fate 22

Gohan moaned; he hurt all over and he couldn't remember why. Slowly, he opened his eyes, his vision blurry, to see a stark white ceiling staring him back in the face.

< Where am I? > Gohan thought fuzzily, sitting up and putting a hand to his aching head. His vision and head started to clear and he found himself in a hospital room, the last place he wanted to be. He growled in frustration.

< I thought I asked Videl to take me to Bulma's. Why did she take me to the hospital instead? > Gohan said to himself. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, telling himself that Videl didn't know what he was. Gohan chuckled to him self.

"And I was all ready to tell her about me too," Gohan whispered, his voice disbelieving, "I can't believe it. I must have been really out of it." He sat there, staring ahead for a couple of minutes, and didn't even realize that someone had entered the room.

"Oh, so you're finally awake. I'll go tell the doctor you're awake." Gohan turned his head to see a middle-aged female nurse standing in the doorway.

"How long have I been out?" Gohan asked, just as she was walking out of the room. She turned around and looked him straight in the face.

"Oh, about a day and a half. You're little girlfriend brought you in yesterday afternoon. She was really worried about you," the nurse said, smiling, "You're lucky to have someone like her, you know. I'll be right back with the doctor." Gohan was blushing to the roots of his hair.

< She was worried about me? > Gohan thought, shocked. Gohan looked down at his body to see it covered in bandages. He then realized that it hurt to breathe and he figured that several of his ribs were broken.

< I can see why she'd be worried about me too, > Gohan thought, still shocked. Through his shock, Gohan barely felt the large ki enter the room.

"It's nice to see that you're ok, kid. You had all of us worried there for a minute; we didn't know if we were going to be able to get you out of this hospital room without being noticed." Gohan turned to the open window, a smile on his face.

"It's nice to see you, Piccolo. Why are you here?" he asked. Piccolo smiled and stepped away from the window, coming into the light.

"I'm going to take you to Kami's Lookout. Your family is there and Dende is going to heal you." Gohan looked confused at Piccolo.

"But," Piccolo said, "It would be easier on your body if we did the Instant Transmission to get there. You had to be awake for that and Vegeta wouldn't do it for us." Gohan grimaced.

"Figures," Gohan muttered, looking over at Piccolo, "Well, I think I have enough energy to do it." Piccolo smirked as he stepped forward, putting his hand on Gohan's shoulder.

"You better. You've been asleep for the last day and a half." Gohan smirked back and closed his eyes, concentrating on Goten's ki. Since Piccolo said that his family was at Kami's Lookout, he figured that Goten was there too. Immediately finding Goten's ki, Gohan and Piccolo disappeared, leaving the hospital room empty.

In the waiting room at the hospital room, Videl sat in one of the chairs, her knees drawn up to her chest, a worried look on her face.

< I hope Gohan wakes up soon and gets better. He looked really bad yesterday. Why did he have to challenge that woman anyway? > Videl thought, her brows drawing together in worry and wonder, thinking about the previous day.

< The look in his eyes when he spoke to that woman...I've never seen it before. His words, they were so confident. He's never sounded so confident before, like he was used to dealing with her type of people. But, the look in his eyes, it made my world seem small and insignificant. It's like he's part of something bigger, something that I'll never understand.

< And what did that woman mean when she said that Gohan was much more than a boy? What's that all about? When Gohan wakes up, he has some serious questions to answer, starting with how he survived that fall. Any normal human being would have died. How is it that he's still living? > Videl wondered. Her eyes spotted the nurse that was on duty, the same nurse that told her to wait to see Gohan.

"He just woke up and he's sitting up in bed at this moment. You can go and see him if you want. But, you'll have to get out when I arrive with the doctor, all right?" Videl nodded, a big smile on her face.

"Ok. Thank you," Videl said hurriedly, rushing off to the hospital room that Gohan was in to see him. Her excitement built up steadily as she raced towards Gohan's hospital room, her heart pounding in her chest by the time she reached the door.

"Hey, Gohan, I..." Videl trailed off as she saw that the hospital room was empty, the curtains fluttering with the wind coming in through the open window. She gasped, her heart falling down to her toes.

"What?" she whispered, disappointment ringing in her voice, "Where...where did he go? How could he..." Videl's face transformed into an angry, enraged look. Her hands clenched into fists.

"I'm going to kill him when I see him next. Mark my words, he's going to pay for doing this to me," Videl said through clenched teeth as she stormed out of the hospital room, barreling past the nurse and the doctor, who were both on their way over to the room that Gohan was supposed to be in.

"Excuse me, miss? Are you ok?" the nurse called after Videl. Videl turned around, fire in her eyes, and looked at the nurse.

