Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Royal Namekian Blues ❯ Of Magic Beans and Maidens ( Chapter 75 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z. The anime/manga was created by Akira Toriyama, and is owned by Shonen Jump and Toei Animation Co. Ltd. This is a work of fan fiction and means no harm to the anime or manga it pays tribute to. I'm not making money for this.

 

Magic Beans and Girls

***

Videl slowly blinked more clearly up at her rescuer. Young Gohan touched down near a mountainous home, a fusion of old and new. Videl marveled at the dichotomy, unused to seeing many rural homes. She was a city girl through and through, though she had traveled much with her father in younger years. When her mother was alive… Out of the house rushed a woman in silk tunic with her hair pulled into a bun, wearing an apron. Behind her trailed two boys, both wearing orange karate gi. "Gohan, who's that with you?"

 

"Mom, she was hurt, and she needs help," said Gohan quickly, carrying her towards the house.

 

A stab of pain worked through her and Gohan saw the tears in her eyes. She then realized she had held back the fear of her near death encounter at the hands of the dinosaur, and started to tremble. The effort it took to maintain a brave front cracked, and she buried her face in Gohan's neck. "Hey, don't cry Miss," he suddenly stammered. Realizing he was holding a girl in his arms he wondered what his mother would think.

 

"My goodness are you okay?" Chichi suddenly gushed, reaching down towards the young Videl who was still squeezing her son tightly. "Bring her in!"

 

"I'm sorry," Videl said, pushing away tears as she struggled to maintain the veneer. But Chichi quickly reached down and swept up the girl in her arms with no effort.

 

"Gohan, go get the first aid kit. You two young men, don't dawdle… your mother and father should be coming home soon… and the twins are still down for their nap," Chichi said.

 

"Right Aunt Chichi!" they nodded.

 

"Is the girl okay?" asked one, who had concerned eyes.

 

"A girl, Gohan? Where'd she come from?" Fermi asked.

 

"I'm sure Gohan will tell you later. Now dear, just relax, I'll take you into Gohan's room. I'm sure he won't mind giving up his bed to a young lady… you're all scratched up!" Chichi gushed. Such a rush of protectiveness made Videl feel strangely uncomfortable and sad, realizing how long it had been since any sort of woman other then her 'nanny' had paid her such mind.

 

Gohan moved off, but Videl grabbed his top, "Someone call my daddy he'll be worried sick."

 

"Don't worry there's a phone in the room. You need to rest, you're ice cold," Chichi insisted.

 

"I don't want to be a fuss, Ma'am… I'm not THAT badly hurt!" Videl protested. She told Chichi her phone number and the woman rapidly repeated it to herself.

 

"Don't be silly!" Chichi sniffed, setting Videl down on a clean bedspread in a small tidy room. Cases choked with books filled entire walls, while a desk was stacked with more piles and stacks of paper. Chichi pulled another comforter overtop Videl and propped her back up with pillows. But first she carefully probed the girl's body for injuries.

 

"You need a bath you poor thing… and your right leg's broken," Chichi mumbled. "Good gracious what WERE you doing out in the middle of the woods without your parents…"

 

"My mom's been dead for two years," Videl said matter of fact. "And my dad's going to throw a fit if I don't contact someone…"

 

"Your dad? Oh yes… I'll just use the phone. You relax and I'll send Gohan to get you some soup from the kitchen. Don't worry its NO trouble!" Chichi waved a dismissive hand. Videl leaned her head back, realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere with refusing such generous hospitality. Judging by the home they weren't very wealthy, but far from poor. She allowed herself to slip into sleep because she was too tired from the adrenaline crash to do much else. Wrapped in a clean sheet she dropped off, hearing Chichi's voice on the phone. In and out of sleep she drifted, wondering just who these people were that had children who could fly.

 

"Mom, we could give her a sensu bean," Gohan said.

 

"Do you realize how stupid that would look?" Chichi sighed exasperatedly. "She's so young, and those beans just push the body too much! It's one thing for your father to use them, because he's so strong… but so much help to the body's natural immune system can't be good!"

