Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Cutting Ties ❯ One-Shot

Cutting Ties

Rating: R

“Come on, Gohan. Can’t you stick around? We could go camping or something. I just haven’t seen you in so long!”

“Sorry, Dad. This isn’t like skipping out on studying with mom. I’ve got college entrance exams in a couple weeks. I can’t concentrate here with the house so full. You and Goten can be pretty loud sometimes.”

Goku sat on the window sill, the warm sun on his back, and watched his son pack. He still couldn’t believe how much Gohan had grown since fighting against Cell. He was a man now. And, since the battle with Buu, determined to make it on his own.

“I still can’t believe you’re going off to live in the city by yourself,” Goku said. “I never thought Chi Chi would go for it.”

“It wasn’t easy to convince her,” Gohan admitted. “But when I told her how much study time I lost flying back and forth . . .”

“Yeah, she does have a weakness for your studying.” Goku laughed, then suddenly became serious. “But I know she’s still concerned about you living on your own. Why not ask Yamcha? I’m sure he’d let you stay at his place.”

“No.” Gohan closed his suitcase and set it by the door with his school bag. “It’s nothing against him, but this is something I’d like to do on my own. I’ll still come to visit. I promise.”

Goku hopped down from the sill and held out his hand to his eldest son. “Good luck at school, Gohan. I know you’ll make your mother proud. I’m already proud of how you’ve turned out . . . even without me around half the time.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Gohan said and shook his hand. He was surprised to find they were nearly the same size. A sad feeling began to grow deep inside, but he pushed it back down. Now was not the time to think of all the days, weeks, months, or years he spent missing his father. Now was the time to think of the future.

“Gohan, I packed some things you may need,” Chi Chi said, dragging in a heavy box. “It’s not much. Just some utensils, towels, odds and ends . . . things to tide you over until you can go shopping. I still wish you’d let me come with you. At least until you get settled.”

“Mom . . .” he began, but Goku came to his rescue.

“He’s old enough to do this on his own, Chi Chi. He’s been able to take care of himself since he was just a child!”

“But the city is different than what he’s used to,” she pointed out. “Those people may not be able to hurt him physically, but I’m just afraid someone will try to take advantage of him. He’s so trusting of people. He’s too much like you!”

“Chi Chi, you’ve never lived in the city,” Goku laughed. “I visited a lot of them when I walked around the world. I thought everyone was very nice.”

“You would,” she muttered under her breath. “You’ve got the common sense of a baboon.”

“Too bad Goten went to spend the weekend with Trunks,” Goku said, oblivious to his wife’s comment. “We could have had a lot of fun helping you settle into your new place.”

“That’s OK, dad. I really don’t need any help.”

“I don’t get it,” Chi Chi complained. “You said we couldn’t help you because you wanted to do this on your own, but you’re letting Videl help. You let her find an apartment for you and talk her father into giving you a part-time job.”

Gohan blushed. “Well . . . that’s different.”

He was saved by the sound of an approaching vehicle. They all went outside to watch Videl land her shiny new jet in their front lawn. As always, she was able to maneuver it expertly around the buildings and trees. When the dust settled, she opened the door and jumped to the ground.

“Hi, Gohan!” she called with a smile. “Are you all ready to go?”

“I sure am,” he called back and hurried back into the house for his bags.

“Hi, Videl,” Goku said and gave her a friendly wave. “Long time no see.”

“Hello, Goku. Hello, Chi Chi.”

Chi Chi crossed her arms. Videl hadn’t been to their mountain since Gohan had taught her to fly and he didn’t really talk about her much, either. Chi Chi just couldn’t see why she was so interested in helping Gohan leave home if they just seemed to be casual friends.

“All set,” Gohan said as he tossed the last bag into Videl’s jet. He took one last look around the hillside knowing he was going to miss it as much, if not more than, his family. Moving to the city may have been the logical decision, but his heart would always be in the mountains.

