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

Revelations

"So…how'd it go?" Those were the first words out of Erasa's mouth the next day at school. But the busybody blonde only received a grunt in response as Videl hurriedly grabbed a book from her locker and went to class.

That was what it was like all day—Erasa trying to draw her out and spill the beans about her date and Videl refusing to be baited. In fact, no one could get the Satan girl to speak. Not even Sharpner's lame come-ons and ridiculous claims that she was his "babe" could elicit any more than the weakest response. Satan City's favorite crime fighter was presently deaf to the world around her.

Finally, at lunch—Videl was absent, presumably on some task for the police—Sharpner turned to Gohan. "Your turn, nerd-boy! We tried, now you gotta snap Videl out of this."

Gohan, calm as ever, merely said, "Perhaps she would rather to be left alone for a while. I see no reason to interrupt her."

"Hmph!" Erasa interjected. "But she needs to tell me about your date. Unless of course," she looked at Gohan, "You are willing to share some of the juicy details. After all, something must have happened to make her like this and I'd be willing to bet that it was the date. So…?"

The young Saiyan was not fazed by the teenaged girl's behavior, already expecting it by now. "We had dinner, talked, and walked back to my apartment where her limo was waiting to take her home. There's nothing else to tell."

"You're such a spoilsport. Of course there is!" Erasa chimed, "But I can see that you won't tell me, so I guess I'll just have to wait for Videl to come back down to Earth."

"Yeah," Sharpner couldn't help but butt in, "'Cause when she does, she'll realize that nerd-boy's nothing and that I'm the one for her."

The others had a good laugh at that.

Meanwhile, Videl stood poised for action, crouched slightly in the stance she had been perfecting for over 10 years, in a makeshift sparring arena. Sharp, analytic eyes were trained on her opponent, daring him to drop his guard for a second. Every so often, however, those eyes would flicker—her inscrutable gaze would falter for just a moment. The change was subtle and lasted only a fraction of a second, but an experienced eye could easily pick up on it.

It was frustrating. She would need all her focus and concentration to overcome this opponent, yet she was distracted. Nothing she did could stop the thoughts of Gohan from popping into her head, not even the upcoming fight.

Son Gohan.

The name aroused a whirlwind of powerful, mostly contradictory emotions and feelings that she had never felt before. Anger, curiosity, anxiety, contentment, dislike, and maybe even attraction—it was all bundled up in a jumbled mess that made Videl's head spin. And her date had rattled her, especially its conclusion and the strange compulsion she had felt to…but no, she would not think about that. She had already decided over the weekend that the best thing to do was to push that parting moment out of her mind. She would not let herself get flustered over some petty attraction that meant nothing. Better to focus on more important things.

Videl was still furious with him for refusing to even consider her request to train with his father. Yet there was also a certain element of his response that piqued her curiosity more than anything else had before. She was now more determined than ever to find out about Gohan and his father—Son Goku, who she desired more than anything else to train her.

She would not be denied. Steeling herself, she charged at her opponent, determined to defy the odds and beat the answers she so craved out of Orange Star High's resident martial arts instructor.

Krillin watched her come, never batting an eye.

10 minutes earlier

"Ah, Videl! What a surprise!" Videl had hardly entered the gym when Krillin's friendly voice rang out over the surrounding noise.

Students from his last class were still dispersing for lunch. They showed some passing interest, but ultimately chose to satisfy their hunger over their curiosity. Krillin himself probably could have done without this interruption—he had been planning to fly back to the Kame house for a quick homemade lunch—but there was something about the Satan girl that intrigued him. She had fire. And she certainly seemed to have taken an interest in Gohan from what he had gathered. Talking with her could very well be worth missing a meal. It's not like he was a Saiyan, after all.

As the last stragglers trickled out of the gym, Krillin motioned Videl over to him. "So what can I do for you?" he asked.

This was it. She had spent all day planning what she would say to their gym teacher, rehearsing situation after situation in her head, weighing the merits of various approaches. Even now that the question was posed, Videl was still trying to decide how to go about getting the information she wanted.

"It's about Gohan, isn't it?" Krillin quickly brought an end to her indecision. Just like that, all of her intricately wrought plans to subtly bring up the subject were rendered useless.

