Hey, guys! I know that some of you thought that that chapter was the last, and this is to assuage your fears! I'm planning on taking this story through just about the entirety of their relationship—I'm not exactly sure if I'm gonna stop with wedding or engagement, though, knowing me, I will want to do the wedding, so yeah. Anyways, this story isn't done yet! So don't worry, you guys :D. And you have Cottoncandy101 to thank for this update; the death threat that she gave me really encouraged me to update as fast as possible, and gave me that little push that I needed. :D
Anyways, well, not all of the dialogue is gonna be straight from the anime, but I'll try my best to stay as accurate as I possibly can! Some of it is word-for-word, but some of the other stuff isn't because I am unable to access the exact episode at the moment and have to rely on my memory…which isn't all that great. So…yeah, I thought you should be forewarned XD
Well, that's all I had to say. Now I'll stop chatting your ear off, so here's the story!
Disclaimer: Hilariously derailing one-liner/disclaimer/thingy.
After hard, intense training on everyone's part (well, mostly everyone—Hercule believed that he had this in the bag, and didn't think that he had to train, making his daughter roll her eyes at him as she returned to her own training), the day of the World Martial Arts Tournament finally arrived.
It was hard to believe that a little over two weeks had suddenly gone by so quickly, but it had. Bulma had offered to pick everyone up in her hoverjet and take them over to the Tournament, and all of the Z-Fighters had agreed to it. Eventually, all of them, minus Piccolo, were packed in the rather spacious jet as Bulma piloted, with Vegeta sitting next to her, his arms crossed as he looked out of the window with the scowl that seemed to be permanently on his face. Everyone else was sitting in the backseats.
Conversations that took place inside of the vehicle were absentminded, mostly about how eager they were about seeing Goku once again, even if it was for merely a day. Gohan had also asked those in the jet with Saiyan blood not to transform into Super Saiyans, and Bulma had instantly agreed with the teenager's statement, telling her slightly disgruntled husband that if any of them transformed, the others in the audience might recognize them from the Cell Games, and the reporters would instantly begin following them around, managing to find out where they lived somehow. Even though Vegeta had haughtily claimed that he would easily be able to dispatch the reporters if they came to Capsule Corp. (he was quite used to them since they often swarmed around his home because of his wife's own fame), Bulma had told him that she'd rather he not kill anyone again, and to just listen to Gohan for crying out loud. The few couple of times that reporters had managed to penetrate the security of Capsule Corp., she had barely been able to stop the Saiyan from going on a rampage after the "lowly, pathetic humans" had dared to "interrupt his training". Needless to say, she didn't want yet another repeat of that.
When they reached the island where the tournament was being held, those who had participated in it before had been surprised at how different it seemed. There were so many more people, all cheering for Mr. Hercule Satan, the defeater of Cell, it seemed. Krillin thought that it looked like a big fair, and Bulma had commented that it had way more people than before, and had muttered about her dislike of crowds. They had run into Piccolo, and Gohan had eagerly greeted his former mentor. However, right after he had spoken to the Namekian and heard that his father still hadn't showed up (and had, yet again, gotten even more criticism from Piccolo about the outfit that he was going to be fighting in, but he didn't let it bother him), Gohan began to wonder a bit, and had begun looking for his father.
Where could Dad be? Gohan wondered, looking around in the crowd. His father would've stood out, with his considerable height and his unruly mane of spiky black hair. As everyone else reassured him that his father would come, Gohan couldn't help but feel anxiousness clawing at him as he looked around for his dad.
"Hey, kid, calm down," Krillin said reassuringly as he looked up at the teenager. This slightly disgruntled the short former monk—he remembered a time when Gohan had only been his height, maybe even shorter than him. Now, he barely seemed to reach the kid's waist. Stupid teenage growth spurts that Krillin had seemed to have been denied of. "You know your dad—he'll show up soon."
"Yeah," Gohan replied, his grin slightly forced, his dark eyes not stopping their quick scanning of the crowd.
As time passed, however, even his mother was beginning to wonder where her deceased husband was. "Where's Goku?" she asked, her dark brown eyes looking around as well.
Krillin, seeing the slight anxiousness in his friends, gave them an easy grin. "Hey, how about this—I'll scope out the area and see if I can find him for you guys!"
"Yeah, I'll go, too," Yamcha added, giving them a reassuring grin as well.
It was then, however, that, suddenly, an oh-so-achingly-familiar ki signature appeared right behind them. Shocked, everyone turned around, to see the familiar figure grinning right back at them, waving at them as he laughed.
"Hey, guys!" Goku grinned brightly at them. "Wow, you've all changed a lot in the past seven years, huh?"
"…DAD!" Gohan shouted happily, unable to take his eyes off of his father, seeing the familiar Son grin, the orange gi, the spikes of hair that never would go in a different style, his father, his dad. He was here, with them, even if it was only for a day, but he was here, in the world of the living, he was back.
Goku focused his gaze on his son, and his grin turned even brighter as he took in the appearance of the teenager. "Wow, Gohan," he chuckled, smiling at him. "You're giant!"
Gohan couldn't help but laugh, but the sound was slightly choked as he felt the sting of tears behind his eyes, which were hidden for the most part behind his black sunglasses. Around him, people in their little group were having mixed reactions: Krillin looked like he was on the verge of tears, along with Yamcha, Oolong, and Bulma a bit, who let out a slightly choked whisper of, "It's him!" in pure shock, a smile on her lips. Chi-Chi whispered her husband's name, a smile on her face and unshed tears shining in her eyes, as Goten grabbed onto her skirt and hid a bit behind her leg. Puar was flying in excited circles, and Roshi simply welcomed Goku back, while Piccolo wore a knowing smirk on his face. Unlike her husband, however, Eighteen didn't really seem to react at Goku's arrival. Vegeta didn't really react to the sight of his rival back for the dead for the day; his reaction, if any, was the faintest baring of his slightly overlong canines at seeing the clown's goofy grin on his idiotic face once more. Trunks simply looked at Goku, sizing him up against his own father, and just about coming to the conclusion that his dad looked so much tougher than Goten's dad, which made him smirk with pride.
After a few moments of everyone simply standing, looking at Goku as they assessed their emotions, the temporarily alive warrior spoke up once more. "So…are you guys just gonna stand there and stare at me all day?"
It was as if those words had broken everyone from a trance. Gohan ran to his father, along with Krillin, Yamcha, and Oolong, all of them running up to hug Goku eagerly. Goku laughed at the strength of their hugs, unable to return their embraces at once, so he gently pushed them off of him, first returning the hugs of his friends before returning the heartfelt embrace of his son. "Dad…" Gohan whispered against the tears, struggling to keep them in.
"I'm here, son," Goku replied softly, squeezing him a bit tighter before he let go.
Chi-Chi couldn't stop her smiling. "Oh, Goku, sweetheart…I missed you so much," she whispered happily, looking at her husband with love in her eyes. She didn't realize how much she had missed him until now, as if her heart had a missing piece that she hadn't noticed was gone, but had now been fixed, was now complete.
