AN: As promised the next chapter. I hope you enjoy and like always, if you've already read this chapter then feel free to skip the following author's note.
AN: Sorry about the long wait. College life has gotten the better of me. I can't promise faster updates, but Christmas Break is coming up as well as Thanksgiving Break so who knows I might be able to get another chapter out before then. I'll definitely try to get it out before next year. So this chapter's a little slow, but very necessary for the story so bare with me. I hoping that after you read this you'll be able to guess who's veiw point will start the next one. Anyway, hope you like this chapter and sorry for the long wait.
P.S. This chapter is most definitely dedicated to my twin who's had her fingers crossed for the next installment for the last month in a half. Hope you like it!
It Was Meant to Be
Chapter 6: Maybe it won't be so bad
The sun's golden rays were slowly gaining dominance, rising higher and higher into the sky as its light gained strength. Brilliant light blinding all those beneath its glare as it scorched the white buildings below gold, glinting off of windows and shining against stone tiles while painting the sky a calming blue. White clouds laced the sky in a fluffy cover while the wind gently blew through the trees, caressing each green leaf as it passed.
Overall, it was a wonderful day. Birds sang cheerfully, chirping lovely songs as they flew across the sky. Children played in the parks, their laughter filling the warm early summer air, simply enjoying life. It was the perfect day, at least it should have been. The sun should have taken the inhabitants of a large state building, white in all its splendid Romanesque glory, and brightened their day even though they were stuck inside its stuffy walls.
It should have made them smile and to some extent it did. People laughed and whispered, planning for when their day ended. They joked and jabbed, teased and gabbed about all the latest happenings in their lives. That was all except a normally chipper blonde. With her back to the window, she completely ignored the sun. She ignored it and all the joy that it seemed to bring to her colleagues affecting them like a plague. No, she wasn't going to laugh today. She hadn't laughed for the past three days, and she doubted she'd be laughing anytime soon.
Lilith Edge was currently consumed by worry. Worry for the girl who was like a second daughter to her, her daughter's best friend, the daughter of one of her closest friends, and who was currently residing in Orange Star City Hospital. 'Kami-sama,' Lily cursed as she lifted her head from the nature conservation proposal she was supposed to be writing. 'I've known that girl since the day she was born, before that even when she was that little twinkle in Selena and Hercule's eyes. We can't lose that girl now damn it,' she punctuated another curse by slamming her fist on the cherry oak desk she called her own.
Pushing away from her desk, Lily rose from her seat, turning to face the world behind her. The scene before her caused the blank set of her face to turn into a frown, deep lines marring the corners of her mouth, the crow's feet around her eyes aging her another ten years. She reached over and closed the blinds with a violent twist of her wrist.
'It shouldn't be so nice out on a day like this,' she thought as she stared at the steel colored blinds blocking her view. 'Life shouldn't be allowed to just cruise on by like nothing's happened. The world shouldn't just be allowed to continue.' At that thought, her eyes seemed to lose focus as if seeing past the blinds in front of her. Past the window and the room and into another time and place. It was a place she'd swore she'd never go to again because she couldn't. She didn't want to relive that ugly past. She didn't want to fall back into that memory, didn't want to remember what was taken from the world so prematurely. She couldn't stand to relive the pain of having someone else ripped from her life. She wasn't sure she'd survive it a second time.
"It isn't fair," Lily whispered to herself as she turned away from the darkened window and stepped away from her desk, proposal lying forgotten on its surface. She sighed. 'Why is it always the innocent?' But even now she knew that she'd never be able to answer that particular question. She'd never be able to forget the one person who'd made life that much better, who'd brightened the people around her, brightened the very room just by walking into it. 'Made you smile without even trying.' She shook her head again, trying in a futile attempt to escape her memories. 'Kami-sama, why'd you have to take her away?' she asked as she circled her large office, head to the ground as she moved forward in her slow procession.
'She was our rock, our pillar,' Lily paused unable to move from her spot, unable to pass a seemingly innocent picture frame resting on top of one of her filing cabinets. Unwillingly her hand rose up and captured the black frame, cradling the photo as if it could break at any moment. 'We were so young then,' Lilith thought as she gazed lovingly at the three young women in the photo, a short black haired girl with violet eyes squeezed in between a tall blonde and a short brunette only a couple inches taller than the girl being squished. 'We were so happy then,' she continued longingly as tears began to form in the corner of her eyes. "But that was a long time ago," Lily whispered as she gently put down the photo and headed back to her desk, tears silently rolling down her face.
She let out a weak laugh, a broken laugh reflecting pain that had plagued her for years. "And here I thought I was over this," she said to herself as she dropped back down in her seat. "I thought I'd cried my last tear for you ten years ago, but I guess I was wrong."
Lily sighed again as she reviewed the last three days. Her horrible mood just kept getting worse and worse. 'And I guess it's going to continue to go downhill for as long as Videl's in the hospital.' And it was true as her terrible mood was slowly forming a dark cloud above her. Had it not been for the horrendously beautiful day so much like the day before and the day preceding that as well, then she was sure her coworkers would have fallen into the same pit of despair that she'd been calling home for the last few days. They were the fortunate ones. Able to escape the desolation that their normally bubbly blonde found herself in by simply staying away. They were smart enough to value their lives over simple conversation with one of their favorite colleagues. Escaping in the sun's warm embrace.
