Chapter 11: The Hyperbolic Time Chamber: Year One

            Trunks and Gohan walked back into the other room where the others were waiting.

            “Hey guys,” Yamcha said as they walked into the room.

            “Hi,” Gohan sighed.

            “So, now that Gohan knows everything, what do we do?” Bulma asked.

            “Bulma! I haven’t seen you since Namek!” Gohan said happily, embracing his father’s oldest friend.

            “We’ve all missed you, Gohan. We thought you were dead!” Bulma said, crying.

            “We did, Gohan, but I have to admit that I was a fool to think that. You deserve to be called a Saiyan.”

            Surprisingly enough, those words were Vegeta’s.

            “Vegeta? What—“

            “I heard your little conversation with the boy,” he said, nodding his head toward Trunks, “and what you did deserves beyond honor. You’ve done very well, Gohan.”

            “I’m glad you aren’t calling me ‘boy’ anymore,” Gohan said, looking at the older Saiyan with complete shock.

            “You aren’t a boy anymore…you’ve proven yourself to be nothing less than a man…a man that has more pride than any of us.”

            “Thank you, Vegeta,” Gohan said, smiling.

            Trunks walked into the Time Chamber and began to bring in various little things for Gohan and Videl’s stay.

            “Where’s Videl?” Gohan asked.

            “I’m here.”

            Gohan turned around and saw Videl standing in the door. She looked a lot better than before, her tears now dried and her hair straightened out. She walked proudly over to where Gohan stood, looking at him. She smiled after a second, and looked to Trunks.

            “Hey,” Trunks said. “Glad to see that you’re feeling better, Videl.”

            “I feel a lot better,” Videl said, sighing.

            Trunks smiled at her and continued his work.

            “So, Videl, you gonna be ready to go into the Chamber?” Trunks called from within the Time Chamber.

            “Why would I go in?” Videl asked.

            “I think Gohan will explain it when you get in there,” Trunks said, walking back into the room.

            “All set,” he said, looking from Gohan to Videl and back.

            “You want us to go in now?” Videl asked, still shocked.

            “Yup, we have no time to waste,” Trunks said. “You two better go. There are clothes in there and a little extra food, as well as some water. I put in some other stuff, but I think it’ll be a good home for now. I guess that we’ll all see you guys at the end of the day…or the years…or whatever. Go on in, see what it’s like. Mom, can you turn it on?”

            “Sure, Trunks,” Bulma said, and pressed some buttons. “All done. Good luck with your training, Gohan!”

            With nothing else to do, Gohan walked into the chamber, shortly followed by Videl.

            Trunks let out a small laugh and shut the door quickly.

            “So…” Videl said.

            Gohan sighed and walked through the chamber. They started out in a simple room, with two beds and a table and three full refrigerators. There was a small room off to one side that could only be a bathroom.

            “I guess I should—“ Gohan began.

            “Tell me why I’m in here,” Videl finished.

            “Yeah. We should sit down, it could take a while,” Gohan said, laughing a little bit.

            Gohan relayed the entire story to Videl, leaving nothing out. She listened without interruption and remained silent even after the story was over. Only after a small silence did she ask questions.

            “What happened…when the water turned blue?” she asked.

            “Well, Vegetasei said something about it being good, but she wouldn’t tell me anything else,” Gohan explained.

            “Well, I know that, but what happened to the water? Anything else?”

            “No. It just turned blue…kind of like the color of Vegetasei’s sky,” Gohan said.

            “Hmm.”

            “What is it?”

            “Nothing…just something from one of my fucked up little visions, that’s all,” Videl said.

            “What were the visions about?” Gohan asked.

            Videl looked at him and bit her lip. She seemed to be considering something, but after a little bit she broke the silence.

            “You. They were all about you…Some of them were of you on Vegetasei, some of them were from this place,” she said, waving her hand in the air to mean the Chamber, “and some of them were what seemed to be the future…but no matter the vision…you were in all of them.”

            “Me?” Gohan asked, a little surprised.

            “You,” Videl repeated.

            There was a long, awkward silence between them.