Goku looked up from his friends to meet his wife's eyes, and he smiled gently at her. "I missed you, too, Chi," he told her warmly, before his eyes widened as he caught sight of something hiding behind her. Goten, realizing that he'd been noticed, gasped a bit in surprise and ducked behind his mother once more, gripping onto her clothes, barely peeping one eye out from behind her.
"Goten, it's OK," Chi-Chi told her little boy gently, looking down at him, before turning back to her husband.
"Hey, I think there's a little me behind your leg, Chi-Chi!" Goku exclaimed, pointing at the little boy as he leaned the slightest bit closer.
Goten peeked out from behind his mother's leg, now showing his whole face. However, he refused to let go of his mother's skirts. "I'm Goten," he said firmly as he looked up at the man who was just about as tall as Gohan.
Goku smiled, walking up to them. "And I'm Goku," he said quietly, grinning down at the little boy, realizing that this was his second son. He hadn't been sure, but he knew that he wanted to leave a little piece of him with his wife, if he died in the Cell Games, which he did. He was glad that he was able to meet the little boy now. "Hi."
A few moments of silence passed as father and son simply looked at each other, Goten sizing his father up and Goku simply looking at his youngest son for the first time.
The silence was broken, and Goten gleefully shouted, "DADDY!" as he ran forward, shooting out from behind his mother to tackle his father in a hug. Goku laughed at the force of the little boy's embrace, and he picked Goten up with one of his arms, setting him on his broad shoulder.
"Whoa, hey, there, little guy!" Goku laughed. "You're a strong one, aren't ya?"
Goten laughed along with his father, before pressing his face up to the man's, so that their cheeks gently rubbed together in a show of affection. In return, Goku lightly hugged the boy around his shoulders, before taking him down. "Hey, you wanna be an airplane?" he asked his son eagerly.
"Yeah!" Goten replied eagerly, and Goku took the boy in his arms and began imitating an airplane, complete with the noises and everything as he held Goten, swinging him around, while the little boy laughed delightedly.
As he watched this, Gohan couldn't help but smile. The little boy's reaction to meeting their father was better than he had expected—seeing the pure joy on his little brother's face filled Gohan with satisfaction.
Baba finally spoke up, a small smile on her wrinkled face as Goku had played with Goten. "Remember, Goku, all I can give you is twenty-four hours. Understand? I'll come back when your time's up."
Goku turned to the old woman and nodded, still holding Goten. "Yeah, I know." Baba nodded, before she began to fly away on the crystal ball. "See ya, Baba!" Goku called as she eventually disappeared from sight, and he continued to play a bit with his son.
It was then that Piccolo realized that they should get moving—everyone else had already cleared the area and had moved on to the sign-up area. All of the fighters walked away, saying goodbye to their families and sticking together with each other. All of them began to sign up, and, through this, Goku learned the reason for Gohan's ridiculous outfit, that he was posing as the Great Saiyaman. Trunks and Goten had gotten disappointment when they learned that they were unable to fight in the adult division, and, even though Trunks had been rather adamant on the fact that he wanted to fight with the adults, the two little boys were unable to fight in the division that they wished.
"Gohan?" Goten said, tugging on his big brother's hand.
"Yeah?" Gohan replied, bending down slightly to show that he was even more attentive to his little brother.
Goten cast a glance at their father, who they were slightly ahead of now, as Goku cheerfully chatted with Krillin. He then looked at Gohan again, smiling up at him.
"You look like Daddy," he grinned.
Gohan laughed. "I guess I do," he grinned. "But have you looked in a mirror lately, squirt? If anyone really looks like Dad, it's you."
Goten turned back to look at Goku, who was currently laughing at something that Krillin had said, and squinted a bit, before he grinned.
"I guess I do," he smiled, repeating the same words that Gohan had said before. "Daddy's really nice, Gohan. He's everything that you said."
The older boy smiled back down at his kid brother, affectionately ruffling the kid's unruly hair. Goten giggled, before he ran up to go talk with his best friend, while Gohan went back to where his father was amiably talking to his own best friend. Goku commented on the fact that Krillin's hair made him look not like Krillin anymore, because he was so used to his short friend being bald. Then, the deceased warrior reacted in pure shock when he saw Android #18, and had learned that she was now married to Krillin and that they had somehow managed to have a kid together.
While they caught up on what had happened in each other's lives, Gohan was simply content to be next to his father again, to listen to his voice and to hear his familiar laugh, to see his smile.
No matter what, Gohan knew that, since his father had come back, that this day was going to be absolutely perfect.
Finding Gohan would be just as easy as finding a needle in a haystack on a farm in a country.
Videl knew that it would be very hard to find Gohan in the insane crowd. He could, literally, be anywhere, and she had no idea where to look. She turned her head this way and that, her blue eyes searching for the tall boy.
"Where could Gohan be?" Videl asked herself quietly, pursing her lips the slightest bit as she thought where he could be. Knowing his appetite, he would be wherever there was food…
"Hey, Videl," a voice interrupted her, a voice that was not Gohan's voice as she'd been hoping.
Narrowing her eyes, Videl turned to make sure that she had been correct on who had spoken. "Sharpener?" she asked, seeing her blonde guy friend sitting on one of the brick walls. For some reason, he was all decked out in a white suit, holding a bouquet of some admittedly pretty red roses in his hand. He smirked confidently at her as he jumped down to the floor easily, probably wanting to show off the fact that he was pretty strong. This only made her internally roll her eyes as she looked expectantly at her friend.
Sharpener extended the flowers to her. "Thought that I'd bring you some good luck," he told her, giving her a smirk that would've had most of the girls in their high school swooning dramatically. However, Videl was not like most of the girls in her school.
"No thanks," she told him, her tone suggesting that she couldn't care in the least at what he got for her as she turned around, her back to him, eyes still scanning the passing crowd for Gohan.
"I got an expensive camera just for today. I'm gonna take pictures of you," Sharpener continued from behind her.
That makes him sound like such a creepy stalker, Videl thought to herself, smirking a bit as she shook her head. She knew that Sharpener liked her, but sometimes, he could go a bit overboard with trying to gain her affection, like right now. "Oh, that's nice," she retorted dryly.
"Come on, you're pretty, Videl," he told her. "I think your hair is shorter."
"Aren't you observant," Videl muttered sarcastically, placing a hand on her hip as she continued to look for her black-haired friend, blue eyes continuing to scan the people that passed by. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she squinted the slightest bit, and then she smiled a bit as she found him—dressed in his Saiyaman outfit, no less. She was vaguely aware that Sharpener was saying something, but she wasn't paying attention to him anymore as she ran out to meet Gohan.
She easily reached him—he had been walking at a leisurely pace with two other people who Videl hadn't bothered to really look at.
"You know, you're lucky that I recognized you," she said. At the sound of her voice, Gohan turned, and he grinned brightly at her. He had begun to wonder where she was, and he had told himself that he would find her energy signature a little later, but she had beaten him to it.
