Apologies for the wait. Despite being on furlough during the current Covid-19 pandemic, you would think that we writers have more time to do just that, write. However, life still gets in the way sometimes and for a while now (between Chapters 12 & 14) I've kinda had a bit of a writers block. I was never in the mood to write anything for these last 3 chapters but I am not one to leave a story untold, especially when you see the sheer number on this site.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter, especially having left you on the cliffhangers of the last few chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT or Dragonball Super, any of it's film adaptations or the manga.

Chapter 14

"Gohan we're home" called out Chichi as she and Videl walked in through the front door.

"Hey mom" said Gohan as he appeared from the kitchen, his face looking somewhat somber.

"Hey Gohan" said Videl as she closed the door behind them. She turned back to look at the young man who was currently looking down at the ground and his face contorted as if he were struggling with something.

"Gohan honey, what's wrong?" asked his mother.

Videl looked at him quizzically. Something wasn't right but she didn't know what it was yet. She moved closer to Chichi as they awaited an answer when something caught her eye. She turned to look in to the front room and noticed that...he wasn't there but instead there was a bag and an envelope which from where she stood looked like it was open but she wasn't sure given the dim light in the room;

"Hey where's...Hercule...gone?" she asked as she moved towards the bag and envelope. Gohan stiffened at the question. Videl didn't see this as she moved in to the room but Chichi did;

"Gohan? Has something happened?" asked Chichi with a bit more concern in her voice. The both heard a gasp from the front room and both their heads swiveled around to see Videl holding the letter in one hand and the other covering her mouth. She then looked back towards Gohan wide-eyed before running over towards him;

"Please...tell me this isn't true? Where is he? WHERE is he?" she asked, trying to hold back a yell of desperation.

"I...I...I don't...don't know, Videl" he admitted casting his gaze back towards the ground.

"Would someone please tell me what is going on, now!" ordered Chichi. Videl threw her arm out to the side with the letter for Chichi to grasp.

Chichi then studied the letter and realised the severity of the situation;

"Oh no…" was all Chichi could offer, stunned for a moment in to silence. Videl was already in tears, unwilling to accept what she had read;

"No...no it can't be real, this is just one big joke isn't it. Tell me he's alright Gohan?" she pleaded with him as she had moved in close grabbing his shirt and tugging at him hoping that he was going to say everything was fine.

He looked down in to her eyes and could see the desperation in them. He could also see that they were searching his eyes looking for an answer that she could accept. He grasped her hands gently and brought them down slightly;

"I'm sorry Videl but it's no joke. I don't know why he left but we haven't found him yet" he replied.

"We?" asked Chichi as she finally came out of her daze.

"Dende is out searching just now and I've asked Piccolo and Vegeta for help too" he replied.

Videl was beside herself, tears streaming down her face ruining the makeup that Erasa had worked on. She didn't care though, all that mattered to her was making sure her daddy was alright. It no longer mattered that she had hated him before walking back in to the house that night, all she needed to know right now was that he was alive and well and would come back through that door any moment.

She latched on to Gohan and hugged him around his torso crying with her head down so he couldn't see her face. He wrapped his arms around her small frame and pulled her in closer as if to protect her from harm, though this was one thing he simply couldn't protect her from.

An hour had passed since Videl had clung on to Gohan for dear life and she was now silently sleeping on the couch where Hercule would normally have slept. It had already been a long day and she had further worn herself out with all the crying she had done over that last hour. Gohan sat silently next to her, watching her chest wall rise and fall with every breath she took as she appeared to be in a silent slumber.

He got up and made his way back through to the kitchen where Chichi was sat with some tea trying to calm her own nerves;

"Mom, I'm gonna go back out and help them look" he said.

"Ok Gohan...make sure...make sure he comes home son. I don't want to imagine how Videl will react if her father doesn't come home tonight" said Chichi.

"I promise mom I wi-" he said before cutting himself off. His eyes had gone slightly wide and he spun his head around facing a particular direction;

"What is it Gohan?" asked Chichi with concern for her son's sudden and abrupt stop to the conversation.

"It's Piccolo. I can feel his energy, like he's giving a signal of some kind...I think he's maybe found Mr Satan. I've gotta go mom" he said as he looked back at Chichi with some urgency.

