| Okay, this is basically just a re-telling of the Cell games from Gohan point of view to Videl but it�s brief summary, not word for freakin� word. It combines a bit of the Japanese dialogue with the English, though I use a lot of the FUNi lines for those of you who�ve never seen a Japanese fan sub or what not. But some of it is Japanese translation so if it looks like something you�ve never heard, live with it and don�t flame me! Also, this chapter is a little less than double the length of the usual chapters. Math lesson, anyone? Thank you. I�d also like to give a shout out to ZSENSHI and ELFGIRLPERSON, lol. They be my two best buds in FL! They know what it�s all about! I got to know them better when I finally downloaded AOLIM. If you want to talk the IM is �MiraiChris17�! ************* Disclaimer: I don�t own DB/Z/GT, but it�s wicked cool. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER CHAPTER 24 (Takes place about two or three weeks after last chapter.) Videl brushed loose strands of midnight black hair behind her ear while taking a drink of water. She stood in the Son kitchen by the sink, thinking hard. All this was going to be over tomorrow. Tomorrow she left for college, and Gohan left to teach at college. There was just one problem, and as always, it had to do with Gohan. A few weeks ago, when he landed on that beach and told her that he was going to teach Saiyan history and culture she was thrilled. When he told her he was going to teach the Cell Games, she was more than worried. Then he had pointed out to her that she really didn�t know much about what happened that day, and the thought that he was still hiding parts of his past from her aggravated her to no end. Videl knew the perfect person to talk to about her problem: Goku. The older Saiyan had become somewhat of a mentor to her when she had moved in during the month of October the last year, and the feeling had always kind of stuck. It being nine o�clock at night, Goku was either going to be eating in the kitchen, or watching TV with Goten. He was doing the latter, sitting comfortably on the couch, falling asleep as his half-lidded eyes suggested. �Goku, may I speak with you?� Goku moaned. �Listen Videl, you have to go to college. It�s for your own good. You need an education these days. Yes, I�m going to make you leave tomorrow, and if I don�t, Chi-Chi will.� Videl laughed. She had been teasing Goku about how she didn�t want to leave the past week and said that he�d have to literally kick her out to get her to vacate the guest room. �No, Goku, I am leaving tomorrow don�t worry. I just don�t want to leave without knowing something.� �Sure, what?� Videl gave Goten a sidelong glance and whispered to Goku, �It�s kind of private.� Goku stood up and led her to his room, shutting the door. �What?� �Gohan hinted a few weeks ago that he hadn�t told me all there is to the Cell Games. And I really feel like I deserve to know what makes him act so depressed sometimes, especially after he has those horrible nightmares. I mean, he�s nineteen and he still has nightmares about-� Goku stiffened. �What�s the problem? If you want to know just ask him.� Videl sighed. �I would, believe me. But, the thing is that I kind of promised myself, the night of that press conference however many months ago, that I wouldn�t talk about the Cell Games in front of Gohan unless he brought them up first. I just don�t want to hurt him since-� �Sometimes you have to hurt the ones you love the most,� Goku cut in, looking at her squarely and dead serious. �Goku?� �Videl, if that�s not true I�ve made far too many mistakes in my life.� �What?� Goku walked over to her. �I�ve hurt them, Gohan and Chi-Chi and Goten, more times than-� Videl didn�t need him to continue. �I understand.� Goku looked at her. �Just remember one thing, Videl. The super Saiyan power did not come easy for any of us, especially Gohan. I became a super Saiyan when I watched Krillin die on Namek; Vegeta was just a case of an extreme ego coupled with pride; for Mirai no Trunks it took a crumbling world and the death of my future son, his best friend, at the hands of the androids; and lastly Gohan. �Gohan� Gohan always fights to protect. We all do, but him especially. He was eleven counting the time chamber training, really just a small boy, and he was different. He needed anger, fed off it, to become a super Saiyan. And he finally did once he thought back to every horrid thing that had happened in his short eleven years of life. That was enough to make him go super Saiyan: eleven years of pain. Videl, that innocent boy had seen more hate and brutality than anyone five times over. And that was just enough to make him go super Saiyan. �Now here�s my question: If it took all that for him to go super Saiyan, is it even worth asking him, do you even want to know, what it took for him to go beyond that to the second level of a super Saiyan the day of the Cell Games?