"It looks like one of your patients flew the coop," Videl said, turning around and stalking out of the hospital. The doctor and the nurse looked at each other in shock before rushing over to the hospital room that Gohan was supposed to be occupying, only to find it empty.

It only seemed like moments after they left the hospital room that Piccolo and Gohan arrived at Kami's Lookout, Gohan still wearing the hospital gown they had given him while he was unconscious. He looked around to see everybody: Krillin, Tien, Chaotzu, Yamcha, Vegeta, Bulma, Trunks, Goten, Chi-Chi, Mr. Popo, and Dende, all looking at him with worried, yet relieved expressions on their faces.

"Hey guys," Gohan said, "How are you all doing?" Chi-Chi, with tears in her eyes, rushed for Gohan, drawing him into a hug, mindful of his injuries. Piccolo immediately moved out of the way in order to avoid Chi-Chi.

"It's ok, mom. I'll be fine. But you're going to have to let go of me if Dende is going to heal me." Chi-Chi immediately let go of her son. She then turned her sights on the young Namek.

"You sure did a number on yourself this time, haven't you Gohan?" Dende asked. Gohan smiled at Dende; even though Gohan didn't see Dende that often, the young Namek was still one of his best friends.

"Was it Videl?" he asked; Gohan had told Dende all about Videl; Dende was the only person who knew how much Gohan liked Videl. Gohan nodded in affirmation of Dende's question. Dende smiled and held his hands out over Gohan's body.

"Well, I'll have you fixed up in no time," Dende said comfortingly, unleashing his healing power. Gohan started to glow from Dende's power and, in no time at all, Gohan was healed. All of his cuts and bruises were gone and Gohan could breathe normally again because his ribs were mended up. Gohan smiled; he felt great, better than he had in a long time.

"Thanks Dende," Gohan said, standing up. Looking over at his mom and feeling utterly naked in the hospital gown, he spoke.

"I have a remedy to that problem," Piccolo said, walking over to Gohan and holding his hand out over Gohan's head. Piccolo's hand started to pulsate with a bright light before it flashed in a small explosion. In its wake, it left Gohan in orange training gi, like his father's, but with Piccolo's symbol on the back.

"There you go, kid. Good as new." Gohan smiled up at Piccolo, feeling a great rush of love for the being who was like his second father.

"Can we cut the mushy stuff, Namek? I want to hear what happened yesterday," Vegeta barked. Bulma looked over at her mate, a look of disbelief and shock on her face.

"That's not what I said," Vegeta spat, "I just want to hear what happened. Can you blame a guy for wanting to know?" Gohan looked at the rest of the group.

"Well, I guess I can tell you what happened." It didn't take long for Gohan to tell the series of events that took place the day before. All of the Z-senshi looked worried; they had all been working so hard to protect Videl, even though she didn't know it, and she had almost been taken the day before.

"So, how did you kill her again?" Tien asked, his curiosity piqued; he was certain that Gohan had discovered a new fighting technique.

"Well," Gohan said, "I really don't remember. It was done out of desperation. But, basically, what I did is I gathered all of my power in my mind and then forced into her mind. Then, I made it explode inside of her mind. My guess is that it destroyed her from the inside out. It's helpful, but the only thing is that it's mentally exhausting.

"Out of all of us, the best one at doing it would be you, Piccolo, because of all of the psychic training that you've had over the course of your life because of your origin. When I did it, I didn't have anything to shield myself with. That's why, when her body exploded, I was hurt so badly; I had no defense against the blast." Krillin whistled.

"This is getting serious, Gohan. I think you should tell Videl what's going on. It would be better to have her know about it," Krillin said. Gohan sighed.

"I just...can't. Not yet, Krillin. I don't expect you to understand, but please, just give me a little more time. I'll tell her, I swear, but now right now." Yamcha sighed.

"I think I agree with Krillin, Gohan, but if you don't feel it's time yet, then we'll let you do it when you think it's right. You know Videl better than any of us and it would only be right for you to tell her about everything," Yamcha said understandingly. Gohan smiled in gratitude.

"Thanks, Yamcha. Well, I think that's everything," Gohan said, levitating himself into the air, "There's just one more thing that I have to do."

"Where are you going, Gohan?" Goten asked, finally speaking up. They were the first words he had spoken since Gohan had arrived at Kami's Lookout; he was relieved that his older brother was all right.

"To get Senzu beans. I figure that with everything that's happened, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep a few of those on hand just in case." Gohan waved at Chi-Chi and Goten.

"Be careful, son!" Chi-Chi yelled after Gohan. Gohan gave his mother a comforting smile before diving into the air, racing down to Korrin's Tower.