            “What did you see exactly…there’s a reason I need to know,” Gohan said, breaking the silence.

            Videl hesitated, but something about Gohan made her trust him.

            “The first one was a little bit uncertain. You were in a cave, I think, looking into water. There were ripples in the water and it turned blue, just like it really happened. But after that happened, Vegetasei looked at me and said ‘you are the real savior’ and then disappeared. The second one was clearer to me. It was you, sitting here in the Time Chamber, saying to me ‘I’ll go on, but you might have to stay.’ I said to you ‘I’m coming’ and you just left. I had two other ones, but…” Videl said.

            “What were they?” Gohan pressed.

            “I…uh…” Videl stammered.

            “If you don’t want to tell me now, you don’t have to. I was just wondering,” Gohan said quickly.

            Videl nodded. “You should train now,” she said, getting up and walking away.

            Gohan looked after her and blinked. Something about her made him feel strange…

            He’d figure it out after training and some sleep. He had other things to worry about now.

            Punch. Kick. Blast. Gohan trained relentlessly, not letting himself rest or stop. Sweat dripped from his forehead and bare chest as he continued the torturous training. He was putting on a good act: he seemed as if training was the only thing on his mind…but it wasn’t.

            Come on! Why can’t I stop thinking about her? Ugh! Gohan thought, pushing himself further than before.

            “Gohan!” Videl called from below. “Come down! You’ve been up there for a really long time! Come and eat something!”

            “No!” Gohan yelled down at her, yet never stopping his training. “I have to keep training!”

            “GOHAN! COME DOWN NOW!” Videl screamed, her temper flaring.

            Gohan stopped and looked down at her. She was so angry! He nodded and dropped to the ground.

            “Fine,” he said as he hit the ground. “But then I’m going back to training.”

            “No,” Videl countered. “You will go and take a shower right now and then come back out here and eat. After that you will get some sleep. You can train again in the morning”

            Gohan looked at her with complete surprise.

            She isn’t the least bit afraid of me Gohan thought, feeling very…Vegeta.

            “Whatever,” he said, walking toward the bathroom.

            “You better go easy on yourself. We have two years in here and it’s only the first day. You’ve been training for hours on end. I just don’t want you hurting yourself,” Videl said, softly now.

            “You don’t know then?” Gohan asked.

            “Know what?” Videl replied.

            Gohan smirked. “When a Saiyan gets hurt, he only gets stronger. This is making me stronger by the second.”

            Videl stared at him, then turned around and started to cook something. Gohan went into the bathroom and shut the door.

            Kami…why can’t I stop thinking about her? Gohan thought, but didn’t expect a reply.

            ::Gohan:: a strange voice rang in his head. ::Remember what Vegetasei said…she is your strength. You should be smart enough to piece that together by now::

            “Who…?” Gohan said aloud, barely recognizing the voice.

            ::Gohan, it’s Dende! I’ve become guardian of Chikyuu, and well…I’m not doing that good of a job::

            ::Of course you are, Dende:: a different voice said.

            “Hi Mr. Popo!” Gohan greeted.

            ::Hello, Gohan. All is well?::

            “So far, yeah!” he replied.   

            “Gohan, you nutcase, who are you talking to?” Videl said from outside the door.

            “Dende and Mr. Popo contacted me, Videl, it’s ok,” Gohan said, and went back to listening to Mr. Popo.

            ::…that’s so good, Gohan, I’m glad your training is going so well. Good luck!::

            “Thanks Mr. Popo! Bye Dende!” Gohan said.

            ::Bye Gohan. When everything’s finished you should come up here and visit. Mr. Popo’s a great cook. Bye!::

            The connection was lost and Gohan smiled.

            Dende’s right…I should be able to piece this together… Gohan thought, but dismissed the matter for the moment and turned on the shower.

            Gohan and Videl were eating dinner. The silence between them was awkward and disturbing, and every once in a while one of them would break into a strange conversation.

            “…So…ummm…When did Cell first come?” Gohan asked.

