Tomorrow morning when she woke up, Videl was as light as a feather, the burden of living under the pressure of trying to reach the top of the world lifted from her mind. She would reach the heights those people like Goku or her father were at, one step at a time.

Today when she went to stop a crime, she tried to remember what she saw in Goku's memory. He felt the sky, the star, the planet and the life. She wanted the start on the long road to getting there, so she tried to feel the life.

It didn't work today, she couldn't feel anything but it would work tomorrow or even the day after. She knew she would get there.

She could only get to school by noon, it took a while for her to make it. Her schoolmates gave her detailed notes of what happened in the classes she missed, she was truly grateful to them like she never was before.

While they were having lunch she found Erasa, Sharpner and Gohan and greeted them, they all replied back but Videl sensed a bit of nervousness coming from Erasa. This girl was someone who could hide her emotions perfectly most of the time, something must have happened Videl thought but it didn't matter, they could solve it.

After a bit of talking with the other two, and Gohan certainly had his own problems, she found an excuse to stay alone with Erasa and asked, "So what happened?"

Erasa didn't try to hide that she had a motive, "I wonder if we could eat stuff together after school, it has been a while since we two went out."

Videl stared her down and said, "Just tell it to me straight." if she had to tell one flaw about her friend, it was that Erasa was too manipulative. She tried too hard to get everything under her control, she never went with the flow.

Realizing she lost the initiative Erasa said, "It's 17. He wants to talk with you." 17? Wasn't he the handsome boy hanging around Son Goku, Videl wondered what he would talk with her.

But there was something way more crucial she had to learn, "When did he say this to you?"

Cracking under the pressure of Videl's eyes, Erasa confessed, "He gave me his number at Forever 18. I have been messaging him since."

"Of course you have. His nickname is 17 you know? Not his age? Anyways, tell him I'll come." she said. Another flaw of Erasa was handsome men, thankfully her standards were unrealistically high.

In an inconspicuous cafe close to school, 17 was waiting after school. This time he wasn't with 18, Son Goku or Eschalot. When he wasn't in a group of handsome men and beautiful women, he looked all the more special, all the more picturesque, truly someone to obsess over. But thankfully that was never a part of Videl's personality.

He said, "The beautiful ladies are here already? I wasn't expecting you so soon." in a way she could only describe as 'cool'. His looks and behavior and personality all turned him into a sweet trap.

With her harshest voice possible, Videl asked, "Why did you call me?" she didn't want to give 17 an inch lest he take a mile. That was how you dealt with these types.

17 laughed off her attitude and said, "I just came here to talk. After you spent half an hour with Kakarot, you can spend as much with me right? I am an interesting man."

"Kakarot?" she asked as her first question. 17 was right, he was interesting and Videl had a lot to ask him. The mystery around him and 18 had to be lifted today.

He explained, "We call Goku, 'Kakarot' along with my sister. It is a nickname we have for him, it is a long story but I am sure you have more interesting questions." he looked kind of excited at the prospect of being asked questions. He wanted to reveal some truth but blaming her for asking. She would play along, she wanted to know more anyways.

Her next question would set the tone for the entire conversation and she picked one that she was wondering since she first saw them, "I looked through Son Goku's past, I saw his connections with Bulma Brief, Yamcha and even my father, but I didn't know you two existed. Even after I met you two, neither of you have any records anywhere."

His explanations made perfect sense however, she couldn't refute after he said, "We were orphans along with my sister before Kakarot took us in 7 years ago. He saved our lives many times, no matter what we do it wouldn't be enough to repay him. He is like a father to us." in a way that made it sound like matter of fact.

After getting a satisfactory answer she asked, "If LL35 is named after you and your sister, does that mean you are really 17 years old and couldn't become the company president at that age? You look young."

This time she knew she actually asked an interesting question as 17 answered while smiling, "Even though Kakarot is the founder and president in name, we do all the actual work, training the recruits, management, financing etc. He is the president because Bulma thought that would be for the best."

Rather than the 'reveal' of Bulma Brief financing LL35 that Videl already guessed, another thing 17 said interested her, "You are responsible for the training of LL35 employees?"

17's smile got slightly deeper while he answered, "Yes I am, did you have any questions about training?"

A question that was on her mind for a while escaped out of her lips, "How strong are you?" that was the crux of all questions in life wasn't it.

Smile on 17's face gave way to a grin while he said, "One of the three strongest people on the planet, the exact place fluctuates by day."

Videl's next question took a bit of wind from his sails however, as Videl asked about her 'Feel the sky, feel the life' theory and whether it was accurate. If that would work she wanted to get some tips.

17 looked a bit helpless for the first time, "You are talking about energy sensing... I can't really help you on that due to certain conditions I have but I know that a part of your theory is wrong. First step isn't 'Feel the life', it is 'feel the self'. That is the starting point of all martial arts." he explained. Despite saying he couldn't really help her, the insights he provided were invaluable.

Clearly becoming slightly impatient at the lack of 'right' questions, 17 started to lead the conversation, "But why didn't you ask your father about it?"

"I would have asked but he wasn't home. If you are one of the three strongest people on this planet, the other two are my father and Son Goku right?" Videl asked. She didn't know why 17 asked this but she wanted to play along.