But it wasn't entirely her fault. It was just that every time she saw a wide smile or a flash of white teeth it reminded her of the way that Videl would smile when she was in a rare good mood, just like her mother, and she'd end up ripping the head off of the person who had brought that painful memory back to the surface. With Videl in the hospital the world was looking so much bleaker, just like before. The blue sky was black to her cloudy blue eyes, not a calming cloud in sight. The wind howled with anger and the trees rustled in protest each leaf screaming its own sad song. The birds squawked violently at one another creating a sound so terrible it borrowed into your very soul. There were no happy children playing in her shadow covered mind. When she looked out the window, the world was as desolate as her mood.
'We can't lose her, not this suddenly, not like…' she paused in her thought unwilling to allow her mind to continue down that path, the road to a lost friend. 'I can't lose another Satan girl again.' Lily turned back to her proposal and immersed herself in work. She wanted to drown the pain. She wanted to forget, to finally let it go and truly move on with her life. She wanted to never be reminded of a far happier time where their children played while they gossiped over the little things. She wanted…the ringing of her com-phone broke her from her spiraling thoughts. Turning it on, she was greeted by a near perfect replica of herself, her beautiful daughter.
"Mom, mom I've just heard the best news!" Erasa exclaimed excitedly, bubbly blonde hair bouncing as she talked, apparently unable to stay still.
Lilith's eyes lit up for a moment before she ask her question. "What is it dear?"
"It's Videl, they're letting her out of the hospital like today!" the comment was said with just as much energy as the first that her smile only grew.
"That's excellent news honey. How about we go visit her at her house after I get off of work." It wasn't really a question, more of a statement of what they both wanted to do.
"Yeah mom, that'll be great," Erasa replied. "I'll see you at home!" And as the screen went blank Lilith finally turned around. Reopening the blinds to look out of her window, for the first time in days she saw what everyone else could see, the light in the darkness.
'It's going to be a wonderful day,' she thought before she turned back to her proposal, working hard so she could get off a little early.
Elsewhere in Satan City another blonde was equally as happy as her mother. As she shut her com-phone she looked over at her friends or lack thereof, wishing she didn't have to be in class today. 'As much as I love mom if I didn't totally have to be here right now I wouldn't wait for her to get home first to go see Videl,' Erasa thought as she slumped in her seat. She had been utterly freaked when she'd heard that Videl was in the hospital. Her best friend who she had known since they were both in diapers was in the hospital. It didn't seem like her life could get any worse. And that was before she went to see her.
'I've never seen Videl look paler then she'd looked on that horrid hospital bed, lying there against those ghastly white sheets in that like too white room. It was totally too much for me,' she thought as she remembered the sight of her friend. 'She's definitely never looked so small either, and I know she's like the shortest person in our year, but she's never been that small, that vulnerable. It was just…wrong.'
She didn't know what she was going to do. The sight of her normally stubborn friend brought down by a bullet haunted her continuously. 'I've known Videl for like forever, and there's just no way I could've made it this far without her,' Erasa thought as she turned back to the lecture. 'So it's like an amazingly good thing she's getting better so quickly.'
The sound of high heels clicking across the floor brought Erasa's along with the rest of the class's attention to the front of the room as Ms. Bellefonte entered. Head held high in her typical fashion Erasa traced her movements across the room as she made her way to the teacher's desk before opening her notes. Without preamble, Ms. Bellefonte began her English lesson garnering the attention of most of the students. After her failed attempt at focusing on English prepositions, Erasa returned her thoughts to her friends. 'I'm just so glad she's getting better so fast, but I totally shouldn't be so surprised. Videl always did bounce back fast. She's a fighter, always managing to race back into the game because she's one tough cookie,' Erasa thought as she turned to look at Sharpner, her only other close friend currently in the row with her.
'Now Hanna-chan on the other hand isn't like totally stubborn like Videl, and she's definitely not as tough, so I'm not quite sure she'll bounce back like Videl has. Especially since she hasn't been able to last a complete day in class since Videl got hurt. She totally missed all of Japanese Literature and lunch, and was a complete no show for gym,' Erasa contemplated her new friends behavior. 'She missed like half of History and English as well. I don't really know about her science classes but I bet she's missing them too. And as little as I know about Hanna-chan, I know she definitely doesn't miss class. This just isn't like her, and I can't help but be totally worried about how pale she's gotten. It can't be good how often she has to go to the health clinic. And I most certainly don't want her to end up in the hospital too.' Looking at the empty seats next to her, Erasa shook her head. 'I guess Hanna-chan's just not really use to one of her friends getting hurt. She does live like way out there in the mountains. I totally doubt anyone she knows has like ever gotten seriously injured.'
She turned back to the lecture, 'I should really focus and write some really awesome notes so Hanna-chan and Videl don't get behind. Sharpner's totally great but like his notes aren't the most readable at least not to anyone but him.'
Glancing over at Sharpner she spotted him writing furiously as the professor spoke. 'I'm really worried about Hanna-chan, but Sharpie doesn't look all that concerned,' she thought as she tried to reassure herself. 'And whenever I bring either one of them up he's like always telling me not to fret. "It's Videl we're talking about here," he tells me. "She's the toughest, strongest person we know". And when it comes to Hanna-chan, he's all so totally nonchalant about it. "Son? You're worried about that nerd? I don't think she'd be behind if she missed the entire year so don't sweat it." It's just like totally unfair. How can he be so certain, when I totally fret over them every day, and every hour of the day?' Erasa turned her head to the door as Hanna-chan walked into the classroom head bowed as she apologized to the teacher.
"Say it in English," Ms. Bellefonte commanded before allowing Hanna-chan to escape to her seat.
"Yes ma'am, please excuse my tardiness," Hanna bowed low again after finishing her statement.
