Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters

First Date?

At 7 o'clock on the dot, there was a knock on Gohan's door. The young boy's eyes flickered open and he uncurled his legs. Within two steps he was at the door. He was ready for anything, he thought as swung the door inward.

He was wrong.

As expected, Videl stood there, but the only thing the same about her was the color of her eyes and hair. The rest of her had been completely transformed. Her hair, released from their customary pigtails, now cascaded down her shoulders in smooth waves. Her face, newly complimented with make-up, exuded an utterly feminine look that he was unaccustomed to. However, he only managed to notice these details fleetingly, for it was the dress that seized his attention almost immediately.

She was clothed in a stunning, black cocktail dress with broad straps that crisscrossed around her neck. It fell to just above her knees, showing off her perfectly toned calves. The smooth satin fabric hugged curves which she had made a point never to show to anyone before. That, combined with a strategically placed gap in the crossing straps, was making it hard for a flustered Gohan to tear his eyes away, a fact which the uncomfortable girl was well aware of. Never had Videl been this self-conscious in her entire life, and the dark-haired boy's stares were not helping. Eventually, she cleared her throat to direct his attention upward to her now blushing face.

Gohan felt heat on his own cheeks and instantly looked down. Things were not off to a good start, but he was determined to maintain control. Taking a few moments to regain his composure, he worked to steady his breath and pounding heart.

"I apologize," he said finally. His voice was genuine and serious. "I was caught off guard. You look quite stunning this evening."

Videl mumbled something incoherent in response. She wasn't bothered as much by his stares—although she was quite relieved to be free of them—as by his new formality. She didn't know how to respond to his compliment, so she decided to press on as if nothing happened. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"I am." He smiled congenially. "What are the plans for tonight?"

"You'll find out eventually," she replied, recalling one of the annoyingly cryptic answers he had given her the last time she was in his apartment.

"So that's how it is. Very well, I will be patient," Gohan retorted good-naturedly, causing the fiery girl to glare at him. "Shall we go?" he suggested, ignoring the dark stare.

"Fine. Let's go." She led him outside and decapsulated her car.

The ride to the restaurant was essentially silent. Gohan took the opportunity to focus his thoughts in an attempt to avoid any more slip-ups that night. Videl, meanwhile, couldn't figure out a way to break the ice. She supposed it might be easier to talk in a less pressured, intimate setting, so she decided to wait. That is, she chickened out.

They pulled up to the Satan Café, a fairly upstanding establishment in Satan City and one of Videl's favorites. The food was high quality but reasonably priced, and the service was excellent. That last detail was of course improved considerably by her identity as the Champ's daughter. Unfortunately, that was a mixed blessing. Her fame also meant she couldn't go anywhere without being recognized, so she had arranged for them to be seated at a corner table partially secluded from the rest of the restaurant. It wasn't a perfect solution, but the staff members were also paid a little extra to keep the other customers away. That ensured that the two would have relative privacy.

The waiter took their drink orders—water for Gohan, a diet Coke for Videl—gave them their menus, and left them alone to decide on their meals.

"What are you going to get?" Videl questioned casually after each had browsed through the menu a bit. It was the only thing she could think to say.

"I don't know," Gohan said as his eyes flicked between each dish listed. There was a lot to choose from. "What are you getting?"

"I always get the chicken marsala. It's absolutely amazing."

"That sounds good…" He scanned the other dishes for a moment more, then snapped his menu shut. "I think I'll get that too."

Videl called the waiter over and ordered for them. With that done, all they had to do was wait for the food. She didn't know how to break the silence between them. She cast about in her mind to find a topic that they could talk about safely.

"So, how long have you lived in Satan City?" It was a pathetic attempt, but it was something.

"About a year."

"How do you like it?"

"There's so many people and places. It can be a bit overwhelming sometimes."

"Yeah," Videl agreed, "Is must be hard for you to live so far away from your family."

"Sometimes," he said but didn't go into any detail.

Silence once again took over. This was going to be even harder than she thought. Videl wasn't much for small talk, and it appeared Gohan was unwilling to help get the ball rolling. From the perfectly calm, focused look on his face, she guessed that he could go through the entire evening in complete silence without being bothered at all. So the task fell to her to do something to prevent this night from being a total disaster.

"So…" she started uncertainly, "What did you think of the math homework?" Okay, that attempt was even lamer than the first, but it was something. Gohan looked a bit confused by the sudden and random turn of the conversation. He had clearly expected to be given the third degree tonight, date or not, about his life and past. Now, here she was asking about something as mundane as school, something they had never talked about before.

"The math homework?"

"Yeah, the math homework," Videl continued, hardly knowing what she was saying. She picked up a fork and started nervously twiddling it around in her fingers. "Did you think it was hard?"

