Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ True Love Never Dies ❯ Family ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

After putting his aerocar into park and pulling the key from the ignition, Gohan turned a smile toward Videl. “I hope you’re ready for this. Mom should be out here any moment.”

“What about your Dad and Goten? Do you think I’ll get to see them again?” Videl questioned as she removed her seatbelt.

Gohan gave a shrug in reply. “No one has seen or heard a word from Dad in years. He took off to train this kid, Ubb from some remote village. Dad thinks the guy is the reincarnation of Buu’s evil side purified and has tons of potential.”

Videl lifted a brow skeptically. “Buu’s evil was reincarnated as good? I guess that goes to show anyone can make a volte-face, even childish homicidal maniacs bend on destruction of the entire universe.”

With a light chuckle, Gohan nodded his head. “That is true. Look at Piccolo and Vegeta. If you had known them before-...well, you wouldn’t have believed they would ever become some of Dad’s most trusted allies, that’s for sure.”

Seeing Chi-Chi emerge from her home, the pair climbed from their vehicle to greet her, Pan staying inside the properly assess the situation before acting.

“Gohan!” Chi-Chi cried happily as she rushed to hug her eldest son in a manner more befitting the return of a prodigal son than Gohan’s weekly visit to check on the status of everything at home. After releasing Gohan, she turned her eyes to the petite woman who had broken his heart ten years prior. The fact that Videl’s actions had been far from intentional made no difference in how the older woman’s eyes narrowed into any icy expression to match her tone. “Videl.”

Having expected nothing less, Videl simply dipped in a polite, yet informal, bow. “Chi-Chi.”

As Videl’s greeting ended, Chi-Chi took a deep breath to tell the little hussy exactly what she thought about how Gohan had been hurt, but before she could start, Gohan interrupted her. “Hey, Videl, where’s Pan? Still in the car?”

Caught completely by surprise, Chi-Chi merely blinked as she heard Videl answer, “Probably,” then return to the car. As the younger woman coaxed Pan from the vehicle, Chi-Chi turned dark, curious eyes on her son. “Pan?”

Gohan simply nodded, a slight grin of a father’s pride tugging at the corner of his lips. “Yes, Pan,” he replied simply as Videl returned to his side, the girl on her other side.

Ever-so-slowly, Chi-Chi's eyes drifted downward to the child. “Pan….”

Feeling the gentle nudge from her mother, Pan shyly greeted her grandmother. “Hello….”

After tearing her eyes from Pan, Chi-Chi again turned them to Gohan, knowing the truth in her heart but not wanting to assume anything as to the girl’s lineage. “You didn’t say anything about a child.”

Without realizing the action, Gohan’s hand crept to the back of his head in the most classic of Son expressions of embarrassment. “Yeah-...well-...I Didn’t know how to tell you on the phone. So, I sorta thought I’d just show you.”

“Tell me what?!” Chi-Chi demanded, her heart beginning to race.

Gohan winced a bit. “Um-...Pan is Videl’s daughter. She’s nine and-...” he fought the urge to keep rambling, “I’m her father.”

Chi-Chi’s response was momentarily in slow motion as her gaze turned to Videl and her eyes narrowed to slits. Then they moved downward to the child with her father’s eyes before returning to her son’s face. “Her father-….?” she seemed to grasp at all the implications behind the statement before her face lit into a huge smile. “I have a grandchild!” Chi-Chi exclaimed happily as she bent to wrap her arms around Pan, tears of joy pouring from her eyes.

I cant believe it! Chi-Chi continued as she stood and began ushering everyone inside. I had almost given up hope on you, you know. I had just about decided Goten would be the one to give me grandchildren, especially the way he gets so cozy with those city girl hussies. Chi-Chi shook her head at the thought of her teenaged sons antics, moving simultaneously toward the kitchen in an automatic state to add more food to the meal she had been preparing. And to think, all this time, I all ready had a granddaughter! Chi-Chi paused for a moment then turned to face Gohan and Videl, a frown on her face. Not that I approve, mind you. Your father and I waited until we were married-

A groan from Gohan cut his mother’s rebuke short. “Please, Mom. I don’t want to hear about that!”

