fate 31

“So…” Gohan repeated, unsure as well, looking at Videl as they both sat on the bed he was using during his stay there. He stared at the girl who was sitting only a foot away from him, his gaze reverent and loving.

< It’s hard to believe that this unsure woman is the same woman who I was kissing last night, who was unknowingly seducing me…No, keep your thoughts away from last night. Think of the task at hand. She obviously has questions. Just look at her. But, I don’t want to answer them here. There’s a chance that we’d be interrupted and I don’t know if I could continue if we were interrupted, > Gohan thought through. It only took him a couple of minutes to make a decision about what to do. Standing up, he walked around the bed over to the other side to where Videl was, intent on what he was doing.

Videl, right before Gohan stood up, was thinking about everything that she had seen just a couple of hours ago and the fact that it wasn’t some weird dream, that it was true, that they were Gohan’s memories.

< What is he? > Videl asked herself, her thoughts still very confused. She had seen it all at once, it had all come flooding into her brain, not giving her a moment to process what had happened. And there was still much of it that she didn’t understand. She had seen the story from the perspective of someone who understood everything that was going on, not someone who knew nothing about it.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Gohan’s movements, watching him as he got off of the bed and walked over to the side that she was sitting on. She looked at him confused as he approached her and immediately let out a small cry as he took her into his arms. Once Gohan was confident that Videl was secure in his arms, he walked over to the balcony doors.

“Hey,” Gohan said, “Since my hands are occupied, could you reach down and open the door?” Gohan asked. Videl nodded and did as Gohan asked, the balcony door flying open as Videl gave it a firm shove. Gohan walked out onto the patio and looked around.

“I’m looking for somewhere where we won’t be interrupted while we talk. I know you have questions for me and I don’t want us to be interrupted while I’m answering them for you,” Gohan explained.

“This,” Gohan said as he took off into the air, letting his ki keep him in the air as he flew. Videl squealed and threw her arms around Gohan’s neck.

“Of course, I am. Videl, I’ve been flying since I was 5. It’s really no trouble at all.” Videl calmed down at Gohan’s words and watched the scenery go by as they flew; it really was an exhilarating feeling and Videl loved every moment of it.

“Ki? What’s that? You mentioned it earlier and I heard it a lot in your memories, but I don’t know what it is,” Videl said. Gohan sighed.

“I’ll explain that when we land,” Gohan promised as he continued the fly. The rest of the journey was silent, Gohan concentrated on where he was going and Videl in complete awe as she flew in Gohan’s arms; just the thought of being able to fly on her own was enough to send shivers up and down her spine. About 10 minutes after they took off from Videl’s house, Gohan landed, setting Videl down in the middle nowhere.

< But, the nearest desert from my house is hundreds of miles away. How… > Videl said to herself, her thoughts trailing off as Gohan grabbed her hand.

“Come on, I’m going to find us a spot with some shade. There should be a spot out here somewhere,” Gohan said as the two of them walked. Videl looked around, trusting Gohan not to lead her path across something that would cause her to trip.

“Oh,” she whispered and stayed silent until the two of them stopped walking. Videl looked around her, marveling at the structure of the rock that was over them. It was a huge boulder, easily 20 feet tall, but a section of it had a big hole cut out on the side.

“You mean to tell me that you asked the question mentally?” Gohan said, trying to clarify. Videl nodded and Gohan groaned, sinking to the ground.

::We can communicate telepathically,:: Gohan said. Videl’s eyes widened as she heard Gohan’s voice inside her head, but she didn’t see his mouth move.

“Well, as my mother and Bulma explained it to me, a bond is a deep connection between two people who love each other. I take it that since we can communicate telepathically, we’ve received each other’s memories, and the marks are still there, that we’re permanently bonded.”

“Marks?” Videl asked. Gohan moved his head to show the scar from where Videl bit him several hours earlier. With a rush, Videl’s hand moved up to her neck, feeling a scar there where there had been none before.

