fate 32

Gohan brought his arms down to his side, his hands clenched into fists, before putting the inside of his wrists together, his fingers curled. He brought his cupped hands to his right side, standing with his knees bent, as he gathered his power in between his curled fingers. Gohan and the other Z-senshi, including Videl, were out in the middle of the mountains, choosing to train in the wilderness instead of on the roof of Videl’s house. Gohan was practicing some of his ki techniques while the others sparred.

Gohan, as he concentrated his power, was oblivious to the small audience of one he had gathered while he practiced his techniques. Videl watched as Gohan gathered in his ki in between his palms, the white energy shining bright. She looked in front of him, knowing that he was preparing for something big, and checked to make sure that no one was in his way. There wasn’t; there wasn’t a living thing for many feet in front of him.

“KAME…” Gohan called out, something in the back of his mind telling him that it was a good thing he wasn’t a Super Saiya-jin; if he tried the Kamehameha while as a Super Saiya-jin, he could destroy the whole Earth. The Kamehameha he was powering up was just enough to destroy the mountain that was in front of him.

“HA!” The power flew from Gohan’s hands, creating a huge ball of ki that raced towards the mountain at an incredible rate, having the power to destroy anything that crossed its path. Videl watched, her eyes wide, as she was reminded of Gohan’s alien blood giving him the power to do what he was doing. She still wasn’t sure how to take everything that had happened and the thoughts that she heard from Gohan that slipped past the wall he had built up ever since they bonded crept her out. She wasn’t so sure if she liked the idea of someone else in her mind, even though it was Gohan and she trusted him with her life.

< I mean, I love him and all, but still…I guess it’s my fear that’s keeping me away from him. He has the power to destroy the Earth with only a thought. He said so himself; the probability of any being in this universe being stronger than him is small; he’s probably the strongest fighter in the universe. He makes my father look like an ant, > Videl said to herself, shielding her thoughts. The week before, Videl’s entire universe had been shaken up. She didn’t know what she believed in anymore, but she knew Gohan was telling the truth.

Things were just so confusing for her at the moment. She had just found out that the man she was in love with was only half human, the other half of his blood coming from a race called the Saiya-jins, a powerful warrior race from Vegetasei. It was a lot for her mind to wrap around and she was a little grateful that her and Gohan were taking a bit of a break; it was a good opportunity for her to let everything sink in. But still…

< I miss the feeling of having him close, of being able to hug him whenever I wanted to, the way his arms used to wrap around me when I hugged him…I miss it all. But, taking a small break is a good idea. I just hope it doesn’t take either of us very long to get used to the idea of what happened to us. I know he loves me just as much as I love him. I can’t wait until the awkwardness disappears; it’s killing me to know that we have this tension between us, > Videl said to herself, watching Gohan with hopeful, yet hesitant and fearful eyes as he blew up the cap of a nearby mountain with his Kamehameha.

Once Gohan let go of the blast, he could feel Videl’s eyes on him and had to control the urge to run over to her and kiss the living daylights out of her, knowing that she still needed time to figure things out. He let his arms fall down to his side again as he took in a deep breath.

He walked over to a nearby rock where he had left his water bottle and sat down on it, taking several large gulps of water from it as he rested his body, giving it a chance to replenish the ki he just used up. Since the blast wasn’t very big, it didn’t take very much time for his ki level to be at its fullest. But, even though his ki was fully replenished, he still sat there, noticing Videl’s eyes on him.

He turned his head to look at her and the two stared at each other for several moments, longing looks embedded deep in their eyes, before one of them spoke.

“Oh,” Videl said, quickly recovering, “I’m waiting for one of the sparring matches to end. I lost against Tien and now Yamcha’s sparring against him. Gohan nodded, taking it in.

“So, I take it you’re training is going well,” Gohan said, starting up their first real conversation in over a week; for the past week, there had been nothing more than passing glances and a few words. Gohan, for one, was happy with the idea that things were starting to become better between the two of them. Videl shrugged her shoulders.

