After a long hiatus here it is, the second chapter of When Destiny Calls! From now on I'm going to try to regularly upload chapters to this story and hopefully get back into the swing of writing. I don't have much else to say but, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ
"Gohan, don't forget to wear a jacket!"
"Ah, right! Sorry, mom" the teenage saiyan responded, rushing from his spot in front of the door to grab a thin winter coat. It felt just yesterday Gohan was saying goodbye to his friends Sharpener and Erasa in depart for the summer but alas, roughly five months had passed and the early November winter chill seemed to be settling in over the 439 mountain district. The cold weather never bothered him however, he could always raise his ki to keep himself warm. Despite this he complied to his mother's wishes, slipping on the coat before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Alright I'm off, see you later!"
"Don't be home too late, it's been getting dark very early and you know how I worry!" she called up to her now ascending son.
"Don't worry I won't, I promised Goten I'd play with him early today anyways" he called back before speeding off to Satan City.
The older woman couldn't help but smile up at her eldest son, 'such a wonderful young man he's become' she thought, thinking back to from when he was Goten's age to the present. Speaking of who, was peering out the window watching his brother disappear. Unlike his older brother he dreaded what felt to be the endless amount of studying his mother would have him do everyday, and always looked forward to the time Gohan would finally come home. Lately the hours without his brother felt like they were becoming longer and longer.
Goten sighed, he recalled the teenager mentioning how their mother had changed since he was a child, it could definitely be worse. There were days when his mother trained with him, something she would never even think of doing when Gohan was his age. Goten used to look forward to training with his mom, but that all changed after he became a super saiyan. It had to have been not even two months ago when she stopped training him, after crying out how her little boy had become a monster. He missed having someone to train with during the day other than his friend Trunks who he seemed to be seeing less and less.
"Goten, honey, are you alright?"
The six year old turned back to see his mother moving to join him on his perch on the couch next to the window, setting a soft hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, I just miss Gohan. Why can't he stay home and study instead?"
"Now now Goten, you know Gohan needs to so he can get into a good University and receive a big scholarship", 'and maybe he can finally meet a nice girl so I can get some grandchildren' she shook her head. "How about you just go out and play today until Gohan gets back?"
The young saiyan's eyes lit up, "does that mean I don't have to study today?"
The older woman smiled, "yes but I only ask you do your chores, that means collecting firewood and hmm… should we have fish tonight?"
"Yeah! I promise I'll catch the biggest and bestest fish!" he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide in an attempt to show just how big it would be.
His mother let out a chuckle, "I know you will, Goten. Now, let's go eat breakfast and then you can go get the firewood and play." His grin grew at the mention of food to which he nodded eagerly in agreement, making his way with Chi-chi to the kitchen.
Goten wiped his hands together, satisfied with his work as a dozen large piles of wood laid before him. His first chore hadn't taken long, the sun was high in the sky signaling it was still only around noon time. It would still be a while until his older brother would be home to play, he usually would arrive just when the sun was beginning to set.
"Hmm, I think it's time for lunch, what do you think, tummy?" the young saiyan asked, looking down at his stomach. As if on cue a loud rumble erupted from the six year old. "I'll take that as a yes," he giggled, making his way back to the house. He could only imagine what he would scrap up for lunch, as his mother informed him she would be at the market for a couple of hours to get more food, he could eat whatever his stomach desired without her noticing- for now. His dreamy train of thought however, was cut short.
Hearing the movement and dropping of various objects he stopped and turned toward the small shed-like building known as his late Grandpa Gohan's house. It wasn't uncommon for small creatures to make their way into the abandoned home, yet he had never heard any make as much a ruckus as this. Almost impulsively, Goten walked toward the cracked door of the home, slowly opening it inch by inch as he peered inside.
'Who's she?' he questioned, staring at the backside of what appeared to be a teenage girl rummaging through the practically abandoned objects. "What are you doing in here?"
Surprised by the unexpected company, the girl turned and fell instinctively into a fighting stance. She eyed the boy, 'Oh, it's just a kid…'
Before the girl had a chance to respond Goten's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, "Hey, that's Grandpa Gohan's dragon ball! What are you doing with it?" The next thing he knew, the girl leaped towards him. She had no intention of actually harming the earthling, just making a quick escape; to her surprise, she was engaged in what would appear to be a sparring match with the boy. Her punches started out false in an attempt to scare the child away after he prevented her from rushing away but now things began to get more serious between the two as they "fought" on the grass just outside the two buildings. The girl smirked, satisfied with the boy's abilities, needless to say, Goten found himself with a smirk of his own. 'Impressive for a kid.'
The teen broke from her fighting stance, facing the young saiyan a couple yards away who followed in suit. She tossed the dragon ball up and down in her hand almost teasingly, "Oh, this? Yeah, I'm going to need to uh.. borrow it for a while" she stated.
