Ten Days

AN: Hello everybody. This story has been at the back of my mind for some time now. It's basically an introspective take on what happened during those ten days when Videl was learning how to fly. I would be changing POV's so please bear with me. Thanks for reading.

Videl

I remembered being nervous and anxious about my first trip there. 439 Mountain Area was a peculiar place to me as I had never been there before, and I wasn't entirely sure if the secretary had given me the right address. It would be tremendously embarrassing if I showed up at the wrong house. Worse yet, if the resident knew who I was.

Mountains were very secluded to the media, as I've heard from Gohan. He didn't know the singers who were topping the charts, the most popular actors, or the celebrities receiving blinding spotlight by the fanatics. If there was a place I could hide from all the attention I was unwillingly receiving, these mountains were where I would go.

It wasn't like me to feel this apprehensive. It was never like me to blackmail innocent students walking by the halls, or stalk people who help maintain peace in the city. And it's especially not like me to ask for boys' addresses and visit them the next day after.

I was supposed to be Hercule Satan's daughter. Composed, calm, serious, helpful, nice, and an example to all the younger youths in the country. But being Hercule Satan's daughter forced me to be strong, suspicious, and distrusting because people wore a different skin when I faced them. This tough façade I casually put up was caused by the fame and reputation my father didn't deserve, and I was supposed to play along with his little lie.

I have a secret.

Could you keep a secret?

My father told me the truth…

Of course, he was obviously too proud to say it directly. However one night… it slipped implicitly from his mouth. He didn't think I would catch on, but I did. He knew that I knew, and we didn't talk about it.

We just didn't.

I was his daughter, and he was my father.

We're supposed to love each other.

And I did.

And that was why I was doing this. I needed to find out the mysteries of this young boy. They would hold the answer to whether the love for my parent would continue. They held the answer to whether his love would continue for me.

Gohan, what would I do if what I thought about you was true?

Could you keep a secret too?

Could I trust you?

Gohan… this is my first secret.

You held a certain power over me. A power that drove me crazy at night in my dreams, and at day in my wake. That power was what forced me to be on my way to you today. You see, this was your fault, really. Not mine. You might think that I was too curious, too pushy. But you were the one who made me curious, and your so called innocence was what made me pushy.

I could see the little house now. It was dome-shaped, white, and clean. It wasn't cottage-like as I had expected. After all, they were surrounded by the forest. No, it was almost urban like. The structure was steady and stable, windows were clear and shining in the angry stream of the sun, and at the front there was a small door for an entry.

The rest, as far as my eyes could go, were a cornucopia of green and brown, everything nature was in the dictionary. My copter seemed strange in such a place. I felt like an alien.

I tried to make a smooth landing, somewhere far away from the little house. I didn't want to make a grand entrance of blowing away shrubs and mosses. I could walk, and I knew that it was better if I did. That way, I wouldn't look too much of a stranger.

I had never seen grass so fresh and lively green in all my life. They flattened crisply under my weight as I stepped over them. The house was a small dot away, and it would take a couple of minutes before I would reach it. I had better enjoy the view as long as could.

When I reached the residence I realized that it looked much cozier than it did far away. As if on a cue, before I knocked on the wooden door I reminded myself to strengthen up because it would be embarrassing if someone witnessed me in this restless state. A part of my mind reminded me that if this was Gohan's house indeed, I might be met with a warm welcome. There was no need to worry. After all, where would Gohan get his gentleman attitude if it hadn't been taught by people at his home? They might be equally gentle as he was.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

The door opened up to reveal a woman, mid to late thirties. I would say she was pretty if she hadn't scowled at me right away.

"Missy, whatever it is that you're selling, I don't want it!" she began.

I was taken back completely by the rude greeting. I had expected something entirely opposite. Weren't guests welcomed in this household at all? Maybe I've received the wrong address just as I feared. I thought that maybe if I began nicely, the mood of the woman would changed a bit, and so I started out gently.

"Hi there. I was looking for Gohan. Is he home?"

There was no difference despite my efforts.

"Well, if you came here looking for a date, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place. What manners you have! Coming over unannounced, and without proper introduction," she reprimanded. "Shame on you!"