"Hey, Videl!" he greeted her, the classic Son grin on his face as he looked at his friend. Videl couldn't help but smile back at him, her arms crossed in a relaxed position.
"Hey, Gohan," she returned. Vaguely, a nagging little voice in the back of her mind was telling her that Sharpener had greeted her just about the same way, but the way that she had replied to the blond boy had been totally different than the way that she had replied to Gohan now. Why did she react so differently? She fiercely told that little voice that it was because Sharpener had been trying to "woo" her, while Gohan was just greeting her as a friend. That had to be the reason, it wasn't because that she'd rather hang out with Gohan than with Sharpener, even though she had known Sharpener for longer…
…Right?
She shook those confusing thoughts out of her head, continuing her conversation with Gohan as she fully took in his appearance. "So, what's with the turban and shades look?" she asked, confused.
Hastily, Gohan harshly whispered, "Shhh!", placing a finger in front of his lips for emphasis. At this, Videl huffed a bit in indignation, annoyed that he'd just shushed her, but knew that it was probably for a reason. Gohan made a motion with his head that told her to follow him, and she did, as he led her into a corner much like the area where she had run into Sharpener before. Once there, he explained his situation to her, telling her that he didn't want anyone else in school knowing about the things he could do.
"So that's why I'm entering as the Great Saiyaman," Gohan finished explaining, looking at Videl, who had nodded at his rather reasonable explanation. She had been kidding a bit when she had said her goodbyes to Gohan on that last day of flying lessons, calling him Saiyaman but not actually thinking that he'd appear as his super-hero alter-ego, but she supposed that his explanation was pretty solid.
"Well, I won't tell a soul," Videl reassured him with a small smile.
He grinned in return at her, relieved that she wouldn't tell. He trusted her. "Anyway, how's everything with you? Did you perfect your flying?"
At this, Videl's smile turned into a slightly smug grin as she proudly placed a hand on her hip. "Yep," she told him with pride ringing clearly in her voice, shining in her sapphire eyes. "Now I'm twice as fast; come on, I'll show you!" With that, she began to hover in the air for a few moments, before she blasted off. Gohan, with an amused chuckle, followed after her, and noticed that she did, indeed, go much faster than she had been before.
The two of them were flying over the island, and Videl turned to see that Gohan was easily keeping pace with her, passing her the slightest bit. She grunted in annoyance, narrowing her eyes as she slightly sped up just to spite him, determined that she would not let him pass her. Gohan smirked a bit, finding this oddly reminiscent of the time that they had flown to his lake, where they had made a makeshift race out of their traveling there.
Eventually, Videl began to descend, landing on a balcony of one of the buildings in the area where the WMAT was being held. A few moments later, Gohan landed in front of her, facing her. She was smirking proudly, hands on hips. "See? I won't hold anything back," she told him.
Gohan couldn't help but smile with pride for his student. "I am impressed," he told her. "You did a great job, Videl."
"Thanks," she answered proudly, seeming to brim with confidence from his praise.
Just then, however, Sharpener appeared, having come up the steps of the building before. Gohan was facing him currently, and his eyes widened as he saw his classmate wearing a white suit, holding a bouquet of roses in his hand. That was not the Sharpener that he knew. The blonde looked annoyed as he spoke up.
"Videl, I've been looking everywhere for you!" he said, causing Videl to turn around in surprise as she faced her friend, and then resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Yep, he was definitely a stalker, she concluded with a smirk.
Gohan, not wanting to get in the middle of a confrontation that he was pretty sure would break out between them (What was this odd feeling that was beginning to take over him? It was cold and cruel, and wished for nothing more than for Sharpener to disappear, and felt very off, something that Gohan had never really felt before in his life. Jealousy? But why would he be jealous?), began to walk back to the stairs, saying, "I'll leave you two alone."
Suddenly, the blonde boy's hand shot out, gripping Gohan's red cape before the black-haired boy could make an escape. "Hold on," he said, glaring a bit at Gohan. "What's your name?"
Videl's eyes hardened at the tone that Sharpener was using, and she instantly leapt to Gohan's defense. "The Great Saiyaman," she replied, her voice hardened like her eyes as she sent a glare Sharpener's way, telling him without words to back off.
At this, Sharpener turned to her suspiciously. "Really?" he asked, drawling out the word. "Is he a friend of yours?" His tone was just about dripping with sarcasm.
However, Videl remained unfazed as she smirked and shrugged a bit at the blonde. "Well, we do spend a lot of time together fighting all of those would-be criminals." She then looked over at Gohan, whose back was still turned, but couldn't help but conspiringly wink at his back. "Right, Great Saiyaman?"
Gohan was stiff as a board. "That's right…I, uh, guess…" he stammered. However, his mind was a jumble of thoughts that revolved around the fact that Videl was now defending him, that he wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond, and why, oh, why did Sharpener have to come at that moment, he really hoped that Sharpener wouldn't find out who he was, oh, that would end badly if he found out now—
His frantic stream of thoughts that weren't currently making any sense stopped as Sharpener turned to face him. "Who the hell is this guy?" he demanded, as if he was hoping to get an answer.
Videl walked over to Gohan so that she was now standing behind him—between him and Sharpener, almost a sign of defensiveness. "You don't listen very well," she told Sharpener, her voice almost light, almost as if she was teasing him. "No one knows his real identity—right, Great Saiyaman?" She was smirking at Gohan's back, he knew it, he could feel it, he didn't even have to turn around, why was she acting like this, this was very odd behavior for her…
"Uh…" All Gohan could do was sheepishly laugh. He couldn't answer that honestly, his thought process not working right now, still trying to get over the fact that Videl was defending him.
"Right. Saiyaman," Sharpener repeated, mockery in his tone as he rolled his eyes. "Spare me."
However, Videl was very perceptive, and she smirked confidently as she placed her hands on her hips, looking at the blonde teenager. "My, did I hear jealousy in your voice, Sharpener?" she asked him, mockingly, teasingly, knowingly. Her statement made him seem to reel in shock, and his face in that moment was absolutely priceless.
"What? No way!" he replied defiantly, even though Videl knew that he was lying through his teeth.
Just then, a nasally voice over the loudspeakers came on. "All contestants for the World Martial Arts tournament, please report to the warm-up pavilion," he said, sounding as if he wanted to do anything but be giving this announcement. "Preliminaries will begin with or without you."
Videl blinked in surprise—she didn't think that much time had passed since she and Gohan had started to fly. "Whoa," she said, startled, "we better hurry over there."