“I guess it’s going ok. The others keep telling me that I’m getting stronger, but I still haven’t won a match against any of them. But, from what I remember from your memories, it’ll be a long time before I come anywhere close to beating them,” Videl said with a dejected tone of voice. Gohan offered her a small smile, another first in over a week; he could feel the tension dissipating slightly.

“Hey, you never know, Videl. You’re pretty strong and you’re a fast learner. I wouldn’t be surprised if in about 4 years, you were as strong as Tien or Yamcha. You have the ability to do it. Hey, I’ll even train you myself if you want me to,” Gohan said reassuringly.

“Well, how about all of those times I asked you a question pertaining to who you were or what happened to you?” Videl asked. The look on Gohan’s face turned sheepish.

“No, you haven’t,” she said softly, also feeling the tension between them slowly seeping away. Gohan gave her a smile and opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly snapped it shut, the look on his face turning from gentle to fierce as his narrowed eyes scanned the area. Videl noticed the change in Gohan and mentally remarked that if Gohan were a cat, the hairs on his back would be bristling.

“I’m not a cat, Videl, but yes, that’s essentially what I’m feeling,” Gohan said; Videl mentally smacked herself for not putting up the wall before she thought that mental remark.

“What is it, Gohan?” she asked, “I take it from the look on your face that it’s nothing good.” Gohan shook his head.

“I feel someone coming over, but I don’t recognize this person’s ki at all. I’ve never sensed this person before. Whoever it is, is pretty strong,” Gohan said. Videl’s eyes widened.

“No, he’s not stronger than me, but he’s strong enough to give me somewhat of a workout.” Gohan turned around and looked off in the direction that his back had previously been facing.

“Whoever he is will be coming from that direction,” Gohan said, taking up a fighting stance as he prepared himself for the worst. There was dead silence for about two minutes while Gohan and Videl anxiously awaited the arrival of an unknown source of ki. Gohan spotted the person first, his Saiya-jin eyes much sharper than Videl’s. But, it didn’t take Videl much longer to spot the approaching source of ki, whoever it was, or whatever it was, flying through the air at an incredible speed.

The figure landed and both Gohan and Videl gasped. The figure was a girl, a young girl, but she was about Videl’s height. She had long, blonde hair, which was swept into a long braid that hung down her back, and she was wearing black pants and a navy blue tunic over it. She looked right past Gohan and fixed her gaze on Videl.

“So, I take it you’re the sacrifice,” she said, Gohan and Videl shocked once again by how young she was; she didn’t sound as if she was any older than 10 years old; the only thing that was off about her was her height.

“So, the great Queen Milena sends me a child, do they?” Gohan asked. It seemed that the young girl noticed Gohan for the first time, her head turning slightly to look at him.

“I’m the person who’s going to stop you. You aren’t going to take Videl,” he said, his voice fierce and clipped. She gave him only a small smile before jumping high, flipping as her body moved through the air, and landing several yards. A small, light giggle escaped her throat as she looked at him, one eyebrow raised; it was as if she was daring him to attack her. His Saiya-jin pride not liking the mocking it was receiving, Gohan lunged for her, his arm raised for a punch.

She brought up two arms to block her face, but Gohan feigned the punch, moving in to kick her unprotected middle. She grunted in pain as Gohan’s foot connected with her stomach, the kick sending her flying about 50 feet through the air. She landed on her back and quickly flipped back up, facing Gohan, with one arm around her midsection.

“What do you mean you can’t win this fight?” Gohan asked. She giggled again, not answering. Suddenly, Videl’s mental voice broke into his head.

::Gohan!:: she exclaimed in terror. Gohan turned around to see a man, who looked to be about in his 30s, holding Videl close to him. Gohan gasped; how could he have not sensed him?

< Where did that thought come from? > Gohan asked himself, thinking about the possessiveness of the thought. He shook his head to clear it before concentrating on the man in front of him and the words he was speaking.