I was clearly offended by her accusations, of which none were true.

"Look lady! I'm not here for a date," I stated, and hopefully she would understand my point.

"Sure…"

Just then, I heard one familiar voice coming our way quickly and one that I couldn't recognize.

"Hi Mom, we're back!" the deeper voice called out to the woman in front of me. It was Gohan and he was with a little boy whose face greatly resembled his.

"Hey Mom, I got to throw rocks at Gohan!"

Throw rocks? Eh, just when I thought their family practices couldn't get any stranger.

"You did?" in a motherly tone, the woman in front of me asked.

Gohan turned to me, an innocent face plastered on the front of his head. The face that mocked me throughout school, and still haunted me when it wasn't. To be completely honest with you, it wasn't genuine innocence. I could tell by the tone of his voice, the awkwardness of his gestures, that behind his apparent naivety, there was something he was hiding from me.

He didn't trust me.

So why should I him?

"Wow, how did you find my address, Videl?"

Oh please, Gohan. You, the only student in our entire school who scored a series of perfect in your entrance exams should know how I got your address. Why don't you consult that brain of yours? Maybe I wouldn't have to spell things out for you.

"Simple," I answered when it didn't seem that he was getting anywhere. "I looked you up in the system directory."

"Hehe… Oh yeah," he responded meekly.

"Now, listen up," I demanded. It was hard to fight the urge to grab him by the shirt and shake him senseless. His dumb-playing annoyed me, and this was the worst of times to do it because I was extremely frustrated. "Thought you could get out of our deal by taking out a leave or absence from school? Well, I've got news for you Gohan. You're going to teach me how to fly!"

"That's fine! I gave you my word and that's all there is to it."

The woman sharply cut in between our confirmation of the deal.

"Excuse me!" she told me pointedly. "My Gohan can't give you lessons. He's busy preparing himself for the World Championships?"

Hmph, and I wasn't?

My ebony-haired classmate stepped in to defend me to my surprise.

Gohan! And here I thought you were against me all this time? What's with the sudden change of mind?

"Mom," he began. "Videl's actually the one who talked me into taking part of the World Championships. If it wasn't for her, I would have never considered entering."

I looked away from his mother, who was still scowling at me.

"Well alright then," she shot back angrily. "Teach her. But let me give you some advice, young lady. You keep your filthy hands off my son!"

Filthy! Just where did she thought I was from? She obviously thought of me as some tramp, a desperate teenager hungry for attention. What sign could have given that impression? Here I was, dressed in the baggiest thing I had in my closet, and not a single act of indecency upon arriving. Obviously this woman was watching too much true Hollywood stories to be this paranoid of a city girl.

"I've had enough of your trashy talk, lady!" I shouted back.

"Ugh," she sounded disgusted of me. "Why, you listen and you listen good!" She began chattering away about how the family depended on Gohan to win the tournament so that they could have money to live on. "And the last thing we need is for Gohan to be distracted by a hussy like you!" she ended with that.

"I'm not a hussy!" I exclaimed. In all of my seventeen years of living, the last thing I've been accused of is throwing myself in the mercy of some guy so I could be used up like a doll and thrown away when I was ragged and dirty. I had to make some facts clear to this person. "We're training for the martial arts tournament. Not eloping! The two don't mix!"

The smaller voice from earlier piped up to comment on the last thing I mentioned.

"My mom and dad got married in the world championships, didn't you Mom? Maybe that' why she's worried. I guess kissy kissy stuff and fighting do mix sometimes, don't they Mom?"

Hearts literally poured out of the chocolate orbs of the woman. I thought it was Valentine's Day all over again, my least favorite holiday of the year.

"In our case, yes." She looked as if she had gone to La La Land and knocked her head on whatever marshmallow rock existed over there. She talked about the past, of how she met Goku the first time, and how they got engaged in the tournament. It was less than flattering, but I was in for whatever got her in a better mood.

"But you!" she began her word assault on me once again. "You're case is different!"

"Look, I don't want to marry your son. I want to know how to fly, that's all. Are you deaf or something?"