Videl tired unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle. Chi-Chi’s hospitality - and evidently her mood swings - were something that never seemed to change. Chi-Chi was still the same, overly protective, nurturing mother she had met so many years before, and somehow, that knowledge brought a bit of comfort to her soul, possibly throwing a few pebbles into the bottomless void left from her father’s untimely passing.

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“Wow! The meal was wonderful, Chi-Chi,” Videl smiled as she placed her napkin on the table.

“Oh? Well, I’m glad you all enjoyed it.” Chi-Chi smiled happily as she offered Pan more rice. “Please, eat all you can. We don’t want anyone thinking my grandchild is starving. I simply won’t have it!” Despite Pan’s shaking head, her grandmother began refilling her bowl with rice.

With a contented sigh, Gohan set his bowl on the table and grinned. “That hit the spot for sure.” As he looked around the table, he noticed something was amiss. “Uh, Mom? Is Goten skipping lunch today?”

Chi-Chi shook her head in reply. “Oh, no. He went to visit Trunks today. I’m sure they’re off somewhere causing mischief.

“Without a doubt,” Gohan nodded in agreement.

Noticing everyone had eaten their fill, Chi-Chi turned her gaze to Videl, her expression leaving no room for argument. “Help me cleanup,” she commanded simply as she rose to gather the dishes from the table.

Gohan, noticing the fatigue on Videl’s features, arose even more quickly. “Mom! You’ve worked hard enough making all this food and I’m sure all you girls have plenty of girly topics to catch-up on. So, I’ll cleanup and all of you can rest. Okay?” Gohan gave his best innocent expression.

After scrutinizing Gohan with narrowed eyes for several moments, Chi-Chi nodded acquiescence. “Okay. That works. Let’s leave him to it,” she suggested, directing the others from her kitchen with a gesture.

Silently, Pan climbed from her seat and followed her mother and newly discovered grandmother from the table, newly lightened of its load. As the two women took seats - Videl on the couch and Chi-Chi in a chair - Pan took up a post at a window, gazing in awe at the mountainous countryside surrounding the quaint home.

“You mentioned Goten visiting Trunks, how is he?” Videl tossed the conversation into Chi-Chi’s court.

“He’s well, though he never has been as studious as Gohan.” Chi-Chi sighed her frustration with her youngest son. “It seems Goten would rather flirt than ever crack a book.”

Videl gave a small chuckle. “I remember he always was free-spirited - much like his father.”

The comment was acknowledged with a single nod. “That certainly is the case. Goku is off - Dende only knows where - and Goten is chasing girls with Bulma’s demonic spawn. He’s always been such a bad influence on my boy. I remember how sweet and well-behaved my Goten was until he met that brat,” Chi-Chi lamented the loss of innocence in her baby boy.

Blinking at the outburst, Videl finally asked, “You don’t know where your husband is?”

“Oh, Goku,” Chi-Chi gave a longing sigh. “He is once again training. He will return to me again…. At least he better! As many years as he’s left me worrying about him!” After venting for a moment, she blinked then looked over at Videl with eyes narrowed into slits. “So, how did you manage to break my son’s heart and then keep his child, my only grandchild, from him for so many years? And how did this happen to begin with? Where you two sneaking around behind my back?!”

While Videl was quickly searching for an appropriate reply to placate the grandmother of her child, Pan turned and interrupted the entire conversation, her eyes wide with surprise and amazement. “Mom! Two men and a girl just landed outside! Mom! They were-...FLYING!”

A moment later, Videl realized her daughter’s confusion and burst into laughter as Gohan stepped into the room and Goten opened the front door.