 

"Mom, having her in pain won't work much either," said Gohan.

 

"I know dear, but the poor thing's been through enough as it is," Chichi whispered back.

 

"You okay?" asked a voice later on. Chichi leaned over her, fussing with a splint. Videl yelped in pain, and someone's hand grasped hers. It was the boy Gohan, who was now wearing some sort of white shirt and pants with suspenders, his hands neatly washed. One of them gently closed around Videl's. She looked down and realized someone had taken off her torn T shirt and replaced it with neatly stitched girl's clothes.

 

"My clothes," Videl stammered.

 

"Don't fuss dear. I'm sorry to shock you, but I thought it best to get you out of those dirty clothes and put you into some of my own old ones. I chased the boys out of the room, so you needn't feel embarrassed," Chichi whispered in her ear.

 

"Ow… don't make a fuss Miss, I'm the daughter of a champ I can handle it," Videl protested. "Hold her hand Gohan. This is broken clean through…"

 

"Nonsense!" Chichi answered. "Just sit back and let me help you. You might be some sort of tough girl, but you're still a child, and right now you need to sit STILL or this will get worse! My goodness your father would be even MORE worried sick that nobody took good care of you!"

 

"My dad…"

 

"He's sending someone to pick you up. I tried to convince him you shouldn't be moved, but…" trailed off Chichi. She then realized Chichi's fussing had taken her attention away from the splint tying, which was now neatly finished. Gohan still held her hand, his dark eyes filled with concern that she thought few boys her age would have. Most of them were her friends at play, for she was a tomboy, but they didn't act the same way Gohan did, treating her like a girl.

 

"Relax, Miss Videl. It'll be okay. My mom knows what she's doing," Gohan said.

 

"I'm guessing it will be a five hour flight at the least, from where you said you lived. Orange star City it was?" Chichi said, glancing at the small clock on Gohan's bedside table. "So just rest and let yourself heal. I'll bring you some soup later…"

 

"Mom?" asked Gohan.

 

"You sit with her and see if she needs anything. But remember you have to study," Chichi told him. Mumbling to himself Gohan let go of her hand and wandered over to his desk. Videl continued to lie there, feeling sore all over but glad to be resting comfortably. There came the noise of something clinking by her bedside table.

 

"Dear, here's something that will help ease the pain, I mixed it in with the tea," Chichi said, gently shaking Videl's shoulder. Passing a strong arm behind Videl's neck she propped the girl up and touched the edge of a cup to her lips. Videl smelled something bitter mixed in with peppermint and what smelled like ginseng, but knew better then to argue. After all this woman was doing her best to help, above and beyond what most other people had done, for a stranger. While her father would have rushed her off to the hospital he would have left her to the care of nurses and doctors while fielding questions from dozens of reporters. She loved her father dearly, but often times he left her to her own devices after giving her a lesson in fighting.

 

That very day she had won the tournament, as Youth champion, he had all but ceased giving her private lessons. Instead he paid for her own personal trainer and gym, leaving her to learn on her own while he practiced his own secret techniques. Since he was convinced she was a natural, he figured she would do well enough learning from other trainers and incorporating their own techniques into hers.

 

"Get the best you can. You're my daughter all right, and there isn't anything they can't teach you that you can't make into your own style. Besides, you're strong enough you'd break them anyhow," Hercule had joked. Videl had accidentally punched her father hard on one occasion, and was sure she had heard a cracking sound. He had chuckled, but Videl could swear when she walked past his bedroom later on she heard him howling. The doctor had chased her out saying her father was practicing some new battle cry, but she could swear it hardly sounded like his usual Mr. Satan kick.

 

Still she pushed the doubt aside. Yet she had seen a green monster and a boy fly today. What else would happen?

 

"Hey," she said quietly, glancing over towards where Gohan sat, head tucked inside a book. His bent elbow propped up the hand pressed to the side of his face, while his other hand held a pencil.

 

"Do you need me to get you anything?" he asked, turning his head slightly.

 

"Just a very big painkiller, but your mom already took care of that" Videl joked weakly.