"Then go, GO" she raised her voice slightly. Gohan wasted no time in racing out the door and taking off in to the sky. He followed the direction of the Namekian's energy. It wasn't too far, only a minute or two for him;

"What have you found Piccolo?" he asked to himself as he flew over the forest.

Piccolo stood at the river bank, a crumpled mess of a man laying at his feet in the form of Hercule Satan. Normally he would have just lugged the man on to his shoulder and took him somewhere to heal but based on the different injuries that could be seen, the different shades of discolour littering his body and the number of limbs and bones that weren't in the correct places told him that he could do more harm than good if he moved him.

He had flared his energy a good dozen times or so to get the others attention. Gohan was the closest so he was expecting him first and Piccolo could tell that he was on his way already.

Vegeta was the furthest away but he expected that he'd still be there faster than Dende as the younger Namekian simply wasn't as practiced at flying as the others.

Really he only needed Dende's presence to heal the man so that he could later be chewed out (in Piccolo's mind at least). Sure enough, Gohan was the first to arrive;

"Piccolo! What happened? Is everything ok?" he asked as he ran up to the tall Namekian before noticing the battered and bruised body of Hercule laying there. Gohan stared for a moment in disbelief. They had been too late and Mr Satan had committed suicide;

"Is he?" Gohan asked, not needing to finish the question.

"He's still alive but barely. We need Dende to heal his wounds" replied Piccolo.

And as if by magic, both Dende and Vegeta appeared with Vegeta holding on to the wrist of Dende as they touched down. It seems that Vegeta ran in to Dende along the way and decided to speed things up by grabbing on to the Guardian and moving them both along at a faster pace. Maybe Vegeta was in a hurry to get somewhere, who knows?

Dende rushed over to where Mr Satan lay and knelt next to him;

"Wow, he's in a bad way. Ok this may take some time" said Dende as he hovered his hands above Mr Satan and faint white energy trickled from Dende's palms as it covered all of Mr Satan's body.

"Well we've found him, the small green man will heal him, my work here is done!" stated Vegeta as he turned away to leave.

"Wait Vegeta! You're going just like that?" asked Gohan.

"Of course, Bulma asked me to help find him. I've done that, now I'm going home to collect my reward" he said whilst looking over his shoulder at Gohan before taking off and heading back in the direction of West City.

"Well he's not wrong I guess. I wonder what he meant by reward?" asked Gohan aloud.

"Beats me, not really interested anyway" replied Piccolo.

Chichi had been waiting for a half an hour since Gohan had left and was still waiting for word to arrive. Based on how long it had been she wasn't too hopeful since Gohan could easily have carried the idiot back home, unless something was stopping him. She chose not to dwell on those thoughts too much as she wandered around the house, pacing up and down rooms to try and get rid of her built up energy and tension.

She had made her way upstairs and gotten changed in to her pyjamas and decided to get Videls as well so that when the girl inevitably woke up she could then get changed and get a proper sleep in bed. At least, that's what she hoped would happen.

"Well I've done all that I can. Now we just need to wait for him to wake up" said Dende as he rose from his position next to Hercule.

"So, do any of you know why he tried to kill himself?" asked Piccolo.

"Yeah I've got a bit of an idea" said Gohan.

"...Hmmm" was all the sound that came from Piccolo.

"He feels like his life is worthless now. Since Videl got mad at him and refused to acknowledge him as her own father, he feels like he's got nothing left to live for" explained Gohan.

"Still...there's always room for redemption and forgiveness" said Dende.

"Indeed" said Piccolo.

"Will he be fine Dende?" asked Gohan.

"Sure, once he's awake he'll be as good as new" replied the young Guardian.

"Good. I don't want to keep you two any longer so if you want to head off I'll keep a watch over him" said Gohan.

"Are you sure?" asked Piccolo.

Gohan nodded in confirmation, however before anyone could say anything else, they could hear noises coming from Hercule.

"Ugh...ugghhh…" came the waking and confused sounds of one Hercule Satan.

"Oh, he's waking up" said Dende. The three of them turned around to face Hercule.

"Ughhh...wh-wha...what happened? Where am I? Is this Hell?" he asked, confused.

"Nope, just the middle of the night," said Gohan. Startled, Hercule looked around for the voice until he spotted the three of them looking at him;

"G-Go...Gohan? What are you doing here?" he asked, still a bit dazed and confused.

"Saving you from yourself Hercule" he answered back.

"I...I...I…" was all that Hercule could say.

