Welcome to the next chapter! Thank you all for reading this far and thank you to those of you who reviewed – it really means the world to me!
First off, while I was writing this I realised my mistake in chapter one: When Buu appears at the Lookout later on, Piccolo argues that it's too soon, it's only been one full day. Ergo, the title of this story is now moot... Oh well, the title is staying because I liked the dual meaning of it, but the line at the start of chapter one has been changed to 3 days because it just sounds so much more realistic.
There is much more introspection in this chapter because of the sheer amount of time during we don't see Videl – I can't believe how much she missed!
The flight back to the island had given Videl some of time to mull over all the confusing thoughts bouncing around in her head. The most pressing had been the threat of this alien monstrosity, lying encapsulated somewhere on Earth, just waiting for those two brutes, Yamu and Spopovitch, to feed it with Gohan's stolen energy. Even just the thought had made her tremble, but that was nothing compared to the fear that had come the next day, when that beast was no longer just a story, but a living, breathing entity standing before her.
She had decided during that flight that she would trust Gohan. The strange feelings she had for him, so new and full of hope, like bubbles in her chest, were something she'd had neither the time nor the will to consider further, but neither had she wanted to fight them. He might have irritated her in the early days of Saiyaman and lied to her about being the Gold Fighter, but having spent time with him, having seen a tiny glimpse of his life and family, Videl had realised that Gohan was earnest and kind. He was so unlike most of the people she knew who always had their own agenda. Gohan's motivations were clear to her now and she wondered why she'd not seen them sooner. Every decision Gohan made, every sentence, it was all carefully calculated, thought through. All he wanted was to protect. Whether that be his family, his friends, a stranger walking down the street, it made no difference to him. He went out of his way, to the point of awkwardness sometimes, to be kind.
Saiyaman, in his goofy earnestness had driven Videl to madness at first. Nobody was that good, she'd thought, nobody was that selfless. There had to be more to Saiyaman than just some random person coming out of the woodwork to help people. Where had he been before? Why now? How could he do all those things? Why did he do them? Was it all a ruse?
What did it say about her that her first reaction to a selfless act of heroism was to look for ulterior motives? And what did it say about her world that the true heroes, Gohan's friends and family, were people living on the very fringe of society?
Videl hadn't had the answers and supposed it would take time to fully pick apart her feelings on the matter.
But she would trust him. He'd never given her any reason not to, even when his actions seemed erratic to her, they had always panned out in the end, always stuck to the morals he lived his life by.
And that, she supposed, was the big difference between them. Yes, she spent her life helping people, but it wasn't purely out of the goodness of her heart. The first time had just been a case of opportunity, a convenience store being robbed while she was in there buying a drink. One of the men had pointed a gun at her. Maybe another day she would have frozen, would have stayed quiet, but she'd been in a foul mood that day and itching for a fight, so the instant the man got in range she'd knocked the gun from his hand and landed a kick to the side of his head. The man had gone down instantly and his partner only seconds later.
She hadn't enjoyed the resulting publicity but for the first time in too many years she hadn't just been Mr Satan's nameless daughter, she'd been a person in her own right, independent – mostly – from the actions of her father. As the months had gone on and she'd found herself in the vicinity of other crimes, she had begun to gain the trust of the police until, eventually and somewhat inexplicably, she'd found herself being called upon whenever there was a problem. It had been exhausting at times, helping the police and staying on top of school work, a social life and avoiding the media, but she hadn't been willing to lose face to the world, to the officers that trusted in her and the young women that were joining the martial arts world because of her lead. But more than that, she hadn't wanted to go back to being lost in her father's shadow.
The buzz she got from helping people was an added bonus: a reason she could use to explain her actions and a truth in itself. She enjoyed helping others.
It hadn't been until that strange, goofy, black-haired nerd had stumbled into her life – neither knowing nor really caring who she was, who her father was, or what titles either of them had – that she'd realised how empty it all was. How fake.
