Hey guys! I'm sorry for the delay, etcetera, etcetera. Key words: nasty fever, unwilling muse, somewhat on holidays, and so on. :D
You know those times when you have something you'd rather be doing but you can't before you do something else first? Well, my muse doesn't like those moments either. This chapter and the next one or two are basically getting all the ducks in a row for the future. Every scene will have an importance and a part to play in chapters to come, so bear with me, okay? Hopefully it doesn't get too boring.
And now a big announcement! By the time I post the next chapter, I'll also be reposting a bunch of older ones which have been re-written, starting from #1. I'm giving them an overhaul because I grew dissatisfied of some things and felt I could do better, namely in the very first chapters. I will probably change some things and add paragraphs to each chapter but it won't change the storyline in any way, meaning you don't have to go reread it all again. If you're feeling up for it, though, you'll have some new stuff to read, so YAY! xD
Anyway, enjoy!
The grass felt cool and squishy, the longer blades tickling his hands from time to time whenever the breeze blew a little stronger. Legs sprawled wide in front of him, Trunks leaned back onto the support of his extended arms since it'd provide a better angle for the view above; they were really high up, those two.
Gohan and Goten had been sparring for a good while now, ever since his turn had ended, hovering above him and Mia as they stared their way to keep up with the show. And what a show that was! Goten was really going all out, trying his best to land a good punch or a kick, but the ones that managed to connect would only do so under Gohan's approval, obviously.
Watching them was turning his insides hotter and hotter, his brain rushing to make up an argument or two in favour of a rematch with the older Saiyan after Goten tired out, but the higher the sun, the slimmer his chances, he figured, since it meant that lunchtime was getting near. He'd skip the meal entirely, though, if it'd get him another shot at hitting Gohan square into somewhere painful. … But, Auntie Chi's food was soooo good…
Dammit, he couldn't choose.
In the end, neither himself nor Goten would ever be a match for Gohan - ever! - so he'd just have to work a million times harder to be able to reach him one day. Hopefully he'd get there; Gohan was the best, so it'd be hard.
Under the music of the spar above them, with the sun coming over so strong and warm, Trunks looked around to take in the surroundings, green and lush as the woods near the Son's home had always been. This place was so awesome… He loved living in the city, but sometimes he wished he'd just lived here in the mountains with them. The birds chirping first thing in the morning, the cool bugs and lizards and all those massive dinosaurs that lived on the other side of Mt. Paozu would surely outweigh being so close to the mall and all the cool parks back home.
Or maybe he just felt that way because he didn't feel so alone here.
Mom was awesome - even if way too clingy - but she worked really hard, and with school and everything, they'd normally only have an hour or two together before dinner and a little bit afterwards before bed. Goten's house was so much more lively and cozy; he'd never have to turn on the TV for its background noise if he lived here, that's for sure.
But they wouldn't have enough space for all his toys in that tiny little house… And no Gravity Room, either. … Yeah, his home was awesome too, he concluded. "Perfect", if only the Son's would pack up their stuff and move back there with him and Mom, just like he used to dream about when he was a baby. Or if it simply had more people living in it besides the two of them. Like that brother he'd always wanted; a real one, not like Goten or Gohan. One that would sleep there, play there, eat their cereals there while watching cartoons in the morning. Or even a sister.
His eyes drifted towards Mia then, sitting to his right while hugging her bent knees. Looking up to the figures in the sky, her smile was soft and sweet, and somehow different than her usual ones, like she didn't even notice she was producing it. She seemed really happy, and it made his smile come right along.
"Why do you think he's doing this?" she asked all of a sudden.
It startled him a bit, the question. "Huh? Who?"
"Gohan," she clarified, eyes to the sky. "Why he chose to spar with you guys today. He's never done that before, has he?"
"Not really," Trunks answered her, looking back up himself. "At least not this… intensely." He'd do so only as a teacher, from time to time, defending so they would attack to their fullest or vice-versa, for instance, or those times when he'd wanted to show them how to perform a special technique.
Because of their similar ages and the fact that their training had been evolving in the very same manner, under the very same sensei, it only made sense that he'd be paired with Goten more often, so they could push each other. A proper spar like today, with someone as strong as Gohan, almost felt like Christmas in September, or an early birthday gift, since his was coming along at the end of the month.
"Something's changed," Mia half-whispered, her tone somewhat distant but peaceful, and he'd have to agree after yesterday's trip to Aru village.
The fact that he'd kept smiling even if no one was trying to make him do so was a dead giveaway, but his eyes had also seemed less heavy, his soft but resident frown non-existent throughout the whole day. Even in his earliest memories of Gohan, the older Saiyan had always tried to make belief he was better than he actually was, so when he woke them up yesterday, with all that energy and plans to go out to nowhere in particular, it almost seemed like he was still dreaming. Like that person wasn't Gohan, or like he was the person who Gohan should always have been.
"I think it's a girl," Mia added.
"A girl?"
"Yeah." Her smile turned grin. "I bet it's Videl."
Oh, wow… Really? They'd only been with her once before, but Videl seemed mad cool and awesome! And she was super pretty too. "You think they're like… dating or something?"
"I don't know," she answered. "Hopefully. It was a long time ago, but I remember the way he looked at her back at that party. The one after they won the football match, remember?"
"The one my mom threw for the Tigers." How could he not remember? Going to bed at three in the morning was normally a very big no-no, even if it'd been Mom behind the wheel that night - it would never have happened if it'd been Auntie Chi, that's for sure.
Mia nodded. "I've never seen him look at anyone like that before. Like he was… I don't know, like… satisfied, you know?"
Huh… no, he didn't. He didn't know at all. Gohan was satisfied… because of Videl? Maybe Mimi wasn't using the right word, since "satisfied" to him was a full belly after a huge meal, or this feeling right now after he'd tired himself out by fighting Gohan.
Or maybe he was the one that wasn't reading the true meaning behind that word, but he'd never been too good at that, to be honest. "You always knew how to see those things," he told her, smiling lazily while singling out blades of grass and tearing them one by one.
She giggled, removing herself from the fight above them to meet his gaze. "They're not difficult to see if you pay enough attention to the details."
Yeah, right. As if! She was just so good at pointing out those details that simply assumed they were easy to spot. They weren't - at all! - but Mia was, without a doubt, the smart one in their bitchin' trio, so it made sense that she'd feel that way.
His brain knew more things, sure, like difficult words and all that annoying stuff they'd make them study back at school - and which he'd learned about ages ago from Mom's books and the internet - but she was the one who knew about the stuff that couldn't be learned. Like noticing what a person was thinking just by a twitch of an eyebrow or a glance to the side. It was really something special.
Ever since they were little, Mimi had always known when he was mad about something, or when he was tired or uncomfortable. One time, she'd even hugged him from out of nowhere because she somehow knew he'd been feeling sad all day. "You just seemed like you needed it." And he did. And it'd worked in making him feel so much better, after that. After the embarrassment went away, of course.
