�Hi Raditz, you caught us on our way out.� Videl smiles affectionately at me before hugging my waist, her head resting against my chest. She�s so short! But I grin, and hug her back. Videl is intelligent, strong, and could almost pass for Saiyan with her thick black hair. She�s a very warm woman, but there�s a core of steel in there, a coldness that would lash out at anyone who dared threaten her family. I like Videl quite a lot.
My grandniece, Pan, tugs demandingly at my pant leg, and holds her arms to be picked up, a sweet little scowl directed up at me. She�s got her mother�s willfulness, that�s for sure. I laugh and scoop her up, and she wraps her small arms around my neck, pressing a sticky face into my shoulder. I kiss her soft cheek, and she laughs in delight, clambering up to sit on my shoulder like a little monkey. Not for the first time, I wonder if she, too, has lost her tail. Maybe she was never born with one. She�s only a quarter Saiyan, after all.
�I�m staying,� she declares to her mother stubbornly, but Videl just shakes her head.
�Raditz, would you be so kind as to relinquish my daughter?� she asks me, one expressive brow raised. I heave a dramatic sigh, but dislodge Pan from my shoulder, handing her back to Videl.
�I�ll see you later, little one,� I promise her, and she beams, loud complaint averted. Her mother smiles at me, touching me lightly on the shoulder as she carries Pan and a large shopping bag full of Tupperware out the door deftly. I turn to see Gohan watching me with quiet amusement.
�You know, you�re a completely different person around here,� he remarks quietly as he leads me into the living room. Books cover the walls, crammed into too few bookcases. If Kakarot doesn�t seem like a brother to me, then it�s Gohan who�s taken his place. He understands me almost intuitively, and has almost from the first. I feel comfortable around him, like I don�t have to always be on the defensive for something unexpected, some new scary feeling. I just nod at his observation, shrugging.
�You know how it is, Gohan.� He nods back, sitting down on the couch and inviting me to do so with a subtle gesture of his hand.
�I do. So what brings you here today?� Maybe it�s because he�s a bit of an outsider, too. He had to grow up so fast as a kid. I�ve gotten over most of my guilt for my part in that, but it still hurts to realize that he was only five and a half when he was taken away from his family, forced to become the defender of a planet he had only seen about two square miles of up until that day.
�Well, it seems I�ve been roped into taking Goten and Trunks out this Friday. Because of you,� I add, scowling at him. He just laughs, holding his hands up as though helpless.
�Hey, Videl has been bugging me to take her out for ages! With school just starting, I�ve been really overloaded at work. I�m not about to break our date.� I can only smile understandingly. I wouldn�t want to break a date with Videl, either. She has one wicked temper, more dangerous than her mother-in-law�s for how cold it can burn. Of course, Gohan rarely had it directed his way...he and Videl seemed so crazy in love it was hard to remember they�d be together for years now.
�Anyways, your dad cleared me up on what this club is for. Dancing,� I exhale a heavy sigh. I love dancing...but not in front of a bunch of gawking humans. �But I have no idea of what to expect at this place! And Trunks is saying I have to wear some strange clothes, and Chichi wants me to be sure I keep those two out of trouble and...� I trail off lamely. I would have never agreed if I knew what kind of headache this was going to be.
�And you want me to fill you in a little, right?� asks Gohan. �Poor, alien Raditz,� he singsongs mockingly. I just snort.
�Yeah, yeah, Gohan, just give me the details and you can call me your auntie for all I care.� The easy rapport we share allows for a great deal of leeway. Sometimes his more human ways make me want to scream, but honestly I can forgive Gohan most anything.
He grins at me, and the lost child flashes through. �Well, I�m not sure where to start. Because there�s a lot of trouble to get into. You�re going to Manmade God, right? The place Yamcha used to take Bulma waaaay back when?� I nod apprehensively.
�Huh. Well, there�s the bar, and Trunks at the very least is probably going to try and get you to buy them drinks. They�re too young. And a drunk Trunks and Goten is more than you can handle on your first time out, I think. There�s also a rather a lot of predatory men and women there that would just love to get a taste of some fresh meat like you'll be escorting, so you�ll have to watch out for that. It�s pretty noisy and dark in there, too, so you may have a difficult time keeping track of them if they decide to ditch you. I think some people do E in the bathrooms, maybe a little coke, so there�s another thing to watch out for. Hmmm...� he considers me thoughtfully. �I think that about covers it.�
�Oh, good Gods,� I groan, leaning forward to bury my face in my hands. �No wonder Chichi didn�t want Kakarot to go.� Gohan�s laughter is hardly comforting as he chimes in his agreement.