It had taken her a while, but she finally arrived at the Son household, fury in her eyes as she extracted herself from her jet plane. A determined and angry look on her face, Videl marched towards the door and pounded on it, hoping that someone was home to listen to her rage. From the other side of the door, Videl could hear Gohan's voice.

"I'll get it mom!" he called out as he made his way towards the front door. He opened the door and Videl only took a moment to make sure that it was Gohan before bringing her fist back and delivering a strong punch. She hit him in the nose, hard, sending Gohan back a few steps.

"Hello Videl," Gohan said as he brought a hand up to his nose, checking for bleeding, though he knew there wouldn't be any.

< Sheesh, she has a strong arm. If she trained right, she could be almost as good as Yamcha or Krillin, > Gohan thought as Videl pulled him outside. Gohan shut the door as an afterthought and allowed Videl to pull him out into the middle of the grassy area in front of the house.

"I suppose you want to talk to me about something and you're not happy about it," Gohan said to Videl. Videl didn't even listen to Gohan's words.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she yelled, "I was at the hospital today, waiting for you to wake up to see if you were all right. But, despite all of your injuries, you left. You just left the hospital with obviously no care about how hurt you were. You made me worry about you! I was worried that you wouldn't be able to make it to wherever you were going. You're injured, you idiot! Just look at..." Videl cut herself off as she looked at Gohan's body. She didn't see a trace of the injuries he received the day before. This, for some odd reason, just enraged her even more.

"How did this happen?" Videl asked, her voice an enraged whisper, "You were hurt not 24 hours ago. Tell me how you did it!" Videl demanded. Gohan looked away, hating to keep information from her, but he wasn't ready to tell her.

"The hell you can't tell me. Either you tell me or..." Videl trailed off as her voice dropped from a yell to a normal tone, "Or we aren't friends anymore. This is it. I've had enough of this Gohan. There's stuff you're withholding from me and I want to know what it is you're not telling me." Gohan gulped; he didn't know what to do. He couldn't tell Videl about who he was yet, but he didn't want to lose her friendship. When Gohan didn't respond, Videl got even angrier.

"Answer me, Gohan! I deserve to know and I deserve to know now!" Videl commanded. Something inside of Gohan snapped. He was quarreling within himself and it was making him angry. Videl's goading him on only made him even angrier.

"Will you stop bugging me about it?" Gohan yelled, "I'm not going to tell you. You don't deserve to know anything about me. You're getting in over your head, Videl. Just leave me alone!" Videl looked taken aback; she hadn't expected Gohan to yell at her. Her heart sunk; he wanted her to leave him alone and it sounded like it was for good.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, Gohan," Videl said, choking on a sob. With that, she pushed past him and ran for her jet plane. Gohan could only watch in abject misery as she climbed into her jet plane and took off. Once she was gone, Gohan sank to the ground; he couldn't believe what he had just done.

< I'm such an idiot. I just lost my best friend. Now she'll never speak to me again, > Gohan thought, a tear running down his cheek. He looked up, towards the afternoon sky, to see the sun shining down happily on the earth.

< I have to make her forgive me. Even if she'll never be my friend again, I couldn't live with myself if I knew she was mad at me. After I apologize, she'll never have to speak to me if she doesn't want to. > With that, Gohan stood up and flew off, not even bothering to tell his mother where he was going. He was on a mission, a mission that was as important to him as his life, if not more so.

Hours later, Gohan stood facing the front door of the Satan estate, looking at the door with a nervous look. He was still wearing the orange and blue gi that Piccolo had given him earlier that day. One hand was poised to knock while in the other hand rested a rare gardenia, Videl's favorite flower. He remembered Videl telling him that a gardenia was her favorite flower and, as a peace offering, he went out to find her favorite flower.

While most gardenias were white, the one he held in his hand was light blue. They only grew in one place that Gohan knew of and it took him hours to find the spot where they grew and then to find the most perfect one. Once he found it, he placed the end in a small vial full of water and infused the flower with some of his power to make sure that it stayed in bloom for a long time afterwards.

Taking in a deep breath, Gohan knocked on the door, hoping that one of the butlers would hear it. Most of the house staff consisted of automated robots; the two butlers were the only humans on the house staff. Seconds later, the same butler who answered the door on the evening of the winter prom answered the door again. Gohan smiled a sad smile.

"Yes, Miss Videl is in. She's in her room. I'm afraid she's in quite a state. There seems to be something wrong with her, though she won't tell anybody. You're her best friend, right? Maybe you can go and talk to her." Gohan gulped down the lump in his throat; Videl was suffering because of him.