He'd wondered many times how she'd do it but stopped eventually; it was simply her "thing".
Even if he'd pay more attention to the details, as she'd put it, he'd never be able to see this stuff like she did. In his mind there was only the physical aspect of the gestures, not what they actually meant, if anything. Like looking into her eyes right now, he could definitely see how much they resembled Gohan's, but he could never make out what was going on behind them.
It was obvious that she resembled Auntie Chi, too - the chin and the cheeks, at least - and he could tell that her hair was almost as long as her mother's though with much more volume, but that didn't give away anything else than just that.
Well, if he was being more observant, he could probably say that it looked shorter because of that pony-tail she'd always wear, always tied up high behind her head with only those two tresses left loose, arching a little bit up from her forehead like they defied gravity, before coming down again to circle behind her ears - oh, they were pierced! He'd never noticed that before.
She looked really pretty today, but maybe it was because she was smiling like that.
Suddenly, she looked away to the side and then slowly back up. Her cheeks were flushed with a really deep red that wasn't there before, but why were…? It hit him instantly with a stretch of his eyelids, and a hand darted to scratch at the back of his neck. "I-I'm sorry," he told her sheepishly. "I was staring."
Her eyes returned down, fixating on her knees with only tiny glances back to him, her lips arching into a shy smile. "It's okay," she said.
Stupid… Staring like a freak, now they were both awkward and embarrassed. Stupid, stupid…
Should he tell her she looked pretty? Would that help? Mom would always harass him with the whole "women need to hear" speech whenever he didn't feel like saying "I love you" back - he'd told his mother he loved her so many times, did she really need to be reminded of it constantly to believe it? Lame...
A woman needs to hear these things, she'd tell him, but Mia wasn't really a woman, she was... she was Mimi. It's not that she wasn't pretty, or funny, or sweet, it just felt weird saying it to her, for some reason.
"How about we call it a day, Sport?" they heard Gohan say from up there - thankfully! - and both looked back up. Goten was still in stance but panting like crazy. "It's almost lunch time, so we better-"
"No! I'm not done!" his younger brother yelled back. "I wanna be as strong as you!"
Gohan just chuckled, his hands fisted against his hips. "And you will. I've just been doing this for a lot longer than you guys, is all." Ever since he was… like four, Mom had told him once, fending for himself in the wilderness with no training whatsoever. That's so badass…! He hovered closer to Goten and ruffled his hair. "Come on, let's-"
"Hi-ya!"
Nice move, that sly little brat. Trying to take advantage of situation to land a punch while Gohan was off-guard. Nice move indeed… if Gohan was ever off-guard! Damn him… It's not like he hadn't thought about doing the same himself, time and time again, let the other think it's over so he'd relax and lose focus, but even so, there was never a break in his concentration, like… ever!
Proving his point, the older Saiyan just grabbed Goten's hand like it was nothing, even though his little brother had managed to get really close to his cheek. That's something, he guessed. Gohan just smiled. "Almost got me with that one, Buddy."
Goten giggled in that childish way of his. "Sorry."
They descended together and touched down right in front of Trunks' feet. Goten immediately let himself drop back like a sack of potatoes, his chest heaving with each of his loud breaths. "I'm dying!" he vented out. Trunks smiled at the sight, since that had been him an hour or so ago. Poor guy.
"Just rest a little so we can go, okay?" Gohan told him, sitting on the ground himself. He was sweating a bit but didn't even seem out of breath. "Mom's making her pot-roast, today."
"Pot-roast?" Goten screeched, jumping back up into a stand. "I love Mommy's pot-roast!
"You're dying, remember?" Trunks said, which made them all laugh.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot." His hands went up and linked behind his head, that overly-excited grin planting itself once more on his best-friend's face but just for a moment, his whole features rearranging themselves into those particular ones he'd put on whenever he wanted to beg for something. Oh, he'd seen that one a lot. "Big Brother, can we go see the big dinosaurs after lunch, or maybe go for a swim, or look for some bugs?"
"Eww, not bugs," Mia said immediately. He'd prefer to go see the dinos too, but it'd just became his mission to find a big, slimy worm just to throw at her. She hated those!
Gohan chuckled. "Sure, Kiddo. Whatever you guys want."
"Maybe we could bring Mommy too," Mimi added. "She's been so happy..."
She sure has. "Yeah. I even heard her sing earlier, before breakfast," Trunks said, remembering how strange it'd felt like, being the first to walk into the kitchen that morning and hearing Auntie Chi humming and swaying around in place like she was dancing. This whole weekend was seeming more and more like one of those dreams that were just so real it almost made you not want to wake up. If only Mom was here, it had been perfect.
"Gohan?" Goten said really softly, and instantly everyone frowned a bit at the word. He'd almost never call his big brother by his actual name... "Are you happy too?"
Gohan's frown went deeper but he smiled at the question. "Of course, silly. I'm with you guys, aren't I?" His words felt real, but he'd always say that...
"You always say that," his little brother insisted, "but… but now…" He stopped talking, looking down to his feet. His chin started trembling then, so his hands rushed up to cover his eyes and he turned his back on the rest of them.
"Goten…" Mia half-whispered.
Gohan rushed to grab his arm and pulled him over to drop onto his lap, hugging him tightly afterwards. "Buddy, what's wrong?"
"You always say that, but you never were."
It was really strange, seeing his friend sob like that, truly and with no hidden agenda behind the tears. It made his stomach feel uncomfortable and his throat to tighten, but it didn't surprise him at all, in the end. Goten had always been super quick on getting over his bad emotions - sadness, worry, anxiety - brushing them aside and substituting them with that stupid grin that'd fool everyone.
But it wouldn't fool him.
"They seem happy when I smile, so I smile a lot," his friend had told him once, and from then on out, that nagging little voice that would come to bug him on certain occasions, making him wonder if Goten was really just a happy face and a naive, impressionable mind was forever gone. He certainly wasn't, and one could only imagine what else he'd do just to make other people's lives easier.
He was so awesome… The best friend ever.
Gohan sighed into his mane of a hair. "I'm sorry I worried you, okay?" he told Goten almost in a whisper, rubbing his back, and then looked up to Trunks and Mia. "All of you. I'm really sorry, but I'm happy, I promise."
His little brother looked up, rubbing his cheeks dry with his sleeves. "I know," he said softly. "I believe you, now. Your smile is different."
That smile right there; the one he was making right now. "Is it?" Gohan asked.
All of them nodded because they all saw it, both today and yesterday, and hopefully for a very long time or forever, if possible. To be honest, he couldn't really pinpoint what had actually changed, but he had long learned that a smile wasn't always a smile; sometimes it was a disguise for something else. Mia would know, though, and her theory about Videl seemed all the more evident now that he thought of it.
One of Mom's boring monologues she tried to pass as life lessons had been about love, he remembered, and even if he'd been keen on showing her he wasn't interested in hearing what she had to say at the time, he did listen, as he always would.