“Hey, Mom!” Goten grinned as he entered, his eyes still adjusting to the change in lightening as they focused on Gohan. “Hey there, Gohan!” As Goten took another step into the Son residence to allow another man to enter, his eyes shifted to the source of the laughter he had heard upon his arrival. “Um-...hi,” he offered with a grin, his hand rising to the nape of his neck in a perfect impersonation of his father’s habit when less than sure of himself in a social situation.

“With a broad smile in return, Videl rose to her feet. “Hey there, Goten. You certainly have grown since the last time I saw you.”

Goten simply blinked in confusion for a moment. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you. Were you one of Dad’s friends?”

Videl smiled a bit and shook her head. “No, I was your brother’s friend, Videl. Videl Satan.” Quickly motioning a shy and slow-moving Pan to her side, she returned her attention to Goten. “And this is my daughter, Pan, your niece.” Without missing a beat, she turned her attention to the girl. “Honey, this is your Uncle Goten.”

“Uh-...uncle?” Goten stammered as his wide eyes flashed to Gohan.

The elder of the Son boys simply nodded. “That’s right, Goten. Pan’s mine and Videl’s daughter. I just found out, myself.”

While Goten stood, completely speechless, Trunks exploited the opportunity to speak for both teens. “Whoa. This is way weird. Are you sure we’re not in the Twilight Zone?”

Chi-Chi simply shook her head. “No. Unfortunately, I’ve missed almost the entire first decade of my only grandchild’s life!” she wailed at the loss.

In a desperate attempt to keep Chi-Chi from truly diving headfirst into a rant, which would eventually expose the shortcomings of all in the room, Trunks pushed a petite bluenette toward the center of attention. “Hey, Pan! You’re just about the same age as my kid sister here, Bra. Maybe the two of you would like hanging out.”

Both girls eyed each other with reservations. Pan finally broke the silence. “Were you really flying just a minute ago?”

Bra blinked for a moment, unable to believe any member of the Son family did not excel at flight. “Well, yeah. I’ve been flying for as long as I can remember.”

“Do you think you could teach me?” Pan asked with uncertainty.  
“Um….” Bra contemplated. “I’ve never taught anyone before. But, I suppose so.”

“Great!” Pan answered exuberantly. A glance toward Videl, who nodded approval, was all the encouragement Pan needed before bounding across the room to Bra’s side. “Let’s go outside!” Pan hooked her arm around Bra’s and within moments, both girls were outside and could be tracked by their giggles.

“Thank you, Trunks,” Videl spoke with a gentle smile. “That was a great idea. Pan needs to start learning to make new friends now that we’ve moved.”

“I thought you knew how to fly,” Goten added his comment, a confused look on his face.

Videl nodded concurrence. “Of course.”

“Then-...why didn’t you teach Pan?” the youngest Son son asked.

“Goten, normal humans don’t fly,” Videl elucidated. “It’s been hard enough trying to help Pan pass as normal with her speed, strength, agility and appetite. Without an appropriate setting for flight, I’m sure she wouldn’t have remembered to keep that a secret. With her competitive streak, I can all too easily see her using flight to catch a foul ball and giving everything away. But, now that she’s with her father and all of you, I think it’ll be good for her.”

“Are you going to let her train?” Trunks spoke curiously.

“That’s entirely up to her.” Videl gave a smile combined with a slight smirk. “She all ready knows plenty to defend herself against any human. I made certain of that, myself.”

“Well, that’s good!” Chi-Chi agreed. “Besides taking care of a household, the next most important thing all young ladies need is instruction in how to defend themselves. You just never know when they might cross unsavory characters bent on destroying their purity!”

Everyone in the room cringed slightly at Chi-Chi’s outburst.

“So, Videl,” Goten began, taking a seat beside Trunks on a couch across from Videl, who was joined by Gohan on a love seat. “Where have you been all this time, anyway?”

“East City,” Videl answer simply with a soft smile. “Dad left me no choice in where I went to college. By the time I graduated, I had both Pan and a job at the police department.”

Chi-Chi’s eyes widened. “My granddaughter was raised to be a city girl?!”

“Mom, being from the city isn’t like that,” Goten began to explain for the umpteenth time, but was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. “Hey, babe,” he answered smoothy, with a huge, dopey smile on his face as he rose to his feet and moved toward his room for some privacy.

“Do you see what those city girls are doing to my baby?!” Chi-Chi bemoaned her son’s plight.

Before anyone could defend city girls everywhere, a loud boom sounded, shaking the domed home and all its additions. With wide eyes, everyone hurried out the front door with Gohan and Videl in the lead.

Outside, the remains of Gohan’s aerocar where still smoking. Pan’s eyes were wide with shock as Bra turned toward the adults and teenagers, her fingered laced together in front of her, nibbling on her lower lip and gazing upward from thickly lashed sockets with large, innocent blue eyes.

“Bra! What happened?!” Trunks yelled with a touch of panic as he stepped from behind the adults.

As an unfamiliar voice spoke, Pan turned toward everyone, her lips trembling. “Mama!” she cried out as tears began flowing down her cheeks, causing Videl to rush toward her child, wrapping her arms around the girl to soothe her.

Trunks’s eyes simply narrowed. “Bra? Explain, now.”

Bra’s eyes drifted to the ground where her foot was slowly moving from side-to-side, softly rustling the grass. “I didn’t mean to. It was just an accident,” she explained in  her softest, most innocent of tones.

The eldest Briefs child choked at the girl’s response. “An accident?! Blowing up Gohan’s car was an accident?!”

At Trunks’s reaction, Bra braised her now narrowed eyes to his as her hands went to her hips in a very Bulma fashion. “That’s what I said; isn’t it? It-...was-...an-...accident! What about that don’t you understand?!”

Faced with his mother’s fury, Trunks was left momentarily speechless, his mouth and eyes gaping widely.

“Bra, sweetie,” Videl spoke softly as she both comforted Pan and watched the enraged Saiyan princess. “What happened? How did Gohan’s car get blown up?”

Immediately returning to a meek stance as she was addressed by an adult and therefore an authority figure, Bra pivoted toward Videl. “I was trying to show Pan how to focus her energy and-...I got a bit distracted. But, I didn’t mean to break anything! I swear!”

Videl smiled softly in return. “I know you didn’t.”

Her eyes instantly brightening, Bra grinned widely. “So, I’m not in trouble?!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that,” Trunks simpered. “Mom’s not going to be happy when she finds out what happened.”

Bra’s eagerly cheerful demeanor immediately turned petulant. “Why do you have to go and tattle, Trunks?”

The boy’s grin only widened. “You’ve really left me not choice since you’re forcing me to give Gohan a capsule of our latest prototype to replace the car you wrecked. I’ll have to explain where it went, and you know I can’t lie to Mom.”

Glaring at her brother, Bra growled then shot straight into the air. “Not if I tell Mom first!” With that retort, she sped toward the horizon.

Trunks sighed, “I’ve got to go.” He rose into the air. “Nice meeting you all! Oh, and Gohan, catch!” Trunks tossed a capsule toward Gohan before giving a wave and following after his kid sister.

“Well, now that those two are gone, we can get back to some family time.” Chi-Chi turned to Gohan just as Goten’s phone rang again and the boy walked away to answer it.

Gohan pulled his eyes away from studying Videl and Pan, taking in Videl’s exhaustion as she dried their daughter’s face. “Actually, Mom, I think it’d be best if I took Pan and Videl on home. It’s been a really big day for us all. But don’t worry,” he grinned cheerfully. “We’ll be back next weekend to visit you again.”

“Oh, Gohan,” Chi-Chi softly pouted as her son moved to assist Videl to her feet.

Once hugs were passed around, Gohan popped the capsule Trunks had given him and climbed into a super-enhanced convertible sports aerocar to return home with his newly reacquainted family.