“I mean permanent. Like, for life. Let me tell you, from what Vegeta has told me, this isn’t something that happens to a Saiya-jin very often,” Gohan said. Videl’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Well, the Saiya-jin race is a race of pretty much fierce warriors. Saiya-jins have incredibly high ki and a very good ability to manipulate it. Saiya-jins are one of the strongest races in the Universe. Or, I should say, used to be one of the strongest races in the Universe.”

“Right,” Videl said, “That Frieza guy destroyed the planet, right?” Gohan nodded, dreading hearing the name coming Videl’s lips.

“Yeah, she is. Though, I don’t know how she’s surviving. Bond mates don’t like to be separated and the death of one can sometimes kill the other. But, my mom obviously found someway that she’s not telling me about.” Videl nodded, understanding.

“Yeah. I feel kinda sorry for Vegeta, actually. He’s the prince of a nearly extinct race. My dad was only a third-class warrior.”

“Yeah, that infuriated Vegeta so much. To know that a third-class warrior was stronger than him was almost more than he could handle. It was his motivation for becoming a Super Saiya-jin. But, it’s not what allowed him to become one,” Gohan said. Videl decided that she wanted to move onto a different topic for the moment.

“Well, they have the power to regenerate limbs, they have some psychic powers, and they also have high ki. Most Nameks, from what I understand from Dende, are of the healer class but there is a small percentage of Nameks that are warriors. The Nameks are generally a peaceful race. Piccolo is just the exception.”

“Well, from what I understand, the Piccolo that I know today wasn’t the same Piccolo from many years ago. According to stories that I’ve heard, the Piccolo that I know is the essence of a Namek called Piccolo Daimao, the evil half of Kami, the former Guardian of the earth.

"When Piccolo first came to Earth and wanted to become its Guardian, the Guardian at the time said that the only way he would become Guardian is if he got rid of his evil half. So, he did. He split himself into two halves. One half became Piccolo Daimao and the other half became Kami, the guardian of the earth up until 7 years ago. My dad fought against Piccolo Daimao when he killed many people on Earth and destroyed Piccolo Daimao.

"But, before Piccolo Daimao died, he reproduced, putting the essence of himself into an egg and sending it away. You see, Nameks are asexual and they reproduce through eggs. Well, this egg hatched into the Piccolo I know today. But, the Piccolo I know today wasn’t always the good Piccolo. He was evil for a really long time and he was my dad’s rival up until he started fighting with him to protect the earth. But, even then, Piccolo was still slightly evil. That is until he fused with Kami.”

“Yeah. Nameks can fused with each other, become one being I guess you could say. Once two Nameks fuse, the process can’t be undone. When Piccolo fused with Kami, not only did his strength become greater, but his evil side also diminished greatly. But, Piccolo had a soft side before that. Pretty much a soft side for me. When he was training me out in the wilderness, I guess he developed a father-like affection for me and I think of him as a second father. He became really protective of me.”

“I’m extremely thankful for that, too. But, as I’m sure you already know, I became very angry over that. Well, you already know that story. Are there any other questions that you want to ask me?”

“Ok,” Videl said, “I have a question for you. How do you know all of these people? I mean, I know that they’re all friends of your father, but how did you dad meet Bulma, Yamcha, Tien, Chaotzu, and Krillin?”

“I can explain a little about that,” Gohan said, “But I’m not completely sure about the story’s details, so I’ll just give you the basics. My dad met Bulma when she was looking for the Dragonballs so she could wish for the perfect boyfriend. She met my dad and found out that he had one of the Dragonballs. When she found that out, she asked him if he wanted to help her find the rest of them. He agreed and went off with Bulma, searching for all of the Dragonballs.

"Along the way, they met Oolong, a shape shifting pig, and Yamcha, who was a desert bandit at the time. From what I understand, he followed them for a while before he decided to tag along. At the time, he and Bulma were dating. My dad met Krillin when he went to train with Master Roshi and the two of them became best friends. My dad met Tien and Chaotzu at one of the Tenkaichi Budoukai’s several years ago. They were trained by a rival of Master Roshi’s and later helped my dad. In order to understand the full story, you’ll have to get it from Bulma and Krillin. I’d say get it from my dad, but he died.”