"Perfect pronunciation, you may go to your seat, and Ms. Son, please try to be on time tomorrow," Ms. Bellefonte said before returning to her grammar lesson.
Erasa watched Hanna-chan shuffle up to her seat next to her and plop down with a heavy sigh, looking tired but not nearly as pale as she had the last time she'd been to class. 'Good, it looks like Hanna-chan's starting to feel better too. This day just like totally keeps getting better and better,' she mentally squealed as she turned her focus back to the lecture with a lighter spirit. Knowing that both of her friends were going to be alright was more than just great. It was the best.
A couple of seats over Sharpner was feeling the same way, as he shifted in his seat to hide the small smile that had graced his face at the sight of a slightly less sickly looking Gohanna. 'Man, trying to be the strong one is no joke,' Sharpner thought as he continued to jot down the English notes in the short hand he'd created to help him study. 'Son was really starting to worry me,' he thought with a mental frown. 'No nerd can go that long without a full dose of learning and still be okay. I may have told Erasa not to worry, but it's only natural to fret over your friends.'
Sharpner had seen Videl lying in that hospital bed too. He'd been right alongside Erasa and she wasn't the only one who was more than just a little bit scared. He'd been just as terrified to see one of his best friends as pale as a ghost lying against sheets that were as equally as white as she was. 'I've known Videl since kindergarten. Hell, I can still recall the day I challenged her to a race across the monkey bars,' he thought as he was distracted away from his notes. 'I remember it so well 'cause it was the first time I'd ever lost a race in my short life. I hadn't been devastated that I'd lost like most six-year-olds would have been, and I wasn't upset that I'd been beaten by a girl. Strangely enough, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Nope, that day, I was peeved for a whole other reason. I'd lost,' Sharpner thought with as a small smile spread lighting his face at the memory.
And that one lost had made him more determined to win the next time. It had given him drive and motive to improve. 'It made me a better person because from that day forward I'd set my sights to winning. I told myself that one day I'd beat Videl in something. I made it my goal in life, and that was probably what had pushed us all to be friends in the first place,' he thought as his face hardened to a more serious expression.
He had been around to challenge Videl so much that it had just become easier for him to travel with them, which eventually led to them just hanging out at someone's home instead of him challenging Videl to a race or a contest. It finally got to the point where he wouldn't challenge Videl to anything for days because he was having too much fun just enjoying her and Erasa's company. And now there was only the unspoken challenge of anything that could be considered a contest. Like the other day in gym when they were running. He didn't need to challenge her every day, but that goal he'd set years ago still swam in his head and filled his heart. It was still the reason he got up in the morning and challenged himself each day.
And it was probably the realization that he might not ever fulfill his goal if Videl died that had scared him the most. But it wasn't from selfishness because he truly did care about her. No, it was the dawning realization that this one goal was really the only goal he'd ever made. It defined him as a person and he didn't really have anything else to drive him. If Videl died, he'd be lost and he didn't know if he'd be able to recover even with Erasa's help.
It was then that he realized that Videl was their pillar. She could match him pace for pace and beat him every time. She could calm Erasa down when she was having a mental breakdown whether it was over make-up or boys or even something serious like tests. She'd opened up their little group to Son, a nerd that probably wouldn't have any friends if it wasn't for Videl, because Erasa may have been the one to extend her hand in friendship but it was always Videl who said if you stayed or not. Let's face it, Erasa was friends with almost everyone in this school, but clearly none of these other people could say they were friends with Videl. The others had not been allowed to enter their close knit group of friends like Son had and that was because of Videl.
Videl was their rock and Sharpner was just relieved that she was going to be alright. Turning back to his notes, Sharpner re-immersed himself in English, because despite popular belief he really was a good student. Well, most of the time anyway.
Unsurprisingly Erasa and Sharpner weren't the only ones worried about the Satan girl. At that very moment the Satan Manor was abuzz with noise and hurried movement. An air of relief dominated the atmosphere surrounding the staff, and the manor was in such flurry that it toed the line of chaos with staff members just barely avoiding collisions. The only person missing from this chaotic picture was the only woman who could have tamed the chaos in seconds. Mistress Olivia wasn't among the flurry of motion directing the traffic like she normally did, and she hadn't been to the manor in days. No, instead of that powerful woman who could direct armies without flinching at the sight of battle, her second in command was running the show. It wasn't a pretty sight.
Onigara moved down one of the numerous corridors, avoiding the staff members surrounding him, running past his stationary figure, all the while cursing the day he ever agreed to be second in charge of one of largest manors on Earth. 'Well that's what I get for being the best at my job while maintaining my ever so clever cocky attitude. Only a cocky son of a bitch would be crazy enough to take this job,' he thought to himself while he stuck his head into the main house office.
"Heather," he called out to an empty room. "Is everything in order for Miss Videl's return?"
"What do I look like Nara? An idiot?" a dirty blonde responded while walking out of one of the corner rooms inside of the office. "Of course everything's on schedule on my end, that's what Mistress Olivia pays me to do!"
"Fine, fine, don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm just doing my job," Onigara pleaded as he fully entered the room with his hands up, protecting himself from his coworker's fierce temper.
"I know," Heather sighed as she plopped down in the nearest chair. "And I didn't mean to snap at you."
