This chapter is intentionally tiny short. Just to be a tease.

Chapter 19

The dark had never felt so light before. Videl lay in bed back home at her father's old, empty mansion as if she believed she would sleep anytime soon. The blank wall of her bedroom ceiling had never spun quite this dizzily. One word turned and turned in her mind, wash with vivid pictures of memories from her day.

Gohan.

Gohan.

Gohan.

It felt as though today was the first day of her life. Every day before this one had been false. Every day before this one had been the front steps she'd had to climb before she could walk in the front door of her real home. The home she'd always secretly dreamed of. A home of fullness and completion. A home where she felt herself at her very best.

She had to have lost her mind.

In one measly day, one boy had turned everything she'd ever known upside down. In one day one boy had stepped in and told her fairy tales of his life. Of aliens and magic. Of dragons and talking animals. Of super powers.

But life had never felt so real.

What was going on here? What was happening? Does this happen to everyone? In one day, Videl obviously had developed feelings for this boy. She couldn't possibly tell the truth about what was happening between them though. Anyone listening would think she'd lost her mind. Or that Gohan was a psychopath setting her up. They would think she was reckless. Foolish. Naive. Immature. Impressionable. Weak.

Yet here she was…

Quickly, she threw her blankets off the bed. With the push of a button her bedside lamp was on. She rushed over to her desk, frantically looking for paper and anything to write with. After only managing to find an old children's book her father used to read to her, she settled with it.

Using an eyeliner makeup pencil, she wrote out everything she could think of. Everything Gohan had told her. Everything they'd done today.

She wrote about who the Turtle Hermit was. About Yamcha, the famous baseball player's true identity. She wrote about Vegeta, prince of a far away planet that never would be again. She wrote about Gohan's dad, Goku. About his life and his deaths.

She was sure they hadn't revealed all their secrets to her at the gathering today, but the ones they did were quite the secrets.

Sweat was starting to dew on her forehead. With a glance she checked her nightstand for a glass of water. The time caught her gaze.

Oh no.

It was nearly time.

She grabbed the book and hid it. The first place she could think of, she stowed it away, tucked down with the hopes that they would never find it.

In an instant she was back in bed, her light turned off.

Waiting for her door to open.

Waiting for them to come get her.

Waiting for the pain.