“Yeah,” Gohan said, scratching his arm, “We could have wished him back with the Namekian Dragonballs, but dad didn’t want to come back. You heard his reasoning, I’m sure.”

“Oh, I take it you felt all of my emotions as well,” Gohan said, chuckling a little, “Well, looks like there’s nothing I can hide from you anymore. You know everything about me.”

“Yeah, well I still don’t understand it all,” Videl said, “Like, I still don’t get the whole Dragonball thing.” Gohan addressed the question with a wave of his hand.

“That’s an easy question to answer. You see, on this planet exist 7 Dragonballs. They’re orange balls about the size of baseballs with red stars on them. Each Dragonball has a different number of stars, 1 through 7. When you get them all together, you can summon the Dragon, Shenlong, and make two wishes. It used to be that you could only make one, but when Dende recreated the Dragon, he transferred some of its power to the wishes, giving us more. You can wish for anything that’s in the Dragon’s power. You could wish for immortality if you wanted it. Kami knows enough people have.”

“Well, let’s say someone dies of natural causes and you want to wish them back to life. You can’t because the Dragon can only restore life to someone who’s been killed. And, the Dragon can only bring back a person once. Well, the Earth’s Dragon, that is. The one on Namek, Porunga, can revive a person as many times as he wishes. The Dragonballs on Namek look exactly like the ones on Earth except they’re the size of basketballs.” Videl thought about what Gohan was saying for a moment before she commented.

“You know, your life sounds like a sci-fi/fantasy book, Gohan. I can’t believe you’ve experienced the things you’re telling me about.”

“Yeah,” Gohan said, “That’s why I don’t let too many people know about me. Most of them won’t believe me. I mean, would you have believed me if I told you?” Videl shook her head.

“No, not without proof, that is. I would have said you were making it up until you proved to me otherwise. I’m still not sure if I completely believe you.” Gohan smirked.

“Well, then, let me show you.” Holding his hand out to the side, palm facing up, Gohan allowed a small ball of ki to form in his hand, the ball of energy floating inches above his palm.

“What do you think of this?” Gohan said, looking at Videl’s disbelieving and awed face. She leaned forward and stared at it, her eyes wide. She reached out a hand, her fingers moving into touch it. She paused several inches from it and looked at Gohan.

“Yeah, but be careful. I’ll control it so that it won’t hurt you, but be careful anyway.” Videl nodded and reached into touch it. She gasped as she did so; the feeling was incredible. It felt warm, very warm, and it made Videl’s fingers tingle. What she was touching was real, it was tangible; it was proof.

“This is ki. Well, manipulated ki. Ki is pretty much your life force. Every person has a different amount of it. What you’re seeing in front of you is part of my ki that I’ve manipulated and taken out of my body. Ki can be very destructive if the user wants it to be that way,” Gohan said.

“So, how much of this ki stuff do you have, Gohan?” Videl asked innocently, not knowing the extent of Gohan’s power. He grimaced.

“Well, at the end of the Cell Games, I had enough ki to destroy several planets. But, now, after years of training, I probably have enough ki to destroy most of the Solar System if I wanted to.” Videl gasped, her eyes going wide.

“Yes,” he said, nodding, “I’m pretty sure that I am the strongest fighter in the Universe. As you learned from my memories, I have this great power inside of me that I think comes from my Saiya-jin and human hybrid blood. With all of the training I’ve done since I was four, my power has grown so great that not many people can beat me at all if anyone. Look, I’m not saying this to impress you or to brag. Kami knows I wish I wasn’t so strong.”

“But at what cost, Videl? You’ve seen what my life has been like. All the pain, all the blood, all the fighting, all the death…do you think I like those things? The only reason why I’ve continued training is so I can protect the people I love. I learned my mistakes from the Cell Games. I won’t make the same mistake again,” Gohan said, his voice down to a soft whisper.

“That may be true, Gohan, but I know some part of you loves it. I may not know much about Saiya-jins and what they’re like, but I felt your blood boil as you did battle. The more primal part of you, the part of you that’s purely Saiya-jin, lives for fighting. It’s your human half that’s the pacifist. And I know you’ve given into it before and you liked it. You liked the feeling of your blood pumping through your veins as you fought, pitting skill against skill, strength against strength, speed against speed.

