Title: It's a Start
Rating: PG (just cause it's not something Disney'd want)
Author: Sage
Pairing(s): Gohan/ Videl
Comments: Yay! Ever since seeing the post—Cell saga, it's been Gh/V this and
Gh/V that. Here's the product—expect more soon!
It's A Start
She went over the scene in her head for the thousandth time, struggling to
discern just where she went wrong. What could she have done differently?
It was a "routine" hijacking: nothing special, just some run-of-the- mill thugs
out to make some quick cash at the expense of those weaker than themselves.
Thugs she shouldn't have, and in her eyes didn't,
waste a second punch on.
So if it was so easy, how had things gone from firmly in control to out of her
hands entirely so quickly? She'd stopped the hijackers, shouldn't she have
immediately taken over driving the bus? Should've… could've… didn't.
Instead she waited a moment. Only a moment, but just long enough for the bus to
complete its course over the cliff the thugs had geared it toward.
Do you know what it feels like to be totally "not in control"? Where nothing
you can say or do will change the outcome? Videl Satan did. She'd felt it the
instant those bus wheels left the ground and it plunged downward, like an
erratic roller coaster.
All she could focus on was her body and the ground, and the hundred or so feet
of air separating the two. Would it hurt when they hit? Could she jump out now
and land safely, away from the wreckage? Maybe, but the other poor souls on the
bus couldn't.
They say that when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. It
doesn't, because, if you know you're going to die, then that's all you can
think about. It couldn't end like this! But it wasn't like this situation could
be dealt with with a punch and a sweep. She was as vulnerable and as likely to
die as the feeble old woman crocheting in the seat behind the driver.
Then a miracle happened.
The burden of the knowledge that she could do nothing to save herself or anyone
else was lifted from her shoulders. No screams of agony, but cheers. No
crashing and ripping of metal, but shouts of joy and wild applause. They had
all been saved by a being she would later come to address as "Saiyaman."
*****
The following day at school:
Gohan lugged his bulging grocery bag of food across the campus with some
effort. He jogged along at a moderate pace, eager to empty it of its contents,
toward his lunch tree across the baseball field. He enjoyed eating underneath
its shady branches mostly because of the privacy it provided. Almost all of the
other students ate in the lunchroom, even though they were allowed to eat
anywhere in the field.
However, today, he noticed, another figure seemed to have discovered the simple
pleasures his lunch tree provided: that someone was Videl Satan. He slowed down
and approached her at a walk.
"Videl?" She gasped and whipped her head up from the patch of ground se had
been gazing at intently for some reason.
"Gohan!"
"Oh, sorry, I must've disturbed
you; it's just, you're not over on this side of the field too often—don't you
usually sit with Sharpner and Eresa?" She nodded.
"No, It's ok, you didn't disturb me, I just… needed some space for a while."
"Oh, then I guess that defeats the purpose of my coming over here and joining
you."
"Oh, no, you stay, I should probably get going." She grabbed onto the trunk and
stood up, gathered her things, then began to walk back across the field.
Gohan gauged her demeanor for a moment. "Wait up, hey! Videl!" he called,
motioning for her to come back. She stopped and turned to listen. "You don't
need to leave, really, it's ok. That is—not if you don't want to." He glanced
up into the tree branches above his head. "In fact, we've got a while before
the lunch period is over. Wanna join me?" He pointed upwards into the tree.
Videl's gaze followed his finger up into the tree, then she brought it back
down to meet his, giving him a strange look. "Up there? In the tree?" she asked
incredulously.
He nodded. "I eat up there almost everyday, it's great! C'mon!" With one hand
he grabbed his lunch sack, and with the other swung himself up onto a low
branch, then another, and another, and another, until a voice far below him
called up to him to slow down.
"Not all of us are monkeys, Gohan! Where were you raised, the jungle?" Videl
panted as she pulled herself up onto a branch beside the demi-Saiyan.
"Heh, sorry, guess I was a little fast. I, uh, climbed a lot as a kid." He
gently set down his grocery bag in the crook of two branches and began munching
its contents. "So, Videl," he began between mouthfuls, "what brings you over on
this side of the campus? You said you usually sit with Sharpner and Eresa."
"Yeah, but, I don't know. Sometimes I just need to get outside in the fresh air
and… think."
"I saw that when I was walking over here. You looked like you were trying to
glare the ground to death. Can I…" He paused. "Can I ask about what? You don't
have to—"
"Just…stuff," she muttered absently, and began fingering a leaf she held in her
hands. Gohan finished one sandwich and started on another, a few more minutes
passing in silence.