Love could change a person. It'd changed Dad, according to her, making him able to trust someone else when he'd only trust himself in the past, so it could change Gohan too, right? It was a simple yet complicated emotion, the "ultimate prize of life" - whatever that meant - and if it was powerful enough to move mountains, it'd surely be enough to change a person in such a way, in such a small timeframe - the guy wasn't this light and cheery last week, that's for sure.
This girl stuff was just too weird. Hopefully it wouldn't happen to him...
Gohan took one last look at his little sister as she rolled into a more comfortable position beneath her covers. A smile came to him, a statement of his mood, of his heart, and of the fact that she was happy. It'd been evident on her smile that whole day, on the way she didn't even notice was curving her lips and sparking a beautiful shine to her eyes. Worrying about him had been weighing her shoulders for way too long - all of theirs; Goten's, Trunks' - so tonight, this kiss for sweet dreams had been that much sweeter and true. Hopefully a definite change for all the ones to come.
The room grew dark with a flick of the switch, and the door was closed ever so gently behind him. He walked slowly and quietly, turning off all the lights in his path and heading for the kitchen where he knew Mom to be.
"All tucked in," he told her as he entered the room. She was hard at work, sewing supplies scattered atop the table, some orange clothes being tended to by her skillful hands. Wait… were those...? "Hum… what are doing?"
"Just mending Goten's old training clothes," she said nonchalantly as he sat down next to her. "And adding some cuffs to his pants so they'll fit. He's grown so tall."
"His… training clothes?" he tried not to stutter. Training clothes meant training. Training had been forbidden for years, in that house... "Why?" he asked her. Was she recanting her decision? It had never crossed his mind to finally let her know of his transgression, of his crime to teach the kids behind her back, but… she was getting so much better. Maybe he should…?
"Because it's best to soil these rags when you go out to play than his regular clothes," she said. Oh… Sure, it made sense. "It's never happened before, but better safe than sorry."
"Yeah, I guess." One day... one day he'd tell her, but no point in throwing all her healing to waste right now with such a long-lived lie, he concluded. His "real" mother would scream his head off if she were to find out, so hopefully he could disclose everything when she got back to that particular state again. She'd get there eventually; she had to.
"Do you really have to go right now?" she continued to ask under those troubled eyebrows, stopping her task for a moment. "I hate that you travel so late at night."
"It's the last bus of the evening," Gohan explained, rolling a small thread spool back and forth with his finger. "And I have school tomorrow morning." Eleven a.m., to be precise, but even if late it was still officially morning, right? Because no way was he only catching the early bus, instead. That one would get him to campus just shy of that hour, and his heart would start to palpitate furiously if he didn't get the chance to be with Videl before that. At least for a few minutes, or an hour. Hopefully more.
"I know, I know," Mom said, looking down to the fabric in her hands. "I just worry, is all."
He smiled and placed a hand on hers. "No need for that. I'm kind of super strong, if you haven't been told."
It made her chuckle. "I've heard, yes." The sadness came back right after, though. "I just… can't lose you too, Honey."
His eyebrows contorted immediately from the odd choice of words. Lose him? "Don't say that, Mom. You're not gonna lose me. We're at peace, now." For years, even, and surely many more to come. It'd kill him if Dad's choice to stay dead had been in vain…
That recurrent thought returned to him then, the one he'd have from time to time ever since they've been told of the argument that'd made his father stay in Other World. The baby who had been sent to purge the Earth of its inhabitants in the first place, was the one who fought his whole life to keep it safe, even giving up on it entirely to do so, in the end. How crazy was that?
Furthermore, it was ironic to think that the whole future had once rested on his father being spared from that nasty heart virus, when all things considered, it was his death that would ultimately be assuring peace on their planet. Or at least that was Dad's intention when he'd made that call.
Keeping him alive then to save the future, yet keeping him dead now to make the future safe. It's like he was destined to die either way.
"I wasn't talking about that," his mother went on to say. Shyly, which was strange; not even in her darkest moments was Mom ever shy about telling him something. "I want you to be happy, but… please don't forget about me, okay?"
"Forget about you? How could I ever forget about you?"
"Not that I exist, just that you'll put other things in front of me. Give them more importance."
Oh… She couldn't know about… Bulma wouldn't have told her about Videl, about his feelings towards her or their treacherous path together. He'd been very clear that it still wasn't time for that particular introduction, and Bulma was certainly trustworthy enough to have kept his secret so far. And the kids… They'd already met Videl, but only that one time back at the match against the Eagles, right up until the big party afterwards; even if there had already been something going on between them at the time, no way could they have known. Vi was a friend as far as they were considered, just like Sharp and Erasa.
"What… sort of things?" he asked her.
A shoulder rose sluggishly. "School, work, friends," she explained. "I know they're all important, I know, but-"
"Mom," he interrupted. They were important, but, "I won't forget about you. I promise."
That conversation kept repeating itself for hours in his head, a halestorm of "how woulds" and "what ifs" that kept shooting at his thoughts from all angles under the low rumble of the speeding bus. How would Mom react to Videl? What if… she didn't like her?
Even when he was a kid, Mom had always been so very dependent of him, always hovering around, making sure he was okay or doing what she'd asked of him. Sometimes it seemed that every waking thought in her head was tailored to her son's life and, most importantly, his studies. But now, after all the heartbreak and hardship, eight years of darkness while mourning a loss… had it become even worse?
In the end, he told himself it didn't matter either way, mainly because Videl would never leave his life by the whim of another. Only she herself would ever get to make that particular call, and he hoped it'd never have a place in their future.
But he did love his mother… Immensely. He'd never forget her, but could he not leave her behind, as she'd put it? He wasn't a boy anymore, and every grown man was entitled to make a new life sprout from his older one, weren't they? Add friendship to it, and love - another kind of love, at least. It wasn't a substitution, it was growth, improvement.
Would she see it, though?
Mom had been doing so great… The change was overwhelming and wonderful, a return to a previous self that had been dead and buried for too long. What if knowing of Videl would throw that all away?
Gohan took a deep defeated breath, running a hand through his hair before getting up from his bus seat and heading for the exit when the vehicle finally came to a halt at the city's terminal. No point in crossing that bridge before they got there, he reckoned, though he knew himself too well to believe those thoughts could ever be pushed back far enough in his head. This late at night, despite how heavy his eyelids were or how beat his whole body had become after a tiring day, he'd probably wouldn't be able to shut down and sleep it off for at least a couple of hours or so. Morning would suck so much…
And then he stilled, just as his feet touched the cement floor outside, surprise filling him up right along with something so warm and perfect. There she was, standing just a few steps away with the biggest of smiles bitten down behind those wonderful lips, contained into a fraction of the emotions it held while still as powerful against his heart. Her lovely blue eyes were so shiny, sheathed with a glossy finish so bright worthy of the rarest of gems, though these ones could never be reproduced or found elsewhere. Those were… his.
Why was she here? At this godforsaken hour? A night so cold and dark didn't deserve her presence, not to mention all the dangerous scumbags that would always lurk around downtown, harassing pretty girls through the alcohol in their veins. Those thoughts were urgent and raving but came and went in the course of a flimsy second.