I didn't mean for the words on those last lines to fly away from my mouth so harshly. There were times when I lost my temper completely and acted without thinking. Very rarely when it came to people who are older. I was taught how to respect them by my mother when I was just a young child, and I knew she would be very disappointed at how I was acting now.

Deaf, mute, or lame… at least it wasn't anything vulgar.

Unlike the affront she indicated I was.

"How dare you!" she yelled.

I seethed in anger, and she growled at me. I wouldn't back down to her. Why should I? And please, don't think it was my pride or my arrogance or my ego that prevented me from letting her win this pathetic womanly spat.

I never had arrogance or ego.

That's why I had to protect what's left of my pride.

-o-

The lessons began awkwardly. Apparently, Gohan's little brother wanted to learn how to fly as well so I was going to be his buddy for today, and until we could both fly to the best of our abilities. The little boy was quiet, but occasionally he had some childish outbursts about random nothings. He was cute, I must admit. I didn't know if I was going to grow to like him, but that was the farthest thing from my mind at the moment.

"Well, I've never done anything like this before," Gohan replied. "but teaching can't be that hard right?"

He trotted gracelessly towards us, and when he didn't receive an answer, he uneasily answered his own question.

"Right. So anyway, to fly you basically take control of your energy, and you sort of take it underneath you and your energy holds you up. Really, a toddler could do it!"

Was that a pointed insult to me?

He seemed to rethink his phrase and decided to add on to it, "I mean an extremely talented toddler whose put years of hard work into it, of course."

"This energy business, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"It's uh… guess they call it something different where you're from. Well, it's kind of like that power you can feel inside of your body…" he answered slowly. I could tell he was unsure of what to say.

"What? Who are you to be talking about my body?"

Goten, or at least that was what he was called, chuckled.

"Hmmm… I don't think I'd ever be able to say the right words for this." The son of the angry woman stuttered and stumbled over his explanation, and I was surprised when his little brother had to save him.

"It's like this," he told me, catching my attention immediately.

A small glowing ball of light emerged suddenly from his small hand, and it shot off like an arrow from a bow or a bullet from a gun, and into a rock somewhere ahead. The piece of nature was completely obliterated.

I stood shocked and amazed at what had just happened in under a millisecond. How could it have been possible for that… thing to come out of pure flesh and skin and destroy something that's very difficult to break even when using a tool?

"Yeah. It's like that," Gohan agreed.

"I see,"

"Well, if you guys don't call it energy, what do you call it, Videl?"

I closed my mouth, which had been embarrassingly open, and blinked my eyes to make sure that the rock wasn't going to grow back out from its broken form any time soon.

"Well… it's a trick!" I replied. It couldn't have been anything else, could it?

I hated being on the ignorant side.

"No, that's not right," the dark-haired teen said. "We're not trying to trick anybody here!"

I felt absolutely stupid and dumb.

No possible logic would be able to explain what I had just witnessed, and it would certainly be impossible if it wasn't a trick. Hey, if I believed in magic or voodoo then maybe I would agree that this was plausible. But those fairy tale components were just that. Fairy tale. Bogus. Not true to life.

But then again, an evil android who wanted to annihilate the whole population of the world should only exist in fantasy novels. However, only seven years ago, we had met that dilemma. To be faced with another other worldly experience right now after I just had an irritating conversation with a mad banshee would be too much for me to handle.

"Well, if it's not a trick, I have never seen anything like it in my whole life, okay?!" I snapped.

"Okay, I hear you," he told me, his hands gesturing a slight wave in front of him as if trying to calm me down. "This would be harder than I thought."

I walked up to him so I could look him in the eye. I knew that very few people could lie properly without taking their eyes off of yours. Gohan better not be lying.

"So… I can't fly, if I don't have the energy?" I questioned.

"Don't worry, every living person has it inside them. You just… have to find it."

"I will…"

"Alright then. Goten, can you hang tight for a while? Before we move further along, I need to show Videl how to use her energy."

"Alright. But if you ask me, it's a waste of time," the younger of the two brothers responded.

"Hey! I'll learn it!"

"Go on Goten. Go play somewhere else," Gohan ordered.

"Okay, I'll go play. But I'll be back, and you better be ready."

