fate 28

Videl woke up to the feeling of the sunlight streaming down onto her sleeping face. Slowly, she brought up a hand to shield her eyes as she opened them, looking around her room briefly before sitting up in bed. There was no doubt about it; she was tired and had been ever since Gohan left to go training with Piccolo. Gohan’s absence had affected her more than she thought.

< It’s like my life’s not complete when he’s not here. Something is definitely missing from my life right now and it’s him, > Videl thought, pushing herself out of her bed and walking over to the window.

< Where are you, Gohan? What could you be doing right now? > Videl mentally wondered as she stared out of her window. She let out a reluctant sigh and walked into her bathroom, stripping herself of her pajamas and turning on the shower. She sighed in content as she let the stream of warm water wash over her body, lulling her into relaxation. Videl stood there for what seemed like forever until she decided that she eventually needed to get out.

Taking ten minutes, Videl washed her hair and her body before getting out of the shower. She stepped out and pulled out two towels, one to wrap around her body and the other to wrap around her hair. Once the two towels were secure, she stepped out of her connecting bathroom and walked over to her balcony, opening the large doors and taking in the smells of the morning air. It took a couple of moments, but Videl soon realized that she was hearing noises of fighting coming from above.

< It sounds like it’s coming from the roof. I wonder what’s going on up there? I better go check, > Videl thought as she rushed to get dressed. Her hair not brushed, Videl ran out of her room and up towards the roof, the hallways of her house passing by her in nothing more than a blur. She burst through the door that led to the roof and was immediately faced with the landing pad that was on top of her house, the spot where she’d land her jet plane.

< Well, I hear it, but I don’t see it. Where could the noise be? > Videl thought as she looked around. Turning around, she spotted where the noise was coming from and her jaw dropped. It was Krillin and Yamcha and they were sparring, moving at speeds that Videl couldn’t even comprehend. She was totally speechless. Their form, their movements, their technique…it was amazing. She hadn’t ever in her whole life imagined that beings could move that fast.

“Wow,” she said loudly, catching the attention of Yamcha and Krillin, who immediately stopped sparring to look at the girl. Videl, once she noticed that they had stopped, walked towards them, a shocked look still on her face.

“How…how did you do that?” she asked, her voice now barely louder than a whisper. Yamcha and Krillin shot each other hesitant looks; they knew Gohan asked them not to say anything, but they needed to say something to get them out of the situation they had gotten themselves into. Fortunately for them, Videl interceded.

“Wait, you know what, I don’t think I want to know right now. I just woke up about a half an hour ago. I don’t I’d be able to handle it.” Yamcha and Krillin sighed before moving the focus off of them.

“Ok, I guess,” she said, “I’m still really tired. I think this whole situation is wearing me out.” The look on Videl’s face turned sheepish. “Besides, I miss Gohan.”

“Namek? What’s a Namek?” Videl asked, an innocent confused look on her face. Yamcha glared at Krillin, who was wearing a sheepish look on his face, and turned back to Videl.

“Nothing, Videl,” Yamcha said, an idea suddenly hitting him. “Hey, since you’re not doing anything, do you want to train with us for a while? We’d be able to help you improve your skill, I bet,” Yamcha continued. Videl’s eyes lost the confused look and immediately brightened up.

“Yeah, I would like that,” Videl said, a smile on her face, “Just let me go and put my hair up, ok?” Both Krillin and Yamcha nodded and Videl disappeared back down into the house. The moment that Videl disappeared, Krillin turned to Yamcha with an annoyed look on her face.

“Fine, but we can’t use ki blasts or anything like that when we train her. Gohan said that she thinks it’s all just a big trick and I don’t wanna have to explain it to her. Besides, Gohan’s the one who wants to explain it to her and we should let him. If we train her, it’ll be in martial arts only.” Yamcha smiled and nodded at the shorter man.

“I promise, no hint of a ki blast or anything having to do with ki,” Yamcha said sincerely. Krillin gave a curt nod and the two both turned to see Videl standing not 5 feet in front of them, her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“Ok,” Videl said, an anxious look on her face, “I’m ready. Train me.” Yamcha and Krillin looked at each other to decide which one of them would go first in training Videl.