She walked up beside Gohan, and reached out for his arm, holding onto his wrist with her right hand and on the inside of his arm, near his elbow, with her left hand, as she lightly leaned against his right arm. At her actions, Gohan couldn't help the furious blush that overtook his cheeks—Videl had never done such a gesture in front of people before. Sure, they had held hands sometimes, but they had never done so in public, so this was a gesture that greatly surprised Gohan and caused his cheeks to redden. Unable to think of anything else, he looked down at the girl holding onto his arm, and he stuttered out, "Y-yeah…we better…"
He and Videl began to walk away from the shocked and utterly stunned blond-haired boy, and Videl smirked as she said in a taunting and smug tone, "See you later, Sharpener." She didn't look back at him as she continued to lean against Gohan's strong arm.
The moment that they had completely descended down the stairs, Videl broke out into snickers. "Oh my god, did you see his face?" she asked Gohan, smirking up at him. "It was absolutely priceless!"
Gohan, still a bit thrown off by her odd behavior before, wasn't really able to reply. "Um…what exactly was that back there, Videl?" he asked. "I mean, Sharpener was all dressed up as if he was going to a wedding or something…"
"He just wanted to impress me," Videl said offhandedly with an annoyed eye-roll at the thought of her blonde friend.
"…and you instantly leapt to my defense when Sharpener questioned my identity…" Gohan went on, looking back down at her expectantly.
"Oh, well, I didn't like the way that he instantly seemed to…well, jump all over your case," she answered. "He instantly wanted to know your secret identity, and I didn't like the way he was saying it."
Gohan raised an eyebrow at her, and Videl let out a slightly frustrated breath. "Yes, I know that I'm being hypocritical right now, but…well, things are different now, you know? And, honestly, I don't think Sharpener would take the fact that you're the Great Saiyaman very well."
"He really wants your attention, huh?" Gohan noted absentmindedly. He'd never seen Sharpener act that way before, or dress up so nicely. Even though he hadn't spent a lot of time with the blonde teenager, he had a feeling that suits weren't something that he normally wore to school.
Videl sighed, shaking her head a bit. "Yeah, he does," she muttered. "For some unfathomable reason, he likes me. I mean, yeah, he flirts with just about every girl in the school, but, well, he really likes me." Even though it was sometimes hard to tell who Sharpener seemed to like, both Erasa and Videl had guessed that he really liked the black-haired girl. Even so, even though Erasa liked Sharpener, her friendship with Videl hadn't been harmed in the least. They were best friends for life, and that was how it was going to stay, no matter what; it was something that comforted both of the girls, to have such a stable best-friendship.
Gohan opted to not say anything in reply, feeling that odd little prick of jealousy once again. Quickly, the boy shrugged it off, determined not to let it affect him. "Thanks for defending me," Gohan said instead with honesty. It meant quite a lot to him, considering the fact that, at first, Videl hadn't cared at all who learned about Gohan's identity, in fact using it as blackmail for him to enter. Now, she was defending him.
Videl smiled back up at him. "Hey, it's nothing," she told him, leaning against his shoulder once more, lightly squeezing his arm. Gohan had taken her hand, lightly interlacing their fingers together as they continued to walk over to the warm-up pavilion for the prelims. "Sharpener just really wants to get my attention." She sighed a bit once more, closing her eyes as she began to speak words that she would only allow Gohan to hear. "I just don't understand why he would like me," she confessed quietly, not even caring that Gohan was listening to her at the moment. "He probably just likes me because of my dad. Most people do, nowadays. Not all of them are like you. Thanks for not only being my friend because of the fame, it means a lot," she added as an afterthought that was truly meant.
Hearing her slight lack of confidence, Gohan spoke up. "Why do you think that he'd like you just because of who your dad is?" he asked her, honestly wanting to know. "You have a lot of traits that are just for you that people would like. I mean, you're strong, you're brave, you're pretty, you're independent, you're confident, you don't give up, you're talented, and you're…special, individual in your own way. There's never gonna be another person like you, ever."
She was silent, and only then did he realize what he said, and a dark blush threatened to come over his pale cheeks. He wasn't sure about how she was going to react—
"That's so sweet of you, Gohan," Videl told him, sending a brilliant smile up at him, her blue eyes shining. Gohan found himself once again mesmerized by the amazing blueness of her lovely sapphire eyes, and he grinned back at her, the rosy blush still lightly present on his face. The truth was, it had been so long since she'd been complimented like that by anyone other than Erasa, who gave compliments to just about everyone because of her naturally friendly and bubbly demeanor, and gaining a compliment of such magnitude from Gohan meant a lot to Videl. Smiling contentedly, she brought her head back down to rest on his muscular arm, closing her eyes as she squeezed his hand gently, unable to wipe the smile off of her face. She looked up at him for a moment to see him grinning back at her as he lightly squeezed her hand in return, continuing to walk over to the pavilion.
Eventually, they reached it, and for some odd reason, both of them were loathe to let go of each other. Reluctantly, though, Videl let go of Gohan's arm right before they would be seen by anyone else, before they had to go their separate ways. Gohan felt the familiar energies of his family and friends a little ways from where he currently was with Videl, and if he remembered correctly, they were around the changing rooms. They probably just finished now, so he'd be able to catch them before they went in without him.
Videl looked up at Gohan, and she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "Thanks for escorting me here, Saiyaman," she said lightly, grinning at him teasingly.
"You're welcome, milady," Gohan replied, doing a mock bow, causing Videl to laugh and roll her eyes at his weirdness, before she went inside, while Gohan went over to meet up with the other members of the Z-gang.
After Gohan met up with his family again (none of them had asked where he'd gone, thankfully), they all entered the pavilion together. When they had entered, not a minute seemed to pass before Hercule Satan made his appearance in all of his pompous galore. Krillin, always the joker of the group, made a comment on how people would even cheer for a goldfish if a champion belt was put on him, making the group laugh.
As the kids went off to the junior division (Trunks and Goten weren't pleased in the least), the rest of the group went closer to see what exactly was going on. (Along the way, Gohan had run into a few weird things. First of all, Sharpener had fallen right in front of him once; then, someone sprayed his eyes and his sunglasses with a water gun, he guessed; then, a kid had asked for help to see everything, and Gohan had obliged by placing the kid on his shoulders, before the kid snatched his glasses off for a moment. What was going on today?). They learned that they had to pass the preliminaries by punching a punch machine (which was new to all the others who had competed in the Tournament before). Gohan found Videl once again in the crowd, and the two teens eagerly waved at each other, before Mr. Satan demonstrated the use of the punch machine, gaining an "impressive" score of 137 points.
They all lined up, and Gohan temporarily separated from his little group to go stand with Videl in line, causing her to smile at him as she allowed him to stand in front of her. Things were going pretty smoothly—and then Eighteen went, getting a score of 774. Of course, no one believed that someone could punch such a high number—and a girl no less—so they fixed it up, and the Android had to hold in her strength considerably more (she had been holding back before, but she didn't know that she barely had to touch it! These humans were such weaklings.). She still managed to get a score of 203, causing everyone to look at her in shock (well, except the rest of the people in their little group).
