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First Things First

The next morning, Gohan was waiting for Videl's arrival. An early riser, he had gotten up at 6 o'clock to go on his morning run and returned with just over an hour to shower and eat breakfast, tasks which took him less than half that time to complete. That left him with a good half hour to spare, so he used the time to get in some much needed meditation.

He was still shaken up from the day before. When he'd set out for Videl's house, he had no idea of would happen. But never, in all his wildest imaginings, could he have predicted that not only would he agree to train her, but that he would end up with Videl in his arms. Every time he let his mind wander, it drifted back to that moment.

The soft scent of lavender from her freshly washed hair. The soft whispers of her shallow breathing. Her small body, pressed against his own, making him startlingly aware of how soft she was. The steady pulse of her rapid heartbeat fluttering against his chest. Her smooth skin against his own, radiating its warmth and sending his own heart racing.

That short moment had set his whole body on fire and even now he was having difficulty moving past it. He occasionally thought he could still smell her intoxicating aroma, arousing anew the vivid sensations that had etched themselves in his memory. His heart would skip a beat and begin its steady acceleration.

Now, he sat on the floor do everything he could to suppress those memories and calm himself down so he could focus on reality. He was a sensei now. It would not do to be flustered over his newest and only pupil. He had to be calm and think rationally, or else things could get out of hand.

Fortunately, he had many other things to occupy his mind. Once he was breathing evenly and his heart rate had subsided, he began working through a training regimen for Videl. Unfortunately, he really had no idea how he was going to go about training Videl.

He was pretty sure he couldn't replicate how Piccolo first trained him. Throwing Videl head-first into a cliff was definitely not a possibility. Nor was leaving her stranded in the wilderness for six months. Or throwing her off a cliff to teach her to fly. Come to think of it, most of Piccolo's "training" techniques involved putting his life in extreme danger and forcing him to get stronger or die. That might have worked for him because of his Saiyan blood, but for a normal human?

There were, of course, several other possible ways he could think of, but the greatest obstacle that lay not in the training but within himself.

He had agreed to training Videl largely on impulse. Now that it was about to become reality, however, his doubts and fears began to return. Training, fighting, martial arts. It all reminded him of his father...and the crushing guilt for making him sacrifice himself. He was afraid that if he re-entered that world, everything would return to the way it was.

The torturous darkness still lingered at the corners of his mind, threatening to consume him again at the slightest misstep. And now, in a sad twist of fate, the girl who had become the one light that could stave off that darkness was driving him to its very edge. Training Videl would be a dangerous test of balance, one Gohan intended to play and win.

He just had to be careful.

A little while later, Videl knocked at the door of Gohan's apartment.

"Come in!" Gohan called from within.

Opening the door, she saw him cross-legged in the middle of the floor, still dressed in civilian clothes. His eyes remained closed and he said nothing as she entered, staying in his motionless position as if he were still alone. Not knowing what else to do, she sat on the floor opposite him.

The minutes ticked slowly by as the two sat quietly across from each other. Videl did her best to meditate as Gohan had taught her, but was too eager to begin her training to concentrate on anything else. Even the disturbing memory of their little 'moment' the day before was crowded out by the excitement that she would finally be training under someone that could help her push past the wall she had hit.

Giving up, she opened her eyes to examine her new sensei. Legs crossed, eyes closed, and hands in his lapped, Gohan looked the perfect picture of serenity. His wild, jet black hair that had at first seemed strange to Videl now just seemed to fit. In fact, if she was being honest with herself, she'd have to say she was starting to find it attractive.

She waited as patiently as she could until Gohan finally opened his eyes.

"First things first," he said, "I have two conditions before I train you."

Videl blinked, taken back by the unexpected news.

"First, I need you to tell me why you want to get stronger. The real reason."

Videl's heart dropped. Was Gohan still trying to get her to tell him what had happened? She thought he had decided to leave her be on that. Would Gohan really get her hopes up only to shatter them if she didn't answer his question?

Sensing her distress, Gohan clarified, "I don't expect you to bare your soul to me. Just tell me what you intend to do with the strength you hope to gain."

Videl sighed in relief. The question now seemed a lot less probing and easier to answer. It was still a little private, but she could avoid that subject all together.

"I want to protect everyone in this city and the people I care about," she said, having a hard time looking him in the eyes. Saying something that personal, even if it was benign, was just too…embarrassing.