Being away for more than a month during the holidays, only to come back and spend a precious but single weekend her - meals not included - before that hellish week they'd spent apart drowning in their own thoughts… Man, it seemed like forever since they'd last been together. Really together.
How did her skin feel against his fingertips? How sweet were her lips, the fragrance of her hair? How ruthlessly did her scent drive him crazy? How completely?
A small step after another, his weighted body almost trembled in anticipation, begging to just jump in there and take her into his arms only to never let go, lest something else would come to get in their way. This was it; she'd told him so, she'd given him a chance. "If you're mad enough to have me."
Was "mad" another word for "desperate"?
"Hey," she sung heavenly when he reached her. "You're five minutes late."
Gohan chuckled. "If I'd known you'd be here, I'd mauled the driver to step it up."
Her laughter was even sweeter than her smile. "I'm sure you would."
"What are you doing here, you crazy person? It's almost two in the morning," he half-joked, dropping his bag on the ground.
Her eyes fell too, anchoring themselves on their feet. "I… couldn't sleep." She came closer, a hand to his chest that was telling his heart to beat a little faster. "I just missed you so much," she whispered.
It shouldn't have made him feel so good, that confession, since it had been lined with a hurt he knew deep inside he'd been the one to cause, ultimately. He'd been the one who'd left her abandoned in the hospital, he'd been the one to tell her about his heritage way too soon and after they'd agreed to hold it on for later. As with so many other things, all that damage was on him.
But she'd missed him. Him. And she was here, right now, at stupid-o'-clock of this uninviting night just to come meet him and spend some time together, even if small. It was all so surreal, given their history; she was still here…
"Are we…?" Gohan spoke slowly and shy, frowning ever so slightly. He had to know. "Are you still sure? About me, us?"
Videl rolled her eyes, a lazy smile finishing the "again with this?" look she gave him. "Gohan…"
"I'm sorry," he told her immediately along with his nervous chuckles. "It just seems… like a dream. Too good to be true."
That gaze… the way she looked into his eyes was so enchanting, inspiring like a priceless piece of art that signed off on her words. "Good things can also be true sometimes, you know?"
If there was ever an understatement…
They stared at each other for a moment, the urge to kiss her swelling up inside him like never before, but the action had receded out of the "natural" and "comfortable" area it'd been last weekend. Well, not "comfortable"… "easy" would be more accurate. With all the shit that had came down between them - that month and a half, and then that horrible week - it almost felt like it'd been years since their lips had last touched, last tasted each other, their tongues had last danced together inside their mouths.
It'd been a lifetime apart - no euphemism intended, since his life had only restarted about a year ago.
His hands moved to touch her waist, surrounding it slowly, pulling her close. Hers slid up through his chest and behind his neck, delicate fingers tracing a path up to his hairline and then back down. Softly, hesitantly, their lips touched, and it all felt real again.
The tighter he held her, the more memories it would bring. The day they'd met at the football field when she threw a book his way, the first meal she cooked for him, the one and only dance they'd shared. Their first kisses; the fake one beneath the mistletoe, and the real one by the end of that very night. And her boobs… God, so soft and magnificent.
Was she really his? For real? His… girlfriend? Would he ever get tired of those words? His girlfriend. His girlfriend. His girlfriend.
Suddenly, way too soon, Videl broke their kiss, looking up at him under a veil of sadness that he couldn't quite place. "What is it?" he asked her, apprehensive, his eyebrows scrunching together.
"I have…" she began to say, looking down, but paused for a deep sigh. "I have some bad news."
"Bad news?" She'd just confirmed they were still together, didn't she? What else could ever matter?
"Yeah. Well, not bad, bad. More like annoying," she said. "I have to go away for a few days."
His whole face expanded and contracted right after, first surprise and then a smack from the reality of the words. "Go away? To where? When?"
"North City." So far away… "And… tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow?" he all but screeched.
"Yeah…" she unfortunately confirmed, clearly bummed herself. "With my dad. He told me yesterday morning, but I didn't want to ruin your weekend by calling you before."
His head was nodding absentmindedly, his body trying to tell his brain that it'd be okay. It wasn't the end of the world. She was here now, so they at least got to spend a few minutes together, and then tomorrow… Goddammit, it's like the world was against them.
"My dad sponsors this school," she went on to explain, "and they're having a 'meet the Savior' day or something." She looked down at her fingers as they traced the printed letters on his shirt. He held her tight against him, hands all but clawing at the curve of her back. "I hate going to these stunts with him, but I feel like I have to whenever kids are involved. He gets... carried away sometimes."
Carried away? "What do you mean?"
"I mean…" She wasn't sure, eyeing some random spot behind his shoulder while searching for the words. "It's like being strong is everything to him. Or at least that's what he tells other people, because I think his fame's the only truly precious thing to him, nowadays." Her speech began vigorously enough but that energy soon gave place to the inherent sadness she'd never been able to avoid whenever the subject was her father. It was obvious that she felt she ranked lower than the man's "truly precious thing", which seemed so wrong in so many ways. Putting something so ephemeral and unimportant as public recognition in front of your own daughter…
Fuck that guy. She was truly precious to him.
"He'd encourage them all to drop out of school if someone wasn't there to hold him back or clean up after his mess," Videl continued. "Drop out and join his dojo, of course. If you have a body, then you should be fighting, ignore your family and your friends. And school, which is ironic considering the venue."
How could that be true? No one was that… Oh, yeah, he forgot who they were talking about. Still, he found himself saying, "Come on, it can't be that bad…"
Videl looked him dead in the eye. "He once told a boy he was lucky to be in a wheelchair because it meant he could never be a true warrior. And unlike a true warrior, the kid could have all the pleasures of life because he'd never have to endure the rigorous training the "real good guys" - yeah, those exact words - had to to become strong. He could only use his brain to be useful to society."
W-What…? "You're not serious…" And people looked up to this person?
"I wish I wasn't," she said downhearted, letting her forehead fall to rest at his chest. He kissed her hair and gently rubbed her back. "I wish they stopped inviting him, but the Saviour is the Saviour, however big of a douchebag he is. Not to mention a lie." Her sigh then felt so hurt… so betrayed. Somehow, he couldn't stop berating himself for being responsible for this one too, because this personality-changing fame was supposed to be his, not her father's. If he'd stepped up to claim it back then… Stupid, irrelevant thoughts, after all this time had passed; he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"So…" She looked up again. "He's picking me up tomorrow at eight-thirty, and my flight back is on Wednesday night."
It was his turn to sigh before softly saying, "Okay." And then a snicker escaped him. Oh, God, he was that guy, now.
Videl smiled right along, wondering, "What is it?"
"This is gonna sound so cheesy…"
She chuckled. "What?"
Now he had to say it. Hopefully she wouldn't find it too pathetic. "I've waited my whole life for you." He shrugged a shoulder. "I can wait three more days."