"How could you do something like this? How could you leave Videl like that and not have the guts to talk it out with her or us?" he asked, though it sounded more like a demand.

"V-Videl doesn't want to know me. It would be better if I weren't in her life" he replied with sobs escaping him and his breath hitching in his throat.

"That's not true at all. Right now she's asleep back at the house but you know what she was doing before that?" Gohan asked knowing that Hercule wouldn't know the answer.

As predicted, Hercule just shook his head indicating that he didn't know;

"She cried for a good hour, maybe more at the thought of not being able to see her father again. It doesn't matter that she's mad at you right now as that will pass in time. But if you kill yourself there's no coming back from that" explained Gohan.

"B-but all those people who died at the Cell games came back. That could happen to me too, right?" he asked. What a stupid question both Piccolo and Gohan had thought.

"Not if you take your own life" said Dende in a soft tone. It was only then that Hercule really took stock of who was around him. He looked at Piccolo and thought for a moment;

"Wait! I know you! You were there...at the Cell games!" exclaimed Hercule.

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Piccolo.

"H-how do you know him Gohan?" asked Hercule.

"That's a long story but first things first, I think you owe your daughter an apology" said Gohan as he offered his hand to Hercule.

"O-of course. I suppose I'm in real trouble now aren't I?" asked the former champ.

"Yeah but I'd be just as worried about how mad my mom will be. She might not like you a great deal Mr Satan but I think she cares a lot about Videl's well being so...be prepared" said Gohan.

"Alright" said Mr Satan as he took a steadying breath just thinking about what was awaiting him at home.

"So...er...how are we getting back? It took me hours to get out here" he said.

"Don't worry. Here, climb on my back" said Gohan.

"Uh...what?" asked a confused Hercule.

"Climb on my back" Gohan repeated.

"O...okay" said Hercule, not wanting to question the boy and possibly get on his bad side too. After all, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do when he got back.

Now that Hercule was situated on his back, Gohan was ready to head home;

"Okay hold on tight" he said as he slowly took off from the ground. Hercule couldn't believe what was happening and gripped on to Gohan for dear life. He had already thrown himself from a great height once today, he didn't feel like taking the trip a second time;

"How is this possible? Gohan how can you fly?" asked Hercule, amazed and terrified all at the same time.

"It's a long story" replied Gohan over the wind.

"You...you're one of them, aren't you? Those tricksters?" asked Hercule not with anger or derision but with genuine curiosity;

"Simple answer: yes, but there's a lot more to it than that which I'll be happy to explain at a later time" replied Gohan.

"Sure" said Hercule, not knowing what else to say.

He continued hugging on for dear life as they flew through the air with Piccolo and Dende following closely behind.

Eventually the four of them touched down just outside the Son home;

"Well Gohan, it was nice catching up with you but I've got to get back to the lookout. I've left Mr Popo for too long on his own and it wouldn't be fair to expect more from him" said Dende.

"Of course, I understand. Will you be leaving too Piccolo?" asked Gohan.

"Yeah I think I'll take my leave as well. Talk later kid " said Piccolo as he then looked at Hercule and gave a grunt before the two Namekians took flight and headed back for the lookout.

"Well Mr Satan, guess we should head inside" said Gohan.

"R-right" said Hercule, trying to muster up all the courage he could.

Gohan turned the door knob and opened the door allowing both himself and Hercule in before closing it behind them before he then led the way in to the front room. He stopped dead as he looked at the couch and could see that Videl was now awake, dressed in pyjamas and Chichi was sitting next to her with an arm around her shoulder, also dressed in pyjamas. Videl was the first to notice Gohan in the doorway;

"Gohan!" she shouted and jumped up. She didn't make a move towards him however but instead searched his face and his eyes for clues, though she didn't need to look too much as just before she could open her mouth to ask any questions did Hercule also round the corner from behind Gohan. He looked disheveled and his clothes were torn and ripped in different places and still somewhat damp.

"Daddy!" she yelled as she sprinted straight for him and ploughed straight in to his torso and wrapped her arms as far around as they would go with tears already drowning out her eyes, not caring about the state of Hercules clothes or that fact that she was now getting wet being in contact with the large man.

"Daddy, you're safe!" she exclaimed.

"Y-yeah pumpkin, I'm safe" replied Hercule.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! I was so scared I wasn't going to see you again!" she suddenly yelled in anger, the tears still running down her face.