“Take care, Gohan,” Goku said, giving his son a pat on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“If you need anything, be sure to let us know,” Chi Chi called after him as he got into the passenger seat. “Your father can get us there in an instant. And you’d better be home every weekend!”

Gohan couldn’t answer over the roar of the engine, so he just smiled and waved as Videl lifted off. He watched out the window until the mountain was just a speck on the horizon and felt a distant pang of homesickness mix with the growing excitement of freedom.

*****

“This is a great place, Videl,” Gohan said, inspecting the empty apartment. “I didn’t know your dad owned this building. It’s close enough to school that I won’t have to worry about getting up so early. I’ll even have time for a big breakfast.”

“And it’s got this great window out to the fire escape big enough to fly out of . . . or into,” she added with a wink as she pushed the window open to let in the fresh morning air.

“No flying,” Gohan insisted. “Thanks to Hercule, we’ve finally gotten everyone at school convinced that we were using tricks at the tournament. I couldn’t handle all that pressure of being famous on top of school and my new job. It’d drive me crazy! Now I just want to be plain old ‘Gohan the student’. We’ll use the stairs like everyone else.”

“I know,” Videl pouted, still gazing out the window. “But it won’t be as much fun as when you were Saiyaman.”

“That’s ‘Great Saiyaman’ to you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her small form and resting his chin on the top of her head. Videl snuggled back against the warmth of his chest.

“Should I go so you can study?” she asked, turning her head to give him a coy smile.

“And leave me all alone in this big apartment? That wouldn’t be very nice,” he joked.

Videl sighed as she looked around the bare room. “You really need some furniture. I should have gotten the apartment furnished before you moved in.”

Gohan laughed. “I spent a year in the wilderness as a child with only a sword. I think I can handle not having chairs for awhile.”

“But you don’t even have a bed.”

“I have a blanket,” he whispered into her ear, the warm breath on her sensitive skin making her knees weaken.

She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Now, isn’t this better than having to sneak around all the time?”

“I kinda liked sneaking around with you,” he said with a wink. “Never knowing if you’re going to get caught just made it that much more exciting.”

“But could I do this in a closet at school?” she asked as she tugged his shirt free of his pants and pushed it up over his head. Gohan watched it flutter to the floor with a wicked smile.

“No,” he admitted. “And I guess I couldn’t do this in the locker room of your father’s gym.” Videl’s shirt soon joined Gohan’s discarded one.

“Probably not,” she agreed, sighing at the warmth of his hands on her bare skin.

Videl stood on tiptoe and teased his lips with her tongue until he couldn’t stand it anymore, practically devouring her mouth with his own. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss with the passion she could never safely release before for fear of being caught.

Gohan’s hands slid down her back and pushed her shorts to puddle at her feet. Videl followed suit and soon they stood naked in each other’s arms.

“And this floor has to be more comfortable than a blanket on the ground in the woods,” she purred against his chest.

“Who said anything about the floor?” Gohan asked.

Videl wrapped her legs around Gohan’s waist and rubbed her moistness against him, bringing a growl from deep in his throat. Squeezing her bottom, he launched them both to the ceiling where he pinned her above him. Videl’s back hit the same time he entered her and her lungs locked in a mixture of pain and pleasure. He gave her a few seconds to adjust and catch her breath, but she immediately began grinding against him, emitting gasping moans next to his ear that broke down his power of restraint.

He tried to hold back since this was their first time together without having to rush, but his desire could not be denied. He was harder than he had ever been and her inner muscles were spasming at the same rate he was throbbing. If he didn’t allow himself to release soon, he knew he’d explode. Besides, he could make it up to her many times over now that they were alone.

“Gohan!” she screamed, raking her fingers down his back with his final deep trust before collapsing against him.

“Are you all right?” he asked, tipping her face to look at him. Although he was always careful to keep his power levels in check, he never knew what could happen in the ecstasy of the moment. That split second before ejaculation was always the scariest when he feared his tremendous power could break free and harm Videl.