� Videl was silent as she bit her lower lip. �Gohan never liked the fight as we did, but he tried his hardest to do what we asked of him. And it was that protection for us that he wanted, that drove him to train. He was pushed past his limit and then some. And maybe that�s why I can�t help but see him as a boy. Because no matter how adult he acts, no matter what strength he possesses, everyone, Krillin, Piccolo, Tien, we�ve all had to remember that he was only a child being asked to do a man�s job.� Videl nodded. �I realize that, but I really need to know what happened to him, Goku. I think it will be easier if he can share that pain with someone.� Goku shrugged. �But will he want to? And if he does, even Gohan has a sense of pride that may keep him from revealing that day�s events to you. Or what if he is trying to hide the most painful aspects from you to protect you?� Videl stood up. �I need to know before he leaves tomorrow. Are you trying to tell me you don�t think I should ask him about the Cell Games?� Goku shrugged. �To tell you the truth I honestly don�t know what you should do.� He placed a hand on her shoulder. �Somehow I have the feeling you�re going to try and talk to him anyway. In that case, good luck!� Videl left the room, walking down the hall toward her room and the Son boys room, stopping outside the latter. She put her hand on the door knob and took a deep breath, opening it and stepping in. Goten was nowhere to be seen, probably still watching TV in the living room. Gohan was hard at work next to dim lamp light. He was furiously scrawling something across a white, un-rumpled piece of notebook paper as he unconsciously adjusted his glasses. When Gohan noticed her standing there he looked up, watching her through aforementioned glasses, surprised. �Oh, hey!� He said. �Are you finished packing already? Or do you need another suitcase? Cause I think there was one more left in the attic. I won�t need it.� Videl shook her head. �I finished packing about an hour ago.� Gohan smiled. �Good, you�re farther ahead then I am. Sounds like you�re all ready to go actually.� Videl crossed her arms and leaned against his door frame. �I am already to go, except for goodbyes-� �-and let�s not bring up those yet-� �-and one other thing,� Videl finished. Gohan furrowed his eyebrows. �What thing?� Videl uncrossed her arms and walked forward toward his bed. �Gohan, I need you to tell me about Cell, only be-� Gohan looked away. �- only because if you can tell me, you can teach it. That and I think that I deserve to know.� �No one deserves to know,� he said fiercely but his voice softened. �Please, I don�t want to talk about it. Don�t make me.� Gohan�s whole attitude had turned from studious to scared in a few seconds. �Gohan are you alright?� �I�m fine.� Videl rolled her eyes, peeved. �Listen to me, you�re not fine! And the more you say it the less convincing it becomes. Now you�re not one to lie Gohan so stop saying that!� Videl continued, all anger out of her voice. �I know that there�s no changing the past, but that doesn�t change the fact that something painful happened at the Cell Games. You�re just going to have to accept it sometime.� Gohan looked up at her with a battling glare. �I�ll accept it when I�m ready.� Videl glared right back, seeing the hurt in his eyes. A strong urge to hug him came through her thoughts, but she forced it down. �You don�t have to accept it now, do that some other time for all I care! I�m just asking you to tell me what happened!� Gohan put down the pen and paper with a thud. �You want me to tell you what happened? Why? The one thing that I don�t want to remember is the one thing I can�t forget, as much as I might try. And now, the one person that I thought wouldn�t bring it up is here trying to ask me-� Videl sat down on the bed. �See this Gohan? This is so not you! This is the only thing I want to know! Why all the anger? When it comes down to sorting this problem out it�s obvious you can�t do it alone!� �If only you knew what you were saying,� Gohan muttered bitterly. Videl rolled her eyes. �Can�t you see that I don�t care what I�m saying? Right now I only care about you and why you�re acting like this!