Note from the author: So yeah. It has been WAAAAAAY too long since my last update... or rewrite to be clear. I was very displeased with how chapter 13 turned out. Too much was going on in too little time and after reading some good advice from CosmoCatte (check out his stories) I decided to rewrite the chapter. Now I know some of you may be wondering, why did it take over two months to rewrite one little chapter?! Well, the main thing was that I was getting tired of the story. I said that I intend to finish this story and I still do, but I need to attend to life's matters as well. Plus, this time I really wanted to give you a special chapter and nothing half-baked like my last chapter. Also, I just didn't want to write anymore and wanted to do other things. But that being said, I just want to renew my pledge to you, my faithful readers, that I intend to finish this story. Will there be more after the big fight with Goku and Krillin? If anything, there will be an epilogue but likely nothing after that, but who knows. But for those of you who stuck around and waited so long, thank you for your encouraging words and your willingness to read my simple story. YEESH, I made it sound like a fairwell speech, well without further ado, allow me to present to you my chapter 13 rewrite!

Progress REWRITE

6:00 AM. The soft red glow of an alarm clock flashes and beeps, rousing the half-saiyan from his slumber as he lazily reached over and shut off the noisy time-teller. He was lucky; Pan slept through the whole night this time. She was normally a good sleeper, but she would occasionally have these periods where for two weeks she simply would not sleep, and she'd cry and cry until either Mom or Dad came and soothed her. During these cases, Gohan would normally lead the charge and he would sometimes spend as much as two hours reading books to her.

At first, the typical nursery books did the trick and put her to sleep after a few books. After six months, Gohan discovered that these childish books no longer worked. Discovering this, unfortunately the hard way, he turned to the classics and found, to his great joy, that these large volumes were effective in lulling the little quarter-saiyan to sleep. Not only did this make it easier to put her to bed, but he also got to enjoy what he was reading and on more than one occasion, he continued reading to her even after she fell asleep.

Despite the fact that these fits wore on him and he needed sleep like any other man, he often enjoyed reading to his little girl. Gohan oh so loved cradling the little infant in one arm and holding a massive book in the other. He loved to gaze into those obsidian eyes and see her randomly smile and coo as babies often do. What he loved most was to see Pan sleeping soundly in his arm after he finished a chapter, after which he would close the volume, set it aside, and gently press a loving kiss on her forehead before gingerly tucking her into her cradle.

But readings and kisses aside, the scholarly man was grateful for a reprieve so he could catch up on sleep, especially now that he was actively training again. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he sat up and tentatively swung his legs out from under the blanket, trying hard to keep from disturbing Videl. Then a soft hand landed on his. "I'm sorry," Gohan smiled, "did I wake you again?"

"No," she yawned, "I was awake before the alarm went off," she replied as she sat up, rubbing her eyes with her left.

"I will need to get going to keep on schedule," he reminded her. Videl wrapped her beautiful arms around his torso and laid against his well-muscled back.

"You and your schedules," she sighed. "If you wanted to, you could wake up ten minutes before work and still get there on time without looking suspicious." Gohan grinned and sighed. She was right. Having the speed to easily blitz the human eye thousands of times over without the smallest effort did come with practical advantages. Videl always pestered him for not using his abilities more often.

"Yeah, you're right," he conceded, interlacing his right hand with hers that rested on his abdomen. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to get an extra hour of sleep now would it?"

Videl hummed against his back and simply sat there, holding her husband. She loved these moments; they were simple, yet beautiful. Moments where the two simply hold one another and be totally enraptured with their touch. She loved to hold and be held by him and to bury herself in his strong and comforting embrace. No ecstatic periods of passion were needed here. Just their touch, the feel of their neck, and the steady rhythm of the heartbeat. A small memory came into the young woman's head and she giggled, causing Gohan to lift an eyebrow, though his eyelids were still shut. "You're still such a dork," she teased.

Her husband hummed a laugh and she felt it through his back. "Yeah, I always was a bit of a dork, even as a little boy." A small image of himself as a boy focusing on his studies played in his mind. He remembered how he wore that bright old outfit with a bright yellow vest over an equally bright green long-sleeved shirt and years later he laughed at how goofy he looked. Then his early highschool years played in his mind. Though his style in dress improved, he was still quite a dorky boy, even as a teenager. Was he smarter than his father? By a mile. Was he socially superior? Not by much. He was, in fact, rather gullible and had no idea how to talk to people in general.