There was no answer for moment, but her big smile reassured him a bit. "You're right, that is cheesy." They both laughed because it really was, and then her arms snaked up again behind his neck. "I love it," she spoke so softly, so alluring. Their eyes connected but just for a second, heavy eyelids concealing inside all the truths that he was now tasting yet again through her sweet, plump lips.
The truth that she'd saved him from himself. The truth that he'd die for her, to protect her. The truth that he loved her. Forever.
He'd long come to terms with his father's decision to stay in Other World, telling himself that he understood why whenever his will would falter on those darker days, that it'd been the right thing to do despite the hurt of his absence. But now… now he saw it, so clear and obvious like it'd been his own reasoning that fateful day, his own resolution. Nothing else made sense or held any logic.
If it'd been to protect Videl, to keep her safe… he'd stay dead too.
It was overwhelming right now, that perception, that need to protect his loved ones - all of them - but only now, through her acceptance of him, was he able to feel it quite this intensely. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he'd die to protect his little guys, his mother, Bulma; he'd never hesitate on that even during all those years he spent in the cage that was his own mind. It'd been a long time since he actually feared death - like when he was little, when Dad was alive - but after Cell, that lack of hesitation existed mainly because keeping his life wasn't a priority in the slightest; he simply couldn't care.
But he cared now. And he'd die anyway, for them.
This absolute comprehension of his father's actions eight long years ago… He'd never felt this close to him ever since he'd died.
Their lips disconnected after a while, giving way to sweet and shy smiles that told the world around them how it'd been way too long, a path too strenuous to get to this particular place in time. Without dwelling on it, with no type of command on his part, his hand searched for hers as they silently decided to leave, heading outside.
How much could a single sentence change a person's life, huh? A simple, "If you're mad enough to have me," and now their fingers interlaced automatically, naturally, like it was what they were always meant to be doing. Who cared if anyone was looking? Who cared if all eyes were on them, on that gesture of closeness that spoke for their hearts? Let them look. Let them stare, slack-jawed and unbelieving, writhing away with jealousy of not being in his shoes, walking beside this gorgeous woman, getting to kiss her without asking too dearly or braving a slap to the face.
His girlfriend… Man, he just loved that.
Not long after, a short ride on Erasa's red compact brought them to campus - no soul in sight given the hour - before it came to a stop near his student residence, a long distance from her house but the curb was packed all the way to the compound's gate in the usual pre-Monday scenario. Videl turned off the engine, the radio growing silent as well just before they stepped out.
"Thank you for the ride," he told her, gently pushing the door shut behind him. It was a pain to wait for the transit bus at these hours of the night, since it'd only come along once every half hour or so. It'd normally get so boring and tiresome after a long day with the kids. "I'll walk you home, okay?" Just a statement, not a question; not this late at night.
Strangely, she didn't follow him towards the side of the building and the path that led to her house, nor did she say anything, for that matter; at least not with words. The way she was looking down at the car keys in her hands, playing with them, tracing their ridges with shy fingertips… It made him step closer, grab her hands so she'd stare up at him instead, though she only did so for a second or two. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said. "I just... didn't want to go home yet."
It made him smile, since it was the last thing he wanted too, but he didn't want to have her stay up any longer than she had to on his account, given her early start in the morning. Eight-thirty… So early, so soon.
"I probably won't be able to see you in the morning, so…" she started to add but he didn't wait for her to finish, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards his building and the elevator. Inside, Gohan pressed number three, planing to bring her to his room but opting only to leave his bag there; he'd had a better idea. They returned to the elevator, Videl basically being dragged behind him, confusion now evident on her beautiful face. He pressed "eight" this time.
"Eighth floor?" she asked as the metallic doors closed in once more in front of them.
Gohan only smiled, trying to recall the last time the two of them had been on that roof together. It hadn't been too long after he'd arrived his first year, and there was some party… which one was it? Oh! The funny t-shirt kegger, how could he forget?
It seemed so long ago, but in the overall view of things, a year was nearly nothing. He remembered how they'd talked about all sorts of things, likes and dislikes, deep matters, personal opinions. They'd had more of those afterwards - not many, though, since his secret would always get in the way - but that one always stuck with him for some reason. Back then he didn't have this warmth in his heart, he couldn't see past the random girl who was actually very nice and make out the wonderful human being inside. How terribly blind, in retrospect.
They exited the elevator, climbed the stairs, and went out into the roof. There was a gush of wind that blew on them and made Videl grip her jacket at her chest. It was way colder than he had anticipated but no worries. He brought them to the same place as that other night, all those months ago, climbing onto the elevator's hoist mechanism and then helping her do the same. They sat at its top and he let himself lean all the way down, his back on the cool surface of the cement slab beneath them, extending an arm right after so she'd join him.
"C'mere," he half-whispered. She smiled and did so, head on chest before sighing in contentment. Finally, Gohan reached for his left wrist and pressed the subcutaneous lever that would turn off his Ki limiter, hearing the distinctive and very very faint click that would come before the hot flood of energy, like blood into his hollow veins as it rushed to re-enter his body. He flared his aura outwards just a bit but it'd be enough; Vi would be nice and toasty despite the cold.
But then, just as his arms were dropping to somewhere comfortable around her delicious curves, she rolled around herself, supporting her weight on top of his chest as she looked around them. "What… happened?"
"Huh?"
"The wind stopped, but…" Her eyebrows scrunched together. "The trees are still waving around."
Gohan smiled. "It's my energy. I've expanded it so it'd surround us both. Don't want you to catch a cold or something." Although… that way she'd have to stay here… No, he really shouldn't be making his girlfriend sick on purpose, should he?
"Your energy?" she asked, eyes inquisitive and piercing as she stared at him from above. "Like the transformation? Back at my room?"
"More or less, yeah, but that required a much bigger amount." Too simplistic of an explanation but no need to bring out the nitty-gritty right from the start. At least not right now, when they had so little time to spend together. "You can't see this one with the naked eye, for instance."
She nodded to herself, gluing this new intel with the rest of the bits and pieces she'd already gathered in her head, trying to make something out of all the information she'd been given so far. It'd be but a scratch at the surface of the whole truth, though.
"Do you… have any questions?" he asked her. "About me?" There was nothing he wanted more than to show her exactly who he was, to tell her everything, but… could he ever not feel that twinge in his stomach? What if it was too much for her? She'd already seen him transform into a Super-Saiyan, so the cat was already somewhat out of the bag, but there was still so much to be said. And not all of it was good.
There was a soft frown curving her eyebrows, filled with curiosity and energy. "Back at the Cell Games, you guys made these… these flashes of light with your hands. Was that energy too?"
Gohan smiled. For somebody who couldn't even imagine a thing like Ki until last week… It was so inspiring to see her brain at work, logic connecting those dots. "Yeah, it was," he said. "We call it Ki."
"How does it work? They looked like fucking explosions on TV! How can you destroy entire mountains with light-shows alone?"