“I am Daoman, one of her majesty’s high priests. I’m sure you know that there’s nothing you can do against me, Saiya-jin, as there is nothing I can do against you,” the man spoke, the glint in his eye evil. Gohan’s eyes narrowed and he smirked.

< This man may have defenses against Saiya-jin attacks, but he doesn’t know that I’m not a pureblooded Saiya-jin, > Gohan thought to himself as he snuck his probe into the man’s mind, not thinking as he did so.

“Well, I have a surprise for you,” Gohan said, his voice low, “I just planted a probe in your mind and, at my command, it will explode, destroying you inside and out.” The man’s eyes widened before narrowing.

“You scoundrel!” Daoman exclaimed before shrugging, “Well, no matter. If you destroy me, you’ll destroy this girl as well. Or did you not think about that?” Gohan’s eye widened with shock. How could he have forgotten? In his rush to make Daoman pay for touching Videl, he forgot that if he exploded the probe inside of his mind, he’d hurt Videl severely, if not kill her as well. He knew he couldn’t live with himself if he killed Videl, even if it was an accident.

“I said do it. Kill him! It doesn’t matter if I die. If I die, then Milena won’t be able to get me.” Gohan’s fists clenched at Videl’s words.

“But you can’t get the probe out of his mind and you’ll have to let it go eventually, right?” Videl asked, continuing mentally.

“Aw, looks like the little Saiya-jin has nothing to do,” she said, once again mocking him. Gohan let out an enraged yell as he turned around to face her again, his mind firmly locked on Daoman.

“And what are you going to do? Kill me?” she asked. Gohan fixed his deadliest glare on the small girl, the air around him snapping with raw power as Gohan began to power up his ki. With nothing more than a thought, Gohan turned into a Super Saiya-jin, shocking Daoman and the female warrior-child. To them, Super Saiya-jins weren’t even supposed to exist.

“You’re…you’re a Super Saiya-jin,” the small girl said, her voice suddenly meek and scared. Gohan nodded, his turquoise eyes fixed on her. If looks could kill, she’d be dead several times over. Letting out a small squeak, the girl took off into the air, flying away as fast as her ki could take her, leaving Gohan alone with Videl and Daoman. At that moment, the others, who had felt Gohan’s transformation, walked over.

“Hey Gohan, what’s-” Krillin said, cutting off his sentence as he spotted Daoman holding Videl; suddenly, all of the Z-senshi were on the defensive.

“This man is one of Milena’s high priests. But, he’s not going anywhere,” Gohan said, “I have a probe set in his mind, ready to explode.” Tien spluttered, very uncharacteristic of him.

“Foolish boy,” Daoman spat out, “You seriously doubt the power of the Cresilians! Even if I leave now, you won’t be able to kill me. I disarmed your little probe. Such amateur work.” Gohan’s eyes widened as he frantically searched inside Daoman’s mind, finding no probe there just as the evil High Priest had said.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be leaving now. And make no mistakes, Gohan,” Daoman said, having learned his name earlier, “Somebody will be back to collect you.” Before Daoman could get away, his arms were pulled away from Videl and were held behind his back. Gohan smiled with relief as Videl moved away, her body freed from Daoman’s grip.

“Very easily, in fact. You can’t sense our ki, so it was no problem sneaking up on you. It looks like your queen will just have to find another High Priest.” Piccolo let go of Daoman and pushed him forward.

< Well, if I can’t use ki and psychic attacks against him, it looks like my only option is to use physical force, > Gohan said to himself as he rushed forward, faster than Daoman could see, and grabbed the High Priest by the collar of his robe.

“Please,” Daoman pleaded, “I didn’t mean any harm. I was only following orders. I’ll-I’ll do whatever you want, just let me go.” Gohan looked at the panicked look on Daoman’s face and briefly considered showing him mercy before throwing away the idea.