“How about you do it, Yamcha. It was your idea. You train her today and I’ll do it tomorrow. We’ll go back and forth,” Krillin suggested. Yamcha shrugged.

“I’m going to train by myself for a little while. I won’t be very far away. I’ll be able to sense if anything is going wrong.” With that, Krillin walked off, making sure he was far enough away so he could fly off the roof without being seen by Videl. Yamcha turned back to Videl and led her out to an open area on the roof. When the two of them finally stopped walking, Yamcha faced Videl, his hands on his hips and his feet spread apart.

“Well, let’s see what you’ve got, Videl,” Yamcha said, lazily pulling himself into a fighting stance. Videl followed Yamcha’s example and drew her body into the same type of stance.

It hurt. She didn’t know what hurt, only that it did. Everything hurt. Videl groaned as she made her way to her room, her training session with Yamcha finally over.

< I’ve never been so sore in my life. Nobody said training with Yamcha would be hard. But, I can’t stop. He’s shown me that there’s still a lot I have to learn and I’m going to train with him and Krillin until I learn it all, > Videl thought as she walked into her room and collapsed onto her bed, a soft sigh released from her mouth the moment her body hit the soft mattress.

“I’d sleep,” she sighed, “But I smell. I should go take a bath.” It took all of Videl’s energy just to push herself to her feet and walk to the bathroom, all of her concentration focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She removed her sweat-soaked fighting clothes and turned on the warm water, allowing the Jacuzzi-size tub to fill before stepping in. She sighed in relief as the heat surrounded her skin, enveloping completely.

“Now this is what I call relaxation,” Videl breathed as she let her head rest against the edge of the tub, her eyes closed as she allowed her mind to wander. Her mind chose a familiar train of thought and she started thinking about Gohan.

Gohan sighed wearily. He opened his closed eyes and looked over at Piccolo. They had been training all morning and Gohan was getting a headache, the type that lingered right behind his eyes. Piccolo was sitting across from Gohan, his legs folded, his arms across his chest.

“Concentrate on entering my mind. If you can’t enter my mind, how do you propose you’ll be able to attack it? I know you did it before. Try it again!” Piccolo commanded and none to gently either. Gohan looked away in shame and disappointment.

“I’m trying Piccolo. The first time I did it, it was out of desperation; I didn’t know what I was doing, only that I needed to destroy her.” Gohan sighed and looked back at Piccolo. “Besides,” he said, “I don’t even know if I can to it by concentrating on it. I don’t have that much control and focus over my mental power and they haven’t grown that much over the last couple of weeks.” Piccolo gave Gohan a stern look as he began to speak.

“Listen to me, Gohan. You may not be able to sense it, but I can sense a major growth in your mental energy. You have nothing to compare yours to because you can’t sense anyone else’s. I, on the other hand, have that ability and have been measuring your progress. Your power is growing Gohan; trust me,” Piccolo said, his voice steady, yet reassuring. Gohan looked at Piccolo for a moment, speechless, before nodding.

“I trust you, Piccolo,” Gohan said, knowing Piccolo always told things how they were; if Piccolo said he was improving, then he really was. A question that had been burning inside of Gohan’s mind chose that moment to voice itself.

“Piccolo, why do you think I have these psychic powers? I mean, they’re not exactly the most normal things to have,” Gohan said, his voice full of curiosity.

“Well,” Piccolo said, “There are some humans on this planet who do have psychic powers. Tien, for example, has them. You must have gotten them from your human blood. I’m pretty sure that Saiya-jins do not have that power. If they did, than your father and Vegeta would have shown signs of having them earlier. You are definitely a unique person, Gohan. There’s no doubt about it.” Piccolo allowed a small smile of affection to break out onto his face before looking seriously at Gohan.

“Right,” Gohan said with a firm nod, his hands resting on his knees as his eyes slid shut. He focused his power, gathering it in his mind, working it until he could confine it. He was building up his mental strength, trying to hold as much power as he could until he lost control of it and it all dissipated. It took Gohan a couple of moments, but he finally felt like he had control over the power formed in his mind. He caressed it in his mind, drowning in the peaceful abyss that it created, feeling utterly peaceful and content. His conscience entered the power stored in his mind on its own will, feeling the comfort that it provided.