� �I don�t want to tell you because I don�t wish for you to know even a slim shadow of the hell I went through- I wish- I dunno. I wish it didn�t hurt so much.� Gohan stood up and ran a hand through his hair, agitated. �Here�s what happened: I was an eleven year old kid out there in the middle of nowhere and scared as hell when my father comes back and tells me that he wants me to fight Cell. I. Didn�t. Want. To. �But I was going to do it anyway because he apparently had faith in me. As did Piccolo, I believe, though the others doubted. My dad saw something powerful or brave in me. He was wrong.� Videl reached out to lay a comforting hand on his arm but he moved away. �But you were-� She began. Gohan raked his hair again. �An idiot. That�s the only thing I was. Videl shook her head. �No, you were only eleven.� �I don�t care! It shouldn�t of mattered. I should have been able to fight, to save dad. Everyone depended on me. Especially my dad and mom, and my little brother who I had no idea about. And I let them all down! If I were really the fighter everyone needed I would have been able to save dad. I should have been able to save dad anyway.� �Gohan�� �Do you want me to tell you what happened or not?� He asked sharply. Videl didn�t say anything. �Like I said: I didn�t want to fight. The next thing I was really conscious of was Cell telling me that if someone was to blame I should blame my father. Then Cell was blasting at me, hitting me and then flying into a mountain. I could hear Piccolo yelling at my dad, demanding to know why he made me, of all people, fight. But my dad knew I was far from being harmed at all. That�s when I heard Cell ask my dad to fight again and I got up. I didn�t want my dad to fight again. You see, Videl, I didn�t want to lose him like I had so many times before. But I didn�t want to fight either. �I burst through the rocks that had landed on top of me by expanding my ki. I told Cell that fighting was pointless. I told him that if he wouldn�t stop I�d have to� kill him. Cell asked me how. By then I had figured out why my dad had told me to fight - what he knew. He knew how I could beat Cell�� �Second level of super Saiyan,� Videl whispered. Gohan shut his eyes and nodded. �But that would take more anger than you had at the time, no matter how hard you tried.� Gohan nodded again. �Exactly.� He resumed pacing. �I told Cell about all the times in the past where I had shown enormous bursts of power. And in every one of them I was angry.� Gohan swallowed. �That�s when Cell got the idea. The perfect little idea: make the boy angry. He just started beating me furiously. In self-defense and nothing more I kicked him and fought back. My dad said something then, I don�t know what, but I heard his voice. He knew that if Cell kept it up I�d go crazy. �And crazy is all that the level beyond super Saiyan is to me. It�s crazy un-harnessed rage. And I was no where near the point of passing that line. So I stood, facing Cell, with the whole world watching. �That�s when he started shooting me with an attack of Frieza�s. I was distracted, dodging it when he grabbed me. He was squeezing me, suffocating me. Dende, I was kicking and screaming and he just wouldn�t let go. Everything became so confusing then. Cell was laughing, asking me if I hated him, asking me if it hurt. And I heard Piccolo yelling at my dad, screaming, �Do you know what Gohan�s thinking about right now? Does he know what you want him to become? He isn�t thinking about anger! He�s thinking, �Why isn�t my father coming to rescue me from pain, and death.�� �But it didn�t work. Piccolo was right, it wasn�t making me angry. Then Cell dropped me. He told me that perhaps I needed to see someone else get hurt. �And then android Sixteen grabbed Cell. It was amazing. Cell couldn�t sense the android because androids don�t have ki and that�s what made them so hard to fight! That�s when Sixteen said that he would detonate the devise Dr. Gero had implanted, taking out Cell with him. I believed it was over. I believed it was all about to end. �Instead, the device didn�t go off. Bulma had removed it when she had reconstructed Sixteen. He was no match for Cell and Cell easily ripped him apart, kicking off his head. Cell wasted no time, and generated seven miniature Cells. That�s where he got me. Krillin, Yamcha, Tien� none of them had a chance against those things. And those who did, like Piccolo and Mirai Trunks, were easily subdued. My father was already injured from his fight with Cell and they just hurt him more. �I forgot everything then. The only thing I could think to do was plead with Cell, beg him to stop, but all he did was laugh at me. Then he said to me, �It looks like you�re almost there.