"Well, we're all a little high strung at the moment so I won't hold it against you," he replied as he looked down at her, slight worry etched on his face. "But next time, I just might," he added in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Ha, you're such a kidder," she scoffed at his comment, but she looked a lot more at ease. "You know you couldn't hold a grudge if your life depended on it. Anyway, the kitchen staff has been briefed on the time Miss Videl will be home and will prepare a light meal that is to be served in her room. The housekeeping staff has been keeping up with their cleaning so there wasn't much to be done there, and while I'm sure Mistress Olivia will appreciate the extra security I do not. And before you start to protest," Heather added before Nara got a chance to complain. "Your security officers get in the way of my staff. My people can't do their jobs with your men constantly hovering over them. So something's going to have to change. They can either pick up brooms or get the hell out of the way."
"Fine," he conceded. "I'll have a general staff meeting for my lieutenants and tell them to back down, but I won't cut the patrol down until everything settles."
"I'm willing to compromise there as long as they stop interfering," she stated. "A feather duster is not a cleverly disguised weapon of mass destruction. And this mansion does not clean itself."
"Well, now that that's out of the way, tell me something…" Onigara paused for a moment as if he'd lost his train of thought.
"Tell you what?" Heather asked when the silence stretched far too long for her tastes.
Shaking his head he continued. "If everything's already set up and everyone's ready to go, what's with all the hustle and bustle out there. I mean it's a mad house out there, a mad house."
Heather stared. "That's really all you had to say?" she asked. "Kami-sama, you really are an idiot, this isn't just some act for you. It really shouldn't take you five minutes to ask a simple question."
"It wasn't five minutes," he protested hastily. "And if you'd give a guy a chance to speak before you start interrupting him, then I might be able to get things out in a 'timely fashion'. Now answer the question woman."
"Well if you must know," she said with a roll of her eyes. "All the 'hustle and bustle' is simply from excitement. I don't know if you've noticed, but Miss Videl is very well liked among my staff," she huffed sarcastically.
"Of course I know that," Onigara replied, seemingly missing her sarcastic tone. "Everyone love's Miss Videl."
"Arrrgh," Heather cried in frustration. "You are impossible."
"Miss Ortega, I have no idea of what you could possibly be referring too," he beamed before slowly backing out to leave, a smirk firmly planted to his face.
"Like hell you don't," she half yelled.
"Well, got to go," he cheered cheekily before racing from the room.
"NARA ONIGARA!" Onigara heard her scream his name from half way down the corridor as he made his getaway.
'Now that was interesting, as always,' he thought to himself as he traversed the rest of the hallway. "Corey," he called out to the first of his security officers that he saw. "Spread the word. I want to see all lieutenants in main security at…" he paused for a moment to look at his watch, "1315 hours."
"Hai Nara-sama," the officer said with a quick bow before running off to complete his task.
'Okay, that's done, now Heather won't bother me for the rest of the afternoon and I can finish up,' Onigara thought as he headed for one of the surveillance rooms.
'This is so weird,' he continued as he opened the door to the first room. 'I really should have known the location of both rooms or at least known that they even existed before now, but I guess no one beats paranoid like Mistress Olivia.' And that was true, on the morning after Miss Videl was admitted to the hospital Mistress Olivia had called him and ordered him over to the hospital. She'd been particularly mysterious over the com-phone. It was actually quite amusing how much the cloak and dagger stuff reminded him of his time with the United Earth Security Forces as an Intelligence Officer. He'd been asked to bring a frequency jammer, a radio wave scanner, and a copy of secure manor blue prints, a hard copy of course because despite the current century digital copies didn't exist. He'd only inquired about that one once and the answer was a simple 'hard copies cannot be hacked'. They hadn't been nearly as thorough in the UESF.
Either way, what followed the extremely unusual order was a very unorthodox debriefing. One that required both the scanner to ensure no one was currently listening to their conversation as well as the jammer to make sure no one could tune into their conversation. Despite the extreme caution, it'd been imperative that he knew the location of both rooms as she would not be back at the manor until Miss Videl was released from the hospital. 'I think in that moment she realized that she should probably start bringing me into everything that happens at the manor so I can better refill her place,' he thought as he watched the day time surveillance team rise to attention at his entrance. 'Damn these guys are good.' And they were. They moved as one with a discipline that far surpassed the majority of his officers, even some of his lieutenants.
"At ease," he commanded and for a moment no one moved. 'Man, I bet Mistress Olivia never lets them stand at ease if this is their reaction to a simple command.' "Officers report."
"Sir, there has been no unusual activity in any of our sectors," a tall freckled face red hair replied after the whole group had snapped back to attention.
Onigara wanted to sigh. 'Even after I've given them an order to relax they still resort to stiff formality,' he thought as he glanced around their work space. 'Not a crumb in sight. This place is spotless. Absolutely spotless. How wonderful.' But by no means did he mean wonderful in a good way. 'It's simply depressing the way Mistress Olivia has trained the fun right out of them. But that we can fix.' Onigara turned away from his inspection and faced the three individuals in front of him.
"As you most likely already know, Miss Videl will be coming home today," he paused for a moment in order to gauge their responses, and to his upmost pleasure they reacted. Small smiles crept across their faces and they looked visible relieved. 'I guess Miss Videl really is loved by everyone, even among this extreme bunch.' "I want you to be on high alert," he finally continued, but unlike with Heather there had been no interruption to his silence. "Every corner gets checked and rechecked. Watch every individual who walks down these hallways and outside the premises. We're going to have a larger security staff for a while and although they are all trusted individuals, they aren't that trusted. If someone even looks a little suspicious you report them to me," and at that comment he saw the slightest bit of hesitation. Frowning he continued. "Hai, that's right I said me, for the time being, until you are told otherwise from Mistress Olivia herself, you will be reporting directly to me. I am now in control of the day surveillance teams."