She'd never left her father's shadow, she had realised, never made a name for herself as an individual. She was merely following in his footsteps to becoming a hero to the people. Yes, she'd become 'Videl Satan: the Champion's Daughter' and that was better than simply 'The Champion's Daughter'. But even she didn't know who Videl was without that tie to her father, so how was anyone else supposed to see her as an individual?
And now, even that name was gone. Her father... Her father was a fake...
He'd never beaten Cell.
He hadn't saved the world.
Maybe she should have been more surprised. Maybe she should have been more upset. Instead she felt like the pieces finally fit, like she was beginning to make sense of all the strange things that had happened in the last eight years.
Her father had won the last World Martial Arts Tournaments fair and square, there was no denying that. He really was the Champion and the popularity he'd gained for that was deserved.
But then the Cell Games had happened. After appearing from nowhere the creature had wiped out city after city. Men. Women. Children. It had been all over the news – she could still remember one chilling broadcast when the anchor and his camera man had been killed on air and for months after, the sound of static on the TV had caused her to break into a cold sweat.
Then, the strange, inhuman man had announced a competition.
A competition.
Such a mundane thing for a monster to hold.
Her father had been quick to announce to the world, in loud, verbose tones and raucous laughter that he would be attending, along with some of his students, and that he intended to defeat Cell once and for all.
Despite her father's bravery, fear had gripped her then, the memory of her mother's death still so, so clear in her mind. She couldn't lose her dad too! Yes, he was strong. Yes, he was the champion. Yes, she had believed in him in that way that all children believe in their father. But her mother's illness had taught her that not everything could be fought. Not everything could be beaten. What if he left her too? He was only human, after all...
Now, in her quiet, humble friend she had seen the reality of that outcome.
Gohan and his father had never announced to the world that they intended to fight. Had never laughed into the cameras while proclaiming their superiority. They had simply walked onto the battlefield that day, brave, focused and selfless. And one of them had never returned home.
Both her life and Gohan's had changed drastically that day, she now understood. Gohan had returned home to his mother, to break the news to her, to watch as she broke down – knowing that nothing would ever be the same again. He had watched his baby brother grow up to be so much like his missing dad, and done his best to tell him stories about their father, whom the little boy would never know. He had studied, he had tried to fill the hole in his family, had become a good person.
Her life had taken a very different direction. She could still remember the relief as her father had finally reappeared on the television, matched only by the relief when he finally walked through the door that evening. Despite everything that had happened he had barely had a scratch on him and she had marvelled at how strong, how indestructible he must have been. That night she'd crawled into bed with her father, exhausted but restless, but happy to know he hadn't left her.
They'd both had nightmares that night. That year.
But the next day – the next day the house was surrounded by news crews and journalists, crowds had lined the streets, cheering for her father. The joy and pride that had welled up in her had made her feel like she was going to burst. Her father really was a hero, and the whole world knew it. Her father knew it.
It took several weeks, maybe even months, for Videl to realise that cold hard truth: That night, wrapped in her father's arms, that was the last time she'd seen the father she loved. The man who faced the world the next day, he wasn't her father the Champion, he was Hercule Satan – Saviour of the World. He attended interviews, talk shows, parades, award ceremonies. He became the most well known and visible of all public figures. His opinions could make or break businesses, careers, politicians. And he revelled in it.
But behind closed doors there had been an anxiety to him, a fear that seemed to eat him up. He would become nervous if he saw a blonde man in the street, looking over his shoulder, looking for a place to hide. It had faded with time and now Videl understood it all. For all that time, her father had been haunted by Goku's ghost. He had seen the man die, had seen his son save the day, and then, when they returned to their quiet, simple lives, he had claimed their victory for his own.
The millions he had made off that achievement had funded a lifestyle that Videl hated while Gohan and his family had lived off nothing more than an inheritance and the remaining prize money from the 23rd Martial Arts Tournament all those years before.