“All right? That was incredible!” she laughed with hitching breath. “How can you do that and still be able to keep us up here?”

He smiled with relief and kissed the tip of her nose. “I have to admit it takes more concentration than I thought. But it was worth it.” He pushed back to watch her breasts dangle between them. “Definitely worth it!”

Videl laughed and attacked his neck with kisses and nips with her teeth. Gohan attempted to wiggle away from her tickling administrations and soon they were floating upside down.

“I like your hair this way,” he joked and ran his fingers through the swaying locks. “Now your neck is wide open.”

Gohan placed a kiss just under her ear. The tickling breath on her neck made her shiver and tiny goosebumps popped up all over her body. She closed her eyes as lips and tongue moved down to her throat.

“So help me,” she whispered, “if you let me fall, I’ll never forgive you.”

“I thought you were holding us up,” he said into the valley between her breasts.

Videl opened her eyes to find Gohan’s back now pressed up against the ceiling. Turning her head slightly, she saw there was nothing between her and the pile of boxes below. She gasped and tightened her hold with her strong legs.

“Whoa!” Gohan said with a sharp intake of breath as his erection was squeezed and snapped immediately to attention. He straightened and wrapped his arms more securely around her. “If you wanted to take control, all you had to do was say so.”

She felt him twitching inside her and forgot all about plunging to the floor. She concentrated instead on the bursts of pleasure she received as she pulled herself against him over and over again. Their breathing was heavy and echoed off the vacant walls as they quickly neared their climaxes.

“Gohan? Surprise! We came to . . .”

Videl stifled a scream and buried her face in Gohan’s chest as he nervously looked over her shoulder. He watched in horror as the apartment door opened and his parents walked into the apartment. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not bolting the door and compromising their privacy.

“Gohan? You here?” Chi Chi called, looking around the room and at the pile of unpacked boxes in the middle of it. “That’s funny. He really shouldn’t leave the door unlocked if he isn’t here.”

“Oh hey, Gohan!” Goku called up to them with a wave. “Hey, Videl.”

Gohan groaned and thought, ‘Leave it to my father to find people naked on the ceiling . . . and then greet them like nothing was out of the ordinary.’

His mother, on the other hand, was a different story. Her face tipped upward with initial excitement, only to change to that of horrified shock.

“G-Gohan? W-What are you . . .” Chi Chi fell against Goku’s chest in a dead faint. He caught her with one hand and scratched the back of his head with the other.

“Hunh. Wonder what that was about. Maybe I should get her some water. Say, Gohan, where’s the sink?”

“Uh . . . the kitchen is the room behind you, Dad,” he said, pointing with one shaking finger.

“Oh, OK. Thanks.” Goku carried his unconscious wife through the doorway like a ragdoll. Just as the lovers began to disentangle themselves, his head poked back out around the door. “Gohan, where do you keep the glasses?”

“I haven’t unpacked them yet,” Gohan answered as he turned to shield Videl’s naked body with his own. “They should be in the box on the counter.”

“Okey-dokey,” his father said and disappeared back into the kitchen where they heard him rummaging around for a glass.

Their faces red from embarrassment, Gohan and Videl quickly landed next to their pile of clothes. Videl grabbed hers and ran for the bathroom while Gohan slipped on his loose-fitting pants. He had just pulled his shirt over his head when his mother stormed in the room, her face dripping with the water Goku had doused her with.

“Oh, now I get it!” she yelled, shaking her finger under Gohan’s nose. “You didn’t move away from home because of your studies after all! You just left to be with that . . . that . . .”

“Now just calm down, Chi Chi,” Goku said, gently pulling her away from their son.

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” she screeched at her husband. “I didn’t spend seventeen years of my life molding him into a model student for nothing! Even with all the time he lost fighting, I was able to get him ready to enter the best colleges so he’d be eligible for the best jobs. We’re counting on him to be able to make enough money to support us, you know! You certainly don’t make anything training all the time. I didn’t do all that work just to have it destroyed by a fling with some cheeky little bitch!”