He paused again to let that information sink in. "Now on a lighter note, I would like to get to know you all so please at your earliest convenience come address me about having dinner together. You can do it on an individual basis, or as I suspect you will, as a group. Either way, I will see each and every one of you. This is not optional." Onigara took one more sweep of the office and headed for the door. "Oh, and one more thing," he said with his hand on the door. "I will hold you to a higher standard then I expect from the regular security officers so don't get lazy. We all know that Mistress Olivia will still come to check on you. It's in her nature." And with that he left the room and headed for the other surveillance room. "This is going to be a long day," he muttered to himself as he continued down the corridor.
While Onigara was checking security, Heather was managing the rest of the household back in her office. Her long blonde hair was held into a loose bun atop her head and a pair of dark rimmed glasses rested at the base of her nose as she reviewed the memorandum she'd just written. With a nod and a huff she clicked the send button on her computer and sank lower in her chair to relax a little. She'd been up since six that morning like the last couple of mornings without a single break. She hadn't had time to stop for lunch. She couldn't even seem to manage a single coffee break. Nope, she'd had to ask her secretary to bring her in a cup so she could keep up with the heavy load Mistress Olivia had dropped on her.
'It's not like I can blame her though,' Heather thought with a sigh. 'Miss Videl is like a daughter to Mistress Olivia, heck everyone loves her.' She turned around and stared at the little picture that resided at the corner of her desk. It was photo of a small black haired girl with brilliant blue eyes standing defiantly as if she was at war with the world. The little photo had been a part of her Christmas gift package during her first year of employment at the Satan Manor and almost everyone in the Satan Manor still had one. 'I still remember that stone faced little girl who never cried in front of anyone, not even her father,' Heather thought as she reflected on the past. 'I've never known a kid to be so strong and now.' She shook her head, chasing away the fear that had griped everyone at the manor. She, like so many of the other staff members, had cried when they had heard the news, and none of them had been surprised when Mistress Olivia announced she wouldn't be back at the manor until Miss Videl was discharged.
'It just isn't fair that this could happen to such a strong girl,' she thought as she turned back to her work. 'But I doubt this will change anything. Miss Videl will still insist that she be able to fight crime and Mistress Olivia will have no choice but to allow her to continue because everyone knows that the Mistress can't say no to her.' Heather shook her head at that thought, acknowledging the validity of the statement. 'And poor Mistress Olivia will be left to worry. This incident had to have aged her, it's no wonder Gara-kun and I are getting greater responsibilities. The Mistress can't possibly keep the same work load as before.' She sighed again at the impossibility of their situation. "Hell, I can barely handle the half of her load that I have," she muttered to herself as she continued to check the status of jobs being performed all around the mansion.
"Jessica!" she called out to her secretary sitting in the other room.
"Hai Heather, did you need something?" a mousy brown haired girl asked as she stuck her head into the doorway.
"Hai, what's the status on the landing pad?" Heather asked as she gazed at her computer screen.
"It's ready and waiting for Mistress Videl's return," she said as she fully entered the room.
"Good, that's all I really need so you can get back to what you were doing," she replied as she scrolled down the computer screen.
"Okay, I'll bring you another cup of coffee," Jessica commented as if Heather had asked for the very thing herself.
'I don't know what I'd do without that girl,' Heather thought after Jessica left the room, silently thanking the woman that seemed to always know what she needed even if she didn't out right say it. 'Man, there's nothing like having at least one person know what you need without you having to say anything. I know I couldn't do my job without her,' she thought as she got back to work. The manor would have to be perfect for Miss Videl's return so she still had a long way to go.
Elsewhere in Satan City the matron of the famous Satan Manor was pacing the corridors outside of Videl's room. If her appearance had matched the state her mind was in then she'd probably be shunned from the hospital as if she was some homeless vagabond wandering the corridors aimlessly. Her normally tight bun would be loose and disheveled and her normally immaculate attire would be in complete disarray. So perhaps it was a good thing that Olivia had better sense than that and would never allow herself to be seen in any state less than perfect.
Her appearance was as well put together as if it were any other day, another day in a normal week. Her face was schooled in her normally stern expression and she paced the hallway as if she simply needed to stretch her legs, taking a slow sedated pace. But her appearance didn't really match the state of her mind. It didn't fit the chaos and worry storming through her head. And it certainly didn't capture the extreme exhaustion she was undergoing at the moment. No, Olivia looked nothing like she felt and she would have been very proud of that fact had her mind not already been otherwise occupied.
'That girl really is going to be the death of me,' Olivia thought as she stopped her pacing in favor of staring at the door. 'She gets shot in her lower abdomen and nearly bleeds to death, scaring the crap out of me. And the worst part is that even after this little incident she won't quit working with the police,' Olivia gave a hollow laugh at that thought. 'At least she's gotten better fairly quickly. Hopefully she'll be a little more careful for a while.'
Olivia walked to the door and opened it, there really wasn't a reason she should knock. 'Please be asleep,' she thought as she poked her head through the door frame. 'If you're asleep then we don't have to return to the manor where you won't get any of the rest you need.' Gauging the state of the room, Olivia walked in noticing the bright blue eyes of her charge staring back at her. 'Damn.'
"Miss Videl how are you feeling today?" she asked as she approached Videl's bedside fully aware of the answer she would receive.
"I'm fine Olivia, like I told you last night," she replied a hint of annoyance in her voice as Olivia watched her settle back into her hospital bed.
'Kami-sama, I don't know how much longer I can do this,' Olivia thought as she sighed audibly in exhaustion. "Hai, that's what you keep telling me." 'But we both know how often you answer that question truthfully,' Olivia added in her head while she resisted the urge to rub her temples.