The scores of the next few people—Krillin, Goku, and Piccolo—were around the 200 range, startling everyone else in the audience. They believed that there was something wrong with the machine, and had asked the next person to wait so that they could fix it. However, the next person going up was Vegeta, and there was no way in hell that he was going to wait. After briskly telling the man to stand aside, the Saiyan prince punched the machine—and it broke on impact.
"So much for restraint," Gohan muttered under his breath with a roll of his eyes, while Videl's eyes damn near bugged out of her head from her shock. Her father was the strongest man in the world, but these people had easily gotten 200's, and the last man had broken the machine! How was this possible? The man didn't even seem surprised—he just had his arms crossed against his chest, looking away, seeming bored, dare she say it.
Seeing that Gohan wasn't reacting, she looked up at him in both confusion and still surprise from before. "You don't seem surprised," she noted, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, I don't know if you noticed, but those people got around the two-hundreds, and that last man just broke the punch machine!"
Gohan decided not to answer, honestly surprised that none of the others had broken the punch machine in the first place. And even though he broke it, Vegeta had still been holding back quite significantly; he opted for silence in this situation. It was then that the group of warriors began to walk away from the machine, seeming unfazed by their high scores and the fact that the intimidating-seeming man had broken it.
"Look at them," Videl huffed, crossing her arms against her chest defensively as she calculated them with suspicion in her blue eyes. "They think they're so strong in their little group."
Just then, Videl got a closer look at the one in the orange gi as that group got closer to them, and she noticed that, for some reason, his face looked a lot like Gohan's, and there was an odd-looking circle of golden light around his head. The little group stopped right where they were, and the one in orange grinned at them.
"Is this the friend that you were talking about, Gohan?" he asked, causing Videl's eyes to widen. Gohan laughed nervously in reply, while the man continued, prodding the teenaged boy on, "Well, don't just stand there, introduce us!"
"Um, Videl, these are my friends," Gohan said, feeling the slightest bit awkward. "Guys, this is Videl."
Krillin snickered. "Oooh, Chi-Chi was right, Gohan, she's pretty cute," he taunted. "Good luck with getting on her dad's good side."
Gohan groaned. "Kril-lin," he moaned dejectedly, wishing that he could disappear, the fierce blush on his cheeks unable to be dimmed at his short friend's comment.
"Hey, we're going to check out how the boys are doing in the junior division," Goku told him. "You coming after you finish the prelims?"
"Yeah," Gohan replied, nodding, before he waved at Piccolo. The Namekian offered a nod at his former student, before he walked away, slightly behind Vegeta, who was already headed over to where the junior division was taking place.
"Good luck, Gohan," Krillin teased knowingly as he walked away with his wife, causing the teenaged boy to groan.
"See ya there, Gohan!" Goku called back with a grin as he waved, and Gohan grinned sheepishly back and returned the gesture warmly.
As they left, the boy turned to see that Videl was looking at him with wide blue eyes, shock clearly written on her features. It seemed as if she was unable to form words for a few moments, before she managed to stammer out, "You know them?"
Gohan laughed, embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his head in traditional Son manner. "Yeah…you saw the one in the orange? He's my dad," he told her truthfully.
If Videl's eyes bugged out any more, Gohan would swear that they would pop out of her head and fall onto the floor. "Your DAD?" she nearly shrieked, stopping herself before she quickly brought her voice down to a sharp hiss. "But…but I thought you said that he was…well, dead!"
Gohan honestly had no idea how he was going to talk his way out of this one, so he decided to go with the truth. "Yeah, he is," he offered sheepishly. "That's why he had the halo over his head. He came back just for the day."
She simply gaped at him as she remembered the odd ring of light above the man's head, at first thinking that it was a joke and then noticing that Gohan was definitely not joking. "How…?" After a few moments, she shook her head, her brain simply unable to process the fact that Gohan's dead father had somehow come back to life for the day.
She sighed, deciding not to let her mind think about it too much. Gohan waited for her reaction, and was relieved when she simply shrugged her shoulders and didn't really ask anything more about how his father was miraculously able to walk among the world of the living once more after being dead.
With Gohan, she had learned, surprises were not a rare occurrence, and the utter impossible sometimes seemed possible concerning him. Weirdness seemed to follow the kid around. And, truth be told, she honestly didn't mind it that much, and was reminded of why when she looked back up at the teenaged boy to see him grinning that big, innocent, and true grin of his at her, a grin that she was unable not to return.
After all, surprises weren't always bad, and weirdness was a hell of a lot of fun.
As expected, the ones who advanced to the finals of the junior division were, obviously, Trunks and Goten. Unfortunately, both of the little boys had broken the little rule that Gohan had asked of them before they had reached their destination, transforming into Super Saiyans once for a few mere seconds, but it was certainly enough for some people to notice, and to wonder where they'd seen faces like that before. Thankfully, though, they didn't pay much mind to it, even when the boys exhibited their amazing fighting skills, their ability to fly and shoot energy beams. The humans thought that the boys were simply very talented, much to the relief of a certain half-Saiyan teen.
The winner of the match had been the older of the two boys, much to the pureblooded Saiyan prince's pride, knowing that his son was better than Kakarot's second spawn. After Trunks had done the little fight with Hercule (the eight-year-old boy barely even tapped the man, and he had flown back and crashed into the wall, much to Trunks' surprise. He'd thought that the 'strongest' man in the world would hat least have a little more strength than everyone else, but he seemed to be even weaker, if possible.), the boys had snuck off somewhere after the match. The parents of the boys weren't worried about that, though—after all, the boys were both half-Saiyan, and the only people that could really harm them were their own fathers.
During the little gap in time between the end of the junior's division and the match-ups for the adults, Videl tagged with Gohan's odd group of friends over to where the food was. Her eyes were wide as she watched the three men with Saiyan blood, yet again, ate so much food that it seemed completely impossible for them to be able to fit inside of their bodies. The short man, who Gohan had told her was Krillin (he had informed her about everyone in the little group based on their vivid descriptions), had watched them with awe, muttering to himself as he wondered what the hell Saiyan stomachs were made of (of course, Videl didn't hear this comment, only Goku, who laughed at the comment).
They then had run into two very odd individuals, one with pink, wrinkled skin and long white hair and a nose that seemed like a beak, the other with smooth purple skin, almost delicate features, and an odd white mohawk to go along with it. To make things even weirder, they were wearing the most ridiculous clothes—Videl honestly thought that they looked worse than Gohan's Saiyaman outfit, which, oddly, had seemed to be growing on her slightly, not finding it so ridiculous and weird as she had not too long ago. The one with purple skin had said that he was looking forward to sparring with Goku after shaking the slightly stunned man's hand with a smile on his delicate features, before they left.
That had been weird.