With a fake surprised expression she saw all the time on high school girls, 17 asked, "Why do you think your father is one of the three? Is it like little kids saying their father is the strongest?"

Her scowl clear, she said, "Of course he is strong, he is the person who beat Cell, even a kid knows that." did 17 know something she didn't? Was Cell really weaker than people thought like she guessed?

He looked at his phone and said, "Oops, half an hour is up. See you next time princess." and left without saying anything else. Videl now understood 17's trap and she fell for it too, she had to know what was up between her father and Cell.

She said, "See you later peasant." to the leaving boy and went to find her father, she wanted to learn the truth.

At her home there was a grave silence, the entire mansion large enough to house a natural lake sounded like it was empty. Ever since her experience with Son Goku, Videl tried to pay more attention to her natural senses and this one was warning her.

Through the front door and the halls, there wasn't a single butler or maid, she went up to her father's study and knocked on the door. A labored reply came from her father, "Come in sweetheart."

After she came in, Videl saw that her father was deeply distressed, she guessed why but she had to push on just today, "If you are free, I would like to talk father."

His face showed an unusual tiredness, thanks to breaking human limits, Hercule Satan remained youthful all this time but Videl saw him showing his age for the first time in nearly a decade, he replied, "Sure Videl, I always have time for you."

Today Videl wanted to be honest with her father so she started to explain everything that happened to her in the last month or so, Gohan transferring to their school, her investigation into Son Goku, training with Gohan, Son Goku sharing a memory with her and her talk with 17. She didn't hide anything.

"First I want to make it clear that I didn't beat Cell." under Videl's disbelieving eyes and her retort which was about to start, he continued, "Let me finish. I couldn't have possibly beaten Cell, I hadn't even broken human limits back then. I only could thanks to the person who did beat Cell, Son Goku."

"I went through what you are going through now 7 years ago. The discovery of the world beyond the mundane, existence of the beauty of the stars. Thanks to those revolutions I started to train. My master and my closest friend, Son Goku started to train me and a few other people a few months after Cell died."

"That group had me, 17, 18 and Bulma Brief. There was a gap between the twins and us humans that I still don't think can be closed. However we were thought the same basics and did the same training. Those 6 months were some of the most fun I had in my life, I gained friends that I want to believe will be there till I die."

"Eventually we started to go to space. Though Bulma has spaceships, Son Goku has a technique that allows him to teleport anywhere in the universe, he took us to alien worlds. Some were paradises where we just had vacations and some had tyrants and despots who needed to be fought off."

"I admit, I am not the true hero of this world but I did save more than one or two planets. The statues and poems in those places, I am actually proud of. Eventually after a few years Trunks, Bulma's kid, and Eschalot joined us in training as well. At first it was weird training with two teens and two toddlers but us adults became the weakest fast."

"Now I can say that I am strong, there is no need to be humble. Only in very few places in the universe I wouldn't be considered an elite. However there is also no need to feel shame when accepting there is sky above sky. Trunks and Eschalot are many times stronger than I am and they are many times weaker than the twins. And if there is one wisdom that I need to impart to you, it would be that you should realize you are already strong. Don't let Goku's strength and the gap between you two damage your resolve. As long as you take a step and then take another one, you will cover distance."

"Personality is the crutch by which the scarred and crippled body moves forward. The Twins have hearts of ice, maybe literally but it is not just them, Bulma Brief who lived as a protected glass doll for decades trained harder than I did. Maybe had I not had a body that was naturally stronger than hers, I would have been surpassed. Despite her husband who was killed by Cell, she still wakes up every day with a smile on her face and faces each problem with unbreakable determination. If I could request something from you, it would be for you to have this same unbreakable will."

"After I got a bit strong and realized a bit of what this strength meant, I helped you break the human limits. Breaking the human limits means being immune to most bullets and being able to beat anyone one to ten let alone one to one. This much I had to give you but I ask you to forgive me for not giving you the rest."

"Despite all my reservations about it, a part of my heart still wanted you learn about this so I could show you how much I learned and how much I improved, just how strong I am."

After seeing a moment of silence from her father, Videl took the opportunity to ask, "Are you going to spar with me or something?" and Mr. Satan started to laugh.

With a really big grin he said, "I have a better idea." and the world around Videl turned black for a moment she opened her eyes to a scenery she never even imagined could exist, the ceiling and the walls of the room changed into a deep dark blue and the floor turned into a white that looked like cotton. After a few seconds her vision got clearer and she started to laugh in amazement.

She was up on the sky, her father was flying and brought her up above the clouds. Though it was supposed to be afternoon, she saw the line between the earth and space. Stars covered the sky with the galaxy's existence as clear to her as the mountains and cities that showed between the small gaps on the clouds.

The smile on her face stuck there and she felt her eyes tear up for the first time in years. Her father wasn't the strongest, definitely not the smartest and not the best husband or the best father but he was exactly who she wanted him to be. The her of this moment, who was the most sober and awake she had ever been, would change not a single thing about him.

In moments like this where pure euphoria cleansed away all the negative emotions, everyone could be said easily because shame was one such emotion that got lost, she said, "Father, can I train with you?"

Her father who laughed along with her all this time said, "Sure, princess. Whatever you want!" and suddenly started to fly around through seas and mountains without caring about her screams. Life was good.