Part 1
As Gohan left the courtroom, he couldn't help
but wonder what went wrong. One day he and Videl were happily married; the next,
she was asking for a divorce. He couldn't understand what it was that he had
done, where he had gone wrong. He had always been a loving husband to her and a
caring father to Pan. But now, he was a divorced and bitter man. He had decided
in that moment that he would never love again.
The next day, he arrived at work just like normal. He was greeted by Trunks who
knew everything that had been going on between Gohan and Videl. "Gohan-sama,
how are you?"
"Fine as can be expected, Trunks," Gohan said as he turned on his
computer.
"Pan came by looking for you earlier."
"She did?" Gohan thought that was strange as she was supposed to be on
vacation.
"Yeah, she and Tomarotto came by. She's really worried about you, Gohan."
"I know, but I'm okay. It's gonna take a while to get over what
happened."
"But she cares about her old man," Trunks smiled.
"Yeah, she does. So, how did Tomarotto look?"
"A lot better than he did when you caught him and Pan in the bed!" He
laughed. Gohan had caught his only daughter with one of the Saiyans whom Vegeta
had wished back with the Dragonballs.
"I was so furious! I know that she's grown now, but you'd think that she
could've done that somewhere else," Gohan laughed in spite of himself.
"So, how are you and Marron?"
"She's expecting the baby any day now."
"I still can't get over the notion of your being a father!"
"I know. Can you imagine my father a grandpa?!"
"No, I can't," Gohan laughed as he remembered how Bra had the Saiyan
Prince wrapped around her little finger. Surely Trunks's children would have
Vegeta on the same short leash. He thought back to how Bra had been a very
spoiled brat growing up, but now she was a lovely, young woman who had the
temprament of a lovely, young woman. Goten was a very lucky man for having Bra,
he thought.
"Well, I better get back to work or Kassan will have my ass! Wanna do
lunch?" Trunks asked as he turned to go.
"Yeah, sounds good!" Gohan waved as he watched the purple-haired
President of Capsule Corp. disappear. 'Thank Dende for my friends,' he sighed.
A couple of hours later
"Well, if it isn't my future brother-in-law," a voice called out.
Gohan looked up from his computer screen to find Bra sitting on the edge of his
desk.
"Bra-chan, what are you doing here?" Gohan couldn't help raking his
eyes up and down her body. Bra couldn't help noticing what he had just done and
was very shocked. 'He's never looked at me in that way before. I bet it's just
his trying to get over Videl,' she thought.
"I was looking for that lazy, no-good, niichan of mine; but, he's nowhere
to be found."
"Yeah, he was supposed to have lunch with me."
"Well, since he's stood me you up; how about you and I going to have
lunch?" Bra suggested.
"Sure," he smiled to her. 'Wow! I never noticed she had curves like
that,' he thought as he watched her walking. 'What am I doing?! This is my
brother's fiancee!!!!!'
"I thought we could grab a bite at Rocco's, " Bra suggested as they
got into the elevator.
"Sounds good," he said. He stared up at the ceiling of the elevator to
keep from looking at her. He knew that if he looked at her, he wouldn't be able
to stop looking at her. She was very beautiful like her mother, and he had a
little crush on her mother when he was a child; however, Bra was different than
Bulma. Bra was much softer than Bulma was at that age. Bulma always growled and
him and Krillin. Gohan couldn't even imagine Bra getting mad.
Bra noticed that Gohan seemed a bit akward around her-- something that he had
never been before. She looked upon him as a father figure as he helped train
Trunks when she was a small child. He tried to train her, too, but she had no
interest in it. Secretly, she wished that she had learned to utilize her Saiyan
powers. Trunks and Goten always looked like they were having fun when they
sparred. She thought it would've been nice to spar with Pan like that.
"This seems to be our stop," Bra smiled as the door opened at the
ground floor.
"Hello, Miss Briefs, Mr. Son," one of the office boys greeted.
"Hello, Jimmy, and how are you today?" Bra smiled.
"Fine. Going to lunch?"
"Yeah, would you like for us to bring you back something," Gohan
offered.
"No thanks! You two have fun!" He waved before catching the elevator
just before it closed. 'Have fun? Was he implying something? Of course, he
wasn't. Gohan, you're being paranoid over nothing.'
'I'll have to ask Gohan what's bothering him,' Bra thought as Gohan drove them
over to Rocco's.
"Ah, Miss Briefs," the owner
greeted.
"Rocco, how are you?" Bra hugged him.
"I'm fine, and who is this that you're with?"
"This is Goten's older brother, Gohan."
"This is Son Gohan?!"
"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you," he shook his head.
"The true defeater of Cell? In my restaurant?! Lunch is on the house,
sir," Rocco smiled. He led them to a table and told them he'd be back with
a menu shortly.
"How is it that Pan's grandfather could manage to tell everyone that he
defeated Cell?" Bra asked.
"Well, after the battle, I had no more strength. Piccolo had to fly me to
Dende's Lookout so that he could heal me. Mr. Satan just took the credit when
asked who defeated Cell," he shrugged.
"My Tousan told me that you had to be the most powerful warrior he had ever
seen."
"Vegeta said that?!"
"Yeah, but he made me promise I'd never tell you. Besides, that was a long
time ago when he told me that!" She laughed. Her laughter rang through his
ears and hung on every note her voice made. "Gohan, is something troubling
you?"
"Why do you ask?" He returned nervously.
"Because I can tell that there's something wrong. You've been acting
weird."
"Well, Bra, you see when you've been married to someone for over
twenty-five years and they suddenly decide that they don't love you anymore, it
kinda tears your heart out," he said sadly. Bra put her hand over his to
comfort him.
"I'm very sorry, Gohan-sama. I don't know how you feel, but I will listen
to you-- if you want to talk about it." She was always honest about
everything, he thought. She didn't try to feign understanding. There was no way
she could've understood how he felt, but she offered an ear to him; a shoulder
to cry on, it seemed like.
"You never know when your life will change in the batting of an eye. I was
a happily married man who loved his wife and daughter very much. One day, Videl
came home and said she was tired of being married to a half-Saiyan hero. Said
she just wanted to live a normal life without having to worry about whether or
husband or daughter would be alive when she got home at night. She packed her
things and left. I didn't see her again until a couple of days ago when we went
to court to decide who gets the marital possessions. She gets the house, I get
just what I had before I married her."
"Are you serious? I mean, I can't imagine . . ."
"Videl doing all this? Believe me, I was the most shocked of anyone. Pan
was devastated, but she's reconciled with her mother."
"And are you angry about that?"
"No, Videl is her mother. I would never ask Pan to choose between her
mother and father."
"I am so sorry. I don't know what else to say."
"Don't worry about it. Most people don't. I mean, what can you say?"
He smiled as the waiter gave them their menus.
A couple of days later
Bra was sitting in her room trying to plan
her wedding to Goten, but she couldn't get her mind off Gohan.
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