After that, much to the embarrassment of a certain Saiyan-hybrid, while they had been drawing the numbers that would tell them who they would fight, Krillin made yet another jab at Gohan about Videl, after he had been told that she was the daughter of Hercule Satan and he knew for sure. Yet again, he'd teased that Videl was quite the looker, causing Gohan to blush and to stammer out that he hadn't noticed such a thing (oh, it was such a lie, but Krillin didn't need to know that). However, the former monk wasn't an idiot, and knowingly laughed, telling Gohan that if he threw in a bit of charm to the girl that she would easily fall for him. This only caused the teen's blush to grow deeper as he hastily told his friend that he and Videl were just friends and nothing else. Krillin, however, didn't seem to be convinced, and shrugged with a knowing smirk on his noseless face.
Then, they had found out who was going to be going against who. Krillin was going up against a huge fat guy named Pintar who taunted the much shorter man after their match had been decided; Piccolo was going against the mohawk-dude, who they learned was named Shin; after that, Videl was going up against a guy named Spopovich; then, it was Gohan's turn against Kibito, the pink-skinned man they had run into earlier; after him, Eighteen would go against Mr. Satan; then, to everyone's surprise (and also pure horror), Goku and Vegeta were set to fight against each other in the first round—it couldn't end in anything but disaster; a weird-looking guy dressed up in a funny-looking outfit, named Mighty Mask (who looked oddly disproportionate to most of the other fighters—why were his arms so short, but he had such a long body?), would fight against a man named Killa; and, last but not least, someone named Jewel (the one who seemed to be extremely famous with the ladies, who swooned when he flicked his blonde hair over his shoulder and sent a look with his dark eyes their way) would be going against a man named Yamu. For some reason, both Spopovich and Yamu looked really weird and tense, with skin that seemed almost gray and veins sticking out all over the place, made even more prominent because of the fact that their heads had no hair, showing the veins on their head that were bulging for some reason. They even had an odd letter 'M' embedded on their foreheads.
When the adult tournament finally began, most things had gone as had been expected. Krillin easily defeated his opponent with two simple hits, glad that he was able to get him back after the barbs that he'd shot towards him, which wasn't even a surprise to any of his friends but was a shock to most of the other people in the audience, who had believed that the large man would easily flatten the poor, unfortunately short man.
However, the next match that took place wasn't so normal, but wasn't something that anyone would worry about. For some reason, Piccolo had forfeited his match against Shin, seeming shocked by something that he'd been told when he came back to the others. When asked, he wouldn't reply to anyone, not even to Gohan, who was, by far, the person who he was closest to. None of them really paid attention to it, however, since Piccolo had his moments of weirdness, just like the rest of their group.
It was during the next match that all freaking hell broke loose.
At first, Videl had easily seemed to have the upper hand against Spopovich, her technique much, much cleaner and more precise than the sloppiness that the other odd-looking man was showing. Even Goku and Krillin noted that her fighting style was rather good, and Gohan just nodded knowingly as he looked at his former pupil, smirking with pride.
There had been some weird things, though—each time that it seemed that it had been a sure knockout for Spopovich, the man continued to get up easily, as if he was oddly unfazed by Videl's flurry of attacks, which were enough to knock out any grown man easily. As time went on, Videl began agitated, making her punches and kicks more powerful. She even managed to kick him so hard that his neck completely cracked, his head turning completely around. A gasp of horror went through the crowd, and her own eyes widened as she looked at the damage she had done—she hadn't wanted to kill him! The announcer had then said that she was disqualified since she killed her opponent…so why was he still standing?
Now the gasp that went through everyone was a gasp of shock as Spopovich smirked, grabbed the sides of his head, and turned it around, setting it right back in place as if she hadn't just freaking broken it.
"What the…?" Krillin gasped, eyes wide with his disbelief. "That's impossible! He should be dead!"
Gohan had the uneasy feeling that things wouldn't end well, and that feeling only intensified when Spopovich suddenly decided to make his move.
Videl, slightly drained from the energy that she had exerted earlier, was suddenly on the receiving end of an onslaught of fierce punches and kicks that she hastily tried to block. She didn't notice that he was forcing her back towards the edge until it was too late, and he gave her a mighty blow that nearly threw her out of the ring; on instinct, she stopped herself from hitting the ground, flying up into the air and hovering well above the ring, breathing slightly heavily as she gave herself time to recollect herself.
"That's right," Gohan mumbled to himself, looking up at her with concern in his eyes. "Just stay in the air and take a breather. Don't go back in there until you're good and ready."
"You taught her how to fly, right, Gohan?" Goku asked, turning to his son. In response, the teenaged boy nodded absentmindedly, his eyes still watching Videl intently as she looked down at Spopovich, sweat falling down from her forehead as she brought the back of her hand to stem the slight stream of blood that was coming from her split lip.
"Wow, she's good," Krillin commented, impressed that she'd managed to learn so much in a month without ever hearing about ki beforehand. Once again, Gohan absentmindedly took his praise with another nod, not taking his eyes off of his friend who was currently fighting.
What happened next surprised everyone, even those who knew that Videl could fly—Spopovich took to the air as well, showing that he was able to fly also, which was something that he most definitely could not do at the last tournament. She looked up at him in shock while he wore a sinister smirk on his face, chortling madly as he began to power an odd, unnatural purple light in his palm. Before she was able to react, a dark purple energy beam shot out from his palm, and, since she was unable to dodge, she took the full impact of it, nearly crashing into the tiled floor. She caught herself before she would collide, landing on all fours as she looked up at him defiantly after she landed, quickly going back into her fighting stance, wincing the slightest bit.
Something was wrong, and all the warriors knew it.
"At least he can't do big energy blasts," Krillin muttered in relief.
However, Vegeta spoke up, and his next words only made Gohan even more anxious and worried. "That's not it," he told them, his onyx eyes watching the fight between the admittedly strong young human woman and the gray-skinned freak. "He has some sort of…unlimited power. He can't kill her, though, or else he'll lose the match."
"Unlimited?" Gohan repeated, eyes widening as he turned to face the taciturn Saiyan prince. All he received was a nod, while Goku added his own piece.
"Vegeta's right—it's limitless," the dead warrior brought back for the day said, his face unusually serious and grave.
"But…but what does that mean?" Gohan asked, more to himself than to anyone else, worriedly watching the young human woman, who suffered a few more fierce blows with Spopovich.
"I don't know, Gohan," Goku replied seriously. "I don't know."
Videl let out a cry of pain as Spopovich sent a hard kick her way, kicking her upside the head, causing her to cough out blood, flying across the tournament ring and landing painfully on the tiles. The announcer shouted that she may be down for the count, since she wasn't moving much, hissing through her teeth in pain.
"Stay down, Videl!" he shouted over to her. "The match is over, just don't stand up!"
She grunted in her pain as she forced her upper body up, supporting herself with her forearms, before managing to get on one knee. Her breathing was slightly labored as she shut her eyes, blocking out the pain, her muscles screaming for her to stop, to just give up.
But she wouldn't give up. No, she could not give up. Never would she give up. Ever.
With considerable effort, Videl cracked her eyes open fully, and pushed herself off of the ground, facing the creep as she lowered herself into her fighting stance once more, panting, wiping the blood that was dribbling from the corner of her mouth.