'I guess I'm more like my father than I thought,' he thought internally and smiled to himself. Gohan scooted to the side, causing Videl to let go and he fell back to his side of the bed. He offered an arm and she laid into his embrace, lying her head on his chest where she could hear that strong heart she admired so much with her hand on his abdomen. Here they stayed for a few minutes, before the man opened his mouth again. "But if I'm the dork," he said, "doesn't that make you one too since you married me?"

His wife giggled; he loved to hear her laugh. Such a sincere and sly laugh made him smile, knowing that she was about to say something that was either, very nice, or very sarcastic, and he loved her for it. That brutal, yet kind honesty. "Nah," Videl replied, "I was just after your body."

And there it was; that sarcastic voice. That line caused him to snort and laugh out loud, albeit quietly. He was well-versed in the inside voice, especially with an infant in the house. This was one of the skills his father had yet to master. The joke really got him because he laughed for a good 30 seconds before sighing and calming down and devising a counterattack. "Then it's a good thing I got something out of this marriage too," he playfully shot back.

However, Videl didn't quite get the joke, because she sat up and looked down on her husband with a not-so-happy look on her face. "And what was that supposed to mean?" she sassed.

Gohan panicked for a moment. Though they have been married for over three years, sarcasm was still not his forte. But he relaxed because he learned how to respond to these situations, and that was to simply tell the truth. He cupped her hand with his right and gazed at her fierce, beautiful eyes; eyes he feared and loved at the same time. "It means that I got to marry a strong, honest, and beautiful woman whom I can depend on during good and bad times. A woman who stands for what she knows is right regardless of the odds and, when push comes to shove, will do what is right no matter the consequences, in sickness and health, 'till death do us part."

Nothing for a few moments. Then the red was visible. Gohan knew all too well that she really appreciated words of affirmation, but she hates false praise. That was one of the reasons she didn't like any of the boys at Orange Star High. Heaps and mountains of high praise, but always superficial. Not with Gohan though. Sincerity was never a struggle with him and he always meant it when he praised her from the bottom of his heart. Sincerity was also a strong attribute he received from Goku, for which he was thankful. She crossed her arms and pouted. Then she leaned back and groaned irately. "I hate it when you do that," she sighed, bowing her head in defeat.

"And why is that?" he smiled knowingly.

"Because then I can't be mad at you anymore," she humphed before plopping back into her former spot on her husband's arm.

Gohan placed his hand around her smooth shoulder and gave her a loving squeeze. Then they sat there for a few minutes again, Gohan running his left through her hair and Videl listening to his beating heart. "Come here," he said tapping the center of his chest. His wife obliged and crawled onto his firm torso, eyes inches from his own sporting a muted smile. Then he brought up his right and gingerly traced the outline of Videl's face from, temple to chin, until he reached said chin and fully cupped her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his strong hand, placing hers over his larger one. She loved these hands; hands that knew her and respected her and, more than anything, loved her from its depths. She turned slightly and kissed the palm before rubbing her cheek into the same. Gohan swelled from within. "I love you Videl," he spoke with pathos, "Truly, I do."

His wife simply smiled and continued leaning into his hand, "I know, honey."

"I know you know," Gohan continued, "But I never want you to think otherwise, so just wanted to tell you again. Just so you know."

Videl, hummed a laugh. Then her eyes opened and she leaned down and, leaning her forehead against his and just touching the point of his nose with hers. "And I love you too, Gohan," she spoke, "with all my heart." Then she leveled her lips to his and firmly pressed a long and loving kiss. Gohan reciprocated and circled his powerful arms around her hips, holding her firmly but gently as Videl wrapped her arms around his broad neck. This lingering kiss turned into smaller, shorter kisses, which then kindled more passionate ones.

Videl parted her lips, sat erect, and gathered her breath as he did the same. Then after said breath returned, she gazed at him grinning, very knowingly.

Nine hours later, multiple fists clashed and erupted small powerful shockwaves that ruffled and the grassy training grounds below. Though both warriors held enough power to eradicate their own solar system a hundred times over, it was contained and and controlled; released only in their concentrated punches and kicks, so as to maintain the form of their own planet.

Gohan and Vegeta were training nearly a hundred feet in the air with Goku and Whis watching on the ground a short distance away. The half-saiyan wore the traditional orange gi with a blue sash and a colorless aura while the saiyan prince wore his typical battle armor with crimson hair. Both warriors grinned and dashed towards one another, disappearing from sight and reappearing with the other's fist connected across their faces. Taking advantage of his momentum, Gohan turned with the punch and landed a spinning heel kick to Vegeta's temple, sending him flying across the landscape.