“You touched my mate,” Gohan said, his voice still a fierce whisper; Piccolo’s eyes widened slightly as he heard Gohan speak the words, “You had every intention of taking her away from me and giving her to your Queen so she could kill her. You know what your Queen is up to with a female sacrifice and you gladly followed your orders, if not happily accepted them. I will show you no mercy. You don’t deserve it.” Daoman’s face turned into a scowl.

“There will be others,” he said loudly, “Others who are far stronger than myself. I’d like to see you handle My Queen’s favored High Priests. You’d have no chance against them, boy.” Gohan sighed, the enraged look still on his face.

“I’ve had enough of your talking. It’s been my experience that people who are only out to do ill deeds like yourself do not deserve to live.” With that, Gohan set Daoman on the ground, his hands coming up to grab his head, snapping his neck with one simple and swift twist.

Everyone, except for Piccolo and #18, cringed as they heard the loud snap. Gohan removed his hands from the now dead High Priest, letting his body slink to the ground in a heap. Videl watched in horror as Gohan killed the man; she couldn’t hear the words he was saying, but he didn’t look too happy.

< He could have shown a little mercy, > Videl thought, bile rising up in her throat as she looked at the dead man. Gohan forced himself to calm down, letting his ki lower itself until he was no longer a Super Saiya-jin. He had to get his anger under control.

< But, the thought of Videl being taken… > Gohan’s thoughts trailed off as he clenched his fists, not willing to let the thought finish itself. He would gladly kill anyone who harmed Videl, even though the pacifist inside of him said that it wouldn’t be the right thing to do. The part of him that loved Videl told the pacifist inside of him to shut the hell up.

Gohan looked down at the body and held out his hand, his palm facing it. He let out several ki blasts, incinerating the body completely, leaving no trace of anything that had once been living. Piccolo walked over to Gohan and began speaking to him, his voice low and hushed so that no one else could hear what he was saying.

Videl watched the exchange between Piccolo and Gohan carefully. It was obvious that their relationship was that of a father and son and that they cared deeply for one another. Videl could only look at Piccolo with the same affection and respect that Gohan did. Awed that she was seeing him for the first time, she walked over to him, interrupting Piccolo’s conversation with Gohan.

“Well, not quite,” Videl said, “But, essentially, yes, he did tell me about you. It’s nice to meet you, Piccolo.” Videl stuck her hand out without fear, hoping that Piccolo would shake it. Piccolo looked down at Videl and mentally smiled. He liked this girl, knowing that she was the perfect mate for Gohan. Not only was she strong in the physical sense, but she also had a strong will and mind.

Piccolo took Videl’s hand and shook it, shocking Videl with the texture of his skin. Piccolo’s skin was surprisingly smooth to the touch, even smoother than a human’s. She looked at Piccolo as he released her hand, taking everything about his appearance, the strange pink muscles on his arms, his pointy ears, his sharp, pointed fingernails, everything and she did so without fear. She knew she had nothing to fear from this creature. Piccolo looked down at her approvingly, nodding his head in acknowledgment of her statement, his way of saying that it was nice to meet her as well.

“So, what brings you down here, Piccolo?” Tien asked. Piccolo looked at the other four, addressing them for the first time, and spoke.

“I’m here to tell Gohan that Dende wants to speak with him.” Everybody, except for Gohan, looked at Piccolo with confusion.

“All right. Dende didn’t say that you guys couldn’t come. I must admit, I’m a bit curious about this too,” Piccolo said. “We better get going,” Piccolo continued a few moments later. Everyone took off into the air except for Gohan and Videl.

“You guys go on ahead. I’ll meet you there,” Gohan said, watching as the others acknowledged his words before flying off. Once they were gone, Gohan turned to Videl.

“Of course I do. I don’t want to miss out on this. Besides, I want to meet Dende. From what I gathered from your memories, he sounds like he’s one of your best friends,” Videl said. Gohan smiled.

“I can’t even imagine what it was like to travel to another planet,” she said, as if she wanted to travel space herself.