The entrance into the coalesced power triggered something inside of Gohan. Suddenly, it was like he was flying through space, traveling through time into a different dimension. Everything was going by in a blur, leaving Gohan unable to focus on anything as his mind acted on its own accord. Without warning, the movement stopped, leaving Gohan looking at a dimly lit room. The room was elegant and lavishly furnished, obviously belonging to somebody of incredible wealth and power. In the middle of the room was a bed was…himself! Gohan couldn’t believe his eyes.

He was seeing himself lying in the middle of a huge bed, a thin, bronze collar surrounding his neck, barely clothed as he lay helpless on the bed. There was something wrong with him; he wasn’t able to move. Gohan could see himself struggle against the invisible bonds, but his vision of himself couldn’t move. Standing in the corner of the room was an incredibly tall woman with long, dark brown hair, her emerald eyes gleaming with anticipation and excitement.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you break, Gohan,” she said, her voice like honey, “I’ll break your connection with that girl if it’s the last thing I do.” Turning to the blond man next to her, who was even taller than she was, she spoke in a commanding tone.

“Bring in Lisala,” she said. The man bowed his head and left the room, disappearing for only a moment before reentering, a beautiful woman standing next to him, her long, indigo hair pulled up into a high ponytail, wearing only a tube top that barely covered her breasts and an incredibly short skirt that swayed as she walked. She knew what she was there to do and, a seductive smirk planted on her face, she walked over to the bed, climbing on top of it and straddling Gohan’s stomach.

The vision of himself finally found himself free to move as the girl, Lisala, began placing small kisses all over his body. The thought of that girl doing that to him made Gohan want to retch; he wanted nobody that way except for Videl. It took all of the vision Gohan’s mental strength to push the girl off of him.

“So, you didn’t want that one, hmm? Well, there’s more than her and even more beautiful. I will win, Gohan. You can’t last forever.” Another girl was brought in, wearing an outfit similar to the one before, her long, golden blonde hair cascading down her back. Gohan rejected her too. Even more women were brought in, each of them more beautiful than the last. Gohan rejected them all.

“I won’t let you seduce me with these women; I don’t want any of them except for Videl. You’ll never be able to take me away from her.” Gohan gasped as he watched the scene in front of him. This woman was trying to seduce him? But, why? And what did Videl have to do with this?

Suddenly, the scene changed and Gohan saw himself wandering through the biggest library he had ever seen in his entire life. Shelves after shelves passed him by as he walked through. Gohan was mesmerized; the vastness of the information held there was overwhelming. As Gohan’s eyes wandered over the stacks of books, he spotted a small door, almost unnoticeable to the unobservant passerby. Gohan watched curiously as the vision of himself walked up to the door and opened it.

Right before the vision Gohan could enter the room, Gohan felt himself being roughly brought back to Earth. His body woke up before his conscience could return and he felt very disoriented for a couple of minutes, looking up at Piccolo and Dende, not knowing who they were until his mind came back in a rush. As he slowly became aware of his surroundings, he noticed that Dende’s hands were on his shoulders and that night had fallen.

“Dende? What’s wrong?” Gohan asked, his voice very quiet, the vision leaving his mind. Gohan struggled to hold onto it, to remember all of the events that passed. Dende sighed and pulled his hand away, straightening out as he looked down at Gohan.

“It’s not all that unlikely, Gohan. Your powers are strong. Tell us what it was about and we’ll see if we can figure out what it means,” Piccolo commanded gruffly. Gohan told the events of the dream/vision without incident. Dende and Piccolo, though having spent most of their lives on Earth, had no concept of human sexuality and desire so Gohan was able to tell them the events of the first part without blushing; there was no need to be fey about it. Piccolo nodded, thinking seriously about what Gohan had told him.

“Something tells me that what you just described to me is a vision, not a dream. Which means we need to consider the circumstances of the situation,” Piccolo said, obviously thinking out loud, “If you were being held there against your will, it obviously means that you were captured. I don’t know what it means by that woman saying she wants to break you, but I don’t like the sound if it. I’d watch your back, if I were you Gohan. I think this means that we all should be watching out for you as well as Videl.” Gohan looked at Piccolo, a serious, stony look on his face.

