Chapter 17
:Picking up the pieces of battle
:The month long trip back Begins
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Dragon Ball Z. All rights are owned by their respective owners,Toei, Toriyama, etc. This is purely a fanfictional work done by a simple fan done for fun. I do no get profit from this in any way.
When Gohan woke up he found himself in a large room surrounded by friends and family and the unfamiliar Namekian who'd healed him from last time leaning over him. "Thank you, you can go now." said Bulma to the Namekian, who immediately left the room for the family and friends to be alone for this moment. "Hey Gohan, its good to have you back with us son. I'm so proud of you!" said a very cheery Goku. "Dad! You're alright! What happened? Where am I?" cried a very hapy but very confused Gohan. Bulma came forward to answer the young hero's question. "You're back aboard the ship in the infirmary. Me and Chi-Chi came back with the ship to get you guys after the battle was over while we still had enough time before the comet hit. We brought everyone back aboard as fast as we could and left the planet with a few hours still to spare. We then had the Namekians heal you guys up once we felt we were a safe distance." explained Bulma. "Thanks Bulma. Thanks for coming back to get us." thanked Gohan. "Oh don't thank me, thank Videl. After all she was the one who found you lying on the ground and carried you back all the way to the ship as tired and as exhausted as she was after battle." said Bulma as she pointed the attention to the embarrassed little girl who was standing nervously off in the corner. "Then I guess that's another one I owe her." said Gohan as her turned towards her and gave her a very appreciative smile which only made her blush for some reason. "Y-You don't owe me anything... Really! You saved all of our lives including mine by beating that guy Broly. You don't owe me anything." stammered Videl embarrasingly. "Well then I guess that makes us even." said Gohan with a warm smile that just warmed her heart. "I guess I can live with that." said Videl as she flashed a little smile of her own under her now smaller blush.
"But shoot! Dad didn't I shoot your spirit off into the Kamehameha Wave? How is it that you're here and alright?" questioned Gohan, turning his attention back to his father. "Well you see Gohan, you didn't really put my soul into the attack, you just put in my energy into the wave while my spirit remained seperate so that way my spirit stayed inside your body even after the attack was done so that I was protected from risk. And after the battle I returned my spirit to my body and then woke up a short time later and helped everyone get back to the ship. I told you not to worry about it." cheerfully explained Goku. Gohan then lifted up and hugged his father with tears in his eyes, so glad to see that he was alright. Then finally he released the hug and wiped away his eyes.
"So what about Shamo and the other slaves? What happened to them?" asked Gohan, looking up at his father for answers. Bulma was the one to answer. "They took the ship Piccolo brought with him along with the rest of the Nameks and are following us as we speak. We're giong back to New Namek so we can drop off our Namekian friends back home and they've agreed to let Shamo and her people stay there until they can wish back their home planet." explained Bulma. Gohan smiled and nodded in approval as it seemed to be a happy ending for everybody. But there was one more thing that was bothering him. "Did you see anybody else escaping the planet?" asked Gohan, just wanting to make sure there was no way for Broly to escape. Bad guys like him tend to have a way of coming back from the dead. "We saw multiple space pods escaping the planet as we left the planet but we think they were just what was left of Paragus' army and guards leaving the planet. They looked to be scattering all over the place so I don't think they'll be bothering any of us anytime soon plus I don't think they would mess with any of you guys anyway." said Bulma quite proudly. Gohan felt relieved as it seemed it was finally over. The drop off at New Namek went off without a hitch and after saying goodbye to some old friends and new the gang went back off on their month long journey back to Earth.
Once everyone got settled down on the spaceship they all gathered around the recreational room so they could have Goku tell them about what he'd been doing up in Otherworld these past 2 months. Goku gladly obliged and told them all about in detail about the Otherworld Tournament and his battle with Pikkon in the finals. "... and so that's when the Grand Kai told us that we were both disqualified because our feet touched the roof of the stadium. I couldn't believe it but then he told us that he'd give us another chance for his private lessons in 2 to 300 years and so that's what I've been training for ever since." Goku said, finishing his story. "Wow dad, I wish I could've been there to see that. That Pikkon guy sure sounds tough, it must've been one heck of a battle." said Gohan, crouched down on the floor with his hands holding up his chin and looking up at his father like a child eagerly listening to war stories.
"So? What happened to you guys while I was gone? Did anything interesting happen while I away?" Goku asked, wanting to know what he'd missed. Gohan and Videl who were laying next to one another exchanged glances and smirked and giggled. "I think we can do more than that." said Gohan. "We can show you!" said Videl as they then ran off to their room and came back with a video tape and quickly placed it in a VCR. "Oooh! A movie! Great! Chi-Chi where's the... Oh there it is! Thanks Chi-Chi." eagerly said Goku as his wife passed him the popcorn. "I'm Gohan Son." said the TV Gohan to one side of the camera. "And I'm Videl Satan." said the TV Videl as she popped in on the other side of te camera. "And this video is a recording detailing our prank as we give Vegeta A MAKEOVER!" said simultaniously both the TV Gohan and Videl. "The two of you look soooo cute together in this." Chi-Chi complimented as she gushed over the two on the screen. Gohan and Videl looked back at Chi-Chi and just nervously smiled back as they didn't know quite how to take it.