"I-I...I...I'm sorry Videl. I thought you didn't want to speak to me again and you were already so angry with me...I just...didn't think there was anything left for me in this world" he replied solemnly.

"I know what I said was hurtful dad but I don't want to see you die" she whimpered.

"R-really? Then why did you say I wasn't your father anymore?" asked Hercule, a bit hurt at the thought of what Videl had said previously.

"I was angry, angry that you couldn't trust me or tell me the truth about what happened. It was like I didn't even know who you were" she replied.

"Of course...of course" he replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're okay Hercule but it's late and I'd like to get some sleep. Just promise us you won't do anything like that again" said Chichi as she began yawning.

"Y-yes...I promise I won't do anything that stupid again. You have my word" said Hercule as he looked at each of the people in the room.

"And Gohan, I want to thank you especially. Without you, I wouldn't be standing here right now" said Hercule as he bowed to the young man.

"Oh, er...Thanks I guess but you should really be thanking Dende. He's the one who told me what happened" replied Gohan.

"...How did he know?" asked a puzzled Hercule.

"That's a...that's a long story, one that I think we should have tomorrow once everyone's had some rest" replied Gohan.

"Okay that's reasonable I suppose" replied Hercule.

"If you don't mind dad, I'd like to stay up and talk for a bit if it's not too much trouble" said Videl.

"Of course sweet pea" replied Hercule.

"Don't stay up too long now" said Chichi as she left the room to go to bed.

"Well I suppose I should head to bed as well. Just do me a favour and try to stay out of trouble" said Gohan.

"S-sure" replied Hercule with some embarrassment in his voice as Gohan turned and began leaving the room.

"I'll be right back dad, why don't you take a seat and wait for me" said Videl as she turned to go after Gohan.

"Sure thing" said Hercule as he made his way towards the couch. Just as Gohan had reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard Videl call to him;

"Hey Gohan" she said not too loudly or quietly, just enough to get his attention.

"Hmm? What's up Videl" he asked as he turned around to look at the petite girl. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, not nearly as violently as she had her father's not some ten minutes earlier.

"Thank you...thank you for bringing him home" she said trying to hold back tears. She hated crying at the best of times and she's already done that far more times since arriving at the Son household than she'd care to admit.

"Of course, anything to make you happy Videl" he replied as he returned the hug. Videl drew back slightly and looked up to his face and took in his features as a bigger and brighter smile took shape on her face.

She then let go of him and suddenly felt his warmth disappear much to her disappointment. Videl would have gladly stayed wrapped around him if she could have but right now she needed to talk some more with her father. Besides, he wasn't going anywhere, she could always spend more time with him tomorrow.

"Good night Gohan" she said as she turned back to the front room.

"Good night Videl" he replied as he turned and made his way upstairs.

Videl then made her way to the sofa next to her father. There they had a very long conversation about stupidity and how much her father exuded it before moving on to the Cell games again and going through it in detail.

"So those...tricksters, aren't really tricksters at all? You mean that they were really blowing things up?" asked Videl.

"Yep, everything you thought was a trick was as real as you and me" replied Hercule.

"But...but how exactly does that work?" she asked, perplexed at the very notion of humans being able to blow things up.

"I don't know but it's the truth" said Hercule.

"Okay but if that's the case, why didn't you tell the truth then?" asked Videl.

"What exactly did you want me to say? Evil space aliens who can blow up the planet want to fight and me, the strongest man on the planet just got bitch slapped and then hid behind a rock for the rest of the fight?" he asked his daughter with no hint of sarcasm.

"Ok, point taken but why did you have to take all the credit for something you didn't do?" she then asked.

"Well, it wasn't so much that I took the credit but it was more along the lines of someone suggesting that I beat Cell and I was too busy trying to wrap my head around what happened. I then went on autopilot and tried to pander to the crowd, which obviously worked for seven years, and once I seen the money roll in I couldn't stop myself. I mean, we paid off all our debts and lived like kings and queens, tell me that's not something everybody wants" said Hercule.

"Well I suppose I can see your point, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy with it. I would have been content living the way we were before fame found us" explained Videl.

"I know sweet pea and I did think of telling the truth but being able to provide you with anything you wanted, I didn't want to give that up, especially since I was struggling before that all happened" he said.

"Well, I suppose what's done is done and we just have to move forward. No more lies from now on" she said.

Hercule looked at his daughter, this grown up, responsible young woman she had grown up and become.