"Gohan, how much control do you have over your destiny?" Videl bluntly asked,
puncturing the silence that had enveloped the two. "I mean, do you think you
control what happens in your own life, Gohan?"
"Destiny?" he mused. "Well, I guess so. I don't think anyone else can control
my fate."
"Right," she agreed unconvincingly. She was silent again, staring at the leaf.
"Why did you ask that?"
"Huh?" Videl snapped from her thoughts. "Oh, no reason, really, just thinking."
Thinking, right… She glanced at her watch. "The bell's gonna ring soon; we'd
better get down." She pushed her legs down and began to slide to a lower
branch, then Gohan grabbed her arm.
"Hold on just a minute Videl Satan; you haven't given me one straight answer
the entire time we've been up here, and we're not leaving until you do. Now,
something's obviously wrong with you because you've been out of it all day." He
gave her a knowing look, and she sighed and sat back onto the branch she had
occupied before.
"I guess… it wouldn't hurt to tell just you," she confided. "It's just—weird.
You know the hijackers I stopped yesterday? The ones on the bus?" Gohan nodded,
he did. 'I was there,' he said to
himself.
"You didn't get hurt or anything, did you?" he asked aloud.
She shook her head. "No… no I didn't get hurt exactly." 'Exactly?' Gohan wondered. "It's just, I let all those people on
the bus down. I—I almost got them killed, and they would've been, if Saiyaman
hadn't been there. I would've been dead…" she trailed off.
"I've been fighting crime for over five years now, since I first learned how to from watching my dad, and I've never been afraid of any situation I've had to face: thieves, murderers, hijackers, all kinds of nuts. But now…" She pulled her legs up to her chin and leaned back up against the trunk of the tree.
"It's like I can't handle it
anymore. It's starting—I won't be able to take control of the situations I come
up against, like that hijacking. I was ok at first, took out the hijackers and
everything, then bam! Just like that, it wasn't up to me anymore whether I
lived or died. As that bus started going down, I could only think, 'Gone, I'm
gone, I'm going to die,' and… I was scared. I'm a Satan, I can't get scared!
But, there was nothing I could do about it. I mean, what if Saiyaman hadn't
been there? No one can ever fully understand what it feels like to experience
that, and then once you do, you never forget," she finished.
Gohan didn't say anything for a few moments, letting it all sink into him and
musing over Videl's dilemma of staying in control of a situation. He'd seldom
felt that way: the only times he could think of were when either his or his
friends lives were directly in danger—Cell, Frieza, Vegeta and Nappa to name a
few. He was always in control, because he was secure in his power—then, how to
help Videl…? He'd have to break one or two of his rules, to say the least.
"Guess you think I'm not as tough as I claim to be, huh? Just a weak little
girl underneath a tough façade."
"No, Videl," he gently corrected, "you're not weak, and I do understand what
you're feeling, believe it or not. Like you wish you could do something,
anything, to save those you feel it's your duty to protect? Like you can't just
sit around and watch something happen and not try to change it? Not just sit
there, close your eyes, grit your teeth, and wait for fate?"
"Yeah!" She turned around and looked at him strangely, then smiled. "Y'know,
you'd make a good psychiatrist, Gohan."
He smirked, "Maybe."
"I… thanks. It does feel a little better to talk to someone about it. A
little."
Gohan's smirk changed into a smile. "Anytime Videl, I'm here. In fact, you know
what, I think I know a way to make it a lot better." She looked at him
quizzically.
"Huh?"
"Just give me a little trust and meet me at the foot of this tree after school,
ok?"
"But—" Just then the bell rang, ending lunch.
"Oh, sorry Videl! Gotta go! See ya after school, ok?" With that he wadded up
his now empty lunch sack and slipped down from branch to branch until he
reached the base, leaving a very steamed Videl at the top.
"Ooh! That—boy!"
*****
As soon as the final bell rang, officially ending the school day, Videl threw
on her backpack and made her way out to the baseball field at top speed. After
lunch she'd had no more classes with Gohan, and her curiosity at his proposal
had mounted since then—now she was ready to kill if she didn't get some
answers. There was no baseball practice today, so the field was empty, save for
a single figure standing underneath a large tree.
She jogged over to him, shouting along the way. "I can't believe you, Son
Gohan! I pour out my troubles to you, in a tree of all places, you
psychoanalyze me, then take off, claiming you have a solution to all my
problems—"
He held up his hands. "Whoa, hold up, Videl, I never said I had the solution to
your problems. Just a way to… I guess, make them a little easier to handle."