"She stood up," Gohan moaned on the sidelines to himself in dismay as he watched her bravely face the gray-skinned man, launching a flurry of attacks at him that were much weaker than when she had started out.
Then, Spopovich suddenly stopped one of her punches from connecting, smirking at her as he grabbed her fist in his considerably bigger palm. In vain, she tried to knee him in the stomach, but he easily caught that, too. Quickly grabbing her ankle, he then proceeded to swing her body around like a rag doll over his head, around and around and around, before he let go, causing her to fly across the arena once more.
She was too weak. She knew that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from landing outside of the ring when she reached the edge, no matter how much her mind thought she could. She just couldn't move anymore.
And then, suddenly, she felt something grab her ankle once again, hard.
Opening her eyes a crack, they flew open when she saw Spopovich wearing a sadistic, creepy grin on his face, snickering as he hauled her back inside of the ring, throwing her back on the hard tiles and knocking the breath out of her.
It was at that moment that the Z-fighters realized that Spopovich was just toying with her, and that angered Gohan to no end.
He stood over her as she cracked her eyes open, and he began to laugh maniacally as he began to punch her in the stomach as she was on the floor. Repeatedly he hit her abdomen, causing her to gasp and to hack up blood, crying out in pain. Again and again he punched her, not letting up in his punches on her.
"Thank you for treating me like…well, me."
Gohan's fists clenched as Videl's words from a couple of weeks ago echoed in his ears, his teeth grinding together, his rage beginning to break through as Videl let out another cry of pain. Spopovich grabbed her by the head, his fingers dangerously close to squishing her skull as he kept a firm grip in her head, before he began to, once again, repeatedly sock her in the stomach with even more force this time, causing her to gasp once more and cough out even more blood.
"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."
Again, he punched her fiercely in her middle.
And again.
And again.
"You freaking purr. You have no idea how freaking cute that is."
Spopovich finally dropped Videl on the floor, causing her to let out another cry of pain once more, while he just snickered with sick, sadistic pleasure. She didn't seem to be moving any more, her breaths coming in short gasps as she desperately tried to get air.
Just stay down, don't get up, please, don't get up, just stay down—/Gohan's thoughts were frantic, sporadic because of his growing rage and his worry for her, not knowing if he was shouting out to her or if he was silent.
However, with considerable effort, Videl managed to get herself off of the ground, falling back into her fighting stance once more, still gasping for air. It looked like she would fall over at any second, just barely standing up, only able to remain standing because of her indomitable willpower.
The creep found this funny, and quickly reached out and grabbed her hair tightly, causing her to squeal in her pain, trying to stop him but unable to as he continued to pull on her short hair. It hurt, god, it hurt, but she couldn't move, couldn't fight back, she was too weak, even though she thought she wasn't but her body said that she was too weak too weak to go on…
And Spopovich just continued to wear that crazed grin on his face, enjoying, reveling in her pain.
"You're pretty nice—hell, I'd say that 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."
He dropped Videl on the floor so that she was now lying on her side. Then, he brought his foot up, and began to press down on her temple with his heel.
Videl screamed in agony at the pain that erupted behind her closed eyelids, screaming and screaming and screaming.
Gohan snarled viciously, almost like an animal. He felt his power flicker, felt the Super Saiyan transformation that was literally begging to be unleashed upon his skin in his fury.
"Gohan! You have to calm down!" Goku shouted to his son as he felt his power spiking in his rage.
The half-Saiyan teen's only reply was another vicious snarl, his eyes behind his shades flickering turquoise for a moment before returning to onyx. For a second, a golden aura began to flash around him, and then just as quickly it disappeared.
"Stop it, Gohan, you have to control yourself," his father told him seriously.
He didn't understand. None of them did. He couldn't lose someone else. He couldn't fail them. He couldn't fail her.
Videl's shrieks of agony continued to roar in his ears, somehow seeming to be even more amplified to him as he snarled once more, his canines showing, his muscles tensed and coiled to spring, seeming more like an animal at the moment than a person.
Spopovich was just laughing in sadistic delight as he pressed his foot even harder on her temple, causing Videl's screams to escalate, piercingly loud, while the audience went crazy, screaming to stop the match, to stop this madness. Their shouts fell on deaf ears as he continued to press his foot on her head.
Her screeching and screaming made her throat raw, but she didn't care because oh god it hurt so much all she knew was pain pain pain pain pain make it stop stop stop please make it stop so much pain it hurt so much just please make it STOP!
The sounds that were coming from her throat seemed unable to be created from human vocal chords, sounding more like the dying cries of an animal, just sounds of pure pain.
"You know…I never met anyone like you, Gohan Son. You're different than everyone else…and in a good way, too."
Gohan heard his father yelling at him, but he couldn't listen to what the man was saying, unable to hear anything else but Videl's shrieks of agony, her screams and shrieks of pain.
And Spopovich was just laughing.
Then, Videl's eyes welled up with tears, and she began to cry from the pain, it hurt so much, she didn't care that everyone was seeing her cry because it hurt so goddamn much.
Her tears of pure agony fell in relentless torrents down the side of her face as she continued to shriek and scream in anguish.
It was the last straw.
Gohan snapped, letting out a sound that resembled the roar of an animal as his Super Saiyan transformation appeared on his skin. His turban flew off as his hair spiked up and turned blonde, a powerful golden aura surrounding his body. His red cape flew off from the raw power that he was exerting as he snarled.
Once again, his father was trying to persuade him to calm down.
"NO!" he shouted. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Then, he blasted off, despite Goku shouting at him to come back, only seeing Videl's broken body, only hearing her screams resonating in his ears, her shrieks reverberating through his head.
However, Spopovich suddenly stopped. Gohan didn't understand why, but he removed his foot from Videl's temple, turning towards the other creepy gray-skinned man, Yamu, who was speaking to Spopovich. Gohan didn't hear what they were saying, but he managed to stop his frenzied movements as he stood not too far from where the arena was. He didn't hear anything but Videl's moans of pain, couldn't really see anything other than the tears that were still lightly pouring down from her eyes.
Then, Spopovich grabbed her ankle once more, causing Gohan to snarl. Then, however, the man dropped her out of the ring, and she lifelessly fell on the grass surrounding the arena. Spopovich had won, and he walked off as if he hadn't just nearly killed someone.
It snapped Gohan out of the slight daze that he'd been in, the temporary animal that had taken over his system. His Super Saiyan aura died down, his hair losing its shining golden color and turning back to black, the bright aura disappearing from around him.
"Videl!" he shouted, running towards her without a second thought. He quickly reached her, kneeling down beside her limp form, as the announcer came over as well to see how she was.
"We need a stretcher over here!" he yelled.
"No," Gohan suddenly said, his voice hard and determined. He brought his right arm under her shoulders, lifting her upper body the slightest bit upwards as she moaned, while he brought his left arm under her knees. "I'll carry her." His tone left no room for argument as he gently cradled her in his arms, supporting her head with his hand. He stood up, still holding her with no visible effort.