"No more lies" he responded.

The next morning Gohan woke up rather early despite the late hour that he went to bed. He slung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up stretching to his full height and stretched his arms above his head, satisfying pops going off all over his body.

He left his room and went to the bathroom to take care of his business and get himself ready for the day. Around 15 minutes later he made his way downstairs and in to the kitchen to find Hercule sitting at the table with a coffee in his hand reading yesterday's newspaper (you tell me what delivery boy is gonna get out there at that time in the morning).

A strange sight to behold at this time in the morning but there was something different about the man which took Gohan all of five seconds to realise once he took a good hard look. Hercule had shaved but not just the stubble that always adorned his face, he even got rid of the mustache that was part of the trademark Hercule Satan look.

"Morning Gohan" he said as he looked up to the boy standing at the other end of the room.

"Good morning Hercule. You've...you've shaved off your moustache!?" Gohan both asked and stated.

"Yeah I sure did. After my talk with Videl last night I decided that I needed to do something to give back to the world. I thought I'd start by cleaning myself up before trying to help others" explained Hercule

"Sounds good" said Gohan with a small smile on his face in agreement with Hercule. Gohan then went about getting himself something to drink and he sat down at the table with Hercule. Not long after Chichi then entered the room;

"Oh my, you're both up early" said Chichi as she entered the room.

"Morning Mom/Chichi" they said in unison. Chichi then busied herself with making breakfast for everyone. Shortly after, Videl came bouncing down the stairs and in to the kitchen.

"Morning Videl" said Gohan as she sat down at the table.

"Good Morning Gohan" said a very chipper Videl.

"Good Morning Sweet pea" said Hercule.

"Morning Daddy. Morning Chichi" said Videl as she continued with greeting everyone.

"You seem to be in a good mood this morning" Gohan pointed out.

"Yep, after last night's talk with daddy, the world is looking bright today" she replied full of smiles.

"Glad to see you're doing well" said Gohan as he returned her smile.

"Thanks, so what's the plan for today then?" asked Videl.

"Well...about that...there's something that I...we want to talk to you about. In fact, there's something that we'd both like to talk to you about this morning" said Gohan.

"Oh? What about?" asked a puzzled Videl. She was a tiny bit worried that they were going to kick her and her dad out;

"Nah, there's no way they'd be kicking us out...right" she thought.

"I'd rather not discuss it right away. Let's all finish breakfast, even get some coffee on the go and then move to the front room, this could take some time after all" he said.

"Oh, okay" said Videl, still a bit nervous at the prospect of moving out but she was fairly confident it was something else, but if that were the case then what was it they wanted to talk about.

Hercule had perked up at the tone that Gohan was taking with them, whatever it was it was serious. He had looked over at Chichi to try and get an idea about what they were wanting to talk about, however she had her back to them which was no doubt deliberate and Gohan's expression was just unreadable. He supposed he was just going to have to wait.

After finishing breakfast and brewing a new pot of coffee, the group made their way in to the front room where Gohan sat on one end of the sofa, Hercule on the other and Videl in between them and Chichi took the armchair.

"So...what's so important that you wanted to talk to us?" asked Videl.

This was it, the moment of truth. Chichi and Gohan had discussed this the night before after they had left the Satans downstairs to converse. Chichi had pulled her son aside as he reached the top of the stairs and they had a lengthy discussion about it and decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Well...I don't quite know how to put this but...there are some things that I've, or rather we've not been truthful about. Hercule, do you remember last night, after we found you and rescued you?" asked Gohan.

"Hmm...well sure, I woke up confused and wondered if I was in hell it was so dark. I couldn't feel any pain, like nothing had happened even though my clothes were in ruins and completely soaked. You were there and those other three gu...those other guys…" Hercule trailed off.

"? Is everything ok dad?" asked Videl, concerned that her father had just stopped talking mid-sentence.

"Those other guys, the tall green guy and the short black haired guy...I recognised them...from the C-Ce-Cell G-G-Games…" Hercule was eventually able to spit out.

Videl gasped. The Cell Games? Her daddy recognised them? And they were with Gohan? Oh he definitely knew something, but what?! She spun her head back around to her friend;

"What's he talking about Gohan?" she asked, afraid of the answer but also desperate for more information.

"He's referring to Piccolo and Vegeta and what he's suggesting isn't as far-fetched as you might think Videl" he replied.