"We will."

The two of us waited until Goten was out of the area. He seemed to have busied himself with catching some amphibians.

I turned back to Gohan who was even more awkward than before.

"Let's sit, why don't we?" he suggested.

I bent my knees and settled down on my legs right on the spot. He did the same. At first, it was quiet when he held out his arms from his torso. I thought he was going to make one of those glowing balls again, and suddenly I wanted to sit further away.

"Here," he said quietly, almost like a whisper. "I'll do it slowly. That way you can watch me better. The first thing you have to do is make yourself completely calm. Then you listen… you listen to the center of your body, until you start to feel a pull. Then…"

I began to notice a change of hue on the skin of his palm, and realized that the glowing of an orb was beginning again. I wondered if it was going to blow towards me, but something about the way it was growing was so enchanting; I couldn't move away.

"You just bring it out," he continued. A small sphere, similar yet different to the one that his brother had shown me earlier, developed in the space between his two hands. I crawled over closer to make sure that it wasn't a trick after all. It felt warm on my skin.

"There… you see," he continued. "Cool, isn't it? Videl? Hehe… right. You try,"

The ball disappeared as Gohan stood up.

I sat back down, and copied his earlier position. I took two small breaths to calm myself, although I must admit that it was very hard to. It wasn't everyday that you observe something completely out of the ordinary, and a second later you were told to relax. I couldn't describe the feeling I had inside of me. From my anxiety this morning, to my embarrassment caused by Gohan's mother just a while ago, and now to this, I didn't know whether the emotion lingering inside even had a name. It almost disgusted me that I could be so careless and uncollected, two things that I've trained myself never to be.

And yet, it was that power again… licking away from his body and taking control over my senses.

"Remember, from the center. Just bring it out," he commented.

I was trying, you buffoon. It was not easy to bring out from the center something that I couldn't feel. The only thing I have in there is bile, which I was mostly going to hurl on you if I didn't feel better any time soon.

Yet you laugh…

I hated feeling inferior.

"You've got to relax your muscles. You'll never be able to bring it out if you're all tense up like that, Videl."

I lowered my hands again. I was bitter and unhappy because I seemed incapable, and in Goten's words, a waste of time.

"I have to make this work," I replied more to myself than Gohan.

-o-

We were called out by Chichi for lunch a few minutes later. I had to stop my practicing and come along with them, or it would seem very impolite of me to refuse the food that she had prepared. I found it surprising that she even invited me for lunch considering how she thought of me just less than an hour ago.

The three of us walked back to the front of the house where a table and a few benches were already sitting outside on the grass. There were so much food lying on the table, mountain dishes that I have never seen nor smelled. But I could already tell that they were delicious just by looking at them.

We sat down on each side of the table. It felt a little uncomfortable for me to be sitting right in front of the woman who had just thrown random offenses in my way, but it seemed as if the atmosphere had changed slightly.

"Food looks great, Mom!" Gohan replied.

Goten, who was already halfway through his first bowl of servings, agreed. "Oh yummy!"

"Thank you very much for lunch, Chichi," I replied. It only felt right for me to thank her after all. She did take the time to make this food for all of us.

"You're welcome," she stated in a much nicer tone. "I'm just glad Gohan's making some nice lady friends. You know it's never too early to settle down."

"Mom!"

I don't know about that. Would you consider me as your friend, Gohan?

I took a bite out of the bowl of rice that she had given me. It tasted amazingly!

"Delicious! I should give this recipe to our cook."

"What? You're cook? Is your family in the restaurant business?" she asked, seeming absolutely interested.

"Oh no. I meant the cook we have at our house."

The mother of two leaned against the table, her focus solely on me.

"You have your own cook?! Your family must be pretty loaded. About how many rooms do you have at your house? Ten? Twenty?"

"Hmm… that's a good question. I guess about fifty," I answered.

"Fifty?! That's like a small village! I can't hardly imagine it! Ah!" I thought that she was highly amused about the information I had just given her. Her eyes were as wide as the dinner plates we were eating from, and I found it even more uncomfortable being under that gaze.

Instead, I tried to focus on what I was eating, which by the way was really nice.

