Gohan's Reunion

Gohan's eyes met Videl's and a moment of profound silence fell over all of them. Goku stood behind Gohan, silent but supportive. Goten stood off to one side, tense, ready for a fight. Maybe on some level he was even hoping for one. Young Pan watched these events from the house window, curious, and gripped by a strange sense of familiarity towards the stranger who stood outside.

Gohan was no longer aware of any of it. To him the whole world boiled down to one simple fact, that for the first time in eight years he was going to speak with the woman he loved. Memories came to his mind in a rush. The first kiss they had shared, the night Pan was concieved. The sounds of Videl's voice and laughter. He also thought of the future, all the memories they could still create, getting to know his daughter. But most of all his mind was filled with the present, the simple fact that Videl was right there.

He watched as Videl lowered to the ground. Her face was filled with suprise which she was quickly hiding behind a neutral mask. Gohan forced himself to calm down. He needed to focus. He knew he was on very unstable footing. He may not have attacked her directly those years ago, but he knew she would have heard of his actions. She would have seen the aftermath, the fallout. Shame flooded him, threatened to overwhelm him.

Gohan forced himself to meet Videl's gaze, and decided to break the silence. "Hey, its been awhile." He began. He mentally berrated himself for not having anything better to say, but decided there were worse things he could've said.

"Yeah." Videl agreed as she held his gaze. He could feel the fluctuations in her power level, as if she weren't sure whether or not to consider him a threat. That stung him, but he couldn't blame her.

Gohan cast a glance towards the house briefly, then looked back to Videl. "Pan's grown up."

Videl narrowed her eyes slightly as she asked "Why are you here?"

Here came the tricky part, Gohan thought. "Look, I did a lot of bad things. I admit that. I could say that it was just my darkness, but on some level I was controlling it all. It just all got out of hand, you know?"

"Just got out of hand!? Is that what you call it?" Goten broke in, anger filling his voice.

Gohan looked to his brother, suddenly remembering that he was present. "Maybe thats not the best way to put, maybe there is no way to convey it in words."

"Oh there is. You became a monster, like Majin Buu!" Goten growled, and Gohan sensed he was dangerously close to losing it.

"Goten!" Videl snapped. "Let me handle this." Goten's scowl deepened, but he backed down for the moment. Videl looked back to Gohan. "What are you getting at?"

Gohan sighed as he continued. "I didn't mean to do the things I did, but they happened anyway. I regret it all. But, whatever about me caused it to happen, its gone now. I'm the guy you first met. I want to start over, to put it in the past."

"You want to pretend it didn't happen, and just go back to the way everything was before?" Videl quesitoned.

"No, no pretending. I will hold these memories forever, as a reminder of what happened, of what I became. But I also want a chance to make up for it. I want to be with you, to get to know my daughter." Gohan allowed the sincerity of his words to show though his eyes.

There were several moments of silence as Videl thought. Gohan felt emotion rising up inside of him as tears came to his eyes. He wasn't at all ashamed of the way his voice cracked when he pleaded "Please, give me that chance."

"Come on Videl, he at least deserves a chance." Goku added quietly. The normally naive man was well aware of the sensitivity of their situation.

Videl shook her head slowly. "I don't know that I can trust you. I didn't want to believe you had done the things you did, but I saw the ruins of the city where you fought Vegeta. I saw the carnage at Capsule Corp. I saw the injuries everyone had sustained from fighting you. How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you won't harm Pan?"

"Videl." Gohan began as he took a step forward, then stopped dead as he saw her stance widen ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly, as if bracing for an attack. He also noticed Goten's power level rise so high that a stiff breeze began to blow outwards from him.

Gohan stepped back, but kept his eyes locked on Videl as he said "I swear I would never hurt Pan. I did do bad things but I'm different, I'm past that."

He could tell from the way she chewed her lip that she wanted to believe him. She wanted his words to be true. But she couldn't be sure.

"I need time to think, Gohan. Just give me a few days." Videl said, her eyes pleading with him to agree.

He wanted to disagree. He wanted to meet his daughter now. He wanted to be with his family now. But he only nodded and said "Ok, take whatever time you need. When you're ready seek me out. I won't supress my ki, so I should be easy to find."

Videl only nodded. A light aura surrounded Gohan before he shot into the sky and flew into the horizon.

Videl watched the sky for a minute, then slowly sat down. "You ok?" Goku asked as he moved over to her.

"I'll be fine." She said quietly as she slowly stood.

"Lets go inside." Goten suggested.

"Mind if I stay over awhile? Chi-chi won't mind." Goku offered.

"Sure, thats fine. Pan will enjoy your company. I'm pretty sure she still wants to train with you." Videl said.

"Maybe I'm not the one to do it." Goku suggested as the three of them moved towards the house.

"You mean Gohan?" Videl asked.

"Dad, you can't possibly trust him after all he did!" Goten protested.

"We'll see." Goku said.