When they then turned back their attention to the screen they watched as the TV Gohan and Videl placed a pink tutu on Vegeta and then scribbled all over his face with red and blue markers. Goku just exploded in laughter at seeing Vegeta in the tutu and being totally unaware of it as he was sleeping. Meanwhile, Vegeta could be heard grinding his teeth in the background as he was fuming at having to relive this humiliation at the hands of the two children. It was bad enough for it to happen at all in the first place but having to have his eternal rival getting watch it all happen all over again in addition to everyone else was just too much. 'Damn it! I almost forgot about that whole episode they pulled on me. Well, they'll pay for this! Somehow I'll get them back for this! They have no idea how terrible the Prince of Saiyans' pranks can be. They have no idea of who they're messing with.' vowed Vegeta in his head while the others continued to watch the movie. After the movie was over and everyone had a good long laugh, Goku got up and patted Vegeta on the shoulder. "Hey Vegeta, I never knew you liked ballet. Maybe next time you can give us all a ballet recital. Waahahaha!" Goku joked and then started to walk away as everyone else laughed at his joke. "Oh yeah? Well the next time we fight Kakarot I'll be giving you the Nutcracker!" Vegeta shot back with a menacing fist, but Goku just ignored him and kept on walking and laughing to himself. Pretty soon everyone left the room laughing and chuckling to themselves while leaving Vegeta to be fuming on his own.
For the rest of the day the fighters in the group trained with each other while Bulma and Chi-Chi were left to their own devices as usual. Vegeta went back to training with Trunks as usual, now being twice as determined as before to catch up to Goku. Meanwhile Gohan went to train with Videl again and finally get to test out her new Super Saiyan powers first hand. And that left only Goku and Piccolo to train with each other, a fact that they both were more than willing to accept as it brought an interesting challenge for the both of them.
"Are you ready?" confidently asked Gohan as he and Videl stared across from each other in a holographic recreation of their training spot on Earth. "As ready as I'll ever be." replied Videl with an equally confident smirk that belied the slight nervousness she felt inside as she was finally getting to fight Gohan as a Super Saiyan. They both then ascended to Super Saiyan and took up their respective stances. "I'm so excited, I've been looking forward to fighting you as a Super Saiyan for a long time." said Gohan with a confident smile on his face. Videl blushed, feeling flattered that Gohan, the strongest boy in the world thought so highly of her fighting power. And while it was frighteningly flattering, at the same time Videl was determined not to let his expectations be disappointed. "Well I hope I'm worth the wait because I'm gonna give you all you can handle!" exclaimed Videl as they leaped into combat.
A few hours later both Gohan and Videl emerged from the Holochamber with Videl looking the worse for wear for it as she had to lean on Gohan for support and he was hardly without a scratch. "Ok! I think that was good for our first session." Gohan cheerily said, who was honestly just being nice and supportive. "Good? How could you say that? I was still so much more weaker than you as a Super Saiyan. I never even touched you during our entire practice session. You're probably just being nice to me so that I don't feel bad but you don't have to pretend for me." Videl said with a look of disappointement on her face. "No, no! I really mean it! You really pushed it out there and there were even couple of points where you honestly had me surprised with some of your moves and you almost caught me. Sure you're not that strong now but that's just because all these new powers are still relatively new to you and you're still just starting out as a Super Saiyan. You'll get there with time and training so don't worry about it." said Gohan reassuringly. The move worked and Videl smiled as she seemed to honestly feel better of it as they arrived at the door to their room.