“Well,” Gohan said, “The trip to Namek wasn’t quite the ideal vacation, if you know what I mean.” Videl mentally shuddered, remembering Gohan’s experiences while he was on Namek.

“I can’t believe you did what you did on Namek. And you were only 5 and a half years old! Kami, when I was five, the only things I worried about were making sure no one stole my toys and making sure I was good enough so I could get dessert after dinner. I never had to worry about staying alive,” Videl said.

“Well, we’re going to get there the Instant Transmission way. Grab onto my arm. By the time we get there, the others should just be getting there. Kami’s Lookout isn’t too far from here,” Gohan said as Videl grabbed his arm.

“You mean you don’t remember? It’s where the Guardian of the Earth lives. You’ll love it up there; it’s so peaceful and beautiful. You can see forever from up there…” Gohan said, trailing off. Videl smiled at him, the smile partly hesitant.

“Son Gohan, I think you’re turning into a romantic,” Videl said. Gohan gave her a small, sheepish smile and quickly veiled his thoughts from her.

< It’s all because of you, > Gohan said to himself, happy with the knowledge that Videl couldn’t hear what he was thinking. Gohan looked at her and reached up, grabbing the hand that was holding onto his arm, gently holding her small, delicate hand inside of his bigger one.

“Yeah,” she replied and, with a smile, Gohan put two fingers to his forehead and searched for ki, particularly Dende’s ki. Though it was small, Gohan could recognize it instantly. And, it was surrounded by the ki of the other Z-warriors. The only person missing from the group was Vegeta. Gohan smirked.

< He’s probably training or having sex with Bulma, > Gohan thought, knowing Bulma and Vegeta’s tendency make love whenever they felt like it, which seemed to be a good portion of the time. Concentrating on Dende’s ki, he transported himself and Videl there.

Videl had only blinked her eyes. One moment she was out in the middle of the mountains and, the next, she was up on what seemed to be some huge floating platform that looked out over the Earth. She gasped and pulled her hand from Gohan’s walking towards the edge, marveling at the distance between herself and the Earth’s surface.

< You can see for miles up here, > Videl said, taking in the breath-taking sight of the Earth from above with her own eyes, committing every small detail to memory. As Gohan sensed, most of the Z-senshi were already there, looking at Gohan as Gohan looked at Videl with a tender, loving gaze, a serene smile on his face. Gohan shook his head, knowing there were more important things to be thinking about, and walked over to the group.

But, before he could get there, he was stopped by Piccolo, who pulled Gohan aside while the Z-senshi waited for Dende to come out of the lookout.

“What is it Piccolo?” Gohan asked, noting that whatever it was, it wasn’t very serious. Or, at the very least, dangerous. Piccolo gave Gohan a small smirk.

“Yeah,” Gohan stumbled out before he realized something, his blush fading slightly as an accusatory look claimed his face. “Hey, how’d you know?” he asked his mentor.

“So,” Piccolo said, “When did this happen?” Gohan fidgeted nervously, his feet scuffing the ground. For a moment, he looked every bit the 4-year old boy that Piccolo first met all those years ago.

“Um, last week. We, um…bonded,” Gohan said, pulling away his training gi slightly to show Piccolo the scar that Videl had given him the week before. Piccolo nodded, giving no other reaction to the mark. Part of Piccolo was proud; proud of the mate that Gohan had chosen. She was strong, stubborn, independent, and had a good head on her shoulders, from what Piccolo could make out from months of watching her. He couldn’t have picked a better mate for Gohan himself.

But, the other part of Piccolo, the doubting, pessimistic part of Piccolo, worried for Gohan. If Queen Milena got her hands on Videl and killed her…her death would kill Gohan. Piccolo could already see that Gohan was deeply bonded to Videl and he knew of his feelings for the human girl months before Gohan confirmed them. There was nothing that Gohan could hide from Piccolo and that was one of those things.