"You can’t deny that it gives you a rush, a heady feeling, that the adrenaline give you a high, exciting you like nothing else can,” Videl said, her words passionate and fierce. Gohan couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth and he was stunned for a few moments before he chuckled.

“Sometimes, Videl, I think you would make the better Saiya-jin out of the two of us. But, you’re right. I do love the fighting. It’s part of me, it’s in my blood,” Gohan said as Videl smiled.

“Well, I didn’t quite learn the whole story behind the androids, Cell, Dr. Gero, and Trunks from the future. Would you mind explaining that to me?” Videl asked. Gohan smiled slightly and nodded, though he didn’t like the thought of Cell.

“Sure, no problem. I really didn’t understand it until later, though I do now. Ok, so, when my dad was younger, around 13 or 14, he faced the Red Ribbon army. I’m sure you’ve heard about them.” Videl nodded.

“Yeah, well, that was my dad’s doing. He destroyed the entire Red Ribbon Army. Except for one man: Dr. Gero. Keep in mind that my dad didn’t know he existed, but having Dr. Gero alive would produce the most taxing thing that ever happened to us. It took him years to do it, but he created a series of androids to get revenge on my father, the person who thwarted all of his plans. Now, I’m going to tell you the timeline that created Mirai no Trunks’ world, ok?” Videl nodded, so Gohan continued.

“Ok, in Mirai no Trunks’ world, I’ll just call him Trunks, my father died of a heart disease right around the time Trunks was born. About 6 months later, two strong androids attacked. One of them is #18, Krillin’s wife. But, the future version of #18 was much meaner than #18 is now. Anyway, these androids, once they were awakened, killed Dr. Gero, their creator, and pretty much went on a killing spree, destroying most of the population. They also destroyed most of the Z-senshi as well.

"Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha all died against the androids. My future self was the only one left and I hid, training for years to beat the androids who killed all of my friends. Once Trunks was old enough, I trained him.

"From what I remember Trunks telling me, there was a face off between myself and the androids and I was killed, leaving Trunks there alone to protect the world against the androids. Bulma’s future self created a time machine and asked her son to go back and warn everyone of the past about the androids to give them time to prepare, hoping that she would be able to create a world that would live in peace even though she could do nothing to fix what had happened in her timeline.

"Anyway, so Trunks goes back in time to three years before the androids are supposed to show up and he warns my father, who had just returned from space, about his heart virus and the androids who are supposed to show up. Well, Trunks’ visit shifted the way that time was supposed to go. There were 5 androids instead of two, one of them being Dr. Gero himself, and dad got the heart disease much later than in Trunks’ timeline. Nothing had changed in Trunks’ future world, so there were now two parallel universes. And then there was Cell, Dr. Gero’s ultimate creation.

"I know that this is going to sound strange, but the Cell that we fought came from a third parallel universe. He came from a world where Trunks had gone back in time to warn us of the androids, come back a second time to help us defeat them, and went back home to defeat the androids of his time. In this third parallel universe, Trunks was going to go back in time for a final time to tell us of his success in destroying the androids but Cell, who was mad because he couldn’t find the androids there to become complete, killed Trunks and stole his time machine, going back four years before the androids even showed up, a full year before Trunks showed up here.

"Cell in this timeline was killed in Dr. Gero’s lab while he was still growing and I’m not sure what happened to Cell in Mirai no Trunks’ timeline, but I’m guessing that Trunks took care of him. Anyway, so Cell arrives here four years before the androids wake up and he grows.

"You see, Cell has 5 different forms. There’s his embryonic stage, his larvae stage, his imperfect stage, his perfect stage, and his final stage. The Cell that was killed in this timeline was killed when he was in his embryonic stage. But, I’m digressing. Now, Cell was made in an interesting way. Dr. Gero collected cells from all of the most powerful fighters that appeared on earth. My dad, myself, Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Vegeta, Nappa, Frieza, King Cold, Trunks, and many other fighters that fought in the Tenkaichi Budoukai.