� That�s when he ordered the Cell Juniors to kill them. By now I could feel the power coming. And every time Cell shouted �Kill them all!� he added more fuel to the flame. It was then that I wanted him dead for what he was doing. �Then your father -I don�t know what he was doing or thinking- he threw Sixteen�s head right between Cell and me.� Gohan sat down on the bed, placing his head violently in his hands, frustrated and upset. �Sixteen said that it wasn�t bad to fight for what I was fighting for: justice and peace. He told me I didn�t have to suppress my feelings. He told me to save the planet� the �beautiful nature that I love.�� Gohan looked up at the ceiling, blinking back tears in his eyes. �Maybe your father did save the day, because without Sixteen I don�t think I would have done what I did next. I saw a bird, a white dove, I think, and I went insane. I screamed because I didn�t know what else to do. The next thing that I knew, and that everyone else knew when the dust cleared, was that I had become something else.� Gohan�s voice turned to rage. �And then I killed them, Videl. I killed them all. I wanted them dead, needed it even. I didn�t care. Cell had pushed me too far, that green bastard forced me fight him. He was going to kill my friends, I had no choice. And when I killed Cell�s �children� he was so mad, glaring at me hatefully. I glared right back.� A small smile found its way to Gohan�s lips. �Cell was so confident he could beat me. But once he began his fight with me and I had no trouble, even I got too confident. Cell increased his speed but it was still no problem for me. In two punches I had him gasping for breath. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good about myself. �Cell threw everything he could at me, everyone�s special attacks, like Piccolo�s Makensappo. You know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I blocked them all without a problem, even when he hurled a Kamehameha Wave at the Earth. When I retaliated with a wave of my own Cell was nothing but half there anymore. �My dad was shouting by now, �Gohan! Gohan, the final blow! Give him the final blow, immediately!� He knew that Cell could regenerate from something like that thanks to Piccolo�s cells, but I had other ideas. I thought that what Cell had gone through wasn�t enough. I thought he deserved to suffer more, and suffer at my hands. �I punched him and kicked him until he started hacking or something. And that�s when he threw up Eighteen. By now everyone was in good spirits because it looked as if we had Cell beat. �Piccolo begin again, �Give him the final blow!� And my father warning me, �Don�t toy with him! Do it now!� Then Cell started swelling up.� Gohan hit his fist in his hand. �Damn it! I should have listened to my dad! I should have listened to Piccolo! Damn! Why didn�t I?� He sat back down on the bed again, silent. Videl didn�t look at him, instead she awkwardly surveyed the bedspread, vision blurry, unsure if she should say anything, unsure if she could even speak due to the hard lump that had formed in her throat and the threatening tears in her eyes. The silence grew longer and Gohan was distracted by the soft shaking of his bed. He turned around to see Videl lightly crying. He quickly turned to face her. �Are you alright?� he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. Videl waved him away. �Yes,� she said in a whisper. �Not from where I�m sitting.� Videl shook her head. �I�m just a little teary,� she explained, but a fresh sob gave her away and she gave up the fight to her feelings. �I�m so sorry, Gohan I didn�t know half the things you went through,� she cried, tears running freely now as he face became puffy and red. �I� I am so, so sorry,� she managed to whisper. Gohan nodded, lifting a hand to wipe the corner of one of her drowning eyes, her skin soft under his calloused fingers. �I�m okay,� she said, unable to keep the shaking out of her voice. Gohan shook his head. �But your not. Please come here,� he asked moving toward her and wrapping his arms around her, hugging her supportively. When she wouldn�t calm down he started rocking her gently. �Videl, please, you�re upsetting me,� he whispered against her hair. Videl shook her head violently. �I can�t help it, this is where your dad dies, right?