“Right, then we need to hurry up and finish my training. We’re a lot weaker when we’re split up. The sooner we finish our training, the sooner we can join the others and unify the group.” A sudden wave of dizziness swept over Gohan and he wavered on his feet. He realized then that he was incredibly tired and all he felt like doing at that moment was curling up somewhere comfortable and falling asleep.

“I think I better go rest before we continue our training, though. That vision took a lot out of me. I need to replenish my energy and my mental strength. Good night, you two,” Gohan said, turning to walk deeper into the Lookout where a room had been set up for him.

“Good night, kid,” Piccolo said quietly with slight affection in his voice, knowing that Gohan’s sensitive ears had picked up his words. Gohan lifted his hand and waved back at them in acknowledgement of their words before he disappeared completely from the view of Dende and Piccolo. Dende turned to Piccolo, a worried, strained sigh emitting from his throat.

“So am I,” Piccolo responded, “But I can’t explain why I am. Gohan is more than capable of taking care of himself, but something inside of me is worried about him, telling me that something is going to happen to him.” Dende gave Piccolo an understanding, sympathetic look before walking over to the edge of the keep, watching the Earth underneath the night sky.

“I wish I had the power to see the future, but that’s not one of a Namek’s powers, unfortunately.” Piccolo nodded in response, regretting that he, too, lacked the power of clairvoyance. Without a word, Piccolo walked off, going to the other side of the Lookout. Dende felt his presence leave and knew what Piccolo was going to do: he was going to meditate and try to figure out what was going on, hoping that he would be blessed with visions.

Videl watched, her eyes wide with amazement, as the four people sparred in front of her. It was #18 against Tien and Krillin against Yamcha, both pairs sparring, each of them trying to improve their technique. Videl was currently taking a break; she had just finished sparring against Krillin and, after losing again, decided that it was time to rest for a bit. She looked over to her left to see Marron, Krillin and #18’s little daughter, and Chaotzu. Marron had grown quite attached to Chaotzu over the last week and the small emperor had taken it upon himself to watch over her while her parents worked to protect Videl from evil, an evil that was unbeknownst to her.

Videl found herself wondering how the number of her guests had grown over the past two weeks. All she knew was that she considered herself lucky that her father wasn’t home; he would have never allowed such a large group of people to stay at his estate. There was something about the group that didn’t make any sense. They all seemed so together. She had learned from Krillin that he, Yamcha, Tien, and Chaotzu had known each other for many years. Videl could easily see that connection. They acted all like comrades and best friends, as if they had seen and experienced the same things.

Then there was #18. It was easy to see that Krillin loved #18, and vice versa, that Tien and Chaotzu deeply respected her, and that Yamcha was a little hesitant, but very nice and open to her. And then there was Marron, cute, adorable, little Marron. Everyone loved Marron and treated her as one of their own. It was like Marron had a huge extended family around her all the time and she loved it. Videl loved watching the entire group interact with each other.

The only thing she was hesitant and curious about was the appearance of Tien and Chaotzu. She had asked Chaotzu why he looked the way he did and he had said that it was because how all of the emperors in his land were supposed to look. Videl had left it that. She hadn’t yet summoned up the courage to ask Tien about his third eye; she wanted to wait until Gohan came back so she could press him for answers to her questions.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of sweat rivulets running down her back, trickling down between her shoulder blades and settling at the small of her back. She made a sound of disgust and stood up, only to see Krillin and Yamcha coming over to where she was, their sparring match finished as well.

“Oh, I’m going to take a shower. I feel all gross and sweaty; it’s a distraction and I can’t fight with that distraction,” Videl explained, walking backwards towards the door. Krillin and Yamcha both nodded in acknowledgement.

“Ok,” Krillin said, “See you later.” Videl turned around and continued on her walk to her bathroom and Krillin and Yamcha settled in to watch the end of the match between #18 and Tien. Videl wiped the sweat off of her brow with her sleeve as she walked down the stairs, thankful for the drop in temperatures. There had been a light heat wave rushing through Satan City and sparring outside was horrid. Videl was thankful for the marble floors that spanned throughout the house, pretty much reassuring that the house would always be at a cool temperature.