God, that word… It was her father's doing, implanting that term into everybody's heads to make sense of something he couldn't explain. But seeing what their "light-shows" could do and still call them that… Was it to protect his lie, or was the man really that ignorant?
Keeping a ruse like that for so long took either a pretty smart guy or a bastard so egocentric that would make the farce become his only reality over time. He didn't really know the man, but "egocentric bastard" seemed to match Videl's tales of him way too perfectly to believe there was any genius behind his actions. "They're not light-shows, they're very real and palpable," he told her patiently. "And very damn painful too, if you get hit by one powerful enough."
"But… how can you throw energy like that? Isn't it like trying to throw electricity or something?"
He chuckled. "Well… how much do you know of electricity?"
"What's less than nothing?" They laughed. "I don't know. Whatever's common knowledge, I guess."
"Okay, let's see then…" A nerd at heart, he did love to explain this stuff to anyone who would listen. Left to see if he could make it simple enough to understand. "Electricity is the flow of electrical charge, generally in the form of electrons inside a wire. Electromagnetic energy are waves that are produced by the movement of those electrons. That energy can be like visible light, heat, infrared, and a bunch of others. So, basically, you can use electricity to create energy, like turning on a lightbulb, but you can also do it the other way around, capture energy and turn it into electricity, like solar panels do."
She smiled, a twinkle in her eye that he couldn't quite place. "You're suppose to be either strong or smart, not both, you damn overachiever." They laughed again. A lock of hair fell to her face and he circled it back around her ear, his fingertips lingering on the motion as they brushed against her warm cheek. "You make it sound so simple."
"It's really not. At least not when it comes to how to teach your body to use that energy efficiently," he said. "We don't have any scientific proof on how it works because only a handful of people in the world even know how to use it." He did have his theories, though.
"So how were you able to learn?"
"It was easier for me because I have some sort of predisposition." In fact, now that he thought of it, did he ever learn how to use Ki? How to use it properly, yes, but actually being told about it, instructed, walked through the steps? Bulma had shared many times how Dad was so incredibly proud of him, how he'd say he knew Gohan was strong even before he could form any words, and considering he did so at about one year of age…
That predisposition wasn't solely when it came to learning, he guessed, but rather an ease that made Ki mundane instead of special, something that was simply meant to be used. Naturally. Nobody had taught him how to breathe either.
Vi nodded like she understood. "Because you're a Saiyan."
"Yeah, but there are full-humans who use it too, and very effectively." Krillin, Yamcha, Master Roshi, to name a few.
"But…" Videl shook her head. "I don't get it. How is someone able to learn something that can't be explained?"
"Basically by explaining how it's done instead of how it works."
She snickered. "That's too much for my tiny little head. If it isn't written in a law book somewhere, then it's totally out of my league."
"It surely isn't! You could definitely learn it too." No doubt in his mind, if she'd put her mind to it, she'd be doing her own "light-shows" in no time. In fact… "I'll teach you."
"Teach me what?"
"Whatever you like. Flying, for sure. Or Ki shielding; Mia's been learning about those for a good while now."
"I…" She was borderlined shocked, lips gapped to produce some words - any words - but they weren't coming out. All things considered, though, it'd be like offering her a superpower, wasn't it? It was such a natural aspect of his life that he kept forgetting it'd be verging on miraculous for the rest of the world. "I could never…" she finally said. "My Dad, maybe, but I'm not nearly as strong as he is."
"It has nothing to do with strength," he explained. "It has to do with your spirit and your will to make it happen. With enough training anyone can learn it, and you've been around martial arts since forever so you're already ahead." And considering how good she was at it, recalling the night at the beach when she fought the maggot, how her stance was near-flawless and her moves quite impressive, to say the least, initiating her in using her Ki would definitely be a cinch. Even more so if she brought along her inherent stubbornness to help out. "Besides, you are way stronger than your father. You don't even-"
"Shut up. I am not," she interrupted immediately, almost outraged.
"Huh, yeah, you are. I can sense energy levels, I know what I'm saying."
Her head pulled back an inch away, arched eyebrows, unbelieving eyes blinking into comprehension of what he'd just said. "S-Sense…?" Gohan nodded in confirmation; energy levels, yeah. She ended up sighing after a silent moment. "I haven't trained for real in so long. I just go to the gym once or twice a week, how can I-?"
"It's more than he does, I'm sure." Admittedly, the guy had been in pretty good shape back at the Games - at least from what he could remember - but the problem with big muscles was that they needed big nourishment and an even bigger deal of maintenance. If eight years of being the most famous man in the world had gone a little too much to his head, how seriously could he have really trained during that time? "When was the last time he's participated in any sort of tournament?"
She took a moment but ultimately agreed with him, nodding wryly and rolling her eyes to the sky. "I still see him like he was before," she said quietly, looking down to her hand. "But he's changed. Maybe a little too much..."
His hand was fast to cover her soft cheek. "Hey, let's not talk about him, okay?" The "almighty Saviour" had never been on his preferred topics list, but it had gained a special kind of hatred for the way it made her talk a tone lower, her eyebrows to tighten absentmindedly. "He's not welcome inside my pod of energy."
She giggled softly and then came closer down, kissing him so very slowly while fisting his shirt in that way that for some reason drove him that extra bit crazy. And that sound… Was it weird to find that wet, delicate pitch their lips made whenever they broke connection for a moment so exciting and precious?
It was like he was forgetting something, like he was still supposed to have something inhibiting him, making him unable to kiss back and feel this damn passionate about her scent, her taste, her warmth. The cricket was nowhere to be heard, no new cracks on his heart and no twinges either. After so long… was he really allowed to have this moment?
Well, fuck it all even if he wasn't, because there was a gorgeous woman on top of him actually wanting to kiss him. He'd overthink things tomorrow.
After a while and a deeper peck, Videl leaned back away, sighing under a sweet little smile and droopy eyelids before getting comfortable atop his shoulder. A snicker, then.
"What?" he asked her.
"Oh, nothing," she said. "Just remembering the last time we were on this roof together."
Gohan smiled. "It seems like forever ago." Though just yesterday at the very same time. "So much has changed."
"True." Her fingers traveled lazily across his chest, drawing little circles in no particular pattern. "And as I recall, changes started that very night."
"Oh?" Did they? Maybe he wasn't remembering all the specifics, but he'd still been too messed up at the time to feel anything but a sort of friendship towards her.
"Indeed." Her tone had something underlining it… Amusement? "Last time we were here you tried to break me up with my boyfriend."
"I did no such thing!" he almost yelled, outraged lips wide apart.
"'A strong person would know when to move on' were the exact words, if I'm not mistaken." She curbed a giggle. "A brilliant plan, pulling on my pride. Like, 'if you don't move on, then you're a weak little girl'. That was destined to work on me."
"You give me too much credit," he told her. It made her laugh. "As messed up as I was at the time, things like those were way off radar to me."
Her hand slid up and caressed his cheek. "Did you find me attractive at all, when we met? Even just a little?"