� Gohan swallowed and nodded. Videl felt Gohan�s arms tighten around her more at the memory. Videl tried to pull out of his hug. �You don�t have to do this Gohan, you don�t have to comfort me. After all I�m suppose to be here for you�� �Shhhh�� Gohan said, hugging her still. �We�re supposed to be here for each other,� he stated softly. Gohan felt her body shake again and held her head to his chest. �Shhhh�� Gohan was relieved when she began to breathe more evenly with the aid of a few deep breaths. �Can I continue?� Gohan asked. �I�ll make it quick.� Gohan began to loosen her hold on her, but Videl kept her arms tightly around his midsection. �Uh, Videl�� Videl didn�t move, just looked up at him, silently asking him to stay right there. �That�s okay, I�ll just tell from here,� he said, laughing. �You don�t have to keep going if you don�t want to,� Videl told him quietly. �I should though, you were right,� Gohan responded. After a moment he sighed and began again. �I didn�t know what was going on as Cell expanded in front of me. Not until he told me that he was planning on self-detonating and destroying the planet. I fell to my knees, helpless. And this is the part I always see and hear in my dreams.� Gohan shut his eyes as the words and images played through his head. �No matter what changes in my nightmares this part always stays the same. � �Ten more seconds and the earth will be gone, I guess I�ll call the game a draw.� And then boots, his boots. My dad was right in front of me, saving me as he always had before. I wanted to hug him then, more than I ever had before. I wanted him to know how much I loved him and how good it was to see him then. How much I just appreciated him. And I will never forget what he said, and he said it as if he would see me tomorrow, but at the same time as if he were saying goodbye forever. ��Hey, you put up a good fight, Gohan. I�m proud of you.�� Gohan swallowed again. �I was so lost, and I thought I knew what he was going to do and I didn�t want him to do it. And he asked me, �Take care of your mother for me, she needs you. Tell her that I had to do this, Gohan.�� Gohan�s arms constricted around Videl. �He said �Goodbye, my son,� and that�s when I knew. Cell shouted his name, my dad phased out. I remember pleading, �No, come back!� I didn�t want him to leave me, that had been my fear since the start of the Games. But it happened, and it was my fault-� �Don�t say that, it was not.� �-I cried pounding my fists into the ground. Then Krillin came over, telling me something that was supposed to cheer me up. He also picked up Eighteen, even though everyone else thought that was a little wild. We didn�t know he liked her yet, but you�ve heard that side of the story, they told it to you awhile ago.� Videl nodded, �Yeah.� �We were deciding what to do with Eighteen, Vegeta gave his jackass opinion, wanting her dead, never a break with that guy, I tell you. But anyways, that�s when Cell came back. We saw his hand, and then a ki blast, then Trunks hit the ground. Perfect Cell was standing right there as if nothing had ever happened. �Cell explained about Piccolo�s regenerative cells, and the Saiyan cells that made him stronger because of his near death experience. I told Cell I was going to kill him to avenge my father� and that�s when Vegeta went ballistic� suicidal even. �He leapt forward, went super Saiyan, and barraged Cell with multiple ki attacks. And then Vegeta was on the ground, couldn�t even get back up, Cell had done something to him, I can�t remember if he hit his with a physical blow or a ki attack. Then Cell was about to finish off Vegeta with this ki blast when I flew as fast as I could across the ground and shielded Vegeta with my body, placing my left arm out of commission. �Piccolo was screaming, �Senzu! Where are the senzu?� And Krillin was saying how we had used it up, that this was the end after everything we�d been through. Trunks was dead, Vegeta, unconscious and I was the only one strong enough to even try. To top it off we had no Dende-damned senzu beans. What a strange thing to hit you when you�re down. �There are so many �if�s. My father had given Cell a senzu before I fought. If he hadn�t I could�ve gone into the battle with renewed strength just then. What if I had finished Cell off in the first place when everyone told me to? What if Vegeta had beaten Cell way back when he was imperfect instead of letting Cell absorb Eighteen? What if Krillin had just used the self-destruct mechanism that Bulma had fashioned on Eighteen instead of letting her live?