She gave him a hard glare, then a softened a little. Just a little. "Well, what
is it, then? You've made me wait all this time, so it better be good," she
demanded, stamping her foot in irritation. Gohan cast a furtive glance around
the empty field, then looked at Videl.
"Well," he began, "when that bus went over the cliff, tell me again how you felt."
"…weak, out of control, I—I told you earlier Gohan, you know."
"Right, I know. Now, what would you say if I told you that I could put you back
in control of that same situation if you had to do it again?"
She stared at him blankly. "That you were crazy."
He laughed. "Maybe," he said, then added mysteriously. "But the again, maybe
not." He put on the same smirk he'd had on earlier, reminiscent of Vegeta.
"Watch," he said softly, and stepped back a few feet from her. As she watched,
bored, he lifted above the grass- first a few feet, then higher, higher, until,
had she been capable of moving, she would have had to squint to see him. He
swiftly dropped back to the ground after a moment, landing with the catlike grace
he inherently possessed. Videl, on the other hand fell roughly to the ground,
from pure shock, and leaned back on her hands, mouth gaping open, stuttering.
"G—G—you…h—S—flew—eh—b…how…huh?"
Gohan looked concerned for a moment, then figured out what the problem was.
"Oh, uh, I guess I should've warned you…"
Being the daughter of Hercule, she quickly regained her composure and stood up,
beginning to think aloud, trying to offer a logical explanation for what had
just happened. "But—how?! That's impossible—humans can't fly!" Gohan moved to
interject that yes, humans can fly,
but she stopped him with a held up hand. "No, there have to be wires around
here—come here you!" She stomped up to him and began to circle him, patting him
down while looking for hooks and strings.
"Videl—it's not a trick—it's just—" She walked around to his front and leaned
up into his face.
"Saiyaman could 'fly' too! I bet you're him! Yeah, I can see it now, you're the
same height, same goofy voice. Fooling people into thinking you can fly,
sneaking off when I've got my back turned—"
"Saving people? Videl, you're going to have to drop this predisposition to
thinking everything you can't explain is some trick meant to undermine you. I
showed you this to help you." Her face changed, and she leaned back.
"Ok, say I believe you, how's you knowing how to fly supposed to help me? Want
me to deputize you or something?"
"Nope," he grinned, "I'm going to teach you!" Videl's mouth fell open again.
"Still think it's a trick?"
She pushed her mouth shut and thought for a moment, then sat down on the grass.
"This flying, you say you can teach it?" He nodded. "Then where'd you learn it
from?" She added, chuckling, "From Saiyaman?"
It was perfect! Gohan had been worried she'd quickly make the connection
between him and his alter ego, but she'd just provided him with the perfect
excuse as to why he knew how to fly. It was a foolproof cover! "How'd you
guess?" he asked innocently, adding a dejected tone to his voice.
Videl clapped a hand to her forehead. "You're kidding me! How's a guy like you
know Saiyaman? He only just showed up yesterday!"
"Well…" he began slowly, searching for a convincing explanation, "I found out
who he was, and to keep me from telling anyone, he… taught me how to fly! Pretty
nice, huh?" Videl gave him a staredown, unsure of whether or not she should
believe him.
"In less then twenty-four hours?"
Gohan gulped, she'd want to learn that fast now, too! Stupid, Gohan! "Uh, guess
I learn fast, huh?"
"Ok," she conceded. "I'll take that as truth… for now." Gohan exhaled the
breath he'd been holding. At least that got her off his case for a while.
"Shall we start?" he asked. She held up her hand, as if to ask a question.
"Yes?"
"I've got a few questions before we begin, if you don't mind."
"Uh, no, go ahead."
"Can you fall?" she grinned.
Gohan looked thoughtful for a moment. "Um, no, I don't think so. Not unless you
want to. When I teach you how to actually fly, you'll understand a little more
of what I mean. You control things like how high you fly and whether or not you
fall."
Now it was Videl's turn to smile. "I like that part."
"I thought you might. Any others?"
"Ok, if Saiyaman taught you how to fly, then who taught him?"
"Well—uh, I don't know. I only know who he is, not his family history or
anything like that."
"Hmm, ok, just one more." She began to grin evilly. "Just how did you find out
Saiyaman's identity? He did only just
show up…" Gohan swallowed. "Well?"
"Well, you see, I, uh, can't tell you that, Videl." She just glared.
"And why not?"
"Videl, we're wasting time with this. Do you want to learn to fly or not?" She
sighed and relented her attack.
"Fine—teach me."