She walked through her large house for about 5 minutes until she reached her bedroom. She didn’t even wait until she got to her bathroom to begin removing clothes. She left a steady trail of them as she made her way from her bedroom door to the door of her bathroom, her clothes completely gone by the time she got there. Sighing in relief as she felt herself no longer burdened by the feeling of sweaty clothes, Videl turned on the water for her shower, making sure that it was cool enough to cool her down, but not too cold, and stepped in.

As she let the water wash away the sweat, a part of Videl, a more primal, wanton part of Videl, desperately wished that Gohan was with her at that moment. She stopped the motions of washing off her body and blinked, thinking about what she wanted. She blushed slightly as she realized that it was true; she really did want Gohan with her at that moment. She wanted him more and more with each passing day and not seeing him only made her want him more.

She kept seeing the image of him shirtless, standing in his room, an image that popped into her head at some of the most inopportune moments. Thinking about him like that made it hard to breathe and her concentration slip; she loved him and wanted him so badly that she could scarcely think of anything else, with the exception of her training with Krillin and the others. She knew her technique had improved; but she didn’t know how much.

< Hey, maybe I’ll even be able to measure up slightly with my dad now, > Videl thought with a smile, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around her body. < I wish I could show Gohan how good I’ve gotten; he’d be proud of me. Speaking of which, where is he? He said he’d be gone for three weeks and it’s been a little over four since he left. He’s lucky that we’re still not going to school on account of it still not being there; otherwise he’d be in trouble, > Videl said to herself as she proceeded to get dressed.

Gohan smiled as he flew through the air, maneuvering his way to Videl’s house by following the sources of ki that were gathered there. He was shocked to sense Tien’s and Chaotzu’s there with Krillin and Yamcha, but he was happy that they were there; it could only mean more protection for Videl.

< I’m just glad that Vegeta isn’t there. I don’t think that he and Videl would get along to well if he were there, > Gohan thought as he neared the Satan Estate, his training with Piccolo finally finished. Gohan had decided to spend one extra week up at Kami’s Lookout to further his training, thinking that it would be best to know all he could learn from Piccolo about his mental and psychic power.

It had only taken Gohan an extra week to learn everything he could from Piccolo. He had learned not only how to use his mental power, but also how to incorporate his mental power into his physical fighting technique, something that would be very important for battle when the time came.

But, even though Gohan had decided to stay, a part of him was regretting it, the same part of him that was ecstatic that he was returning so he could see Videl. He had missed her terribly when he was up at Kami’s Lookout, but knew that his time up there was his learning how to better protect her.

< I have to protect her at all costs, > Gohan thought, < As well as protecting myself. If that vision that I had is true, we have more to do than just protecting Videl. But I don’t think I’m going to tell the others. They have enough to worry about with protecting Videl. I know Piccolo tell; I asked him not to. He’ll obey my wishes. > Gohan flew above the Satan Estate to see Krillin, Yamcha, #18, Tien, Marron, and Chaotzu all standing on top of it. Thankful that Videl wasn’t there so she could see him flying, Gohan landed on the roof, several feet away from the group. With the exception of #18 and Marron, the entire group had sensed his ki and turned to look at him.

“Yeah, he did. He taught me a lot about my mental power and capabilities. I spent most of my time up there meditating and, when I wasn’t meditating, I was either eating or sleeping. I think it would be nice to be able to move around, start working out my body again,” Gohan said, stretching his arms slightly, as if preparing to spar. Remembering that Videl wasn’t there, Gohan decided to inquire after her whereabouts; he had a sudden and urgent need to see her at that moment. It had been four weeks since he had last seen her. He had gone four weeks without hearing her voice, seeing her smile, and it was killing him.

“Hey, you guys, where’s Videl?” Gohan asked while looking for a way to get off of the roof and into the house; when he spotted it, he smiled slightly. None of them looked surprised at Gohan’s question; it was painfully obvious that Gohan was in love with Videl and that she was in love with him back.

“Oh, she’s down in her room…” Krillin said, about to say more, but never got the chance as Gohan took off for the door that led down into the house.