Goten's eyes narrowed once more, "but you can't take that!" he proclaimed, earning an eyebrow raise from the girl.
"Oh? And why's that?" she challenged, crossing her arms.
"Because Gohan says only our friends can have them!" he retorted innocently, matching her stance.
Everything seemed to stand still for a moment for the girl, why was she still standing there? Sure the kid was strong but not strong or fast enough to prevent her from escaping at this point. She had to admit, he was intriguing. Maybe that was why she stuck around. She sighed, and without thinking decided to go along with the earthling, "alright kid sure, we're friends, now can I go?"
Goten's eyes widened, "wait but, we haven't done any friend things, like what me and Trunks do!"
Growing annoyed, she rolled her eyes, 'I don't have time for this.'
"Well what do you want?"
"I really like to play and spar! Oh, and I like collecting bugs and-" The girl had stopped listening after a while as he kept going on about all of the the things he enjoys. Goten practically glowed at the thought of everything, though she hated to admit it, she envied his innocence.
After a few more minutes of rambling she decided to cut him off, "So, you said you like to spar?"
Goten stopped his talking for a moment before continuing to answer her question, "yeah! But I don't get to train much with anyone anymore… mom doesn't want to train me and big brother's always at school." Goten's tone turned glum at the change of topic. The girl let her sapphire eyes rest on him for a while, watching him stare at the ground. 'So that's it...'
She ran her hand over her raven hair, already regretting the decision she was about to make. "How about this er…"
"Goten" he informed.
She nodded, "I'll train you, but only if I get to have this" she stated, holding up the orange ball in her hand. "But you can't tell anyone I'm borrowing it."
Goten nodded eagerly, "Ok! Come on, let's start now, I know the perfect place!" Without further adieu he sped off into the forest, spurring up a trail of dust behind him. She took a moment to almost marvel at his speed, and decided to keep her promise, taking off after him.
The duo rushed through the thick forest, avoiding any all all trees with ease both being accustomed to the landscape. It wasn't long until the girl began to slow down, seeing the younger half saiyan skid to a stop in the middle of a large field. The sapphire eyed saiyan took a moment to survey the area. A vacant yet lively green field; nearby, a powerful river flowed, creating a winding line between the field they stood in with another, more rocky one.
"This is where me and big brother usually come, no one else knows about it, not even Trunks, it's my favorite!" he exclaimed, stretching an arm across his body and proceeding with a variety of other types of stretches. He looked up at the girl who simply stared back at him, not bothering to stretch. She'd gotten used to not doing so every single time she fought, be it to the death or just a simple spar. 'Besides, training this kid will be nothing.'
Seeing the child stand upright, she was prepared to fall into a fighting stance, but remembered about the orange relic in her hand. "Hold on, I'll be back" she stated, turning to take off to her temporary cave home. Seeing the older saiyan levitate into the air, Goten halted his almost protest at her decision.
"You can fly?!" he exclaimed. The girl looked back at him, remembering that earthlings did not know how to manipulate their energy to fly, 'except for that one male…'. Before the boy could say another word, she was gone.
Goten's eyes dropped to the ground, "I want to learn how to fly…"
Almost desperately, Goten attempted to dodge the onslaught flurry of kicks and punches sent by the teenager. Despite it only being a sparring match, she treated it as a real battle, just as saiyans were taught to; he learned this quickly. Trying to catch his breath, Goten jumped back, huffing as he faced the girl in a tired, fighting stance.
"Behind you!" she mocked, vanishing and reappearing behind him before he even noticed what she had done. The saiyan performed a merciless roundhouse kick at the child, sending him flying into one of the nearby trees on the edge of the field. She watched as the boy flopped to the ground, tears forming in his eyes as he picked himself up once again.
"We're done for today" she stated, letting her tail unwind from her waist. The teen stared at the boy still on the ground; her eyes began to soft for a moment.
Goten could hear her soft footsteps walk towards him; he tried to wipe away the tears before she could get close enough, but it seemed she already had noticed. 'She's almost as bad as mister Vegeta…' he thought, taking note of her halted steps.
"You okay, kid?"
The boy was surprised by the sudden bit of sympathy from the girl. It was no use now, he quickly ran his arm across his face once more and stood in front of the cross armed teen. "Yeah, it's just… hard to keep up. Gohan would never keep hurting me…" he frowned, trying to avoid all eye contact.
The teen watched as he shuffled slightly in place, becoming more uneasy as she bore into him. Her mouth began to twist in confliction. She was a member of one of the most powerful races in the universe, or, at least what used to be. Their idea of training was to be pushed to the brink of death, as it made them stronger due to their miraculous anatomy built for warriors. Yet, here she was, standing in front of a sniffling Earth child. It hadn't occurred to her until now that he was indeed only but, an Earthling, despite his abilities. She however, did not let what should have been a pang of guilt for her treatment of the boy reach the surface.