He then caught sight of the one who had left her in such a state, and his rage consumed him once more, making him see red for a moment. "Spopovich!" he growled out threateningly, glaring daggers at him.
The hulking gray-skinned man turned slightly at the sound of his name, and made eye-contact with the teenage boy. "Next time, it's you and me," he snarled venomously at the sick, heartless monster. "And I'm going to win."
The only reply Gohan got from Spopovich was more snickers, before he turned and walked away with Yamu, going to who-knows-where. Gohan honestly didn't care, only caring about the girl that he was carrying in his arms, as he ran back to the waiting area
As he ran past his friends, Krillin stopped him for a moment, causing Gohan to turn to look at him.
"Hey, kid," Krillin told him, "your dad went to Korin's to get some Senzu beans for her."
Hearing that, Gohan felt the slightest bit of relief. A Senzu would heal Videl in no time. He nodded to acknowledge that he'd understood, and said, "Yeah, that's my dad."
It was then that Videl let out yet another moan of pain, prompting Gohan to say a hasty goodbye to those from their little group of misfits before he continued to bring her to the hospital area, being as gentle as he could with her.
They were eventually alone, away from everyone else as he continued to carry her, going as slow as possible so that she wouldn't be hurt any more than she already was. He was sure that she had a couple of broken bones, and her temple probably still felt terrible as well, and she was covered in cuts and bruises and her own blood.
Videl stirred slightly in his arms, halfway in and halfway out of the realm of consciousness. "…Gohan…?" she whispered, her voice a croak.
"Yeah, it's me," he replied. She was vaguely aware of his arms around her, his thick, muscular arms that seemed to be a protective cage against her and the world. Her face was resting on his strong chest, and she was able to feel his heart beating against her cheek, felt his chest rise and fall gently with his breathing.
Oddly, she had never felt safer than in that moment. Yes, she was all bloody and bruised, but in Gohan's arms, she felt the oddest feeling of security, knowing that he would protect her.
Not that she needed protecting. But still, it felt…nice. Safe.
She coughed out a little bit more of blood and phlegm, causing a reddish stain to appear on Gohan's green robes. However, he didn't seem to care, and only seemed to go faster towards the hospital. It was then that the pain seemed to hit her all at once, and she moaned again in her pain.
"It…it h-hurts, Gohan…" she whispered hoarsely, feeling more tears begin to form in her eyes. She let them fall, unashamed as of now. If it had been anyone else, she was sure that she would've sucked up the tears, no matter how much it hurt. But this was Gohan. He wouldn't judge her, and, quite frankly, she didn't care at the moment because it hurt so much.
"I know it does, Videl," Gohan told her. "But you'll be OK. I'm bringing you to the hospital, and they're gonna fix you right up, and you'll be back on your feet before you know it. You'll be just fine, Videl, you'll be perfectly fine." He was trying to comfort her with his voice, and to also convince himself. She would be just fine. His dad was getting a Senzu bean for her, and she would be just fine after she got it. Feeling her tears hit his clothes caused something inside of his gut to twist once more.
Her tears continued to fall in her pain, and she weakly nodded in reply. "I…I should've…been a-able…to beat him…"
He agreed with her—compared to the creep's sloppy techniques, Videl was, by far, the more skilled one of the two. It was only because of the unlimited power that Spopovich had somehow obtained that gave him the raw power that he needed to beat her.
"No one thinks any less of you, Videl," he said reassuringly to her. "That bastard was just lucky, that's all. I know that you would've beaten him, but he somehow had an unfair advantage."
Videl let out a short gasp of pain as she coughed up a bit more blood on his clothes. She wanted nothing more than to pass out, but, for some reason, she didn't. She just wanted to escape all of the pain.
Then, she felt slight warmth emanate from Gohan's body, the same warm, fuzzy feeling that she had felt when he had used his energy to dry her off when they went to the little lake. The pain didn't become so unbearable, being replaced with only the slight comforting warmth that wreathed around her. She opened her eyes a crack and saw through her blurry tears that the same gentle light from before had gently appeared over both of them. It didn't take away her pain completely, but it greatly diminished it, and her tears slowed down the slightest bit.
"Th-thanks, Gohan…" she said gratefully as she unconsciously leaned a bit more into his chest, leaning towards the gentle lull of warmth coming from him.
"Don't thank me," Gohan replied, his voice suddenly full of self-loathing. "I could've stopped it, Videl, but I didn't. I'm sorry."
"You…you didn't do…a-anything wrong…" she told him quietly. "I-it…was my match. I…woulda been…pissed i-if you tr-tried…to stop it…"
"But still…it had gone far out of hand, Videl, I should've stopped it," he said in reply. "He nearly killed you…"
"S-stop blaming yourself…for stuff…that's n-not…in your control," she murmured, her voice still hoarse from her screaming, but she was comforted by Gohan's warmth, the gentle warmth of his ki. "There's n-nothing for…you to be…sorry a-about."
But it was his fault. He could've somehow stopped it, even though it was against the rules to interfere, but he didn't care. After Spopovich had gotten her down after brutal punches, the match could've ended. He didn't have to pull her back in and continue torturing her.
"I'm sorry, Videl," he said softly, continuing to feed her his ki, her eyes fluttering shut.
"It's O-OK, Gohan…" Videl whispered, voice cracking as she opted not to speak too much any more because it hurt her voice.
"No, it's not," he insisted, shaking his head even though he knew that she couldn't see him. "I'm sorry, Videl, I'm so, so sorry."
He was sorry for everything. Sorry for allowing Spopovich to continue to beat her, when he could've somehow stopped it; sorry for not getting to her sooner; sorry for letting her down. He could've helped, but he didn't. He hated himself for it.
He'd failed someone else, yet again, just like he had failed everyone else—Piccolo and Mirai Trunks and his dad and Android #16 and…so many people who had been counting on him, but he had let them down.
And now, he failed Videl. Yet again, he was unable to save one of his friends from pain, from agony. He murmured small reassurances that she would be all right in her ear, feeling her relax a bit more in his arms, from his voice and from his ki. However, the guilt he felt consumed him, and, in between the comforting words he whispered to her, he always whispered two words to her.
"I'm sorry."
I know that not all of it was completely accurate, but I tried my best—I didn't always have access to the videos, so yeah. I tried to stay as accurate as I could, though, I hope that this suffices!
Anyways, I also want to say thanks to all the people that have reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. Thanks for all the support! It was one of my reviewers (I said this in the beginning, but I'll say it again) that got me off of my lazy butt and threatened me to add a new chapter—you can thank Cottoncandy101 for that little push XD. And, for those of you who think that this story's gonna end here, oh, trust me, there's still a LOT of stuff that's coming. I'm taking this all the way through the Buu saga and up till their wedding, I think. There's still quite a ways to go before this story ends, trust me XD.
Thanks for taking the time to read, and please, please review! You guys are what keep me going, and you're all the best! XD Please review! :D