"This is so good,"

But I still haven't caught her attention. Now, from the corner of my eyes, little hearts like the ones which had appeared earlier, popped and replaced her dinner plate sized eyes once again. She leaned over to the side towards her eldest son this time.

"And you're planning to marry this girl?"

Marriage?! Huh?! Did I miss something here?

The teenage boy was too appalled by the question that he spat out all his rice on his little brother. It was strange. I thought those things only happen in television shows.

"So does this mean that Videl is going to be my new sister?" the little boy asked.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about!" Gohan denied harshly, a lone sweat drop appearing on his forehead.

I stared at him peculiarly. Why was he so defensive? Wasn't it meant as a joke or something? Maybe he was more naïve than I thought he was.

And what was with his mother? All of a sudden she loved me all because I was rich. How shallow. Besides, during my research about Gohan's family, I discovered the Goku had been engaged with a princess. And apparently, Chichi's father was the Ox King. So… what did that say? They were supposed to be rich. What was a little bit more money to them?

I hated it when people used me as a bank machine. Most whom I encountered during the times after my father had claimed the credit for killing Cell had only wanted to be close with me so that I could be their personal unlimited credit cards. I knew what they were up to even if they hadn't said so explicitly. Their actions and their intentions were clear with greed. Either it was the money or the fame or the chance to be in the pictures pasted all over magazines.

Why would I only have two friends if this wasn't the case?

Actually, Sharpener barely counted. He never wanted to be my friend; he only wanted to be my boyfriend. Which in this case, he wouldn't count, would he?

Nope.

So, that would put my friends list down to one.

Erasa, no matter how girly or chatty or occasionally dense, she was a rather true friend. Not here for my money or for the pictures, but because she wanted to be with me. Just me, the real me, and for nothing else.

Gohan, would you be the same?

-o-

I tried again, this time I really inhaled deeply. Like the way those yoga trainers required you to do it when I saw them in a program. I closed my eyes, and pretended I was somewhere else. Anywhere but here, and anywhere but the city either. Somewhere where I could be just myself and wouldn't care half a bit if someone was to degrade me.

I haven't been able to be myself for a long time.

And then, like a sudden jerk into a world that was hiding inside me all this time, I felt a tiny pulse from… somewhere deep inside my body. From the centre, just like Gohan had said. It wasn't from my stomach or my guts or lungs or heart. It was… at the center. It was like a magnet that was attracting me to the ground and to the sky at the same time. That pull belonged to the point where the two opposing forces met.

I had to grab it. I had to take a hold of it and use it to my advantage.

"You're close. I can feel it," Gohan said.

I opened my eyes, and saw a light emerged between my hands, and then… there it was!

A small ball. A light, glowing and pulsing like a heart thrown away at the embers of a fireplace.

"Ah yeah! You got it!" the boy in front of me complimented. "I guess since you've been doing Martial Arts all your life, it was a lot easier for you to tap in to your power. Very good."

I felt the energy leaving my body all of sudden. I was light headed and my arms and middle were weak. I had to regain my breath. And then a moment later, I felt a sudden surge of happiness and the feeling of accomplishment.

"Ah, so do you think I can fly now Gohan?"

"Whoa… slow down there! Didn't I mention you have to learn to control that energy first?"

Well thanks for bursting my bubble.

He chuckled nervously under my gaze.

"Well, don't just sit there! Let's learn this thing!" I demanded.

Gohan called his little brother over who had been away playing by himself. He bounded happily towards us, throwing away the net that he was using to catch some frogs. He didn't seem to be troubled at all; excited was what he was on his first time trying to fly. Unlike me. It would be an embarrassment if I couldn't fly. If I was unable to, really. What if there was a certain trick to it? Like pixie dust or a happy thought.

Tinker Bell didn't give me pixie dust, nor a happy thought.

Gohan said that energy was what required you to fly; however, I knew that there was something else. He said that all living beings had that energy. It was impossible to think that only so few could control it.

No, there has got to be something else that he had skipped or didn't want to tell me.

"Okay, it's finally time to learn our first flight. Just use your energy," he reminded casually. "And be careful!"