And now they were putting themselves in danger yet again. No pomp or fanfare, no crowds cheering for them in adulation. No rewards. Just the right thing to do. They were doing this for those they loved. And they were doing this for humanity. Even though they knew full well that they weren't invincible. Goku's beautiful, glowing halo served to remind them of that.
Just how was she ever going to explain this to Chichi? She hardly understood it herself and the fiery woman was likely to rip her head off!
"Yo! Videl! Over here!"
What in the world? She had been hundreds of meters above the city when a small voice had broken through her reverie.
"Hey! It's us!" The source of the voice had been tiny, exuberant little Goten.
"Hey, guys." Just how she'd managed to sound so ordinary while bumping into two children 300 or so meters above the coastline, she'd never know but she supposed she'd have to stop being shocked by strange occurrences around this particular family. And she had to admit, the sheer unadulterated cheerfulness with which the little boy greeted her had brought a smile to her face, even through all the confusion.
In hindsight she really did have to confess that it wasn't her brightest move to tell two over-enthusiastic children with a penchant for mischief, no sense of fear and virtually inhuman strength, about a wizard and his monster while their mothers were nowhere to be seen. But at the time she'd hoped that maybe Goten, for whom his mom clearly had a soft spot, could help her explain to the Son matriarch just where her husband and son had run off to.
Instead the two tiny fighters had started trembling – but not in fear. The excitement coursing through them, the undiluted anticipation, had definitely caught her off guard. She'd seen the smirk on Vegeta's face during the drawing at the tournament, the way he'd turned and held up his number to his opponent, blind to anyone and anything but the other man. She had read the anticipation and blood-lust in that expression. Had seen the answering satisfaction on the former world champion's face as he recovered from the shock and came to his own conclusions. She'd seen the mirror image of Goten's face – only twenty-something years older – with that almost feral smirk as Goku had spoken to Kibito. Controlled, focused, but clearly excited by the prospect of the unknowable challenge ahead of him. Then she'd seen Gohan's handsome face, calm, collected and just a tiny bit apprehensive as he had charged toward that looming fight.
Hovering above the water, she had seen the roots of all those emotions in the two boys, untainted by age or experience, free of challenge or resentment. This was the true, undiluted joy of the fight.
With horror she had realised exactly what she'd done. "You guys aren't going, are you? It's dangerous over there!" she'd exclaimed, somewhere between a challenge and a plea.
Goten's near panic when Trunks pointed out that if they didn't hurry it might all be over before they got there, almost had Videl falling from the sky in shock – and that was before they had both flared their auras once more, their hair changing to that vibrant, beautiful gold and their eyes to an equally bright, unearthly green. Before she had been able to stop them, the boys had lined up as if for a race, then blasted off at a speed she could never hope to match, Trunks' cheer of "We're going to kick some bootay!" barely reaching her ears.
The end result was that she instead had to tell Chichi, not only what her errant husband and eldest were doing, but also that, yes, she had told the two boys all about it and then watched them speed off into the distance, completely unable to do anything to stop them.
For an instant, Videl had considered stopping right there, had thought of sinking to the ground and taking some time to come to terms with all that was happening around her.
Just what exactly was that strange transformation? What did it mean that all of the Son men could do it? Could Chichi do it too? Vegeta? Was it something she herself could learn with time or was it something special about them? She had a feeling it was the latter because, as the day had gone on to prove, there was nothing normal about those men.
Whatever the case, the change was spectacular, even if she didn't know its purpose. It was as if they were lit up by some inner flame, some power beyond the ki that Gohan had shown her, and she suspected that, if she was to see the same transformation in the dark, it would be like looking into the brightest fire.
All she knew now was that, apparently, she knew a lot less than she'd thought she did.
So, this one is a lot shorter but I've already started on the next chapter. This just felt like the right place to stop.