Gohan said nothing at first. He looked at her intently, as if scrutinizing every motion, trying to detect any trace of deceit. She didn't know what he saw, but he eventually his gaze softened, allowing her to relax.

"Alright, there's just one more thing before we get started."

"And what is that?" she asked, her excitement rising as she realized how close she was to actually getting the training she had desperately desired since she had begun to stagnate in the past year.

"I need you to trust me, at least with your training." He spoke slowly, obviously expecting his request to be one she would have a difficult time with.

"I know you've probably had your doubts about whether I'm really qualified to train you. If not, then I'm sure you will. I need you to put those aside whenever they arise, no matter how hard it may be. You must be willing to do whatever I say, even if you think it is impossible or serves no purpose, and simply trust that I will help you improve. Can you do that, Videl?"

Videl wanted to say yes. The sooner she agreed the sooner they could start. Something within her held back, however.

Trust. Such a simple word, but one of the hardest things in the world for someone who had lived a life like hers. She wanted to trust Gohan, and indeed did on some level. But the level of trust he was asking for now went beyond simply believing what he said. He was asking for her to surrender control, to allow him to dictate what she did.

That was hard for Videl. Training had always been a huge part of her life, but it was something she did alone. She had long since broken off from the useless Satan Dojo to train on her own, wanting to push herself beyond the low expectations of the over-commercialized dojo. For years, no one had told her what to do as she excelled, surpassing everyone in the city except for her father.

If she trained with Gohan, that would all change. She would have to accept his authority as her sensei, a task made more difficult when she had yet to confirm that Gohan could teach her anything. She had never seen him fight. All she had to go on was Krillin's suggestion that he could train her and Gohan's apparent agreement based on his little speech. … And his incredible musculature that she had felt the other day—no, she couldn't forget that detail.

Given all that, she was fairly certain that Gohan was something special. However, she still had some misgivings. If she were to trust him completely, she needed something more concrete.

"Can I ask you a question first?" she dared to speak up.

Gohan nodded and replied, "Of course."

"If you're no stronger than me, how come you say you can help me get stronger?"

He didn't answer right away. His eyes drifted to the ceiling as he considered how to answer her. When he looked back at her, he had come to a decision.

"Because, Videl," he stated, "if we were to fight, I would win."

"How can you be so sure?" she demanded.

"You are thinking of strength in the wrong away, Videl," he explained. "In martial arts, it's not enough just to be physically strong. You must also be able to use that strength in the best and most efficient way. To do this, you must have proper technique so as not to leave your opponent an opening. You must think and strategize during a fight to come up with the best plan of attack. And you must keep a level head and avoid mistakes during even the most stressful of situations.

"I've seen you fight. When you take all those other factors into account," he concluded, "I could easily defeat someone of your level."

He said this with a calm certitude that left no room for doubt. Still, hearing all the abilities she had worked hard to obtain being disregarded so casually was a hard pill to swallow. If she were anyone but Videl Satan, it might have disheartened her to the point of giving up, but she was not that person.

Instead, she viewed it as a challenge. Nothing spurred her to reach higher than seeing someone above her. Her father had always been her ultimate goal, but he seemed so far off that surpassing him often seemed more of a dream than a concrete target. Now she had somewhere to shoot for—someone who seemed much closer.

Videl finally made up her mind. Nothing would stand in the way of her ultimate goal to be the strongest, especially not herself. First she would surpass Gohan, then Krillin, then her father.

"Okay," she told her new sensei, "I will trust you."

Gohan regarded her seriously as he received her answer. Nodding as if he had just confirmed something to himself, he unfolded his legs and rose to his feet.

"Okay, we start immediately."

Videl jumped up to join him. The moment had finally arrived! Her journey to the top began now.

"Does this mean you'll finally fight me?" she asked, bouncing on her toes excitedly. A stern look from Gohan quenched her rising impatience. "Sorry," she quickly apologized, raising her arms in front of her in concession.

"We're going on a little field trip," Gohan said, ignoring her outburst.

"Where?"

"You'll see."

He led her outside and she followed him as they walked towards the edge of town. As the city faded away into less populated countryside, Gohan signaled for them to stop. Pulling a small case from his pocket, he withdrew a capsule which he promptly threw onto the ground next to the road. In a puff of smoke, their vehicle appeared before them.