Gohan’s mouth hung open in shock. With a slam, the bathroom door swung open and Videl stormed out. She was dressed, except for one sock that had mysteriously disappeared, but her hair and clothes were completely disheveled and she looked mad as hell.

“Who are you calling a bitch?” she yelled, standing nose to nose with Chi Chi.

“Who do you think?” Chi Chi shot back. “You’re just some spoiled rich brat that’s used to getting anything she wants. Now you’re looking for a respectable boy you can play with, then toss aside like a cheap toy. Well, you’re not going to ruin my son’s life with your whorish ways! Hell will freeze over before I let you anywhere near Gohan again! He’s coming back home where he belongs. You will not use my son for your perverted little games!”

“Why you shriveled up old crone! You’re the one that’s been smothering him with books since the day he was born! Keeping him chained to a desk like some sort of pet. No wonder he jumped at any chance to fight. It was just to get away from you! You’ve run his life for long enough. He only studied so hard because you gave him no choice. You’ve had him under your thumb for so long you can’t bear to see him free to live his own life. If you hadn’t noticed, he’s not a little kid anymore. He’s a man. And hell will freeze over before I let you anywhere near him again if you’re going to treat him like a child. He loves me now and I’m going to love him back as hard as I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, and in as many ways as I can!”

“Why you . . .” Chi Chi lunged for Videl’s face with her nails. Goku grabbed her the same time Gohan clamped his hand over Videl’s mouth. They both struggled to pull the women away from each other.

“That didn’t help, Videl,” Gohan warned.

“I think maybe I’ll take your mom outside for some fresh air,” Goku said. He carried his wife, kicking, biting, and clawing to the fire escape window and flew out. Gohan didn’t even have a chance to tell him about their agreement not to fly while in the city.

Gohan sighed and released his hold on Videl. “I’m sorry, Videl. Mom was way out of line. But I don’t think you should have . . .”

“Should have what?” she snapped, shoving him away. “Stood up for myself? Stood up for you? You certainly weren’t doing it! I’m beginning to wonder just how serious you are about us. Are you going to stay tied to your mother’s apron strings forever?”

Gohan opened his mouth to protest, but realized she was right. He could have stopped his mother at any time, but he didn’t. How could he have just stood there and let the situation get so out of hand? He couldn’t even think of a good excuse.

“You’re right,” he said, hanging his head and absently running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Videl. I should have told her to stop. I should have told her she was way out of line. I should have told her not to say such horrible things. I should have told her to apologize to the woman I love . . . the woman I’m going to marry.”

All the anger was sucked out of Videl along with her breath and she had to take a step back to keep her knees from buckling. For all the times Gohan had said he cared for her, even loved her, he had never once mentioned marriage.

“I . . . I . . .”

The sharp smack echoed through the empty room. Gohan’s eyes widened and his hand covered the red mark on his cheek. For being a full-blooded human . . . not even able to concentrate her ki energy into blasts . . . the slap was remarkably strong.

“What was that for?”

“You idiot!” she yelled, tears beginning to stream down her face. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. How can you be so . . . so . . .? I am not going to let you propose to me when I’m fighting with your mother!”

Gohan was frozen in shock. Suddenly, his shoulder began to shake and he broke out in howling laughter. Videl looked at him as if wondering if he had somehow damaged his brain. How could he be laughing at a time like this?

“Then I guess I’d better do something about that,” he said, walking over to the open window. “Because I’m not waiting for hell to freeze over to make you my wife.”

Videl watched – speechless – as Gohan flew out the window, checking to be sure no one was watching before joining his father where he floated a couple stories up. Luckily, this was a new apartment complex with only a few tenants on the other side of the building.