"May I go see her?" Gohan asked. The butler wordlessly moved aside and let Gohan enter the house. The butler shut the door behind Gohan and proceeded to walk up the steps, leaving Gohan to follow him. Gohan followed the butler closely for a couple of minutes before the older man stopped in front of a huge door. Gohan gasped; was this Videl's room?

He had never been to Videl's room before. He tended to avoid coming over to the Satan estate as much as possible; he knew that Mr. Satan didn't like him very much and wanted to stay out of his way.

"She's in there," the butler said before walking away, not saying another word. Once Gohan was alone in the hallway, he looked at the door, his heart pounding nervously in his chest. What if Videl didn't forgive him? He shook his head to clear his doubts; Videl just had to forgive him, otherwise, Gohan couldn't live with himself.

Slowly, Gohan opened the door, revealing the large, carpeted bedroom. In the middle of the room, he spotted Videl's bed. Videl was lying in the middle of it, curled up with her head buried in her arms; she was crying and it hurt Gohan to see that he was the one who made her cry.

"Go away; I don't want to talk to anyone," Videl said, not even bothering to look up at the door to see who it was. Gohan shut the door and dropped his head, speaking quietly.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Videl gasped as she heard Gohan's voice. Sitting up straight, she didn't even bother to wipe her tears away as she looked at him, a wondering, pain-filled expression on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Videl asked, her voice no higher than a whisper. Gohan walked over to the bed and gently held out the flower. Videl looked at the flower in surprise. The simplicity of the gift touched her, but she didn't know what it was for. Was it to say goodbye? She took the flower from Gohan's hand and lifted it up to her nose, inhaling the fragrance. She was shocked to find that the blue flower was a gardenia.

"A gardenia? But, it's blue! Where did you find it?" Videl asked. Gohan looked down at the ground again, a defeated, miserable look on his face.

"On a plateau miles north of here. It took me hours to find the perfect one to give you, but it was worth the effort." Videl felt her eyes fill with tears again.

"But, I thought you wanted nothing to do with me," Videl whispered, looking away from him. Gohan drew in a shaky breath.

"That's not true, Videl," Gohan said, his voice shaking with unshed tears, "It was wrong of me to yell at you. I didn't mean what I said. I wasn't even mad at you; I was angry with myself. There are so many things about me that I want you to know. I want to tell you so badly, but I'm not ready yet. Just give me time and I'll eventually tell you, I swear. That is, if you forgive me." A couple of tears ran down Videl's cheeks.

"You don't have to forgive me if you don't want to. You have every right not to. You were just worried about me and I exploded in your face. I'm the one that's in the wrong and...I'm sorry." Videl smiled a watery smile before launching herself at Gohan, wrapping her arms around him and resting her hand against his chest.

"I forgive you, Gohan," Videl said. Videl was shocked at the sound that she heard come out of Gohan when he hugged her back. As Gohan wrapped his arms around her, he let out a sob, clinging to her as if she was going to disappear on him.

"I was afraid that I had lost you, Videl. You're my best friend; I don't know where I'd be without you. I don't know what I'd do if you didn't forgive me. I'm so sorry for yelling at you," Gohan said through his tears. Videl only hugged him tighter, her head pressed up against her chest.

"Yeah, I do. It's just that they look like the ones that guy in the Cell Games video was wearing." Gohan shrugged, knowing she was talking about his dad.

"Yeah, well, they're basic training gi. Everyone who trains under a martial arts master wears them. My dad had his own set and I do too." Videl nodded in understanding.

"Oh, I get it. Hey, do I get to meet this Piccolo character someday? You always talk about him, but I've never met him." Gohan thought about it for a second.

"Yup! Just wait patiently. Didn't you ever hear that patience is a virtue?" Videl's face twisted into a look of mock-anger as she picked up a pillow and whacked Gohan in the face. Gohan froze, looking down at her fiercely.

"You do know that this means war," Gohan said as he picked up a pillow off of Videl's bed and hit her lightly with it...well, lightly for him anyway. The only sounds that filled the room were the sounds of the two of them laughing as they fought with pillows.

On the other side of the universe, Milena was beside herself with rage. She had just learned that one of her best warriors had failed in recovering her sacrifice.

"Why doesn't anything go right for me? These Saiya-jins are proving to be more bothersome than I thought. Have they discovered some secret power that allows them to always end up on top?" Milena said to herself as she sat in her throne room, all alone. A hand clenched, into a fist, rising into the air to come down and strike the arm of her throne.

"No matter," she whispered to herself, "I will get my sacrifice if it's the last thing I do." Her face spread into a smile. "Looks like I'll just have to get rid of the Saiya-jins first...all except that one. He will be mine, the last of the Saiya-jins...my pet..."