"I guess I'll have to rethink your training," she thought out loud, letting her eyes travel to see the sun beginning to set. "We're done for today, meet me here tomorrow when you're ready to train."
"Wait! Don't go yet, there's something else I forgot to do," he exclaimed, causing her to stop and turn back to the Earthling who was now rid of the top of his gi. The next thing the girl knew, Goten had run across the field, cannonballing into the river, "Come on, let's fish!"
Expecting the girl to join him, he proceeded to hunt for the biggest fish as promised. It didn't take long for him to do so, splashing up to the surface with a large squirming fish in his hands. 'Huh?'
"Goten?"
"Hey, Gohan! Look at this guy!" Goten exclaimed, still treading water with the fish above his head, gleeful for his elder brother's appearance.
"That's great Goten but isn't it a bit late to be fishing? Mom's been worried sick about you, you should have been home a long time ago."
'Oh. So that's why he came…' Goten frowned. I hadn't occurred to him why his older brother joined him, normally he'd be finishing homework in their room alone, as Chi-Chi made sure he wouldn't be bothered. The boy climbed out of the water, placing the fish down and keeping his face with it, too saddened to look at his arm crossed brother. "I'm sorry Gohan, I was playing with a friend and lost track of time…"
Gohan sighed, "It's fine Goten, let's just get home before mom worries any more." Goten nodded and proceeded to grab and put on his shirt again before running off with his older brother and the fish.
Their trip was in silence, and to little Goten, felt as if it took hours to get home. He knew his mother would be furious. However, it wasn't long until their small home came into view, as well as the view of their mother standing in the doorway, uncaring about the cold air entering their home.
"Goten, how many times have I told you not to stay out alone after dark?" his mother inquired, trying to remain as calm as possible despite her worries that shortly turned into anger.
He kept his head low once again, "I'm sorry mom, I know I'm not supposed to be out alone without Gohan or Piccolo but I was with my new friend an-"
"Oh? And who is this friend?", Chi-Chi raised an eyebrow to Gohan who only shrugged. When he arrived there was no one to be seen.
Goten bit his lip, he knew he had to choose his words carefully. "I- forget her name," he lied. "She came near the house when I was cutting wood and we started playing, I'm sorry." He hoped his mother wouldn't press any further but, at last he heard her sigh and relaxed.
Chi-Chi turned to go back into the house, "next time you stay out past again, mister, it'll be the last. Now come, dinner's ready, we'll have the fish tomorrow." Goten nodded, walking into the house with his brother close behind.
'I promise… I won't do it again.'
Today would be the day.
The days came and gone through the next few weeks and with each one, another day of training as well; however, to Goten each day there was a little part to him that felt… unfulfilled. Goten smirked in anticipation, today he would try to change that. It wasn't long until he reached the frost covered field.
The teenage girl stared into the coursing river, unable to take her eyes away from the hypnotizing waves.
"HAH!"
As quickly as her reflexes would let her the saiyan girl jerked out of the way of the oncoming punch, letting the younger boy fall into the waves. She stood abruptly, panting in shock.
It wasn't long until Goten surfaced, laughing aloud while the girl trembled half in anger, backing away from the water. "Haha, you should see your face! I almost got yo-" he started, coming back onto dry land only to be grabbed and tossed down by the girl.
"If you ever try that again around water I'll have your head!" she growled, preparing a ki ball in front of the boy's face. Goten began to panic, he never meant to make her angry.
"I-I'm sorry I didn't know, I didn't mean to make you mad, I won't do it again!" he pleaded, clenching his eyes shut and lifting his arms as the ball of ki came closer. When he opened his eyes, a meter wide crater had formed beside his head.
The fur on her tail smoothed again as she tried to calm herself down, he was just a boy, after all. "Let's just get on with the training... "
"Ok, that's enough for today" the girl stated, looking up to the pinkish sky. She turned to return to her temporary home, only to see the boy still standing in his place. 'Hm..?'
"Well? What are you still here for? You're the one who said you need to be home before dark" she inquired, watching Goten shuffle in his place.
"M-ma'am…" he started, causing her to raise an eyebrow.
'Pfft, ma'am.'
"Tomorrow, I want to learn how to fly!"
The girl paused, the boy had never mentioned flying before, she never thought it would be in the equation at all.
"First of all, I expect you here bright and early tomorrow, no games."
Goten could hardly contain his happiness, but before he could speak the girl spoke on.
"Second of all, it's Videl."
There is it! As pretty much everyone could tell, it was Videl all along. Sorry if the ending felt a bit rushed, I was really excited to finally post again ^^; I"ll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible! In the meantime please R&R! Until next time~!