"But I do mean it Olivia," she said in a gentler tone.
"That's good then because the doctors believe that too," she replied with a shake of her head. 'Like they really know what's best for Videl, sure they can heal her but they also assume that at home she'll be able to get some rest, and I'm certain that won't be the case,' she thought without even trying to hide the fact that she wasn't pleased with the diagnoses. "We'll be leaving a little later and I'm sure when you get home you'll have many of visitors ready to wish you well." With that Olivia turned on her heels and left the room, unable and unwilling to stay in the same room with the girl who was slowly killing herself and driving her crazy in the process.
Videl stared at the closed door with conflicting emotions. She'd never intended for Olivia to get caught in her mess, but she had. 'Damn,' she mentally cursed. 'It's not supposed to be this way. My problems are my own and I most certainly shouldn't allow them to leak out on to good people.' And she was absolutely sure that it had been her not so little problem with Son that had been the major cause of her injury. 'If I hadn't been trying to lose myself Friday then I wouldn't have gotten drunk. I would have been able to concentrate on the job at hand. I wouldn't have made the people I love cry and worry and stress. It just isn't fair,' Videl mentally ranted.
But she really wasn't being fair to herself. She knew very well that she'd been gradually losing her concentration. In truth, it really was only a matter of time before something like this happened. "Arrrgh," Videl groaned in frustration. "I can't concentrate anymore. And it's all your fucking fault," she nearly yelled at the room. 'Gohanna,' she sighed. "There really is no break, no rest from this haunting reality," she whispered, lost in her thoughts.
A moment later, her brows drew closer in concentration. 'It shouldn't be possible,' she thought as she raised a hand to her chin. 'No geek should be that strong.' She paused as she reviewed her memories. 'But it was her voice, the same soft cadence that Son almost always uses and it was coming from Saiya-girl's mouth.' Just the other night, when she'd been half asleep, she'd heard Son's gentle voice speaking to her. It had been a low mummer of words that she couldn't seem to remember, but she was positive it had been Son who had said them. It was only as she was about to leave that Videl had been able to open her eyes, but to her surprise what she'd seen leaving the room was the back of a vibrant cape that could belong to no one else but Saiya-girl. Now granted she'd been half asleep and pumped up on the really good kind of painkillers, but all the signs pointed to Son Gohanna being Saiya-girl.
'Now the only problem I have left is proving it,' Videl thought while she struggled with the idea herself.
Meanwhile Olivia walked down the long corridors of the private wing where Videl was being housed. 'I just don't know what to do with you Videl,' Olivia thought as she stalked the hallway heading towards the front desk. 'If only there was a way I could keep you locked up safe, I'd do it in a heartbeat.' Olivia took a turn at the bend, nodding to the guard she had stationed there. 'Well, there's not much that can be done now,' Olivia sighed as she approached the check-out counter.
"Good afternoon Miss," Olivia began while giving the tall blonde behind the counter her customary stare. "Miss Videl Satan will be checking out today at the already discussed time. Please inform you security personal to keep the hallways clear and to stay out of the way of my security officers. Have the hallways cleared ten minutes before the scheduled time and ten minutes after our departure," Olivia instructed the woman as she sat dimly behind her station.
"Hai," the woman managed to squeak out as Olivia turned her back away from her.
'Now, hopefully they can do this little job correctly for a change,' she thought as she headed back to Videl's room. Olivia paused at the door and pulled out her com-phone dialing a familiar number.
"Hai Mistress Olivia, how may I be of service?" Mr. Nara's face fit the screen as he answered his phone after the first ring.
"Is everything in order for Miss Videl's arrival at 1530 hours?" she questioned in a crisp voice, her stern expression fixed to her face.
"Hai," he replied respectfully. "Everything is on schedule."
"Good, please have a report on my desk by 1545 hours of the last three days, and prepare a debriefing for 1800 hours as well."
"Hai Mistress Olivia. We respectfully await your return," he said with a bow to his voice as Olivia hung up the phone.
"One call down, two more to go," Olivia whispered to herself as she dialed the next number.
"Hai Mistress Olivia, what do you require of me?" Miss Ortega asked on the other end of the com-phone.
"Has everything been attended to for Miss Videl's arrival?" again she asked her question in crisp sternness.
"Hai Mistress Olivia. All of the arrangements have been settled with the staff, we simply await your return," she replied just as respectfully as Mr. Nara had.
"Very well then, have your report to my desk by 1545 hours and a debriefing prepared for 1830 hours," she commanded as her thoughts began to wander to her next conversation.
"Hai Mistress Olivia. May you return safely," she said before Olivia ended the call.
'Now for that brutish, idiot,' she thought with a sigh. She really didn't have time for all of Hercule's theatrics.
"…Olivia!" Hercule called after a moment of silence. "How's my sweet pea?"
Olivia mentally sighed. 'Does he always have to be this loud?' "First of all, Hercule, calm down and lower your voice and secondly, Miss Videl is just fine, better than fine in fact as she will be returning home in a matter of hours."
"Good!" he paused for a moment. "What did you need me for again?"
"You need to be aware that your daughter will be home waiting for you when you get back tomorrow. You also need to know that she won't be in the hospital so that you don't make the mistake of saying that on national television," she gave a glance at the thin gold watch occupying her wrist.
"Well, if that's all and my sweet pea's alright then I should be getting back. See ya! And tell Videl I'll see her as soon as I get back!" Hercule shouted before signing off.