 

Sliding down off the chair Gohan quickly moved to her bedside. He picked up what looked like another cup and saucer holding it up. "That reminds me, Mom told me to give you another dose of tea. She says it's her special blend and it'll continue to help keep the aches gone."

 

"Is your mom always that… pushy?" Videl asked, then felt a bit embarrassed. Gohan handed her the cup, and she took it carefully. Strangely he let her raise it to her lips herself and drink. The hot sweet brew tasted heavenly, and she realized how thirsty she was. As before it left a bitter aftertaste on her tongue, but her body relaxed considerably.

 

"Mom's just very protective. She goes overboard a lot of the time, but she still thinks of me like I was 5," Gohan said with a slight blush.

 

"My daddy sometimes does that. But since I've won the world championship he treats me like I'm either his little darling or like I'm the toughest in the world. He tells me to suck it up and go get it," Videl laughed.

 

"You mean you fought in the world tournament?" Gohan blinked. "No wonder you're so strong."

 

"Don't you know who I am?" asked Videl.

 

"You told me your name," Gohan shrugged.

 

"You've never heard of Mr. Satan?" she blinked. "My Dad's one of the greatest fighters in the world!"

 

"Wait a minute, your Dad fights in tournaments?" asked Gohan, his eyes widening.

 

"He's the strongest in the world! I mean he beat the reigning champion! And he had to knock down this big jerk Spopovitch to do it! With one PUNCH! Don't tell me you didn't see that?"

 

"Mom says television rots my brain," Gohan shrugged. "I'm supposed to study."

 

To this Videl widened her eyes in disbelief. "Wait you don't have a TV?"

 

"No," Gohan confessed. "I mean we do have one, but Mom doesn't let me watch anything on it except one hour a day. And it's educational television."

 

"Your mom's pretty strict about studying. Wish my dad gave a darn about that. He just wants me to train so I can kick butt next year. Studying's not something he cares a whole lot about, but I like to read a lot myself," Videl confessed.

 

"You don't study?" Gohan asked. "Do you go to a school with a lot of other kids?"

 

"Yeah! Don't' you?"

 

"No, I'm home schooled. Mom teaches me, and checks my homework. She orders my lessons and I send them back by mail. She says it's because it makes someone smarter that way," Gohan shrugged.

 

"No wonder you don't act like the boys at my school," Videl said plainly.

 

"How so?"

 

"You're too polite," Videl giggled. "The boys at my school just want to play sports and fight. You look like you fight too… what do you do all day? And how did you do that flying trick?"

 

"It's not a trick. I really CAN fly."

 

"Did the Saiyans teach you?" Videl asked. Gohan stammered and stepped back.

 

"You know about SAIYANS?" he gasped.

 

"Uh huh! They saved my school bus from a wrecked bridge! They can fly like you did, that same trick. And that green monster!"

 

"He's not a monster, he's Piccolo, and he's from Namek," Gohan interrupted. "Like the Saiyans are from planet Vegeta. They're all alien beings."

 

"No way," Videl blinked. "You mean alien beings are REAL? My dad says it was all some trick!"

 

"It is real," Gohan said. "Cause I've been to Namek. I haven't been to Vegeta… it blew up…"

 

"Wait a minute, that's crazy! How could YOU who lives in the middle of nowhere end up in space? That makes NO sense!" Videl spluttered, sitting bold upright and glaring at him.

 

"Well you know about Saiyans, don't you?" Gohan countered, folding his arms over his chest and staring back at her in wonder.

 

"Okay, you got me there, smart guy," Videl relented, narrowing her eyes at Gohan. "But there's something strange about you. How can YOU fly when you're NOT an alien?"

 

"Because Mr. Piccolo taught me how," said Gohan. "And anyone can learn to fly, if they know how to channel ki."

 

"What the heck is ki?" Videl blinked.

 

"Um… you know, the energy in your body…" Gohan blinked.

 

"Ugh, what the HECK are you talking about my body, you…"

 

"Easy, I don't mean anything perverted by it, I mean life energy like strength!" Gohan negated quickly waving his hands in front of his face. "Like this!"