"Well, I haven't done it yet."

"You haven't?" The fork stopped moving momentarily before resuming its constant motion. She was a bit surprised and confused. From what she had seen while she was…observing him, he always did his homework as soon as he got home from school, no matter if it was the weekend or not.

"No, not yet, but based on the material it's over, it shouldn't be too hard…" Gohan considered expounding, but decided against it.

"What about calculus is easy?" Videl asked incredulously.

"Well," he explained, "Nothing, I guess, but when you've been doing it since you were eight, it becomes pretty basic."

Videl's jaw dropped and her hands ceased. "You learned calculus when you were eight? That's incredible! You … you really are a genius, aren't you?"

Gohan let out an embarrassed chuckle. "No, not really. My mom just forced me to study a lot when I was a kid."

"Yeah, well I still wish I had your brains. It would make school easier and give me more time to train." Her eyes had migrated down to her hands as she spoke. She resumed her manipulation of the utensil. When she finally looked up, she saw Gohan examining her intently. "What?" she demanded.

"Tell me, Videl," he said, leaning forward on his elbows. "Why do you want to train so much?"

For an instant her crystal blue eyes vanished behind long, black eyelashes as she blinked in surprise. Wasn't it obvious? Deciding to humor him, though, she told him, "To get stronger."

That did not satisfy him. "But why do you want to get stronger?"

This question made her pause. She briefly considered her work fighting off criminals, but that wasn't the main reason. "To be the best," she admitted after a moment of hesitation.

"And how will you know when you're the best?"

"When I beat my father in the World Martial Arts Tournament." There was not a trace of doubt behind her words.

Gohan paused to consider her words. He seemed to be about to press further, but instead leaned back in his chair. "I see," he said simply. As he did, Videl felt her mind and body relax slightly. She was glad to be out of the hot seat for the time being.

Just then, the waiter arrived with some rolls to hold them over. They provided a welcome distraction as she and Gohan (but mostly Gohan) fell to devouring the food in the most elegant and polite way possible. Just as she was getting comfortable, however, she heard him speak again. "Alright, fair is fair. You answered my question, now I'll answer one of yours."

Videl was stunned. She hadn't expected him to just offer to answer her answers. Maybe Erasa was right. Maybe if she just let him know more about her, than he would be more willing to let go of his secrets. It still wasn't pleasant, but neither was it as bad as she had feared and it sure seemed to be effective.

Gohan's voice brought her back to reality. "Well? I thought you would be dying to find out about me. Have you run out of questions?"

"No!" Videl gave him a brief glare before deciding what to ask him. She decided to avoid the topic of his father, given his reaction the last time she had brought it up. Other than that, what was it that she most wanted to know…ah! "How do you know a talented fighter like Krillin?" she voiced, eager to find out the answer.

Gohan's face twitched almost imperceptibly. "He…He was friends with my father when they were kids."

Crap! thought Videl, I wanted to avoid talking about his father. He seems to shut down every time we do. Now what can I do to fix this…

"So Gohan, who's stronger—you or Krillin?"

Gohan looked up and smiled slightly. "Right now? Krillin by a long shot."

"What do you mean 'right now'?"

"Let's stick to the present, shall we?" That earned him a glare and a grunt from Videl.

"Fine, who's stronger, you or me?" She was fairly certain that Krillin was significantly stronger than her as well, but she was interested to know if Gohan surpassed her as well.

"Hmm…" Gohan closed his eyes. Unbeknownst to Videl, he was carefully gauging her power level against his own. "In terms of sheer strength, I'd say we are quite equally matched."

"Really?" When Gohan nodded his head, she had a very mixed reaction. On the one hand, she surprised he was that strong. On the other, she was upset that, based on what Gohan had told her, she clearly had a long way to go to measure up to legends like Krillin and her father. She was glad that Gohan was helping to train her—at least she hoped all this meditation stuff would help her—but she was now unsure Gohan was capable of helping her at all. But wait… "Hold on, what other terms are there?"

"A lot—technique, experience, ingenuity, and tactics to name a few."

"So what about those? How do I compare to you there?" Videl prodded.

Gohan merely sighed. "If you want to know who would win in a fight, the answer is no one, because the fight would never happen."

"But—"

"Let's talk about something else," Gohan requested, firm but not rude.

"But—"

"Two plates of chicken marsala for the young couple," the waiter interrupted, much to Videl's dismay.

The food was served, and, given the absolute silence, it must have been downright phenomenal. For the next fifteen minutes, only the soft chinks of silverware and the occasional slurp of the noodles could be heard. It took a while, but eventually Videl started to calm down a little, and cursed herself for her stupidity. She had started to slip into the interrogation mode she had told herself to avoid. There wasn't even a need for it; Gohan was already being. She just needed to be patient and take what she could get.