"Yeah," Videl admitted after a brief hesitation, "Can you help me?"

"That depends. What do you want?"

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me as much as you know, especially about his father, Son Goku."

Krillin's eyes widened and he keeled over in a sudden coughing fit as the shock made him choke on his own spit. It took him a bit to recover. "How do you know about Goku?" he asked when he finally

"Gohan told me about him. Last weekend." That earned her an odd look.

"Gohan did?" Krillin spoke reflectively. He seemed much more serious and guarded than normal. "And what is your interest in Goku?"

Videl's heart rate rose slightly at the question. "Well, so much about Gohan's life seems to revolve around his father, but he won't talk about him at all. Every time a mention him, he gets all agitated. Plus, Gohan said that he was really strong. I was hoping that he could train me, but I don't know where he is or if he'd be willing to take me on. All I have is a name. Gohan said you and him were friends as kids, so I thought that you might be able to help me find him, maybe even recommend me to him."

Krillin listened thoughtfully to her explanation. Once she had completed it, he sighed. This girl was treading in dangerous territory. He would have to be careful. He didn't want to reveal anything that Gohan didn't want her to know. Though the demi-Saiyan would never kill him, he could cause him a whole lot of trouble if he wanted to, and not just physically. Best to avoid annoying a person who, besides being the most powerful being in the universe, also happened to know his wife and a whole lot of ... ahem … sensitive information.

"Okay," he announced, decision made, "Let's make a deal. If you can defeat me in a sparring match, I'll tell you everything I know." This oughta get her off my back.

Having, obviously, agreed to his terms, Videl now was flying through the air towards Krillin's head, attempting to end the match quickly with an aerial kick. At the last minute, however, her target nimbly spun away to get behind her, and, as she was trying to regain her balance, pushed her firmly towards the edge of the ring. It wasn't enough to send her out, but it did succeed in aggravating her. She spun around quickly and saw Krillin grinning.

"Never give your opponent that big of an opening," he advised, "Moves like that leave you wide open for attack. They may work on weaklings who are either too intimidated or too incompetent to take advantage of them, but against those who are equally or more skilled than you, they can be a fatal mistake."

Videl did not like being patronized. Enraged, the raven-haired Satan child let out a barrage of anger-laden punches and kicks that would have laid flat most ordinary humans. Krillin, however, was no ordinary human. He could have taken every one of those blows and not felt any pain at all, but he chose instead to move with almost inhuman speed and let each and every one of her vicious attacks miss by the slightest of margins. As she began to slow, he masterfully maneuvered himself behind her and gave her another shove.

As she stumbled away, he again instructed her, "Keep a clear head. Never let your anger interfere with your judgment or technique."

Videl was furious now. He was treating it all like a game. Why had he challenged her at all if he was going to act like it was nothing more than a training match? Completely ignoring Krillin's advice, she lashed out with all her pent-up rage in a lightning-fast, devastating punch. When he did not appear to be able to dodge in time, hope began to rise that she had finally bested him. Her fist sped towards her teacher's chest, only to be stopped short by Krillin's palm.

It felt like hitting concrete.

He had stopped her most powerful punch with one hand, and appeared to have done so with only the slightest of effort. She used her other arm to push harder, but to no avail. No matter how much weight and strength she used to push against him, Krillin's arm would not budge. She might as well have been pushing against a wall, and his arm was not even locked! She was now trembling with a mixture of awe and fear. Who was this man? Did she really have this far to go? She had little time to ponder these things, however, as Krillin spun her around and shoved her, much harder than before, clear out of the ring.

The match was over and with it Videl's hopes of being trained by Son Goku.

"Looks like I won," Krillin observed with his hands behind his head.

Videl had gotten up from the little roughing-up Krillin had given her, but still sat hunched over, face to the floor. Her body was only minimally damaged, but it felt like her will to go on had been crushed. She had been defeated, as soundly and easily as one would a toddler. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined anyone could be that precise, that quick, and that strong. It shook her to the core. She had come so far, spent the last 10 years of her life in constant intense training to become the best, only to find she was so far outclassed by someone she just met a week ago. How much farther did she need to go? And how would she make it now that she had no chance of being trained by Son Goku? But no, she would not give up. She still had a chance … She looked up.