"I don't know," he confessed. It seemed ludicrous now, but he'd been a very different person a year ago, that's for sure; like night and day. "I don't think I could've even find you beautiful back then, to be honest. Let alone be attracted to you."
"You've come so far," she half-whispered very softly, pecking his cheek. "I'm so proud of you."
"Again with the credit," he said, smiling. "It was mainly your doing, you know?"
"Shut up and take the damn compliment."
Gohan laughed; admittedly he did have a problem with allowing praise from others, huh? Something to work on, he guessed. "Do you have any more questions?" he asked her, lazily combing his fingers through her beautiful locks while trying to curb the stupid grin that wouldn't leave his face.
"Only a million or so," she responded. It made him chuckle. "But… not right now." Her nose rubbed up and down his neck, tickling a bit, her arm surrounding the whole width of his chest as best as it could. A whisper then. "I just missed you so much."
"I missed you too, Vi," he whispered back, kissing her hair and lingering there for a long moment. Dammit, he was going to miss her even more tomorrow, surely, pulling on every thread of his hard-earned discipline not to fly after that airplane up to North City like a damn stalker.
It wouldn't work just keeping his brain occupied, since no homework would ever be challenging enough to take his mind off her absence, and considering Bulma was still all the way in West City, she couldn't lend him one of her cutting edge R&D projects for him to wrap his head around. He'd most likely have to sneak into the GR and wreck himself there. Yeah, that future was definitely in his cards, probably as soon as tomorrow.
Physical exhaustion had always been his favourite relief, a complete body "power-down" turned vacation from his own mind. Maybe it was a Saiyan thing.
It didn't take too long for Videl to fall asleep after that, her body growing heavy on top of his, her energy stilling right along. The night's sky was so dark and beautiful, the hidden moon allowing all the stars to shine ever so brightly above them in such a way that made it all seem just too damn magical to to let go of. The trees in the distance rustling along with the breeze sung a lullaby low and soothing, the green apples of her hair only heightening the feeling tenfold.
Despite his tiredness, no way could he sleep through the best part of the day.
It was over in the blink of an eye, though, even if a few hours had passed. The first rays of sunlight were coming up on the horizon, turning the sky's heavy black into a lighter blue tone with a splash of amber. "Vi?" he called softly, rubbing her back. If she had to leave at eight-thirty, maybe she should go home soon.
She only grunted, which made him smile and reach down to kiss her forehead. "Vi, you have to wake up, okay?"
Eventually, her eyes managed to peel open, a closed up fist rubbing them awake. "What time is it?" she asked.
"The sun's coming up, so… more or less six-thirty, six forty-five."
Her lips pouted adorably as she sat up, just before letting out an incredibly deep, dramatic breath. "I have to go."
He sat up as well trying to smile reassuringly. "I know."
They stared for a moment, sleepy blue into tired black, and then moved closer, kissing tenderly in such a way that brought him a mash up of new feelings to spark something up in his belly. An amazing "first thing in the morning" kiss that was being ruined by the harsh "last kiss before she went away" - he'd still rob her of a few more before they were to part, but it did have that weight to it. It was his least favorite type of kiss so far, that's for sure.
Silently, slowly, they got up and off the roof, down the stairs and then the elevator. The streets were still deserted outside as he walked Videl home, which was helping in making everything feel so surreal and… special in some weird way. He was still the same non-person, still as different as all the other ones that were sound asleep in their homes, in their beds. His secret was still the same and yet it was like it wasn't his anymore. Or at least it wasn't as heavy, as crushing and overpowering.
His eyes drifted to his girlfriend, their fingers intertwined like it was somehow the rule now, instead of the exception. She was to blame, of course, in some lucky twist of fate he kept telling himself not to question. Reaching her door, kissing her not nearly as deeply as he wanted, it all felt right with the world, like this wasn't even supposed to be his life but that of some main character in a movie just before the credits rolled.
An adult. A man, the one he was meant to be; that's who he was.
She closed the door between them with a sweet smile and he walked away. What the hell was he gonna do with himself for three whole days? There was nothing more he wanted than to fly after her to North City but that might have been just a bit too clingy on his part, he guessed.
And so much stuff he wanted to tell her, too. About himself, his family, his world. The people he knew, the places he'd been, things that might not even hold any importance or need for disclosure, but after a lifetime of hiding the truth, of not having anyone new to tell of his journey, the floodgates had been wide open for good. And now he had to hold it all in for another three damn days… Would people call him crazy if he started shouting about green men from another planet in the middle of the street? Probably...
Hold it in it was, then. Or better yet… He smiled to himself and picked up the pace towards his room.
After all, there's more than one way to tell a story.
There was little Videl could say she truly hated, but packing a bag would have to rank an easy second right after those nasty Brussel sprouts, surely. Forget the pain that was fitting a decent yet smallish wardrobe into a tiny little dufflebag, how was she supposed to choose what should go in there in the first place if they didn't even know what the weather was like up in the north?
Okay, so the app in her phone labeled it "cold" but what the fuck did that mean? The month had long cooled enough to ditch the short sleeves and summer dresses, but was it winter-coat cold already up in North City? Cotton knits or fleece sweaters? And even if it was only for a couple of days, how could she know if she'd be in the mood to wear red or blue? Skirt or pants?
Goddammit… this was just horrible.
"Need any help in there, Sweetpea?" she heard her father ask from the living room.
A deep breath did not take away the annoyance. "Answer's still 'no', Dad," she told him dryly. Yes, she knew what time it was, and yes, she was hurrying up as fast as she could, but her heart wasn't exactly into it, she had to admit.
If she could be assured that the old man would stick to the script when they were up in that school, talking to the kids, then she'd let him go on his own in a heartbeat, but Hercule Satan loathed anything that would dampen his showmanship like it was dampening his own ego, his own soul. Words on a piece of paper meant nothing to him if not in form of adulation by yet another newspaper or magazine.
If only they knew the truth…
It'd never been something she looked forward to do, these public appearances, not even when she was a kid, but back then Daddy's fame was simply a part of the job, getting the people what they wanted, as he'd tell her in order to convince her to tag along. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when it'd happened, but it soon became his biggest personality trait instead, a way of life for his own selfish intents rather than a public service to please his fans. It was easier to swallow, back then, put on a polite smile she didn't quite feel, but now…
This one trip was particularly bitter still. This one trip she was going with the flow simply for the sake of those kids in that school and nothing more. That thread of something else that would make her do this for her father had forever been snapped along with his lie.
"The Saviour"… A pompous title fit for a bloated liar.
In a way, she must have known, though, about his lie. She must have. She reckoned so mainly because of this feeling of resignation that would overcome her whenever she was reminded of the biggest scam in human history. Was it any other fabrication on his part, she'd be urging for a confrontation, force him to go out and spill the truth to all the media outlets in the world, or at the very least admit it to her, his daughter, but…
It was weird that she didn't feel it this time, even more so considering just how massive a lie, just how serious the repercussions. But this particular sliver of justice would bring more bad than good, especially to Gohan and his family.