The scholar made good on this opportunity and followed up by appearing behind the warrior, kicking him into the air, parting clouds as he went, and launching a quick Masenko beam. When the beam collided, it actually went through Vegeta, scaring Gohan for a brief moment, until he felt a presence behind him and ducked just in time to avoid an oncoming kick from Vegeta.

Again making good of the moment, the half-saiyan pivoted and uppercutted the saiyan prince in the stomach with his right, causing him to keel over, and finished with a powerful left cross to his jaw.

Vegeta grinned. Taking advantage of his moment, just as Gohan did earlier, he spun with the cross and landed a backfist to the scholar's cranium with his left. Then he appeared on the other side and punched him back in the opposite direction, then again on the other, then a flurry of punches to Gohan's torso capped off with a knee to the gut.

The scholar went limp, leaning on the prince's knee, then Vegeta smirked. "Do you really think a trick like that will work on my boy?"

"I guess not." The smiling Gohan just caught the warrior's knee with both of his hands. But just then, Vegeta grabbed his head, swung his free knee back, and landed a solid knee to the scholar's forehead, too which Gohan flew back.

The prince made chase and threw a ball of ki at him, landing, exploding, and propelling him further. Then he flashed in front of Gohan prepared to drive him to the ground, until the half-saiyan opened his eyes and fiercely planted an orb of energy into the warrior's chest, the detonation of which launched both in opposing directions; Vegeta towards the sky and Gohan towards the ground.

Fortunately for the scholar, he was able to right himself and land confidently on the ground as well as forming a new crater. After which he dashed towards the prince, charging and powerful blue orb betwixt his hands. When he came level with Vegeta, he saw that the warrior had the same idea and held a glowing purple orb in his hands.

The two squared off, charging each other's signature attacks to the full, and extending their hands towards each other, erupting the massive glowing spheres. Both beams were a blazing flame of their respective blue and purple, colliding to form a big white star of crackling energy. Both poured their reserves and their beams enlarged causing the white swirling center to balloon and grow until both knew that it needed to end.

Then the two tilted their beams upward, away from the surface, and the crackling white center shot upwards into a dancing pillar of star light, causing nearby clouds to vanish immediately, along with the two fighter's energy. Both were breathing hard, but grinning harder.

"Well look at you," Vegeta started. "A few months ago, you could barely handle one punch in this form. And now you come closer to matching me everyday." The saiyan prince crossed his arms and sported a surprisingly approving smile. "You're not the same man anymore, Gohan."

High praise from Vegeta was a novelty indeed. Though he has much improved from his former self, empathy and kindness were two skills that still required training. So for him to willingly praise someone, let alone Gohan, the son of his rival, is a great honor indeed.

"Thank you Vegeta," the scholar answered, "It feels great to be in shape again." After saying that he paused for a second and examined his left palm. Then smiled and curled his fist. "No. It feels great to be better," he corrected himself, realigning his eyes with Vegeta's. The approving smile was quickly replaced by his trademark cocky grin.

"Then what do you say we take things up a notch?" he offers, cloaking himself with the shimmering blue aura as he spoke. Gohan exhales and settles back into his stance.

"Let's do this."

The two briefly look at Whis, who nods, and pulls up a row of digits on the orb on his staff; four pairs of zeros spaced by a colon every two digits, functioning as an earth-stopwatch. The two ready themselves and wait.

The angel glanced at both warriors and then looked at the stopwatch. "Go!" he yelled whilst simultaneously activating the timer. Gohan faded from view and Vegeta stood there with that trademark smirk on his face. The half-saiyan hurled himself at the blue-haired warrior, getting closer and closer, his thoughts racing a million miles an hour. Yelling mighty roar, he threw a left overhook at Vegeta's face as the saiyan prince gently tilted his face, dodging the punch and casually lifted his own left in an uppercut to the scholar's gut. Miraculously, he caught it with his right, an inch before his stomach, but the blue fist was immovable and continued to its destination. The connection produced a blue shockwave that emitted out of Gohan's back in progressively smaller circles, forcing saliva to erupt from Gohan's mouth and enlarging his eye to mostly white.

The scholar slumped over and Vegeta caught him and carried him down to the ground, removing his azure aura in the progress and sporting a pleased expression.

"How long did he last this time?" the prince asked the time keeper.

Whis hummed while glancing at his staff. "One and a half deciseconds. That's a massive improvement," he smiled.

Goku cocked his head at the angel's reading. "Uh Whis, what's a deci-whose-it?"

"It means that Gohan lasted longer in my blue form than he did last time," Vegeta answered to Whis' chagrin.