'Nope, that proves it,' Olivia thought as she gazed at the door in front of her. 'He only has one volume. I guess some things never change.' And with that thought her mind wandered back to her youth when Selena was still alive and Hercule was that annoying guy who wouldn't leave her best friend alone. 'He was just as annoyingly loud back then too,' she thought as she took the seat across the hall, opposite of Videl's room. 'I still don't see how she could have fallen in love with that nut, but I guess he grows on you.' She sighed as she thought about her best friend. 'I can still remember every idiotic stunt he pulled trying to get her attention. Like the time he punched through a wall and broke his hand our second year of high school in a pathetic show of strength,' she laughed at the memory as she lowered her eyes from staring at Videl's door. 'Or all those fights he started with other kids, half of which he lost as he was too busy glancing back at Selena to make sure she was still watching to focus his attention on his opponent. It was simply pathetic,' she thought as she shook her head at the memory.
'But even though he was a complete moron Selena still relented and went out on a date with him near the end of our last year. But I guess that was more Lily's doing than anything else. Her suggestion about how it couldn't hurt to go on one date with the big lug was the only luck Hercule was ever going to have with her that's for sure. And from there everything just seemed to happen so fast. They went on date after date and eventually you couldn't see one without the other. They would never be doing anything that normal couples would do like making out or even holding hands, but for Selena, just hanging out with some guy non-stop was enough to point out how much she liked him.'
'Kami-sama, I still remember seeing Hercule talk her ear off about anything and everything under the sun while she just sat there, arms crossed in her typical posture. She'd throw in a word every once in a while but mostly she'd let him talk. That was honestly the weirdest part of their relationship. Selena would never show any open affection towards him, but everyone knew they were together. The way she would look at him sometimes, a glow in her eyes as she mentally laughed at something he'd said and the occasional hesitant smile when she thought no one was watching them gave away her true feelings.'
Olivia shifted her gaze back to the door as she delved deeper in to her memories. 'Selena may not have shown him any affection in public, but the stories she'd tell Lily and I later were not always the most wholesome. But that was Selena for you, wild and head strong while still being the greatest ally anyone could ever have. And Videl is just like her mother, a spitting image. She's just as stubborn and wild, and she'll also probably never admit to liking someone until they're about to get married, at least not to the world.'
'I guess I can't really blame her for all the worry she's caused me,' she thought as she got up from her seat and started towards the door. 'It's in her nature to stubbornly go after what she wants.' Olivia opened the door to Videl's hospital room and entered with a slightly lighter heart.
Elsewhere in Satan City, back at Orange Star High the hours were ticking by at an agonizingly slow crawl as one demi-Saiyan stared at the clock over the blackboard. She couldn't focus on anything Mrs. Vorobets had to say in her lecture on molecular cell structure and it had been this way for the entire time she'd been there. 'No, I haven't been able to focus all week. Not since Videl was injured under my watch,' Gohanna thought with a sigh. 'I'm such an idiot!' she silently berated herself. 'This never would have happened if I had been strong enough, or if I'd been able to keep my eyes on my surroundings instead of on Videl. But no, I was too weak to control myself and too weak to protect her properly.' She wanted to scream at her own failures, but she held her tongue. She shook her head for a moment in an attempt to chase away her depressing thoughts. 'Come on Gohanna, now it not the time to breakdown…again.'
Pulling herself back together, she returned her focus to the clock, willing it to move faster. But her focus didn't last long, as she slipped into her memory from the last couple of days. 'Dende help me, these last few days have all been a blur.' She couldn't really remember more than a general idea of what she'd done. In her mind there was just Videl lying there on that cold hospital bed, her face contorted in pain. And she remembered the tears. She'd cried herself dry every night over her failure, awoken every morning after not getting any sleep to beat herself to a bloody pulp. Training to exhaustion and beyond her physical limits, then spending every second she could get away standing over Videl's hospital bed. She'd be Saiya-girl during the school day while Son Gohanna was out sick, and her regular old self every other time, every moment blurring into the next as she went through the motions. She hadn't been able to eat a regular sized meal in days and even she could see that it was beginning to bother her mother.
Gohanna pulled herself out of the blur of her memories as she refocused on the clock which showed that only two minutes had gone by while she'd delved into her memories. 'Arrrgh!' she growled in her head, her frustration getting the better of her. 'I can't do this!' she nearly screamed in her head as she raised her hand in an attempt to gain Mrs. Vorobets' attention.
"Hai Ms. Son, you may leave for the health center if you are not feeling well," Mrs. Vorobets said, already aware of the poor health of her best student.
"Domo arigato Vorobets-sensei," Gohanna replied as she got up from her seat. She didn't care if Videl was going to be released today, she still needed to see her and reassure herself that she was okay. After exiting the classroom at a slow enough pace that no one was going to wonder if she was really sick, she raced down the hallway and up the stairs to the rooftop. She wasn't about to waste any time.
Back in the classroom, Amanda Goldstein watched the demi-Saiyan leave, worry etched in to her face. 'Man, I hope Gohanna's going to be alright. I've never seen her look so pale and ashen,' she thought before returning her attention back to the lecture.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Gohanna was allowed right up without any trouble. It had become the norm while Videl was in the hospital. After the first couple of times that Saiya-girl had shown up at the hospital hoping to find out the condition of young Miss Videl, the hospital staff began to simply admit her into Videl's wing without question. A nod from the staff member behind the desk was all she needed to gain admittance, and seeing as Saiya-girl was the one who saved Videl's life, Ms. Olivia normally didn't give her that much trouble either. So that's how Gohanna found herself walking down the long corridor that led to Videl's private room, passing guard after guard without pause. And like so many times before, when Gohanna reached her room Videl was asleep, resting peacefully while Olivia stood at the foot of her bed.