Videl could only gape at what most closely resembled some kind of futuristic jet. Two sets of wings, one smaller than the other, jutted out to form a strange combination of angles and curves. The pure white fuselage was offset by swabs of midnight blue on the nose and tips of the wings. The entire vehicle was low to the ground and very small, holding at most two people.

She had never seen anything like it. The glossy exterior seemed to be completely seamless, betraying a technology far beyond that of ordinary civilian technology. Indeed, it might have even been beyond the most advanced military equipment. How could Gohan get his hands on something like this?

"Where did you get this?" she asked, running her hand over the smooth metal.

Gohan pressed a switch and opened the hatch for them to get in.

"It might be a little cramped," he told her as he hopped in the pilot's seat. "But we'll manage."

"Wha—" Videl stared at him in disbelief. Gohan was sitting in the aircraft as if she had never spoken, waiting for her to get in. She sighed. She didn't know why things like that still surprised her.

She joined him in the back seat, which was indeed cramped, as he prepared to take off. The hatch came down, giving her a temporary sense of claustrophobia as the amount of available space was drastically reduced. Distracting her from that, however, was the steadily rising drone of the engine. It grew louder and louder until it reached an uncomfortable level.

Finally, she felt the plane move. It moved slowly at first, but rapidly gained momentum as they rose straight into the air. As they continued to gain altitude, she heard the engine noise start to fade. Finally, their ascent came to a halt along with the loud humming. They hovered for a few seconds.

Suddenly, the engine roared back to life. Videl was pressed back into her seat as they shot forward at high velocity towards their destination, wherever that was.

Half an hour into their flight, Videl was already getting impatient. She hated being left in the dark and Gohan still refused to tell her where they were going no matter how many times she asked him. To make things worse, sitting there in the cramped space of the aircraft was really starting to wear on her.

"Will you at least tell me how much longer?" she asked finally.

"About another 30 minutes or so," Gohan replied.

Videl sighed heavily. Only half way there? She didn't know if she could take another half hour of being cooped up in this mechanical prison.

She could have better tolerated the whole ordeal if she only had something to do, but she had nothing—no music, no book, no anything. Neither of them was much for small talk, and the sound of the engine made conversation difficult anyway. The only remaining option for entertainment was to look outside and watch as the world zipped by beneath them. That was fine for the first few minutes, but it quickly grew boring. That left Videl with nothing to do but think. And, as they often did, her thoughts soon drifted to Gohan.

Gohan was her sensei now. It sounded strange to her, even though it was her idea for him to train her. This was the guy she had followed home from school. The guy she had been trying to figure out ever since she first met him. The guy she had gone on a date with, even if wasn't a real date. The guy whose arms she'd been in less than 24 hours ago.

She was glad Gohan seemed to have chosen to ignore that particular moment. The sooner they forgot it the better. Things would get really awkward otherwise. For the sake of her training, she couldn't think of him as anything other than her sensei. She couldn't think of his penetrating obsidian eyes, or his breath in her ear, or his muscular body, or the beating of his heart against her chest … That was easier said than done.

Cursing herself for where her thoughts had wandered, she steered her mind back to her upcoming training. She was still surprised Gohan had actually agreed. He obviously had problems with fighting for some reason; that's why she had promised herself not to pressure him. It was in a moment of weakness that she broke that promise and made her wild plea, fully expecting him to refuse but not caring. She needed to get stronger, and she would try anything.

Videl saw how selfish it all was. She had completely disregarded Gohan's own problems to get what she wanted. But though she regretted exploiting him like that, she just couldn't bring herself to turn back. The memories of that morning just two days ago were fresh in her mind, making any guilt she felt seem insignificant. Every time she thought of what had happened she just wanted to punch something.

Just as she was beginning a slow spiral back into the same foul mood she'd been in the day before, a voice intruded in her thoughts

"We're here!"

Videl started in her seat and looked around. Before she could see where they were, though, her eyes locked on Gohan in front of her and her spirits lifted. Things had changed, she reminded herself. After all the time she had tried on her own and failed, she would finally get stronger.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you everyone for all the reviews last chapter, and keep reviewing! Let me know what you think, tell me any suggestions you may have, point out any mistakes that you see, etc.

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