            “About seven years ago,” Videl answered. “About two years before that, Trunks had come and warned us about it, but things went wrong. Cell came earlier than he was supposed to and Trunks had to come back. Then, just before he was about to go back to his time again and get more help, Cell destroyed the machine. He’s been stuck here with us for years. Funny thing is, he doesn’t get any older. I really don’t know why. Something happened because his time machine broke and I think he’s stuck like that until things are fixed…it’s really strange.”

            Gohan nodded and remained silent for the rest of the meal. After it was done, he ignored Videl’s protests and went back out into the endless white plain to meditate.

            “I’m not going to hurt myself that badly if I meditate, Videl,” he said, walking away from her.

            “That badly? What do you mean? Get back here and get some sleep!” She shouted after him, totally at a loss.

            “I’ll be inside in a little while. Just give me a couple hours to meditate and I’ll rest all of tomorrow, ok?” Gohan promised.

            “You better keep your promise Gohan,” Videl said inaudibly. “If you get hurt I won’t have a chance to tell you…” and lay down to sleep.

                [A/N: the Italics here are Gohan’s dream. After this little part, the Italics are thoughts. Just so you know…]

Gohan tried to meditate, but it was so hard. He just kept thinking about Videl. He had to use every ounce of strength he had not to look back at her. After about three hours, he gave up trying to meditate and went to sleep, only to dream of her.

            Gohan was standing in front of a strange creature. He was green and black, and had the appearance of something like a human snake. His countenance was sadistic and of twisted malice.  He smirked and started to walk towards Gohan. Gohan backed away, afraid, but was stopped by a soft hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Videl standing there, tears coming out of her eyes. She smiled through those tears and kissed him.

            “I wanted to say goodbye before I go,” she whispered, and lay her head against his chest.

            “Where are you going?” Gohan asked.

            Videl looked up at him and laughed.

            “I love you,” she whispered and walked toward the creature behind them.

            “NO!” Gohan yelled, but his voice wouldn’t work and no sound came out.

            Videl walked up to the creature and smacked him across his disgusting face.

            “Cell, you asshole, you had to go and kill everyone! Now you’re going to kill me, right?” Videl said, almost sarcastically.

            “I will,” the creature sneered, throwing his head back and laughing.

            “No, you won’t…I’ll come back,” Videl said, and turned to Gohan and said, “For you…”

            The creature took her by the throat and threw her. She was about to crash into Gohan but she vanished. Gohan lost his temper beyond belief. He screamed and was surrounded by his ki, which flared like blue fire around his body. The creature laughed. Gohan lifted his hands involuntarily and suddenly the dragonballs fell on top of Cell, hiding him beneath them…but when he emerged, he had changed into Videl.

            “I told you he couldn’t kill me,” she said, and kissed him again.

            But as Gohan was about to relax, but Cell came up from behind him and put his hand through Gohan’s back. Videl screamed, and Gohan cried out in pain. Just as he hit the ground, Videl fell down on top of him, crying. Cell walked over them and vanished, leaving them alone. Suddenly, Videl stood up from over Gohan and fell backward. Gohan looked over at her.    

            “NO!” he yelled, and was thrown into blackness.

            Gohan woke with a start, in the middle of crying “NO!” and sitting straight up. He looked around and saw Videl sitting next to him, concern spread across her face.

            “Gohan, are you all right?” she asked worriedly.

            “Yes, I’m fine…just a little nightmare, that’s all,” Gohan lied.

            “’Little nightmares’ don’t make Saiyans scream in their sleep like that. What happened in it?” Videl inquired.

            “Nothing. It was nothing,” Gohan lied again.

            “Alright. But if something like that happens again I have something to seriously worry about. Are you sure you’re fine?” Videl said.

            “Yeah, I’m ok…” Gohan said, laying back down.

            “Ok. Then I’m going back to bed…” Videl said, smiling.

            “Good. Go away,” Gohan joked.

            “Goodnight.”               

            “’Night.”

            Videl left Gohan’s bedside and returned to her own bed. As soon as she was asleep, Gohan turned onto his side and rested on his elbow. He looked over at Videl and sighed.

            Wow…she’s really beautiful when she sleeps… He thought to himself, and lay down.

            He didn’t get anymore sleep that night.