She had to think for a moment. Her father recognised them from the Cell Games, that meant that they were there and if they knew Gohan then…

"You're...you're one of them...those tricksters?" Videl asked cautiously but simultaneously gripping on to the couch. Her heart was pounding. She couldn't believe the possibility that her friend, her crush, was possibly one of these tricksters that she had heard about, the...cowards who couldn't fight fair.

"Well firstly, we don't like being called tricksters. After all I'm sure you're father can attest to that" replied Gohan as he now looked towards Mr Satan.

"Me?" replied Hercule as Videl swung back around to look at her father with great confusement.

"Sure. I mean, you were at the Cell Games right? You saw everything that happened there, you can't possibly tell me that that was all a big preconceived fight now can you?" asked Gohan, knowing the obvious implication he was making.

"I...no, I can't say that it was. Everything that happened that day was 100% real" replied Hercule.

"What?!"" exclaimed Videl. "Hold on! I know that you didn't beat Cell daddy but people shooting lasers or...light or...whatever from their hands just doesn't happen. There's no way that was real" exclaimed Videl, denying the suggestion.

"But it's true Videl. I saw it all with my own two eyes" replied Hercule.

"Ok, let's say that I believe you for a moment. If this is all true then who really beat Cell?" she asked.

'Oh boy, she's going to blow a gasket' thought Gohan.

"Well sweet pea, as hard as this is to believe, it was actually that kid who was fighting Cell" replied Hercule.

"What?! No way, uh uh there's no way a kid could have beat Cell from what you're telling me" replied a dismissive Videl.

"Actually Videl, he's telling the truth" Gohan then spoke up. She turned back around to look at Gohan;

"Don't tell me that you believe it Gohan?" she asked.

"No, I don't believe it, I know it" he replied, emphasising his point.

"What are you talking about Gohan? How could you know for a fact?" she asked much more confused now than she had been at the start of the conversation.

He turned around and picked up a photo frame and then turned back around to face her;

"I know because this is a picture that was taken on the morning of the Cell Games. It's a picture of me and my dad" he said, a little bit solemnly before turning the frame around and showing it to both Videl and her father.

Videl gently took the picture from Gohan and inspected it carefully. Sure enough, there was his father, clad in his orange Gi and then a young boy, no doubt it was Gohan. He was wearing a purple Gi but his hair was different, a golden yellow...like those tricksters?

"Go...Gohan...is this...is this real? Were you the delivery boy? The kid who fought Cell?" she asked, trying to find the words to ask the question.

There was a pregnant pause hanging in the air for what seemed like eternity before Gohan finally nodded his head in confirmation;

"Yes...that was me" he simply replied.

"I don't believe it…" was all that she could gasp out. Hercule wasn't fairing much better;

"Now hold on there. You don't mean to tell me that you, the scrawny little kid in that photo was the same kid who beat Cell now do ya?" he asked just as bewildered as his daughter.

"Yeah, that's me. Do you want some kinda proof? I mean, I could arm wrestle you and show you just how strong I am?" asked Gohan, boy this conversation was taking a bit of a weird turn.

"Eh no no, that's fine I believe ya" said Hercule, not wanting to embarrass himself any further than he probably was doing. During this short conversation Videl had stayed quiet, thinking things through;

"I know this is kinda throwing it back in your face but, would you mind proving it, to me?" asked Videl. Gohan looked at Videl for a moment, almost losing himself in those sparkling blue eyes of hers;

"O-Of course Videl but, what do you want me to do to prove it?" he asked. She looked at the photo of him and his father for a moment before she knew exactly what she wanted;

"Become the delivery boy. Turn your hair gold" she requested of him. Gohan sat there for a moment deciding on what to do as three pairs of eyes watched him. Videl's were trained directly on his deep dark eyes, searching for some hint of acceptance. Hercule was looking at Gohan with some unease, he'd seen the power that these guys could put out and was worried if he was going to be that close again. Chichi had simply been content to sit back and watch this whole time as she hadn't seen fit to interject in to the story so far.

"Okay, I can do that" Gohan finally responded after what seemed an eternity to the girl. Her eyes widened, like she was expecting him to say 'no' and deny her like he had done back at school. Back at school, what seemed forever ago for Videl when in actuality it had only been a few weeks or so, maybe a month.