That energy I felt surged through my body a moment earlier had vanished. I cleared my mind; at least I tried to. Every single time I hear the boy beside me jump up and down, my concentration dwindled, and I wouldn't be able to grasp the feeling again. Why I was anxious of a little boy, I didn't know. I wasn't sure of anything today.

Hell, I wasn't even sure of myself.

"No Goten. Flying and hopping are two different things! Use your energy."

I looked over at what the younger of the two Sons began doing. He had immediately stopped his jumping, and a look of concentration washed over his face. And then, like an invisible propeller was attached on his head, his feet lifted off the ground. He suspended himself in the air for a couple of seconds, and I realized that he had successfully launched his energy into making himself float. It was an incredible, yet intimidating view.

Could you believe it? A little boy was more efficient in this business than I was.

And to think that I considered myself competent for a fighter.

Ah, I felt pathetic.

"You mean, oh, like… like this?" he asked overjoyed.

"Yeah! That's it! Wow, good job!" his older brother encouraged.

He began thrusting himself forwards and began cutting through the air slowly.

"Look at me Gohan. I'm a little birdie."

"That's really great, Goten. Not… so high!"

"Ah, don't worry Gohan."

Then just like a jinx, ironically Goten dropped a few feet down, and thudded on the soft ground.

"Goten! Are you okay?" My classmate, worriedly and perhaps purposely, walked towards his fallen brother and away from me. "See you should have listened to me. But don't worry. At this rate, you'd be flying high in no time."

He clutched down, and helped the younger one get up on to his feet, while they both mumbled a small conversation. They were whispering something, and when I saw Gohan take a peek at me, I immediately knew that I was the subject of their little chat.

Were they making fun of me?

I obviously wasn't the expert in this energy topic, but please. I'm self-conscious enough already, why need to push it further?

"Gohan! Have you forgotten about me?" I asked, a little pissed at the thought.

"Ah no, I'm coming. It's getting late in the afternoon. You think you should go call your Dad and tell him where you are?"

Well no, Gohan. For one thing, what do you think he would do if I personally told him I was over at a boy's house? And second, please stop trying to get rid of me so easily.

"I'm not moving an inch unless it's through the air."

"Okay, fair enough. Then… let's start from the beginning. Feel the energy from your stomach and slowly bring it out. Relax your muscles."

Alright. I tried to do this all over again. Inhaling deeply, a released all the intensity from my body. I forgot about where I was, about Goten, and about any other problems rising from my mind.

Maybe I could make my own pixie dust. Not something from a tiny fairy, but something entirely my own.

I attempted to recollect the energy that had pooled at my center from before. I struggled a bit, but found that with a relaxed body and an undisturbed mind, I was much better at gathering this power.

"That's the energy! Now push it up!"

And then I felt the pull again, much stronger this time. I was rooted on the ground, but there was a force that was contradicting it, and it started to push me upwards. The feeling was unexplainable. I could no longer feel any solid support under myself, but rather an invisible and untouchable barrier that kept me from touching the ground. It was difficult to tell whether the energy was repelling me from the land or carrying me by my shoulders so that I would be lifted upwards. I could feel a strange flow of air pressure that surfaced to somewhere high above me, blowing away my hair away from my face.

"Yeah, you got it!" Gohan complimented happily. "Look you're floating!"

My pixie dust began disappearing.

"Gohan, I'm trying to concentrate here!"

He clapped his hands over his mouth, face apologetic.

But it was too late. I lost the energy and the power, and suddenly I was back on the ground again. I frowned at the teenage boy.

"That's incredible Videl! No one learns how to fly on their first day!"

Think you can flatter me with that, Gohan?

"Is that a fact?"

My eyes traveled suspiciously to the smaller boy beside us, flying recklessly in little circles and calling himself a bird. It was truly an adorable sight… only if I didn't feel so angry and frustrated that I couldn't do the same.

The eldest son of Chichi became rather uneasy with my remark, and hopped off to his rather pathetic defensive mode.