As they were finishing the food, Gohan spoke, "You were right; this was very good." Videl hummed and nodded absentmindedly. It really was a superb meal, but she was preoccupied with her own thoughts. While they basked in their post-dinner stupor, Videl couldn't help but notice that she was actually enjoying herself in some strange way. Sitting there with Gohan gave her an inexplicable feeling of contentment. Even so, she could not let her guard down. They were about to begin anew their verbal jousting. It was a battle not of fists but of words, and she needed all her concentration At the moment, they were at a standoff, analyzing the situation and their opponent, trying to determine their next move. It was Gohan who spoke first.

"My turn," he announced. Videl started to protest, but thought better of it. For now, she decided to follow Erasa's advice. Although it displeased her to let Gohan in on her life, it did seem to make him much more agreeable to answering her questions. He was establishing a precedent—she would answer one question and he would answer one question. So, she would play his game for the time being. She let him continue, "Why did you invite me to dinner?"

Videl immediately questioned her decision.

"Oh! Um … I …" Blood filled her cheeks as she desperately tried to find a way to answer him. She had always valued true and integrity above all else, but right now she was greatly tempted to lie. The truth might cripple her relationship with Gohan. Beyond that, it was plain embarrassing. All she had to say was that she wanted another chance to get answers from him. It made decent sense, and he probably would not question it. But the silence stretched out, Gohan waiting patiently for her answer. She was having difficulty bringing herself to consciously lie, especially to someone who, to the best of her knowledge, had never lied to her, despite how little he had actually told her. Of course, she could just refuse to answer at all, but that might give him the wrong idea that she liked him or something. Finally, she resigned herself to her fate. Sighing, she told him bluntly, "Erasa blackmailed me into asking you out."

Gohan's eyebrows arched in surprise. That was one of the least expected reasons she could have given. However, even though it was an unexpected revelation, he was more relieved than anything else. It seemed that he would not have to deal with the whole romance thing after all. Even so, he tried not to let it show, unsure how his reaction would affect Videl. He needn't have worried. Videl seemed too wrapped up in her own embarrassment to pay close attention to him.

Still, Gohan was confused on how and why Erasa was blackmailing Videl. He waited for her to continue, but she appeared unwilling to say anything more. She would not even meet his eyes. Not to be deterred, he gently said one word: "Why?"

The sound of his voice caused Videl to snap her head up and look at him searchingly, as if she was trying to determine something. She exhaled loudly. Whatever it was, she had apparently resolved the issue because when she spoke again, her voice had regained its usual blend of confidence and brashness.

"Why?" she started, "Why did she blackmail me?" She was gaining volume. "Because she wanted to get us together, numskull! Somehow she thinks that I like you, or that we would be a good couple or some other nonsense, so she decided to play an evil game of matchmaking!"

"But what could she possibly have on you? Did you do something wrong?" Gohan interjected.

"I did nothing."

"Then how is she …"

Videl let out an exasperated sigh. "I told her about coming into your apartment, so she threatened to spread that rumor around and let people think that we … er … you know …"

Gohan's eyes widened in comprehension. "I see." He could feel warmth in his face, but managed to remain levelheaded as he thought through the situation. "So then, after tonight, will she leave you be?"

"Probably. She's not trying to be malicious or anything like that. She just gets overexcited and sticks her nose where it doesn't belong."

Gohan's lips raised in an amused smile. "That does seem like her."

There was a gap in their conversation, during which the servers came and picked up their plates. Gohan leaned back in his chair, mulling over the night so far and considering the best way to proceed. Nothing had gone exactly as he expected, but he had controlled himself well up to this point. Still, he needed to be cautious. That girl possessed the uncanny ability to unsettle him like no one else. Her persistent attempts to pry information out of him were definitely a concern as well.

This time, Videl broke the silence, "So do I get to ask you a question now?"

Back and forth it goes. Gohan thought. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to establish this one for one game of questions and answers. Instead of placating her as he had intended, each answer he gave seemed only to intensify her desire to dig deeper. Oh well, it was too late now. As long as he was careful, she wouldn't find out anything he didn't want her to. In any case, he could stop the game at any time simply by refusing to ask her a question. He was in control—as long as he didn't look into her eyes…

"Sure," he said to his expectant tablemate, "But let's go outside. It will be much more pleasant to walk around while we talk."

Videl split the check with Gohan at his insistence, and they left the noisy atmosphere of the restaurant, entering into the only slightly less noisy city. Outside was completely dark but for the light from the buildings and streetlights that lined the path. Sounds from vehicles and pedestrians permeated the air, but the wide open space served to damper the noise.