 

Videl's jaw snapped shut when she saw energy crackling between his hands. The boy thrust them towards her, and she gaped in disbelief. Any other words of protest were silenced because her mouth moved without sound. "That's… impossible! You're just like those Saiyans!"

 

"Um… well… I guess I am. My dad's a Saiyan. But he grew up on earth," Gohan confessed.

 

"You mean, you're from outer space?"

 

"It's a long story," Gohan confessed.

 

"Do you know where they are? Because they told me I could come visit, I mean Fasha did and…"

 

"Fasha?" Blinked Gohan. "Wait, you actually know their names?"

 

"Fasha said that I could come see them if I wanted to. And I've got a lot of questions to ask them. And since you know about them, maybe YOU could take me to see them?" Videl said, grabbing his wrist.

 

"Now WAIT a minute, you're still hurt! Mom would freak!" Gohan protested.

 

"Please Gohan, you've GOT to help me on this! I need to ask them questions because I think they might be in BIG trouble," Videl continued, fixing her blue eyes into his.

 

"But Mom called your Dad to come get you… and if we just run off…" said Gohan weakly.

 

"You can carry me, like you did before. Please Gohan?" Videl asked, putting the sweetest plea into her voice like she'd seen some of the female friends of her father do. While she couldn't' stand her father's multiple girlfriends, she could learn something from their 'wiles'.

 

"Maybe I can find a sensu bean and heal you up," Gohan said, squeezing her hand. "Wait here."

 

"A what?" Videl blinked, and he released her hand. Turning his back to her, Gohan started to open various drawers around the room, digging through them.

 

"Aha!" he shouted, tugging a small brown bag out of the top drawer of the small lacquered dresser. Returning to the bedside, he tipped a small green object out of it that fell onto his palm. He thrust his hand in front of her face, presenting her with the view of what appeared to be an ordinary green bean.

 

"A bean? You're kidding me. As if a bean could do anything," she rolled her eyes.

 

"It'll make you good as new. Trust me. You were the one who wanted to see the Saiyans, and this is the best way," said Gohan.

 

"So this means you will take me?" she asked, reaching with small fingers sheathed in a fingerless glove. As she picked it up her hand brushed Gohan's and she noticed his slight blush. Just short of putting it between her lips she hesitated.

 

"If you eat the bean, that is," Gohan nodded seriously. "I promise it will be okay. But we have to hurry before your dad's friends pick you up…"

 

"We're in West Province 439, right?" she asked.

 

"Yes. And you said you lived in Orange Star City?" Gohan nodded. Glancing down at his fingers he quickly counted an invisible calculation off on them, face screwed up in concentration. "That's more then five hours away from here. And that's with the fastest hydroget. A normal car would take more then ten."

 

"Then we'd better hurry," Videl nodded, popping the bean into her mouth. A few nibbles later, and she swallowed the fishy tasting legume. No sooner had it slid down her throat then she felt a strange burst of energy flooding her limbs. Heart pounded and breath surged mightily along with the tidal wave of vitality far greater then a kick from fighting a round with her father. In disbelief the ponytailed girl glanced down at her hand then to her leg, which she felt twitching.

 

"You feel better? You won't need those bandages. It works like that," Gohan snapped his fingers. He turned away while she slid up the loose leg of the pink silk pantaloons. Pieces of wood along with bits of bandage fell to the floor as Videl removed her dressing.

 

"Wow, that's incredible, I feel all better," she laughed, leaping up on the bed and standing on her healed legs. This caused Gohan to back away again, worried his mother would somehow sense someone was jumping on a bed and pop in to scold him.

 

"Shh, keep it down!" Gohan said, grabbing a shirt and pulling it over his head. "Mom might hear you. We should go out through the window!"