"Good afternoon, Saiya-girl," Ms. Olivia greeted as she turned to face Gohanna. "To what do we owe the honor?"
"My presence is no honor, Ms. Olivia," she responded in her most formal tone. "I have simply come to assess Ms. Videl's health."
"Hai," she paused as she turned back to face Videl. "Well, as you can see, Ms. Videl is healing well and shall be released later today."
"That is great news," she commented as she turned her gaze from Ms. Olivia to focus it on Videl.
"Excuse me for a moment if you don't mind, I have other errands to attend to," Ms. Olivia said as she exited the room leaving Gohanna to stare at the peacefully resting girl before her.
For a while, Gohanna just stood there, silently watching the girl she'd somehow fallen in love with as she lost herself in her thoughts. "What am I going to do with you?" she whispered to herself. 'You're driving me insane,' she shook her head at the thought in a pathetic attempt to regain her senses. But it didn't do her any good, there was just something about Videl that threw her off balance. Glancing at her watch she was taken aback by the time. 'How the hell do I spend an hour just staring at you?' she asked herself completely baffled by the idea. Turning around, she started for the door only to be stopped by the slight movement from the occupant of the room. She turned back around just as Videl opened her eyes.
After Videl had cleared the fog from her eyes, she trained them on the girl standing at the other end of the room. 'Saiya-girl?' she asked herself in a moment of confusion. Then just as quickly as confusion had hit her it was replaced by the rapid gears turning in her mind. 'Hai, I can definitely use this to my advantage,' Videl thought wickedly as she slowly sat up in the bed she was occupying. 'Say goodbye to you secret identity Saiya-girl because it's time to test a theory.'
Gohanna shuttered at the sight of the evil glint that shown darkly from Videl's eyes. She was most definitely in trouble if that look meant anything.
"Good afternoon, Miss Videl, may I ask how you are doing this fine day?" came Saiya-girl's long winded greeting.
'Geez, doesn't this girl know how to form short sentences?' Videl thought before refocusing on her task. "I'm just peachy," she let out sarcastically. She didn't want to tip her off to what she had planned. "Now tell me Saiya-girl, I'm curious, what is it that you do in you free time?"
Videl couldn't see it but Saiya-girl's eyes moved back and forth in nervousness. "I…" there was a small pause as she tried to come-up with an answer. "I admire the world around me."
Videl grinned again as the evil glint in her eyes darkened. "You must live in an extremely beautiful place for scenery gazing to take up so much of you time?" She watched as Saiya-girl twitched in nervous anxiety. 'Now I have you where I want you.'
"Hai I do, I mean no I don't, I mean…" she paused again in a pathetic attempt to regain her composure. "Admiring my surroundings is not all I do in my free time. It is my sworn duty to protect the weak and help the innocent, and Miss Videl I must say that is not an easy goal to accomplish. I must train very hard and pay close attention to the world around me. I'm sure you can understand how much time training can consume," Videl saw Saiya-girl smile in triumph but that didn't sway her.
"Hai, training does take up a large amount of time, but how can you manage all that and still visit me here," she said as she pointed to the room around them.
"Well, Miss Videl, I am not adverse to making time in order to make sure this city's great heroine is doing well," Saiya-girl said with a smile still gracing her face.
"That's good to hear," Videl said carelessly, as if it wasn't all that important. "At least you're not missing too much school," she smoothly added.
"No, I haven't missed too much, at least it isn't anything I can't…" she trailed off when the topic at hand finally reached her brain. "I mean I still have to learn… so my mother… home schools me?" Videl watched at Saiya-girl gave a short nod. "Hai, she home schools me."
'Oh, Saiya-girl, Saiya-girl, if only you could lie, then maybe this wouldn't be so easy,' she thought as she attempted to suppress the evil glint she knew must be shining darkly in her eyes. "Of course Saiya-girl, you can't be more than 17, 18 years old so it's no surprise you're home schooled," she said after schooling her facial expressions into a neutral gaze. She continued to watch Saiya-girl as the girl let out a sigh of relief. 'Good, she buying it and giving me more information.'
"Well, you understand how life is Miss Videl," she said before looking down at her watch. "And it looks like I need to go. Crime never sleeps you know." Saiya-girl began to walk out, her back to Videl as she cross the room only to be stopped by Videl's voice calling out to her.
"Hey, Gohanna," Videl called with an evil smirk gracing her lips.
Saiya-girl turned around in response to her name completely forgetting that she wasn't Son Gohanna at the moment. "Hai Videl?"
"I know you secret," and with that she finally realized just what Videl had called her.
"Crap," was all Videl heard before she left the room.
Gohanna sped down the hall in a pathetic attempt to run away from her mistake. 'Shit, shit, shit, what have I done?' she asked herself as she made it to the door that would allow her to escape the hospital. She'd been too caught up in her small victory at fooling Videl and hadn't noticed the name she'd been called. It was a mistake she wouldn't soon forget.
'She knows.' Gohanna shook her head before shooting up into the air. 'She knows and I have no idea of what she'll do with the information.' "Shit," she cursed aloud. 'I have got to stop being so careless or I'll never be able to keep a secret.' Sighing Gohanna changed her course towards the Capsule Corporation Compound. 'Maybe it won't be so bad,' she hoped as she sped off into the distance. She really needed to let off some steam.
AN: Okay, I'd really like to know who saw that coming. And I mean before I mentioned it during the chapter. Anyway, review and tell me what you think. I can handle the good and the bad to lay it on hard. And again I can't help but stress how sorry I am for the long wait.
BloodRed13