"Where to?" she asked.

"I don't know," Gohan replied, "Nowhere specific. Let's just head in the direction of my apartment."

"Sounds fine." They started off, and Videl immediately began formulating what to ask next. She had to be careful, but she was starting to enjoy this game of give and take. The discomfort she felt in answering his questions was well worth the answers she received in return. Each step brought her closer to figuring out the mystery known as Son Gohan. "Okay," she began, "Who taught you to fight?" She examined him carefully as she spoke, not wanting to miss anything.

Gohan didn't return her gaze, choosing to stare up into space instead. "I was first taught to fight by a guy named Piccolo."

"Piccolo?" Videl said incredulously, "As in King Piccolo, the pyscho who tried to take over the world? Who would name there kid after that maniac?"

He ignored her comments. "My only other teacher was my father."

The raven-haired girl stopped in her tracks. Once again, it all came back to his father. Who was this man? First he was friends with a top-notch martial artist like Krillin, now he had taught Gohan, who was as strong as her, to fight. Could it be that this mysterious figure was another martial artist of the same caliber as Krillin? Was he even stronger? Was he as strong as her father? The thought seemed ludicrous, but who knew? Gohan had let on that his father did not live with the rest of the family. Perhaps he spent his time traveling and training. If so, it was conceivable that a man as strong as him could slip under the radar. Even if he didn't measure up to her dad, she suspected he was one of the strongest people on Earth.

Videl was getting excited. It seemed like she was finally getting somewhere. The prospect of potentially meeting this man someday was thrilling. She was so wrapped up in her speculations that she didn't notice Gohan's approach.

"Videl…Videl!" His shouts finally jerked girl back to reality. "Is something wrong?" he asked, looking at her with what appeared to be genuine concern.

"I-I'm fine," Videl sputtered, "I'm just surprised that your father is a fighter." That answer seemed to satisfy him, and the two of them resumed their walk down the dark streets of Satan City. As they reached an intersection, though, her curiosity was beginning to get the better of her. She needed to find out about Gohan's father now, no matter her original intentions.

"Who is your father? Is he strong? Where is he?" The words were out of her mouth before she could properly weigh the consequences of her decision. Oh well, it was going to happen eventually. Now, she would just have to roll with it and see how he reacted.

"I will tell you two things about my father, and after that I would appreciate it if you let it be." Gohan seemed to have anticipated her question and already prepared a response. There was a long pause as he let his words sink in. When she didn't object, he spoke again. "First, his name is Goku. Second, he is one of the kindest, most loving, most compassionate, and yes, strongest men to have ever lived."

"Goku," Videl muttered, "Son Goku." The name echoed around in the deep recesses of her mind. Something about it seemed familiar. As much as she tried, however, she could not place it. She shrugged the problem off for the moment, much too eager make the one request that she had been struggling to prevent from exploding past her lips unbidden. With great effort, she calmly and polite asked, "Do you think he would train me?"

"No." Gohan's quick answer left her reeling.

"What? Why not?" she demanded, but to no avail.

"I thought I asked you to let it be." The boy ignored her protests completely, instead setting off across the street as the light changed. Videl ran to catch up, but nothing she said could convince him to say anything more about his father. Eventually, she just gave up and they walked in silence the rest of the way back to Gohan's apartment. Each spent the 20-minute walk in their own thoughts—time that Videl spent fuming over the secrecy and the stubbornness of Gohan.

When they reached his building, Videl decapsulated her car and left it waiting on the curb as the she turned to bid Gohan goodnight. The two looked at each other for the first time since the silence had begun.

"I guess this is goodnight," Gohan spoke politely, "I would invite you inside, but I think I've learned my lesson. Sorry for any inconvenience I caused you."

Feeling slightly awkward, Videl replied, "Don't worry about it. It was mostly my fault anyway."

Her voice died and the two just looked at each other. If this was a normal date, Videl reflected, this was where the two might kiss. No sooner had that treacherous thought entered her head than she was abruptly struck by the desire for it to become a reality. All of a sudden, she could keenly feel Gohan's proximity—the slight warmth emanating from his body; his distinct, undeniably pleasing scent. She looked up into his strong, obsidian eyes glinting with the streetlights, but her eyes were drawn to his lips. For a few seconds she imagined what it would feel like for those lips to be on hers. Shivers ran up and down her spine. All she had to do was take one step and she would be in his arms. Just one step and she could…

In horror, Videl shook herself from her fantasy. "Goodnight!" she said shortly, got into car, and rode off. A puzzled Gohan was left in her wake.

As always, please read and review. I love hearing all your comments, positive and negative.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!