 

Instantly Videl clamped her lips shut, and leapt down from his bed. Around her legs swirled the skirt of the borrowed tunic Chichi had loaned her. Grasping the sneakers that Gohan retrieved for her she slid them on, then watched him slide open the windowpane. Surprise filled her yet again to see him rise silently till he hovered two feet above the carpeted floor. After he floated out over the windowsill, he extended one hand towards hers. Momentarily she doubted her decision, yet pushed those reservations aside when she caught the honest look in his ink black eyes. Again their hands touched, but this time his grip firmly seized her fingers, followed by the sensation of millions of tiny pinpricks erupting over her skin. Not unlike the sensation of walking across a carpet and feeling her hair stand on end, Videl realized. Was a faint white energy sizzling around his body, and hers, or was it her imagination. The reason hardly mattered because the next minute she found herself rising into thin air so she flew alongside of him. Words of doubt swallowed in her throat clearing the way for her cry of surprise.

 

By now the house fell away with the gust of wind hitting her face, blowing her ponytails behind her. Videl squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing instinctively at Gohan's arm. Relief filled her to feel him slide that arm around her shoulders, tugging her body against his. "You can open your eyes, Videl," he urged.

 

Through her opening dark lashes she stared at a vast green chessboard of tiny trees and irregular pools of water used for rice farming. Not only did she see the landscape shrinking away, but also Videl spied the rounded dome merging with the brown roof of Gohan's house. Digging her fingers into his back she squeezed tightly to him for fear she would fall. Yet Gohan's steady dark eyed gaze filled her with relief because she saw the sincerity of protectiveness present in their depths. Here was a boy who had saved her from death itself like a knight in shining armor, and her instincts told her she could trust Gohan with her life. A funny tickling sensation crept through her stomach feeling like she had swallowed a dozen live eels. They must be electric ones for she could not discern the cause of the tingling sparks shooting up her arm.

 

It must be this 'ki' Gohan spoke of, she decided later, noticing the thin glowing aura surrounding both of them. Under them the vista of ground blurred into the same streaks one saw when flying in an air car. Thanks to the envelope of strange white no air slashed her in the face, and she could strangely breath though she guessed the air must be thinner. Videl laughed with mingled fear and excitement to fly freely like a bird.

 

"You like it? It's really neat isn't it?" Gohan laughed, relieved she was not longer terrified. Somehow it made him very happy to see her smiling because of something he was doing. The only females Gohan had spent any time around were his mother, Bulma, and any children he had met during his training with Piccolo. Yet those meetings had never been by choice, rather circumstance. Videl wasn't like those girls. In fact she was pretty much like a boy, except for the long ponytails and the fact that whenever he spent time around her he felt a strange tickling sensation in his stomach.

 

Krillin on their voyage to Namek had spent long stretches of time answering Gohan's questions about life in general. Especially when Gohan asked him why Bulma was always so bitchy. Krillin in his experience whispered, "Girls just get like that. Bulma's missing Yamcha. And Bulma's pretty high strung… I mean she complains about EVERYTHING…"

 

"But why do you look at her in that funny way? I mean do you like her like my mom likes my dad?"

 

"Well, yes… but she's always ga ga over Yamcha. I just want a nice girl who wants to get married. I don't think Bulma's my type," Krillin blushed profusely.

 

"She's pretty nice, but she gets mad so easily. Like my mom does when Dad makes her annoyed. I think she's just lonely and scared," said Gohan.

 

"Yeah, but she sure scares me sometimes. Gohan, women are a real mystery even to guys who think they've got them figured out. But they sure make life more fun," he sighed wistfully. "Naw, Bulma's just too… high maintenance…"

 

Which Bulma had promptly inserted herself into the conversation and clobbered Krillin over the head with a water bottle, shouting, "HEY, watch your mouth!"

 

"Never mind," Krillen had grumbled, while Gohan sighed and decided it was best to play peacemaker.

 

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about her like that," Gohan scolded him. "It's not nice."

 

"At least GOHAN has a clue about women, and he's less then HALF your age," Bulma had huffed, then rubbed Gohan's bowl cut hair.

 

Still Gohan felt embarrassed to think that most women WOULD act like that when he got old enough to even think of dating them. Nevertheless Videl seemed nothing like them, and it might be because she was his age.

 

"It's this way," Videl pointed, tugging the cloth of his blue sleeveless shirt. "Two mountains…"

 

"Yes that's right," Gohan nodded. "Hold on…"

***