� Gohan sighed �Anyway, that�s when Vegeta apologized to me. My first thought was, wow, the world really is coming to an end.� But my thoughts were cut off as Cell told us his life story, and about Dr. Gero�s ambition to kill my father. �Cell asked me, �What�s wrong Gohan, you�ve been so quiet?� I didn�t care anymore, I was half-way suicidal. I told Cell, �Do it already. I know there is nothing I can do to stop you.� I just knew that I would be with my father soon if Cell killed me, and that was all I wanted right then. All I wanted was my dad. �And my father knew that. I heard his voice, talking to me through King Kai. He told me not to give up. And that�s when I started my Kamehameha Wave. And it was then that I knew, with my energy, and my dad�s spirit, we just might be able to pull of saving this planet. �I started arguing with my dad, telling him I was a crybaby, I think,� Gohan laughed. �He told me to stop. He told me I was afraid to let go of all my energy because I would destroy the earth if I did, and that wasn�t what I was going for exactly. Then he told me that the earth could be fixed with the dragon balls. Duh! The dragon balls! �Piccolo appeared behind Cell then, firing at him, then Yamcha, Krillin and Tien were there too! They were all distracting Cell and I swear when I saw that worried look start to creep onto Cell�s face I could have started laughing. �Then one minute Cell began to overtake me energy-wise and the next minute he was screaming, �Vegeta!� Vegeta had come through for us after all, firing straight at Cell! And Cell was way too distracted by then, he lost his power hold, and that�s when my Kamehameha Wave broke through.� Gohan sighed for the last time. �The end,� he said quietly. Videl had calmed back down by now and was looking up at him. �I made too many mistakes, I let them down. I know I did, I�m not that na�ve, Videl,� Gohan said simply. �So now I know everything?� Videl asked. �Pretty much, yeah,� Gohan replied. �After that is when the lies started.� �Well, on that note thank you so much for the truth,� Videl said against his chest. �Can I just say one thing?� �Sure.� Gohan shrugged, laying down on the bed, careful not to disturb Videl too much. Videl readjusted her hold on him. �There were no mistakes to be made that day, and least of all any to be made by you, remember that.� �But if I hadn�t�� �Gohan, it was one decision,� Videl cut him off. �One decision can change a lot,� Gohan told her. Videl blinked. �Yeah, but remember all those �if�s, Gohan? Those decisions could have been made differently. And if they had things wouldn�t have turned out the way they had today!� �I see your point, but what if they hadn�t worked out this way?� �That�s another �if�.� Gohan chuckled, finding he wasn�t going to win that battle, but grew serious again. �Videl you didn�t have a right to know�� Videl nodded against his side. �Yes, I did,� she replied. �I just found it emotionally sapping.� Videl smiled and looked up at him, but her still-red eyes bothered him. �Everything�s going to be okay, Videl,� he whispered. �I promise you, I�m here.� �I know,� she whispered back, pressing herself closer against Gohan, wrapped in his comfort and security that she craved. Gohan couldn�t help the smile that formed on his lips. He lovingly brushed back some of her hair and she sighed, eyes closed. He made a slow move to rise but was stopped by Videl�s grip still on him. �Don�t go, Gohan,� she whispered, eyelids heavy. Gohan sat up slightly, gathering the covers so that he could lay them on top of Videl. �Do you really want me to stay here, Videl?� He asked, voice a hushed whisper. He could feel her nod her head. �Only if you don�t mind.� Gohan paused. �Not at all,� he replied, bringing the covers down around Videl�s body. He placed his hand on her arm wrapped around his chest. �Not at all�� Gohan shut his eyes and breathed deeply, sleep claiming him . Sleep wonderfully lacking in the nightmares of the past. ************** HA HA! I�ve been wanting to write this chapter since I started this baby. And 156 reviews to count! Have I told you yet that you guys kick ass? Well, way to go you! (Let�s face it, without you I wouldn�t be where I am today�) Feel free to IM me and e-mail me because I always respond to e-mails and IMs. E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> AOLIM: MiraiChris17 |