"Of course Goten is an exception! He's been controlling his energy for a long time, you see. Besides, it's in his blood. And well, what can I say? Kids learn so fast, don't you think? Hehehe…"

Gohan, saying things like those would only make me more suspicious. Haven't you learned a little bit about yourself yet? You're a terrible liar, and those dopey lines don't work for me. Honestly, I'm not trying to be mean to you. I never did. But you make me act this way by being so… so… different.

"Well, I'll be back tomorrow," I declared.

"What? Why? I already taught you how to fly! All you really need now is a little bit of private practice," he retorted painfully. Oh, so I was that much of a nuisance to him? That was a bit… much.

Personally, it pained me to see somebody being bothered so much by myself when I knew that I would be greatly irritated if someone was to do the same thing to me. Just like I've already said, I tried to be as nice as I knew how to. It's just sometimes… sometimes when secrets are involved, I'm a little bit persistent. I had secrets to protect and to discover. Gohan was a pure enigma and due to that, it really irked my curiosity. I didn't work hard for five years to seal what my father insecurely locked up, just to have some boy threaten that. And I was pretty sure that he would. He knew something about the Cell games and about my father.

Maybe I would go as far as to say that he knew our little secret.

That's why I had to know his.

Blackmailing was lowly and desperate… but I came from a desperate family. I didn't know a time when we weren't. It was a shame, really. What happened behind closed doors, something away from the eyes of the public. This desperation followed me. I tried to avoid it, but it would just catch up. And today was no exception.

"I want to learn more about this energy business," I answered. "Or is my presence a burden on you?"

"No, of course not! I just didn't think…"

"Good," I replied. "It's settled."

I took out a small capsule from inside my shirt and popped the button to release my jet copter.

"Farewell," I bid.

"Yeah…see you." The boy quickly added, "Oh Videl!"

"Yes?"

"I was thinking… a bit about your hair. It might be… better short,"

Short? Why in the world would he want my hair to be short? Was this a part of his mysteriousness? I tried a different approach to that suggestion. Maybe if I could just tease him a little bit…

"So, you mean you like short hair on girls Gohan?"

"Ah… I've never really thought about it. I just thought that it wouldn't get in your eyes when you're fighting, and plus your opponents wouldn't be able to grab it, and also uh…"

The big goof couldn't even take a joke! I was frustrated and embarrassed that he wouldn't even play along. Or worse… he was too naïve to play along. He must have thought that I was suddenly interested in him.

"Why don't you stay out of my hair and leave me alone, you jerk!"

I spun around fuming, and entered my copter. I revved up the engine quickly and took off, wanting to leave that mountain as quickly as I could. What a place!

What a day!

Such an ironic, stupid day…

I came here and achieved what I had intended: I learned how to fly. Yet, something was still missing. It was torturing the back of my mind because I knew that I hadn't finished with my mission here, and that was really why I was wanting to come back. Not because I wanted to fly like Goten. It was also exasperating! Dealing with a mad woman early in the morning wasn't my cup of tea, being considered a waste of time by a seven-year-old, and humiliating myself with my occasional girlish tendencies in front of my classmate weren't either.

And now I drove back to my home, where I would be surely met with my worried father. I never meant to worry him. If he only knew that what I was doing was for his own good, I was sure he'd be a bit more lenient. However, I could see where he was coming from as well. He was only protective, because he was looking out for my own good.

Perhaps that was why my family was so desperate. We loved each other too much.

Is there such a possibility?

I didn't know. I have yet so much to learn, and I was too impatient to wait for myself to discover all these little things one by one. I needed help, and I needed it soon. Something was telling me that if I didn't do anything, my father's secret would leak out.

And then we would return back to the way we used to be.

It wasn't like I hated what we were. It was just that people hated what we were. They would hate us even more after finding out that we had lied to the whole world.

Gohan, I know that you could help me. Maybe I didn't deserve your help, and maybe you wouldn't want to, but I know that you could.

What would you do if what I thought about you was true?

AN: I hope that's good enough for now. It was much harder than I thought to jot down the script for this episode, but I had to or else things wouldn't seem accurate. Please tell me what you think, and click on that purple button down there.

2024 Commentary: It's a little funny now reading this, because I think my perspective on Videl's personality evolved quite a bit shortly after this was written. I remember my headcanon of her personality was a bit more nuanced than this.