“I’m proud of you, Gohan. She’s a good mate for you,” Piccolo said. Gohan smiled, looking up at Piccolo; his mentor’s approval meant everything to him.

< Now I’ll be protecting her even more, > Piccolo thought, < If something happens to her, it’ll hurt Gohan and I don’t think I could stand seeing that. > Piccolo spotted coming out of the Lookout and started walking in that direction. Gohan felt Dende’s approach and started moving over to Dende at the same time that Piccolo did, calling out to Videl as he did so.

::Ok,:: Videl mentally nodded, pulling herself away from the edge of the Lookout and walking towards the group. Dende noticed the newcomer with amusement.

< Who is she? > Dende asked himself as he looked at the girl, her black hair pulled into two pigtails and her blue eyes shining with understanding, awe, wonder, and the slightest hint of fear and hesitancy. Dende then looked closer, something about her appearance triggering something in his memory. He then glanced at Gohan, seeing the way that he was looking at the girl, the reverent, loving look in his eyes that was unmistakable; Dende smiled slightly.

“I figured that one out already, Gohan.” Dende extended his hand, his motion towards her the same that Videl had taken towards Piccolo when she first met him.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Dende,” Videl said, inspecting the other Namek closely. Unlike Piccolo, Dende was open, trusting, and friendly, no hostility or coldness in his manner. Videl felt nothing but respect and affection for Dende, just like she did for Piccolo, but different.

For Piccolo, Videl’s respect for him was like a father, the same as Gohan, but also for what he had done for Gohan over the years, watching over him to make sure he was all right. For Dende, Videl felt the affection and respect of a friend, someone to confide in who wouldn’t judge, just listen.

Videl knew that Dende knew all about her and figured that Gohan had gone to Dende to talk about her, to tell somebody about the feelings he held for her, knowing that Dende wouldn’t judge.

“It’s actually good that you’re here” Dende said to Videl, “Since what I’m about to say has to do with you.” Dende sighed, a serious and worried expression taking over his warm and friendly face.

“I received a message today,” Dende said, his tone of voice all business; there was nothing casual about this, “And I know you’re not going to like this one bit, but I felt you should know, Gohan. And the rest of you for that matter.” Dende closed his eyes, leaning on his staff, before opening them a few moments later.

“As I said, I received a message today. Needless to say, I was shocked at who it came from. It was a psychic message, the voice faint, like they were talking from somewhere far away, but distinctively female. You guys, it was Milena. And she was asking permission to take her sacrifice.” Gohan’s heart felt like it stopped in his chest; Queen Milena has asked for official permission of the Guardian of the Earth to take the woman he loved. The other Z-senshi also fell silent, none of them knowing what to say.

Videl’s eyes watered up with tears; she normally wasn’t one for crying, but something about this scared her to tears. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see #18 smiling down at her softly, the look in her eyes as if to say, “It’s ok. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Videl smiled gratefully at #18 and turned back to Dende. Gohan rushed forward and grabbed the young Guardian by the shoulders, shaking him slightly.

“What did you say?” Gohan asked, his words rushed and panicked. Dende gulped; he knew Gohan wasn’t going to like what he said…but, then again, it was better than if he had said yes…

“I told her I’d consider it,” Dende said softly. Gohan, for the first time in his life, felt anger towards Dende, one of his best friends.

“Well, I couldn’t say ‘no’, Gohan. Had I flat out rejected her, that could have started an intergalactic war. Now, while I have no intention of letting her have Videl, I also have no intention of condemning the people of this planet to doom. Telling her that I’ll consider it has given us time to do something about it,” Dende said, angry, too, at Gohan for overreacting before he knew the whole story. Gohan sighed, his anger disappearing; he understood Dende’s logic and knew he was right. Pulling his hands off of Dende’s shoulders, Gohan began apologizing.

“I’m sorry Dende, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. What you did was the best course of action. I’m sorry for overreacting.” Dende put a hand on Gohan’s shoulder, but it was for comfort.