Once Gohan opened to door both him and Videl found that there was something different about their room. Their bunk beds were gone and in their place was a large queen sized bed standing next to the wall where their bunk beds used to hang. "What the heck is going on here!?" yelled out both pre-teenage children with their eyes blowing up to the size of dinner plates. "W-What happened to our beds?" questioned a totally freaked out Gohan. Sudenly he was answered by the heads of Bulma and Chi-Chi popping up from behind the door behind them. "Do you like it? Me and Bulma did it while you two were off training in the Holochamber." explained Chi-Chi, grinning from ear to ear. "B-B-But why would you do this mom?" asked a very confused Gohan. "You guys seemed to be enjoying yourselves so much that time we found you cuddled in each others arms in the bed and you looked so cute we decided that maybe you'd enjoy sharing the same bed so we switched them." explained Chi-Chi with an oddly happy look on her face. "Yeah, I had the bunk beds built so they could unfold themselves into regular beds. Me and Chi-Chi just unfolded them, put in a new mattress and bolted the beds to the floor to make them more secure." Bulma further explained. Gohan knew that they hadn't bolted the beds down just to make them more 'secure'. But they were made so that he and Videl couldn't change them back. "B-B-But? Do we have to sleep in the SAME bed?" stammered out Gohan as he and Videl looked at each other with nervous looks on their faces. They weren't looking forward to the awkwardness of this whole arrangement. "No... One of you can sleep on the floor." said Chi-Chi as she and Bulma both got scary looks in their eyes that totally terrified the two children. They knew that that sentence ended any hope for Gohan and Videl having to avoid sleeping with one another in the same bed. And as the door closed and Bulma and Chi-Chi left both Gohan and Videl were left standing like statues with redish faces, standing in the darkness of their unlit room.
Later that night, as Gohan and Videl got ready for bed they each sat across from each other on each side of the bed in awkward silence with their faces blushing. Gohan wore his normal light blue boxers like his father with a white undershirt while Videl on her end wore a pair of short sleeved pajamas with white shirt and purple scheme similar to her normal clothes only that her pants were purple too instead of black. And while both of them had slept in beds with other people before, Gohan being with his father in the Time Chamber and Videl in her occasional sleep over with Eresa but they'd never been in the same bed with a member of the opposite sex that was around the same age as them. It just felt awkward in this way and it felt even worse since Videl had a bit of a crush on Gohan now and to the same extent Gohan liked her too as well. They both felt embarrassed at the whole situation but they both just finally looked at each other across the bed and sighed as they both just caved in. "I guess there's just no way getting around it. Let's just get in and get through it." said Gohan, breaking the ice and Videl reluctantly agreed with a nod. They both just slipped in under the covers and stayed on opposite ends a good distance away from each other and just went on getting to sleep.
The next morning, Gohan and Videl woke up to find themselves snuggled in each others arms in the middle of the bed. Both were embarrassed at the position they were in and they immediately broke apart, catching their breath. "How the heck did we end up like that!? I could've sworn that we went to sleep on opposite ends?" asked Videl, voicing the question they were both asking themselves. "I think that we must've slowly wound our way towards each other in the middle in our sleep." said Gohan. As soon as Gohan had said it both preteens blushed as they realised the significance of what that meant and they both veered away from each other almost simultaniously. "I-I-I think that we should get ready for breakfast." suggested Videl with a stammer. "R-R-Right!" stammered out Gohan in agreement. She then lifted out of the bed and went to her bathroom to change. 'This is going to be a loooooong month.' silently thought Gohan as he held his head with both hands in despair.
Once they got changed and ready, Gohan and Videl made their way to Chi-Chi and Goku's room for breakfast. While anyone on the ship could requisition food from the food requisition panels in their rooms, no one could make breakfast like the ones Chi-Chi could prepare and so that was where everyone on the ship typically gathered for breakfast. "So tell us, how did you sleep last night? Did you enjoy your new sleeping arrangements?" asked Chi-Chi as she served breakfast to both Gohan and Videl. They both just looked at the ground in embarrassement with twin blushes on their faces as neither one wanted to talk about what had happened earlier that morning. 'Awww! How cute, they're blushing This is perfect! With this arrangement it won't be long now until they're a cute little couple and then someday they'll get married.' thought Chi-Chi as she observed their behavior. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table Vegeta was listening in and something caught his ear. 'New sleeping arrangements? This sounds like something worth looking into. This might just be the opportunity I need for payback against those two brats for the humiliation I've suffered.' thought Vegeta as his crafty little mind began cooking up something truly devious in store for the two preteen children.
Author's Final Thoughts: And so the battle is over and Broly is vanquished and our heroes are returning home. But don't worry, he's still not dead, or at least he might not be. I'm still thinking of possibly making him come back in the possible sequel to my series a la Second Coming. But I'm still not sure as to wether or not I'm even going to do it. So anyway just to make sure, if I don't end up making a sequel, he's as dead as a doorknob right here. But if not and I do, there's enough room to squeese through that he might be still alive. But for now we'll treat him like he's dead.
And now we're off to another month of fun as our heroes return. And just to make sure this part of the story was once again inspired by Two Halves of a Soul. It had the Nameks being threatened too, but in their story they had Babidi and Majin Buu attacking the Nameks instead. And instead of that I decided to go with Broly and his gang as the idea of them taking the Nameks as slaves seemed to be a natural segway into making them cross paths as opposed to the movie. That and the fact that Broly was much more comparable villain for Gohan to match up against. That and plus it was just a cool idea for them to fight. And so now Gohan is the one to defeat Broly first and not Goku. I like it better that way. And now we're off back to the cheeky angst between characters as they make their way back.