Gohan walked excitedly down the hallway on the second floor of the Satan estate, trying to get his bearings; he had never entered the second floor from the roof and it was a little confusing. It only took Gohan a couple of seconds to find the stairs that led from the first floor up to the second and, once he had found that, it didn’t take him too long to navigate himself to Videl’s room. He was practically bursting with excitement as he approached the door to Videl’s room. He didn’t even knock as he threw open the door and entered Videl’s room, a huge smile on his face.

“Hey Videl, I’m back!” Gohan said before he spotted Videl, standing in the middle of her room. The moment he did, he immediately turned bright red and his jaw dropped. Videl was standing, next to her bed, wearing nothing but a pair of dark blue jeans and a white bra, holding a black shirt in her hands. The amount of skin that was exposed for him to see was enough to make him want to take her into his arms and have his way with her. His eyes traveled over the creamy expanse of skin that was in front of him; she was perfect in absolutely every way possible.

Gohan had never wanted anyone more than he had wanted Videl at that moment; his Saiya-jin instincts were crying out for him to make her his in every sense of the word, but Gohan controlled those urges, locking them away for the time being. The moment Videl spotted Gohan, her hands flew to her chest, covering herself with her shirt.

< But still, he could have knocked… > Videl thought. The moment that Videl covered herself, Gohan’s trance was broken and he realized that she was annoyed with him. He also realized that he should give her privacy to change. Clearing his throat, he turned around, his face bright red, as he let her put on her shirt.

“It’s ok, Gohan. You’re forgiven. You just shocked me, that’s all. You can, um, turn around now,” Videl said, watching as Gohan slowly turned around to face her. The incident almost completely forgotten, Gohan smiled at Videl and walked over to her. Videl, instinctually knowing what Gohan was doing, walked towards Gohan, meeting him halfway in a hug.

“And I’ve missed you too.” Videl walked over and sat down on her bed, patting the surface as an indication that Gohan should join her. Gohan complied and sat down on the soft surface, sitting not one foot away from the woman of his dreams.

“So,” Videl said once the two of them were seated, “What type of training did you do when you were with Piccolo? You don’t look any stronger to me.” Gohan smiled.

“It was all mental training,” Gohan said. Videl looked taken aback, her head jerking in surprise; it was obvious from Gohan’s reply that Videl wasn’t expecting that at all.

“Well, you see, that’s the strange thing about mental training. I was more exhausted from training mentally and meditating in one day that I was ever when I was doing Martial Arts training with Piccolo. For some odd reason, concentrating psychic powers and meditating all day really drains a person of all they’re worth.” Videl stared at Gohan thoughtfully, not understanding what he was saying, but believing what he said.

“Well, you would know better than I would,” Videl said, “I’ve never done any mental training or anything like it before, so I wouldn’t know the first thing about it.” Videl paused and looked at Gohan, an eyebrow raised slightly. “You know, the more you talk about this Piccolo person, the more I think that there’s something not quite right about him. I don’t know what it is, but this guy has way too many perfected abilities to sound totally human.” Gohan almost burst out laughing at that statement.

“Just your basic Martial Arts training; nothing special,” Videl said, “Though, I have to admit, Krillin and Yamcha are really good. But, they’re still not as good as my dad,” Videl said. Gohan had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.

“No, I haven’t. He won’t let me see him fight. His techniques are too secret for me to see. He says he’ll teach them to me when I’m ready,” Videl said. Gohan laughed internally.

< I don’t think Mr. Satan knows that Videl is stronger than he is, > Gohan thought. Before Gohan could say anything in reply, there was a gentle knocking on the door. Both teens turned to look at the door, wondering looks on their faces.

“Yes?” Videl asked, beckoning the person inside. The door opened and Chaotzu stepped through the doorway, looking at them guiltily, as if he felt he had interrupted something private.

“No, you’re not interrupting,” Gohan said, “We were just talking about my training, Chaotzu. Did you want something?” Chaotzu smiled at them, happy that he hadn’t come at a bad time.

“Well, I was just wondering if you two were up for helping me with dinner. The others are all still training and I’d hate to interrupt them.” Gohan and Videl looked at each other and smiled.

“Yeah. I mean, come on Gohan. His appearance is totally out there. I couldn’t help myself. But, he really is a nice little guy,” Videl said, respect for the strange emperor singing out through her voice.