"Krillin-sensei, will you train me?" Videl pleaded.

Krillin looked at her funnily. "Why would you want that?"

"Because you are so much stronger than me. I want to get stronger."

"Why?"

"To be the best," Videl recalled saying the same thing to Gohan that night, in response to the very same question, in fact.

"And you think me training you would allow you to achieve that."

"Of course. You are the strongest person I've ever faced. If I want to be the best, I have to train with the best."

"Hmm." Krillin almost wished he could help her—she was so determined and spirited—but Eighteen would kill him if he spent even more time away from home, especially if it didn't bring in any extra cash, so… "Sorry, Videl. You are right, and I admire your determination, but I just don't have the time. I have a family that I need to get home to every day. You're going to have to find someone else."

"But—"

"I'm sorry, but it just won't work. If you really want to get stronger, I recommend you try to get Gohan to help you."

"He won't do it. He refuses to fight at all. Besides, he said that you were stronger."

Krillin was intrigued by Videl's revelation that Gohan would not fight. So something really is wrong with Gohan, he thought, To outright refuse to fight is…not a good sign. He's half Saiyan after all. Their every instinct is to fight. What could have gone wrong?

"Well, in any case, Gohan is your best option. He may not be as strong as me, but he could still make you many times stronger…if, that is, you can convince him to train you."

"And how do you propose I do that?" Videl asked, frustrated.

"You're going to have to figure that out on your own, unfortunately," Krillin told her with a slight grin on his face, but quickly sobered up, "I don't know what exactly is going on with Gohan, but something tells me you may have trouble persuading him to help. So I will give you two pieces of advice. One, be patient. If you push too hard, it will only make things worse. Two, if your only goal is to be the strongest, you might have a hard time convincing him. I suggest you rethink your motives. Don't lie, though—he'll be able to tell."

Videl dutifully absorbed his words. If Gohan was her only remaining choice, she would do everything she could to get him to train her. Krillin knew Gohan better than anyone else she knew, so this was valuable information.

"Thank you, sensei," she said sincerely, already thinking of how she would go about approaching Gohan.

"No problem. In the meantime, though, Gohan has been helping you with meditation, right?" Videl nodded. "Don't disregard that. Learning to control your emotions in a battle is a vital skill. You must be able to analyze your opponent with a clear mind no matter the situation…or how they act."

Videl wanted to protest, but took the rebuke silently. She realized he was right: she had lost her cool and fought sloppily as a result. So she simply thanked him once again, and turned to leave.

Before she left the gym, however, Krillin called her back, "Wait!" He considered the wisdom of what he was about to say, but in the end decided it was for the best. He just hoped it didn't come back to bite him in the butt. "You wanted to know about Gohan's father, right?"

"Yeah…" Videl said, hopeful but unsure of where he was going with this.

"I am going to tell you one thing about Goku, but you have to promise me that after this, you won't mention him again—at least until Gohan himself brings him up. Can you do that?"

She considered his condition. She didn't like the idea of having to wait for Gohan to tell her what she wanted to know on his own. Still, any bit of information was good, and there was no guarantee she would be able to get Gohan to tell her anything else. Plus, she was curious what one thing Krillin would find important enough to tell her even though she had lost. In the end, it was worth the risk, she decided.

"Fine, but it better be something important. Otherwise, deals off."

"That's fine." Krillin paused.

"Well?" Videl prodded, growing impatient.

"The reason Goku cannot train you is because…" He looked down somberly. "He's gone."

"Gone, as in…?"

"He's dead."

Videl was stunned. He was … dead? But Gohan had spoken as if he was still alive. Still, so much made sense if it was true. It would explain a lot of Gohan's behavior, and it fit everything that he had told her about him—including why he wouldn't train her. Her heart sunk. She should be happy—she had solved a major piece of the puzzle—but she instead felt ashamed. Videl could imagine all too well how all her pushing and prodding must have made him feel. Whenever someone asked about her mother…

"How?" she managed to ask, but Krillin simply shook his head.

"No more questions. The answers you want are Gohan's to give. You'll just have to wait until he's ready. I only told you this to discourage you from digging too deep."

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Soon, students would begin to file in for gym class. The conversation was over.