turned back to look at the sky, content to be lightly holding each other's hands as they looked at the clouds passing by them.
A few minutes later, Gohan suddenly got hit with an idea of what they could do the next day for their training.
"Hey, Videl," Gohan whispered, as if telling her a secret, lightly squeezing her hand. She turned to look at him, averting her gaze from the fluffy white clouds in the sky back to his beautiful obsidian eyes. Wait…had she just called his eyes beautiful? She was losing it. She knew it.
"Yeah?" she answered, showing that she'd heard him and also being a prompt for him to tell her what was on his mind.
"I have a great idea of what we can do tomorrow to test your flying skills," Gohan told her with an eager grin, as if he was a little kid that had just heard an interesting secret that he was just bursting to share with someone. "But you need to bring a bathing suit."
"…Wait, what?" Videl demanded to know, looking at him sharply.
"You'll understand when we get there," he told her. "If I tell you, then it won't be a surprise, right?"
"I hate surprises," she grumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes to the sky once more.
"I know that you'll like it," Gohan continued to try and persuade her. "C'mon—whaddaya say? It'll be a way to test your flying skills and to actually have some fun. So, you in?"
She turned to look at him again, and seeing the pure eagerness in his black eyes, the excitement and eagerness to do this, like a young child wanting to go out to the park, caused her to sigh in condescension. She didn't like surprises, that was true, but how bad could it be?
"All right," she told him, making him grin at her as he sat up, both of their hands still connected; as such, she sat up as well.
"Great!" he told her with a bright smile. He then stood up completely, hauling her up to her feet easily also. They both then let go of each other's hands, only slightly blushing this time, the redness in their cheeks barely even visible.
"Well, I should go now," Videl told him, realizing that she needed to buy herself a bathing suit. Hell, the last time that she'd gone swimming was last summer, and she had grown a bit since last year, which meant that her old one-piece bathing suit wasn't going to fit her anymore. She needed to go shopping, and she knew just the girl to call when she needed someone to be the eager shopper. She was sure that her best friend would agree to go shopping with her in a little while—all she had to do was call Erasa and check that things were all right with her own father, and she'd be set.
"OK," Gohan replied, smiling, as she popped open the capsule that contained her jet. The day before, she'd realized just how slow it was, since she could fly rather fast in the air, but she had to keep on using it, since her father didn't know about her learning how to fly from Gohan. It would also cause a bit less freaking out if people saw her flying in a hoverjet rather than seeing her flying with absolutely nothing else but herself.
"See you tomorrow, Gohan!" Videl called down from the driver's seat, waving at him a bit.
"OK; bye!" Gohan replied, grinning eagerly. He was glad that Goten had been gone for most of the day—he'd managed to squeeze in another play date with Trunks, and Gohan had to pick him up in about an hour. Because the little boy was gone, he had more time to train Videl without any interruptions from his little brother. Not that he wanted Goten to leave—it was just nice to sometimes not have your younger sibling around all the time while you were trying to train someone else.
The girl smiled at him as she flew the jet away from his home. Yes, she didn't like surprises. But the pure eagerness on his face, the sureness that she was going to like whatever he had planned…
Well, maybe, tomorrow would be the one exception that she didn't mind a surprise.
Sorry about the kind of late update, guys. I hope that it suffices! Now, my reasons are this: my family went on vacation, so for a week it was hectic packing, last minute getting the stuff we need, and settling in for a few days where we were staying. However, I now have free time to write, which I have used to update this story! Oh, and another reason I was unable to write was because, most of the time I was using my free time to watch DBZ Abridged. That is the FUNNIEST thing I've ever SEEN. I have learned a few very interesting things from that. Wanna hear? And if you don't, I'm telling you anyway XD
1) Krillin CAN NOT shut up when he's scared.
2) Chiaotzu is, apparently, a Pokémon.
3) Nappa can fly.
4) Namekians don't have penises. (I kinda guessed that before, but this cemented it :D)
5) Apparently, Super Kami Guru got so fat because he drank all of the water that caused a drought on Namek and blamed it on the albino Namekians.
6) Goku found the Muffin Button on Frieza's ship! It exists! YAY! MUFFIN BUTTON! XD
That is just a FEW of the things that I learned. Sorry, guys, but that crap is so freaking HILARIOUS that I was unable to do anything but watch them all in sequence and then watch them all over again. That is the funniest thing that I've ever seen—I swear, nothing has made me break down into hysterical laughter as much as that show has. It's amazing.
Anyways, enough about that. Thank you all for your support, and I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I hope that it makes up for the long wait! And please review! Reviews are what I run on! Thank you for reading! And please, please, please review! XD