“Yeah, well keep in mind that he’s way older than the two of us, Videl. He met my father when my dad was about 12 or 13, right around when everyone else met him. That’s almost 30 years ago. Chaotzu is older than he looks, so is everyone else.” Videl’s eyes widened in shock.

“Well, Krillin hasn’t gotten there yet, but I know for a fact that Yamcha just celebrated his 41st birthday and I know Tien was born in the same year.” Videl, if possible, only looked even more shocked.

“But, they all don’t look over 25 years old. My dad’s around their age and he looks so much older than they do.” Gohan tried to come up with a reason for why that was, but he couldn’t find one. So, he decided to get their conversation off of that topic.

“Hey, we should probably go and help Chaotzu with dinner. Don’t want to keep him down there by himself for too long, now do we?” Gohan said as he stood up off of the bed, waiting for Videl to rise before walking over to the door. Videl shook her head to clear it of her racing thoughts before she too stood up.

“Yeah, we should,” Videl said, not giving the conversation she just had with Gohan a second thought; she would get her answers out of him soon enough if it was the last thing she did. Gohan offered Videl a weak smile before the two walked towards the door and down to the kitchen to help Chaotzu with the preparations for dinner. Right before they walked through the kitchen door, Videl laid a hand on Gohan’s arm, causing him to stop. Turning around, Gohan looked at Videl curiously.

“You’re still going to tell me you’re story, right? I mean, you didn’t get the chance to finish it earlier. You still intend to finish it, right?” Gohan smiled gently.

“Yes Videl, I am still going to tell you my story. But, it will have to wait. We’ll arrange a time for me to tell it to you later, ok?” Gohan said, hoping that she would accept his answer. Videl sighed and nodded her head, a somber look on her face.

“Yeah, we’ll do that. Sorry, I just had to ask that question. Let’s go help Chaotzu,” Videl said, a smile brightening her face. Gohan couldn’t help but smile back.

Gohan concentrated. He concentrated hard. Sitting on the roof, his legs folded, Gohan drew into himself, emerging himself into the power that was gathered in his mind. Gohan suddenly felt very relaxed, yet alive all at the same time. There was only one other instance when he felt this way: when he was with Videl. Just her presence had this ability to calm him down, but, at the same time, every part of him was alive and tingling with energy. It was a sensation very similar to that of being a Super Saiya-jin, except this was without the incredible rage and anger, being replaced by passion and want instead.

The more he hung around Videl, the more he wanted her, physically and mentally. There was something about her that drew him to her. He didn’t know what it was, but she was like a fine wine and he just couldn’t help but get drunk off of her. Gohan realized that his mind was being filled with thoughts of Videl and he struggled to expel them; he couldn’t be thinking about her while he was meditating, although he was doing it for her. Meditation and focusing his mental energy required great amounts of concentration and control and when he thought about Videl, he was anything but in control. All thoughts of Videl temporarily purged from his mind, Gohan continued to concentrate, so involved in what he was doing that he didn’t notice that he was being watched.

From the other side of the roof, in a small, hidden alcove, Videl watched Gohan as he meditated, amazed at the wholly concentrated look on his face; she had never seen him look so intense before and thought that it only served to make him more handsome. He was also the nicest, most sincere guy she had ever met before. No guy had treated her with the type of respect that Gohan treated her with.

Most guys treated her with respect because they knew she could kick their butts. But Gohan treated her with the gentle respect of someone who was an equal. He wasn’t afraid of her, despite her strength. He showed her his gentle, trusting nature and Videl couldn’t help but open up to him in a way she had never dared to do before. He knew more about her than anybody.

< Too bad I can’t say the same thing about him, > Videl thought, thinking about everything that didn’t make sense about Gohan. She knew for a fact that Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chaotzu, and #18 knew way more about Gohan that she currently did. That fact only served to make Videl extremely annoyed. She was envious of the group of strange warriors, envious that they knew infinitely more about Gohan, the man she was in love with, than she did. She wanted to know about him so badly, what made him the way he was, what produced the shadows in his eyes, why he trained his body so hard when Videl knew he was one of the gentlest people alive and had no reason to fight. Videl sighed.

< Well, I just wish he’d hurry up and tell me, > Videl thought wistfully as she watching him, the light of the stars shining down on them both as they sat on the rooftop.