"By the time he collected cells from Frieza, King Cold, and Trunks, he stopped collecting cells and created his ultimate creation, Cell. Cell knew all of our attacks and techniques. Cell was nearly impossible to beat. The only reason why I beat him was because my strength was greater than his. I used all of my power as a Super Saiya-jin to kill him,” Gohan said, his explanation finished.

“Gohan, exactly what is a Super Saiya-jin?” she asked, “I mean, I’ve seen in it your memories and I have a slight understanding, but what is it exactly?” Gohan sighed.

“You know, you could have picked any other question and it would be easier to answer than this,” Gohan said quietly, “But I’ll try my hardest to answer it.” Gohan paused for several moments, collecting his thoughts before explaining.

“A Super Saiya-jin is exactly like what it sounds like: Super. Super strength, super speed, super everything. I mean, and this is even for a Saiya-jin. It was a legend among Saiya-jins. Before my dad, it had been 1000 years since the last Super Saiya-jin and the existence of a Super Saiya-jin had dwindled down to a legend. Still, most of the races of the Universe think the Super Saiya-jin transformation is only a legend, especially now that Vegetasei is destroyed.

"Anyway, a Saiya-jin who turns into a Super Saiya-jin is one of the strongest fighters in the universe, practically unbeatable. Our hair turns golden and our eyes turquoise and our power becomes immense…this is really hard to explain what it’s like. I think I better show you what a Super Saiya-jin is for you to understand. There’s different levels of it too. I’m not sure how many, but I’ll show you the ones I’ve reached.” Gohan looked at Videl and thought about what happened to weaker humans when he transformed into a Super Saiya-jin.

“Just trust me on this,” Gohan said as he stood up and walked out into the clearing, slowly powering up, “There needs to be some space between us while I transform. I don’t want you getting hurt.” Videl watched as Gohan concentrated his power, bringing it out. The air around him started to crackle and Videl could see sparks of his power flash in the air. Videl watched with awe as his hair flashed gold, his eyes flickering between black and turquoise. With a final yell, Gohan’s transformation stayed that way, his power glowing around him.

< Wow, I never knew he could be so handsome looking like this, > Videl said to herself, trying to block her thoughts from Gohan and succeeding.

“No,” Gohan said, “This isn’t it. There’s one more level above this. This one will be harder to bring out; it can only come out when I’m extremely angry. I’ll have to make myself angry.” Gohan concentrated his mind, thinking of images of his father and his friends being hurt by the mini-Cells, images of them being tortured by an unknown source, images of Videl being killed. The last image, the one of Videl being killed, was enough to push him over the edge. Videl watched as his muscles bulged, straining against his pajama pants, the only thing that he was wearing; his shirt had disappeared when Videl removed it from him.

< Come to think of it, we’re still in our pajamas, > Videl thought absently as Gohan let out a loud yell, his power exploding from him, the bright light from Gohan’s exploding power forcing to Videl to close her eyes, shielding them not only from the bright light, but the dust and rocks that were pushed away by nothing more than Gohan’s energy. Videl noticed from behind her closed eyelids that the light had faded and she opened her eyes, looking at Gohan, awe reflecting in her eyes. His power was crackling around him, a slight golden glow surrounding him.

Videl walked up to him, slightly scared by the intense look in his eyes. Gohan was angry enough to kill, but, as Videl approached, he forced himself to calm down. Videl walked up to him, pushing her loose hair out of her face; she hadn’t gotten a chance to put it back up before Gohan took her out to the desert. She slowly approached him, trying her best not to be scared and she stopped when she was a couple of feet away from him. Slowly, she reached out to touch him and she reeled back in pain as his power shocked her.

“Sorry, I probably should have told you about that,” Gohan said softly, forcing himself to calm down even further until the glow surrounding him disappeared and the air stopped humming around him.

“Is this what destroyed Cell?” Videl asked, “No, wait, don’t answer that. I can already see that the answer’s yes. Kami, Gohan, why’d you let my father take the credit for it?” she asked. Gohan shrugged.

“Well, I really don’t care. Just as long as Cell is dead, that’s all I care about. Besides, your dad taking the credit helps protect me and my family from what I am. I really don’t mind, Videl,” Gohan said.

