The two walked out of the little house in the middle of the Capsule Corporation complex, moving away from the other buildings until they reached a clear patch of grass. Videl took a nervous breath then called up her power, her chi, then gasped in surprise as a spark of power flared in one gem, bouncing to the other then blazing around her as her chi surged. "Is everything all right?" Bulma called out, shielding her face from the dust, the air rushing by her as the girl blazed brightly. "Oh, yes," Videl beamed. The power died out almost as soon as it appeared, Videl panting and breathless. Still, there was a fire in her eyes, a passion that hadn't been there only a short time ago. "This is going to take some practice," Videl looked up at Bulma happily, "but thank you." "Don't thank me," Bulma put her hands in her white labcoat pockets as she continued, "it's going to take you a lot of work to get the most out of them." "I will," Videl said firmly, "count on it." Bulma watched a few moments later as Videl rose into the sky, her aura already glowing slightly brighter as she headed off to the next part of her plans. "Good luck," she murmured, "though I doubt you're really going to need it." The little island was far from most of civilization, in fact if you didn't have a very good idea exactly where it was you'd never be able to find it. The little beach house looked comfortable, the palm trees around it shading the porch where the man sat, smiling slightly as he watched his wife and daughter playing out in the surf. The spark of golden light merely announced the arrival of a power Krillin already sensed. The former monk pushed his brown hair back as the young woman dropped down onto the beach, walking up to the house with a false casualness. "Hey Videl," Krillin said cheerfully, the Hawaiian shirt and matching shorts he wore giving him a odd resemblance to Master Roshi, "what brings you by?" She settled delicately, her garb mostly black. A plain muscle shirt, shorts and a jacket covered Videl snugly, the sort of clothes that you might wear into a fight. "You got my message?" Videl asked him calmly. "You sure about this? I never trained anyone before," Krillin said. "You were trained under Master Roshi," Videl said, "who was once the strongest fighter in the world." She flashed a smile as she continued, "I'm sure that I can learn a lot from you." "So," Eighteen walked up to shoo the little girl into the house then gazed with a thoughtful expression at Videl, "this is my new punching bag?" "Eighteen," Krillin said proudly, "will be your sparing partner." Eighteen pushed her short blonde hair up out of her face, her athletic body shown off by the gesture as she drawled, "Don't worry, I promise I won't do any permanent damage." Videl took a nervous breath as she looked between Krillin and Eighteen then smiled bravely. "I'm ready to start when you are," she said. "That's the spirit," Krillin went to slap her back but the little man accidentally hit her right on the butt. "Watch the hands, love," Eighteen gave Videl an oddly predatory look as she continued, "this little cupcake is mine." "Ah, right," Videl blinked. The days on the beach were filled with combat, Krillin demonstrating techniques that Videl would in turn try to use against Eighteen. If she got it right, Eighteen's mock attack would stop, if she got it wrong Eighteen would remorselessly pound her into the floor. If was a effective way to drive the lessons home, and with each day Videl felt she was growing ever stronger. And her nights were filled by a entirely different form of combat. The first night Eighteen had shown up in her bedroom Videl had been surprised, even with all the teasing that the sexy android had done during the day. They had talked, that night, Eighteen quietly expressing her interest then leaving, simply asking Videl to think about it. Videl did think, all that day, and in the evening she had eagerly welcomed Eighteen into her bed. "And Krillin doesn't mind?" Videl had whispered at one point. Eighteen just laughed softly. "I love Krillin with all my heart," she said gently, "but we both know that he can't give me everything that I need." She chuckled softly, "And you know, boys just love hearing about this kind of thing." Videl groaned, "There's an entertaining thought." Eighteen moved like a cat, positioning herself above Videl as she looked down at her hungrily. "You have a lot to learn here, too," she purred right before she pounced. Leaving the island a few months later filled Videl with regrets but she maintained a brave face. Krillin had carefully put the patch on her jacket, the symbol of the school he trained under and proudly said, "I've taught you everything I know." "I doubt that," Eighteen smiled down at Krillin fondly, making the man blush. She looked up at Videl, "You're always welcome to come back." "Thank you," Videl said, honestly meaning it before she continued, "but I still want to try to develop my skills even further." "Thought you'd say that," Krillin said, passing her a small notebook. He smiled as she opened it curiously, "Names and addresses of the other Z fighters, the ones I know about anyway." "This... thank you," Videl bowed, the gesture filled with respect. "With this I'm sure I can complete my training," she murmured. Krillin cautioned her, "I can't promise you that they'll all be willing to train you." He grinned, "But even challenging them will be educational." "Either way it works," Eighteen agreed, moving forward to startle Videl with a firm hug. "Come back some time," she grinned, "there's a few tricks I can still show you." "I'll try," Videl agreed with a blush. The two of them watched Videl rise up into the air, soon disappearing off into the distance. "Wonder if I should have included Yamcha's name on that list?" Krillin mused. "They'll run into each other eventually," Eighteen shrugged casually, "better at a time and place of her choosing." It was over a year later that Bulma saw her return, the black haired young woman dropping down onto the grass outside of the Capsule Corporation buildings. Videl looked different than when she had left, confidence in her stance and a warm smile on her young face. "So how did it go?" Bulma asked, walking towards her curiously. Videl grinned back, "I think I'm ready, if that makes sense." "And Gohan?" Bulma raised an eyebrow, wondering how she would respond. "I'm going to go see him after this," Videl answered, "and let him know that he's my best friend... but that's all that he is." Videl's cheeks went red as she remembered some of the things she had done over the past year, "I have feelings for him, but I'm not in love." Bulma looked impish as she took in the blush on Videl's face. "I guess you and Eighteen got better aquatinted," she offered. "How did you know..." Videl started only to trail off. "You, too?" she smiled, giving Bulma a look that was rather speculative. "Uh huh," Bulma had a Cheshire cat grin on her face as she continued, "Maybe after you and Gohan get reacquainted you can come back here?" Videl's voice had dropped to a warm purr, "I think I'll do that." With that she returned to the skies, racing to a reunion she was rather looking forward to. The house was as far from civilization as you could get, something the small family living there honestly appreciated. In his bedroom Gohan sighed softly, the teen packing his school books away tiredly. It was hard to put any effort into these things lately, it all felt oddly pointless, somehow. He was setting them up on a shelf when he felt it, an oddly familiar power that was approaching the house at high speed. "Do you feel that?" Chi-chi asked, his black haired mother coming in to the room with a slight frown on her beautiful face. She had been a martial artist herself for many years, competing against his father Gohan, and she had retained those skills over the years. "Yeah, I'd better see who it is," Gohan agreed, going past her to the front door. The fighter was just touching down outside as he left the house, the feeling of a dangerous power coming from her. He didn't power up yet, not knowing what he might be facing, then she turned towards him and he felt his mouth drop open in surprise. "Hello Gohan," Videl smiled, and Gohan was shocked at the power he felt coming off of her, the equal of any of the Z fighters. The jacket that she wore carried the names of many dojos and masters, including those of both Tien and Krillin. "Want to spar?" she took up her stance with a grin, the gems on her black gloves gleaming. End Author's Note: I originally wanted to do a 'Videl rebels' story but she didn't seem to want to, somehow, so instead you get this. I may or may not continue this alternate Videl, as I've had a few requests to do a shoujo-ai story with her. This is set shortly after the Buu saga and is based on how Videl is originally portrayed in the series, not how she wimps out later on.
Back to Videl's Way Index - Back to Dragonball Z Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction