(A Week Later)
For the first time in eleven years, the Son household has been blessed with the presence of new life. Lying in a bamboo cradle in the middle of the living room, a tiny blanket covering him and his head resting on a pillow, the newest member of the family, Goten, could be seen sleeping peacefully under the watchful gazes of his guardians.
Crowding the cradle on all sides, Gohan, Chi-Chi, the Ox King and Videl were looking down at the little tyke quietly breathing away with smiles of adulation and affection.
Obviously there visiting the Son family again, the raven haired girl from Satan City gave a quiet exclamation of delight and tilted her head at the infant, "He's so cute."
The Ox King chuckled, "Yeah. He looks just about as small as Gohan was when he was born… and just as healthy."
Videl nodded her head in agreement, "That's good. It means he's going to grow up to be as big and strong as his older brother."
"I hope so," Gohan chirped, sitting at the end of the cradle alongside his friend, who was also kneeling beside him. "He's half Saiyan as well, just like me." Looking the quietly sleeping youngster over, the boy in the long-sleeved, oriental white top grinned and looked over at his grandfather. "Hey. His hair looks just like dads."
The towering man blinked as he fixed his attention on the baby's head and, after adjusting his glasses, gave a boisterous laugh. "Well now, isn't that something."
"He's the spitting image of Goku when he was young," Chi-Chi murmured, a loving smile forming on her face at the same time. A sigh escaping her lips, the woman reached down and gently ran her fingers over the boy's head. "I only wish his father could be here to see him. I'm sure he would be happy to meet the newest addition to our family."
"Yeah," Gohan murmured.
After a moment of gazing at her newborn, the recently acquitted patient from the hospital glanced across at her son and his student. Heart churning at the sight of the pair of teens and seeing how well they fitted together, Chi-Chi allowed a warm smile to form as she fixed her gaze onto their home's guest. "By the way Videl, thank you so much for all the presents you and your father bought for us. I'm sure that Goten will love them."
The raven haired girl grinned bashfully and rubbed her head in response, "That's alright, Chi-Chi. It's the least we could do." She then absently noted the massive stack of wrapped up boxes sitting against the wall of the lounge, all of which were topped with flowers and a basket of fruit. They certainly seemed like the typical gifts one would buy for a friend or family member who was having a child, and there were a lot of them too. "My dad went all out buying all of those toys, food and clothing for you guys. Perhaps it's his way of apologizing for all of the trouble he's caused your family over the year."
"Trouble? What trouble?" Chi-Chi asked the girl in surprise.
"You know… stealing Gohan's thunder from the Cell and Bojack incidents and everything," Videl explained, earning a chuckle from the Ox King and a grin from the demi-Saiyan as well.
"Does he still think we're angry about that?" the young Z-fighter asked in amusement.
"We already told him he didn't have to worry about taking the credit," Chi-Chi replied, also staring across at the girl in an amused yet friendly manner. "Honestly. If that man keeps stressing about every little thing in life, he's going to give himself a really bad aneurism one of these days." Her expression brightened as she passed on to the anxious looking Videl her honest response. "We're very grateful for the presents your father sent us, but you can tell him to take it easy from now on. We don't plan on threatening him or anything of the sort. Our family is not like that."
Videl nodded in understanding, "I'll be sure to remind him. Thanks, Chi-Chi."
While the group continued to fawn over the baby sleeping in the crib, there was one amongst their troop that had decided to keep her distance and give the newborn a wide berth. Throughout the entire procession, Zangya had taken to standing over by the wall with her arms folded and a firm look set upon the entourage.
Having been invited into the home earlier that day when Videl arrived to see the newest member of the family, the blue-skinned warrior had had plenty of time to herself to observe the habits of the group as well as take in all of the things being shared between them.
"Another one, huh? That's nice."
Needless to say, she didn't really want to approach not knowing whether she would be welcomed or not. For the sake of the child and the family's wellbeing, Zangya wisely decided to stay where she was until she felt the need to be excused from the room.
The commotion in the home eventually roused little Goten from his sleep and when his eyes fluttered open, he found himself staring up at four people beaming down at him. After looking around at the cheerful strangers in what was easily recognized as an adorable expression of surprise, the mother of the curious child then giggled, reached down and picked him up.
"I'm sorry, Goten, sweetie. Did we wake you?" Chi-Chi asked, standing up with her son in her arms. When everyone rose up as well, she began rocking the child back and forth, "Don't worry. Mummy's got you."
Smiling and giggling at the woman holding him, the boy then looked around at the other strangers surrounding him. It was only when his eyes fell upon Gohan that the youngster stopped and stared, an action that had the elder demi-Saiyan balk. Upon which the older brother beamed and waved back at his infant sibling.
Staring at the teen with the spiky black hair, Goten then suddenly squirmed in his mother's arms and started reach out towards the boy. Making incomprehensible noises but obviously directing his efforts and flailing towards Gohan, a surprised Chi-Chi silently obliged with her newborn son's needs and walked over to the man of the house.
"I think he wants you to hold him, Gohan." The mother willingly held the baby out and ceremoniously dipped him into the older hybrid's arms. It was an offering the demi warrior couldn't possibly refuse, and did so while stammering nervously. "Careful. Mind his head."
Just as his parent asked, Gohan was careful in holding the infant. Looking down at him, he saw the child gaze up at him admiringly, a smile on his face and eyes shimmering with joy. Staring back at him, a cheerful look then came upon Gohan's own visage and he began to cradle the child tenderly. "Hey, little guy. It's your big brother; the strongest kid in the universe. Pretty cool, huh?" Hearing Goten giggle drew a laugh from the demi-Saiyan as well, while all the others around the pair watched on with pride and joy.
However, as the family observed Gohan shower affection over his baby brother, a thought soon came to the demi-Saiyan's head that had him pause for a brief moment. His smile faltering slightly, the boy then looked around his living room and at all his family members, before then fixing his gaze upon the fireplace. There, on the shelf above, he saw the photo containing the picture of his father holding him when he was a child alongside his mother.
Contemplating the frame and image for a few moments in silence, the boy then smiled and nodded affirmatively, before glancing back down at his brother.
XXX
(A Few Days Later)
Standing on the balcony of what was known by all the Z-fighters as Kami's Lookout, Gohan put on a wide smile of amusement as he watched Videl touch down on the tiled surface in front of him and keel over in shock. Panting heavily with sweat dripping down her face, the girl in the orange and blue gi looked up at the youngster to see him beaming down at her, which quickly prompted her to straighten up to save face before her trainer.
"Good job, Videl. You've become a much faster flyer over the last couple of weeks," the demi-Saiyan chirped.
Swallowing heavily, the girl grinned and brushed her damp locks out of her face, "Well… I have been practicing a lot lately. You should know, since you've been the one overseeing my training the entire month."
The young man chuckled, "Yeah. I guess I have. But hey, there's always a little room to be surprised." He then looked her over and turned to the side. "At the rate you're going, in about another year's time… I bet you'll become just as strong as any one of the members of the Ginyu Force… maybe even more."
"Really?" Videl asked in delight. She'd heard about those guys through Gohan's stories about Namek. From what she'd managed to gauge, those guys had been seriously tough back in the day; enough to be called Frieza's elite.
"Uh-huh. If we stay on top of it and keep doing what we've been doing, I'm sure you'll be able to get to that level in no time," Gohan reaffirmed, putting his full and utmost confidence in the girl's abilities. It was a compliment that drew a smile from her lips and red from her cheeks.
It'd been close to a year now and in that time Gohan had been able to transform his best friend from a determined martial artist of King Chappa's level to a world class fighter comparable to that of the Z-Fighters around the Saiyan invasion period. If Gohan was able to train her to become this strong in the same amount of time it took Krillin, with her talent and determination, he was confident he would be able to transform her into something amazing.
Who knows? In just a few more years, she could become as strong as Tien, Yamcha and Krillin were around the time the Androids showed up.
However, in order to do that, she needed an edge and Gohan knew exactly where to find one.
"So. Why'd you get me to fly all the way up here?" Videl asked, looking around the large, floating platform she suddenly found herself standing on. "What is this place anyway?" Blinking a few times, she then looked back at the young Saiyan in surprise. "Wait… hang on a second… is this…?"
"Yep. Kami's Lookout," Gohan chirped, at the same time beginning to lead her down the causeway towards the palace on the other end of the artificial island. "This is the same place Krillin and the others trained when the Saiyans were coming… and it's the same place me and my dad trained before the Cell Games."
"W-Whoa," the girl exclaimed, falling in step with her friend while surveying the very spot most of the people on the planet far below believed to be nothing more than myth and legend. But now, after hearing all of the tales Gohan had told her about his epic adventures over the years, she was finally starting to see that all those myths and legends were actually true. "This is amazing." She then looked over at the boy. "B-But why did you bring me here now? Is this another part of my training?"
"Yep. I was thinking that for the next couple of months, whenever you're visiting or staying over at my place, we can come up here and have a few sessions together. The change of atmosphere and setting should be really good for your development as a hardnosed fighter," the demi-Saiyan informed with a smile, glancing across at her at the same time. "I… also had something else in mind."
"Oh? What kind of thing?"
"You see, during our adventures on Namek, Krillin and I met the leader of the Namekian people and the creator of their planet's dragon balls, Guru. He was an incredibly wise ruler and very strong in his race's techniques. When we visited him, he gave me and Krillin a gift by unlocking the hidden potential inside of both of us. This gave us enough strength to fight toe to toe with the Ginyu Force," Gohan informed, stopping them between the rows of palms so as to focus fully on his companion. "While we weren't strong enough to beat them, by unhinging our fighting potential he was able to give us a massive edge in our final battles and allowed us to grow stronger at a faster rate."
The damages they'd received and recovered from their fights with both the Ginyu Force and Frieza later onwards had allowed Gohan and Krillin significant boosts in strength and skill. While this was most certainly the case for Gohan due to his Saiyan genetics, the boy had noticed that his teammate had also gotten a lot stronger between the battles as well. This showed the capabilities unlocking ones potential had in the long term, which was what gave Gohan this idea to do the same for Videl.
The girl's eyes shone with anticipation at what the half-Saiyan was suggesting, "So you brought me up here to see if you can unlock my potential as well?"
"That's right. I can sense how strong you're becoming and how quickly you're progressing in your training. I can also sense you've got a lot of bottled up energy inside of you," Gohan replied, before then directing her attention towards the palace. "At your absolute maximum, you're almost about as strong as Krillin and I were when we were traveling to Namek. I think it's only fitting that we gave you the same edge I got back then."