Goku had managed to stop ChiChi’s kicking tantrum by setting her up on a high window ledge with nowhere to go. Her mouth, on the other hand, was going just as strong as ever.

“If you think you’re going to shut me up just because I can’t fly, you’ve got another think coming!” she cried out, her knuckles white from clinging to the brick around the window.

“I really don’t see what all the fuss is about,” Goku said, rubbing his chin in deep thought.

“Goku, you’re insufferable! I will not let that floozy talk to me like that! Even if I have to jump 10 stories to the ground from here, she will be getting a piece of my mind. And if I do jump, you’d better catch me or I’ll end up smashing through the sidewalk and be killed! Than who’s going to cook and clean for you day and night? Nobody, that’s who!”

Gohan floated up beside his father and whispered in his ear. “Still hasn’t calmed down, I see.”

“Nope,” Goku whispered back. “Are you sure you want to talk to her now? Maybe I should just take her home.”

Gohan shook his head. “I’d rather get it over with. Would you mind going back to the apartment and make sure Videl doesn’t leave?”

“Sure.” Goku took one more look at his wife, still ranting as she clung to the side of the building. “Good luck, son.”

“And just what are you two whispering about? Goku! Where are you going? Goku! You get back here this instant! Do you hear me?”

“Mom, we need to talk.”

“Mom? I can’t be your mother. I didn’t raise my sons to act like sailors on shore leave.”

“I know I wasn’t the easiest boy to raise. Especially with dad who he is. I was trained by Piccolo so young, I went off to another planet, spent so much time with dad getting ready for the battles with the androids and Cell, not to mention all the times I’d sneak away from my studies to play with Icarus. I don’t think you even realize how many times I did that.”

Gohan chuckled as he floated nearer the ledge his mother was sitting on. Chi Chi had stopped fussing and was silently picking at invisible lint on her skirt, not even looking at her son.

“But,” Gohan continued, “after dad died and everything settled down, I decided I didn’t want to be a fighter for the rest of my life. Your teaching was so valuable and now I know that’s how I can best help others . . . to become a teacher. My goal is to ace the college entrance exams, go to the best school, and get a job educating kids to be the best they can possibly be.”

“And you’re going to risk that goal and all my hard work by fooling around with some . . .”

“Stop it!” Gohan ordered.

The seriousness in his voice shocked his mother. Rarely had he ever dared speak to her that way. She opened her mouth to reprimand him, but his angry glare made her close it again.

“Videl was right! You have turned me into a mama’s boy! My whole life, everything was centered around you. The endless studying, missing out on having friends, flying hundreds of miles to attend school, risking my life to protect the world – everything I ever did was to make you happy. Well, I’m not your little boy anymore. I’m an adult. You’ve got to let go and let me to make my own decisions. Do what makes me happy for a change!”

Chi Chi’s eyes were full of tears as Gohan’s words sunk in. His anger faded and guilt took its place. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but he just couldn’t go on living a split life any longer. He couldn’t be obedient son one minute and responsible adult the next. It was driving him crazy.

“I love you and dad,” he sighed, placing his hand over his mothers. “Don’t you think I have enough room in my heart to love Videl, too? I’ve been able to study and become the smartest teenager in the country while saving the world . . . don’t you think I can handle studying to become a teacher while married to Videl?”

“Married?” Chi Chi exclaimed. “You never said anything about marrying her! Every time I brought it up you fought against it.”

“Mom,” he sighed, sitting beside her, “you started pushing me to marry Videl the day you met her. We were still just getting to know each other back then.”

“So now you’re serious about marriage?”

“I was brought up by respectable parents. Do you really think I’d have sex with someone I wasn’t serious about?”

Gohan launched himself off the window sill in a dive. ChiChi had fainted at his reminder of what she had seen earlier and was headed straight for the pavement below.

**Funniest line – Gohan groaned and thought, ‘Leave it to my father to find people naked on the ceiling . . . and then greet them like nothing was out of the ordinary.’**