“Yeah, well I mind!” Videl exclaimed, “What my father did wasn’t right. He knows he didn’t defeat Cell, doesn’t he? And his still takes the credit! Kami, what a fraud!” Videl was yelling and getting herself all worked up over something that really didn’t matter to Gohan anymore. In an effort to calm down, he laid his hands on her shoulders and gave her a small smile.

“Look, what’s done is done. Nothing can change it. Going around telling everyone that I killed Cell instead of your father is going to cause more trouble that it’d fix. Plus, I really don’t want all of that publicity. Your father’s happy taking it, so let him. And I know you don’t like him having all of the publicity and I can understand why. I’ll show your father one day, I promise. He owes me,” Gohan said.

“Yeah, for that. I know you know what he said. He was completely out of line there,” Gohan said; Videl could see the fury building up in his now turquoise eyes.

“You know Gohan, no offense or anything, but I like you better with black eyes.” Gohan calmed down and transformed out of a Super Saiya-jin, his hair and eyes turning back to their normal black color. There was a bit of an awkward silence before Gohan spoke, removing his hands from Videl’s shoulders.

“Well, I think it’s about time we were getting back,” Gohan said, “The others must be wondering where I am.” Gohan grabbed Videl’s hand and put two fingers to his forehead, concentrating on the group of ki that had amassed somewhere near Videl’s house. With nothing more than a thought, he and Videl appeared there only to find that they were on the roof. Videl looked around her with shock.

“Because I can only do that if I have a ki to lock onto. Out in the desert, there were no beings with a high enough ki for me to lock on. Therefore, we had to fly.”

“Oh,” Videl said softly, pulling her hand away from Gohan’s and looking away from him. Gohan noticed Videl’s hesitancy to be around him and commented on it.

“Yeah, it’s just a lot for me to take in. It might take me a little while to accept all of this, Gohan.” Gohan nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, I know. I feel the same way, pretty much about this whole bonding thing. It’ll take a little while to get used to. Maybe we should take a little break from each other so we can get used to everything.” Gohan could feel his heart sink down to his toes as he spoke the words and Videl felt the same way just hearing them. But, she agreed. For the moment, it was for the best.

“Yeah, maybe that would be good,” Videl said, moving away from Gohan. “Well,” she continued, “I’m going downstairs to get dressed and take a shower. I’ll see you later, ok Gohan?” Gohan nodded and watched as she walked away.

“Bye Videl.” He watched as she disappeared into the house and, once she was gone, he sank to the ground; he could already feel the awkwardness between them that wasn’t going to disappear for a while; things between them had never been as strange and tense as they were at that moment.

“So, how’d Videl take everything? I’m assuming that you told her based on the fact that I felt your ki rise dramatically.” Gohan looked at Krillin, his father’s best friend, and sighed.

“What do you mean?” Krillin asked, the look on his face a confused one. Gohan tilted his head, showing the mark that Videl had left with her teeth; Krillin knew what it was and his mouth dropped open.

“Yeah, we did. We bonded. She saw everything and I do mean everything. She knows it all Krillin, even the parts I was going to leave out to make it easier. She also knows that I’m in love with her; she saw it in her memories. But, I also know that she’s in love with me.”

“Well, she needs some time to get used to the idea that I’m only half human and, well…I need some time to adjust to the whole bonded thing. Did you know that she and I can read each other’s mind, communicate telepathically? It’s going to take a lot of time to get used to,” Gohan admitted quietly. Krillin put a hand on Gohan’s shoulder, trying to offer comfort.

“Well, give it some time. I’m sure that once the shock wears off, things will be good as new.” Gohan looked over at Krillin, the look on his face hopeful.

“I know so. I’ve seen the way that you and Videl look at each other. It’s obvious to anyone that you love her and she loves you. Just give her time to accept you and, before you know it, you two will be together again.” Gohan smiled, his smile small and weak.

“Hey, come and train with us,” Krillin said, his smile turning sheepish, “I mean, it’s not like we can teach you anything new, but it’ll keep your mind off of things.” Gohan’s smile turned grateful.