“It’s ok, Gohan. I understand why you got angry at me,” Dende said before turning to look at the rest of the group. “Does anyone know what do to about this?” Dende asked.

“Well, I don’t have any ideas,” Tien said, shaking his head, “I mean, the only thing I can come up with is wait until we have an opportunity to strike at Milena, but that plan is incredibly fool-hardy and I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Well,” Piccolo said, “I agree with Tien about waiting, but we need another plan than striking directly at Milena. Though I don’t know what it is, yet.” Gohan sighed; he didn’t have any ideas either, but he wasn’t trying to think up any.

“You guys,” Gohan said, voicing his thoughts as he stared at the ground, “I wish my dad were here. He’d know what do to. He always knew what to do.” Gohan’s voice had boiled down to a soft whisper, reflecting on his sadness and guilt that his father was no longer there with them.

Videl noticed Gohan’s mood and walked over to him, grabbing his hand, lacing her fingers through his. Things may have been awkward between the two of them, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from comforting her friend. Gohan looked up and smiled gratefully at Videl.

“Well, I’m going to go and train,” Gohan said, “I’ll see you guys later.” With that, Gohan took off into the air, leaving all of the others behind. It was obvious that Gohan was shaken up by the news that Dende had for them and was frustrated by their inability to think up of a plan. Add that to the returning guilt of his father’s death and all Gohan really wanted at that moment was to be alone for a while. The Z-senshi understood it and allowed Gohan to have his space. There was several moments of silence before #18 spoke up.

“Well, I’m going to go back to the house and train there,” #18 said. The rest of the humans agreed, but Videl brought up an interesting point.

“How am I going to get back? I can’t fly, so that rules that option out. One of you is going to have to carry me,” Videl said.

“It’s no problem. You don’t look very heavy at all. I can easily carry you,” Tien said. Videl smiled and bowed her head.

“Thanks, Tien,” she said. After saying their goodbyes to Piccolo and Dende, the group was on their way, everyone flying except for Videl, who was being carried by Tien. Videl was letting her mind wander as Tien flew, confident in his abilities; she had gotten used to flying through the air in the past week or so, so it wasn’t as big of a deal anymore. Her thoughts wandering, she had a sudden need to talk to someone, anyone.

“Well, I was wondering…why is Gohan so affected by the bond? I mean, I wanted space to accept what Gohan is, but I don’t understand why Gohan wanted the space. He says it’s because of the bond, but I don’t understand why.” Tien looked down at Videl and smiled reassuringly.

“I don’t understand why either, Videl, but my guess is that he’s a little scared. Gohan has lost a lot in his life, mainly his father. I guess he’s scared to open up again; he’s probably scared to lose you, Videl, and the fact that someone is after you only makes it more poignant.” Videl sighed.

“Yeah, we are. We’ve been best friends for over a year now and, now, it seems that it’s more than that. I could always go to him with everything. But, accepting who he is…I can’t go to him with that problem because he is part of the problem.” Videl sighed. “I guess I’m just worried that we won’t ever get rid of this awkwardness between us.” Tien looked down at Videl again, the reassuring smile still on his face.

“Don’t worry,” Tien said, “I’m sure everything will work out fine. You two have something special and I know for a fact that Gohan isn’t willing to let it go. I take it you know about how much he insisted that we all protect you when he couldn’t.” Videl nodded.

“Yeah, I know,” she said quietly, so quietly that Tien almost couldn’t hear her. Noticing that Videl was withdrawing into her thoughts, Tien let her be, concentrating on flying back to the Satan estate, his temporary home. As they flew through the air, Videl couldn’t stop thinking about Gohan, her mind focused on what Tien had said about Gohan being scared.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the group passed through a cold front, causing Videl to shiver and huddle up against Tien for warmth. But, something about being in Tien’s arms didn’t feel right. Videl sighed; she knew what it was. It didn’t feel right because it just wasn’t…Gohan.