She hated the fact that she didn't trust Gohan enough to take his word for it but Videl was someone who just couldn't believe something until she seen it with her very own eyes. However, if this one proved to be real, she would never doubt Gohan again for as long as she lived.

"But I think we should head outside though. If I do it in here I'm sure mom would hit me over the head with the frying pan again" he said as he looked over at his mother.

"That's right Gohan and don't even think about destroying the house either. It took forever to repair that wall after your father accidentally sent me through it" she sternly said to her eldest.

"Okay mom" he said, showing off the trademark Son grin. He then stood up and began making his way towards the front door before realising nobody was following him;

"Videl, you coming or what?" he asked. Videl was shaken from her daze. She couldn't believe he was actually going to prove it;

"Oh, oh yeah sure. C'mon daddy" she replied before gesturing for her father to follow.

The four of them all made their way through the front door and stood outside the house;

"Okay, best you wait here. I don't want you to get too close and I need to get away from the house a bit" said Gohan.

"...sure" replied Videl, still not quite believing what he was about to do. It was all a bluff...right? Right?

Gohan moved away from the house slightly and then turned back to face them before taking a breath. He then braced himself and his whole body seemed to go rigid before letting out a pained yell;

"HHHHAAAAAAAAAAA"

The ground began shaking as Videl and Hercule both tried to keep their footing. Chichi just stood there like a rock, she was used to this sort of thing, what with her husband Goku and then her sons Gohan and Goten.

Slowly Gohan's hair began to flash a yellowish golden colour before he was enveloped in some kind of aura and his hair finally stopped flashing and stayed as a golden colour.

Videl was flabbergasted, utterly astounded. She couldn't believe it, her friend Gohan was in fact the delivery boy. There was no refuting the undeniable evidence. He could change his hair colour just like those fighters could and his age matched that of the delivery boy's description. Still, there was something missing from this;

"Okay Gohan, I think I believe you now but...could you do one last thing for me?" she asked with a bit of apprehension.

"Sure, what's that?" he asked back.

"Could you perform some feat of strength, it's just...so far all I've seen is...a light show, no offence" she replied.

"Oh, I get it. How about this?" he asked before he sped around to stand behind her, so fast that nobody else had seen this before tapping her on the shoulder. She gave a small yelp before turning around and seeing Gohan behind her. How did he do that she wondered?

"And if that wasn't enough, how about this?" he asked before taking both her hands and flying straight up in the air for a couple hundred feet. When he finally stopped he managed to reposition her so that he was carrying her bridal style. They both looked at each other with a slight hint of embarrassment but Videl had a bigger problem. She appeared to be hundreds of feet in the air with only Gohan to hold on to...not that she didn't mind that last part very much.

"Okay, okay, you've proved your point. Can we go down now, please Gohan?" she begged, not feeling safe at the height they were at, yet had a conflicting feeling of being safe in Gohan's arms.

"Ok but before we do, look over that way and you'll see the sunrise just above those mountains there" he said as he turned them both in mid air. Videl looked in the direction he had pointed them towards and her jaw fell to the floor. The sun was just brushing the top of the mountains in front of them, it's orange glow turning brighter the higher it rose. Down the mountain some way was running water which the sun hadn't quite reached yet and further below was the forest where she could see mostly birds flying around and the sun only just kissing the portion of the forest closest to them as it hadn't fully risen yet.

"Wow" was all she could say at this stunning sight. It was like nothing she had seen before. And then it all went away as Gohan made his descent back down to Earth, a little too quickly for Videl's liking.

After they touched down, Hercule was the first to speak up;

"Videl, are ya okay? You just took off for a moment there" he asked whilst also stating the obvious.

Videl stood there for a moment as her emotions and body tried to get themself in check. The shock to her system and the rapid ascent and subsequent descent had taken their toll. She threw her hand in front of her mouth as her cheeks puffed out and her eyes widened.

She pushed past everyone and ran back in the house looking for either a toilet or sink to hurl in to;

"I guess I maybe went a bit too fast for her" said Gohan as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly whilst his hair went back to it's usual black from it's golden colour.

"You're damn right you went too fast Gohan. Now go in there and make sure she's ok and apologise to the future mother of my grandchildren" yelled Chichi.

"YES MA'AM" yelled Gohan as he ran in to the house. Hercule was confused, future mother of her grandchildren?

"What?" he asked.

"What?" she replied.

"...never mind" he replied as he walked back in to the house. These people are just plain weird.