And the damn Saviour had already spat on their existence one too many times.
No, she wouldn't do it. She wouldn't pursue the matter, she wouldn't even mention a single thing to bring up the subject. The only course of action was asking Gohan about it upon returning from North City, and whatever he felt was the appropriate way to go about this would be final and absolute. He was the one with more to lose, after all.
After Daddy, of course, but he'd deserve whichever hell would come his way.
Tap, tap, tap.
Her eyebrows scrunched automatically at the incredibly light knock, and she looked back at the door to her room. It was completely open and vacant of any visitor. What the…?
Tap, tap, tap.
Once more, but this time the sound was obviously coming from the… the window? Slowly and with a last glance towards the door, she walked to her desk, leaning over it while carefully reaching for the curtain, pushing it aside. Her stomach was shocked automatically at the sight of him. "Gohan?"
He smiled sheepishly, waving from the other side of the glass. What was he doing here? They'd said their farewells already like two hours ago.
What had he done…? Dammit, now it would be even harder to say goodbye.
She grabbed the handle and unlocked the window, sliding the thing open as softly as she could to keep quiet. Her index finger flew to her lips then, begging for a hush since Daddy was just in the adjacent room, and she was definitely not in the mood to hear his criticism towards Gohan, not to mention his demands of an explanation of how a "scrawny boy" like him was able to climb up to a first story window without a ladder of sorts.
He could never fathom how fabulous her boyfriend really was.
Gohan nodded silently and climbed inside while she tiptoed to the door, glancing out towards her father while he sat on the sofa with his back to her. The TV was on and booming with some car racing championship or something, so he'd hopefully be entertained for a few minutes. She pushed the door closed as quietly as possible.
"What are you doing here?" she asked then, approaching him. "My dad's in the living room."
"I know, that's why I came to the window," he said, smiling. "I'm sorry but I needed to come over before you left."
"Why? Did something happen?" He'd been fine two hours ago, albeit very sad, but that was a mutual feeling and somewhat expected considering their situation. And he did seem calm right now, so...
"No," he was fast to respond, but then hesitated. "I mean…" A sigh. "I just didn't want you to have a million questions for another three days, and I don't want you to have to wait in order to know more about me. So here." He handed over a small notebook.
She took it, inspecting it curiously. Blue and white and wirebound, completely conventional. "What is this?"
"It's my story."
Her eyes widened immensely. "Your…?" His story? Videl opened it and flipped through the pages, written in black pen with tidy handwriting and a few sketches here and there. Every sheet was completely occupied, some of them even on the borders and header space.
"Everything I managed to remember, going back as early as I could," he explained. "Or at least what I could come up with in two hours, but it's a start."
"You… wrote about yourself? Your memories?"
"Yeah. And about my dad and the people in my life. And certain events too."
All that work just so she wouldn't have to wait for three days to ask him directly? "That's… crazy." And so sweet… and awesome. Oh, my God, so so awesome. She smiled.
"Is it?" he asked with a snicker, grinning, a trusty hand going up to the back of his neck. "Yeah, maybe it is, but I want you to know everything on that notebook, anyway, so…" He shrugged a shoulder. "And with a million questions to be asked we might not know where to start when you return, so this way you can refer to it if you want, and we can talk a little more about what I wrote there."
"I can't… believe you went through all this trouble," she said, her head shaking softly from side to side, mesmerized by the sheer magnitude of the information in her hands; everything there was to know about him.
"It's no trouble," he told her, but she wouldn't believe it. After a whole Sunday of goofing around with the kids back home, after not getting the same shut-eye as herself during those few hours spent in each other's arms back at the roof of his building… He had class in a few hours with no sleep since yesterday, all because of this precious little notebook she held. "I just hope you get a chance to read it."
Not until she was alone in her hotel room later tonight, but now she'd be itching for that hour to come. "I'll make time," she assured him, looking up to relish in that gorgeous smile she managed to create on his lips. Was he ever more handsome?
He took half a step towards her, closing the gap between them, his hands touching her cheeks and cupping them lovingly while their eyes refused to disconnect. They did so only after a long, amazing moment in which he told her so many beautiful things without uttering a single word, giving way to the softest of kisses, warm and perfect while still so incredibly short. Fortunately; it'd be that much harder to let go of a lingering one.
His hand then went for her arms, gripping them gently and caressing them up and down. It was obvious in his face that he'd wished to have gone with a longer one too. "I didn't write about one thing, though," he said, his eyes pleasant but serious nonetheless. "I wanted to be around personally when we talked about that."
Videl nodded, realizing immediately what he meant. "The Cell Games," she half-whispered
He nodded too. "I'll tell you everything when you get back, okay?"
"Okay," she said very softly. Her arms hugged the notebook, pressing it against her chest. "Thank you for this."
Gohan shook his head, silently relinquishing any need to thank him, but she could never get over the gesture as she could never diminish the thought behind it. He'd told her of his secret before but that didn't really manage to make her understand what it constituted, did it? It was nothing more than an abstract idea, fully theoretical other than the facts she'd already seen with her own eyes: he could fly and transform himself into looking completely different, black eyes and hair turned teal and golden respectively.
His secret had been among them for so long, changing everything, molding their relationship every shaky step of the way, but now, here in her hands, in her arms, he'd given her the reasons behind the hardship. He'd given her the story behind each scar, physical and mental, a glimpse at his past that seemed so distant and hidden just a few days ago.
He'd given her his world.
Without any more words, he pecked her cheek, an obvious substitute for a kiss on the lips that would make the last goodbye that much harder. She smiled because she understood, but his presence alone was making this whole moment almost unbearable anyway.
He climbed atop her desk and looked out onto the street, canvassing the surroundings for people and hopping outside when he felt satisfied enough that all was clear. They stared into each other once more, one last time, soft little smiles on both their lips and shy hands waving a silent "see you later" before he flew upwards and then away.
She closed her eyes and breathed in as deeply as she could but his scent was long gone, unfortunately. As were his toned arms and rock-hard chest, his perfect smile, his magical lips. Hopefully there wouldn't be anymore roadblocks in their path, because, God as her witness, no way was he going to escape her when she came back home in three days. No way in hell! Just thinking about those big manly hands… tracing every inch of her aching body, exploring it.
Could a person die of horniness? Because goddammit...
"Come on, Videl!" she heard her father yell out from outside her door. "We're gonna be late!"
Spare me, old man… As if he'd ever been late to anything in his life. Not that he was ever on time, because he never was, but as with any other type of service he'd enjoy - restaurant or assorted shop - the airline would never pass on the opportunity to transport the great Saviour; they'd wait an hour if they had to!
Though they wouldn't be doing so on her accord, that's for sure. She slid the notebook on her bag's side pocket and zipped it closed, bringing the strap up to her shoulder afterwards. Only three days, she told herself. Three short short days. Hell, she'd settle for one nice short day today, really, just one, just so she could ditch her father and read everything Gohan had written in that precious little book. That would get her through the night.
Oh, God, now she couldn't wait…
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