�On the plus side, they�re going to love you there,� he adds impishly, and I meet his dancing black eyes with some annoyance.
�Why�s that?�
�Oh, club goers like anything new and unusual. And you pretty much fit that bill, my giant uncle.�
�Great, just absolutely fan-fucking-tastic.� I sigh and flop back against the couch. �Hey, Gohan?�
�Yes, my sadly doomed friend?�
�What do you think about Trunks?�
His face gets a suddenly serious expression, like a light going out. �What do you mean, Raditz?� he asks, voice quiet. I�m startled, and look over at him, my face openly curious. He sighs, and touches his fingers lightly to his forehead.
�It�s a long story,� he begins before I can even ask. �And it has nothing to do with the Trunks you know, so don�t worry about it.� I�m completely baffled, and say so. He doesn�t seem to want to talk about it, but I keep staring at him, and he finally collapses backwards in his chair, covering his eyes fully with his hand.
�You�ve heard about Mirai Trunks, right?� he asks, and I curse myself for a fool. Of course, if it�s not the Trunks I know, it must be this other one Kakarot told me about. I start to nod, then remembering he�s not looking at me.
�Yeah, I�ve heard about him.�
�When he was here, I was just a child. But I had seen...a lot. More than I should have, I think sometimes. I didn�t feel like a child most of the time. And how I felt about him wasn�t very childish, either. I was in love with him. Hopelessly, of course, Trunks had no interest in me as anything other than...well, a friend I suppose. You see, he was in love with another version of me, an older version he remembered. It was all pretty confusing, I guess. Then everything ended, he went back to where he came from, and I was left wondering if I had said something, would he have stayed?� His voice softens on this last question, and it holds a deep sorrow I instinctively understand. Regret for things not said, not resolved. �Would he have waited for me, until I was old enough to know what love really was?�
I�m shocked to hear this from Gohan, though. He seemed so deliriously happy with his wife. �What about Videl?�
�I love Videl very much. I�ve never regretted marrying her, and now I have my beautiful daughter. But I hope Trunks never comes back.� He finally uncovers his eyes, looks at me with a terrible indecision there. �I hope I�m never faced with having to choose.�
I don�t know what to say. It�s overwhelming, to hear this secret side of my nephew, to realize that he trusted me with it. I blurt out suddenly, �I won�t say anything, Gohan.�
He smiles tiredly, and suddenly I feel like he�s the elder of us. �I know that Raditz. I wouldn�t have told you if I didn�t know that.� He glances over at one of the groupings of photos on his wall, this a collection of Pan at different ages. �That�s a part of my past, though. I suppose you�re concerned with the here and now, with your Trunks.�
My Trunks? I have to think a moment back to my original question. �Oh. Yeah. He struck me as kinda...odd, I guess.�
�Odd?� Gohan sounds slightly taken aback. �Well, he�s a bit of a hellion, honestly. He was always the one getting him and Goten in trouble when they were kids, and since they�ve gotten older, he�s been taking the whole teenage rebellion thing pretty seriously.�
�Is this the same Trunks we�re talking about?� I ask, thinking to that neatly pressed young man who had seemed so hesitant with me. He was a troublemaker? Admittedly, he seemed to get a bit cockier around Goten, but not that much cockier. Maybe he did take after his father.
�Why, what was your assessment?�
�Well,� I consider my words carefully, �He seemed like he had a stick firmly lodged up his ass, if you ask me. And he was so quiet, almost nervous, at first.�
Gohan rubs his chin speculatively. �He used to be that way when he was much younger, whenever he met someone new. I thought he�d left that behind with his baby teeth, but I guess you triggered something.� He grins suddenly, onyx eyes flashing. �He�s got a pretty big daddy complex, maybe you feed nicely into that.�
�What?� Then again, he did say I looked a bit like his dad...oh, Gods, what am I getting myself into?
Part Seven |
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