"Now that is something I could tell," Goku affirmed pulling out a senzu bean from the small brown sack on his waist and plopping it into his son's gaping mouth. He looked at his son with pride as he clumsily bit into the tough medicine and regained his pupils along with a hefty boost in power. Though he accepted the reality that his son did not share his love of battle, it truly thrilled his heart to see him take to fighting with new vigor. Gohan grew stronger than ever before and though he had much to learn, Goku still envisioned the day when his son surpassed him. But he must crack the code to godly ki before this could happen.

The half-saiyan stood there briefly flexing his newly-strengthened muscles before quickly powering up to feel his gains. Even now, his power doesn't show any signs of decline and continues to grow and grow after every training session. Then he stopped and studied his fist contemplatively. Then he looked to the angel. "Say, Whis."

"Hmm?," the angel replied.

Gohan pondered a moment before posing his query. "Is there another way to get as strong as super saiyan blue without using god ki?

Both Vegeta and Goku were caught off guard by the question while Whis simply smiled with piercing eyes. "Indeed there is," he answered, "many ways in fact. Not all rivers follow the same paths, but all rivers lead to the ocean, as you humans say. This adage rings true for power as well."

Vegeta crossed his arms and eyes narrowed at Gohan. "What are you doing, boy?" he asked with well-restrained malice.

"I've just been thinking," he pondered. "You and Dad have pursued the god ki root and attained super saiyan blue. A few years earlier, I pursued a different root and attained my ultimate form. It just makes sense for me to finish following this root I already started and see where it leads."

The warriors eyes softened and he nodded in acknowledgement, to everyone's surprise. "When I learned that super saiyan 3 existed," he began, "I was offered the choice of learning it or refining what I had. After seeing what it offered, I chose the latter and at one point surpassed Goku." Vegeta uncrossed his arms and walked towards the scholar. "I applaud your decision to forge your own path, Gohan," he grabbed his hand, "and I look forward to what it brings," he finished with a strong shake.

It would be impossible to measure the shock and confusion that was going on in Gohan and Goku's mind. Vegeta was never this encouraging or kind, ever! Praise coming from him was still a novelty, but encouragement and respect! This was something they never thought he could do. In spite of this shock, Gohan maintained a muted smile while his father's reaction was all too plain.

"How are you being so nice?"

"Get over yourself, Kakarott!" the warrior growled, "I can act however I want!" There was the Vegeta they all knew and loved… most of the time. "I'm done now. You can train with him if you want Kakarott," he turned away. "I'm going home."

"Might I make a recommendation Vegeta?" Whis trilled.

The warrior simply turned and looked at the angel, listening silently.

"Your son made a wager the other day after you left dinner," he explained. "Without giving you too many details, I believe he could use some additional… intensive training," he punctuated.

Both father and son looked at Whis then to Vegeta, then back and forth a couple times attempting to decipher what the angel meant. What was this wager? What trouble did Trunks get himself into this time? Vegeta had an idea because after the mention of "intensive training", his eyes flashed widely for two seconds and then narrowed harshly for longer. The narrowing evolved into a deep scowl which permeated a visceral yet suppressed fury.

The scholar contemplated the exchange. Extra training? No, not just that but extra intensive training? Is he fighting someone? Wait… Whis loves to do strange things. He was always a bit whimsical. So he obviously tricked Trunks into signing up for something he really couldn't handle. There's no doubt he's fighting someone stronger than him, otherwise he wouldn't need the extra training. But if he is, who could it be? Unless… Gohan briefly glanced at his father's face and it clicked. And why did it click? Because Goku had the biggest smirk plastered all over his face.

Vegeta must have known who it was too because a moment or two later, he blasted off of the ground and flew towards his home, leaving a healthy dose of dust in his wake.

After coughing a brief second, Gohan smiled softly and let out a short shrill whistle. "You must be quite the miracle worker if Trunks needs to train that hard to beat Krillin."

Whis giggled like a little girl. "What makes you think it was Krillin?" he exaggeratedly feigned.

"Just a guess," Gohan replied with a smirk.

"Whis," Goku said as he stepped directly in front of the angel, looking him dead in the eyes. "Did Krillin really come this far after only a few months?" he asked. Though his mouth held a small smile, his eyes were quite pensive as he studied Whis' face as best as he could. He stared and stared as hard as he could, his eyes begging the angel for any confirmation. The angel lowered his gaze for a moment and looked back to Goku, answering his query with a knowing smile.

Goku's mouth broke into the biggest grin he could muster as he jumped and pumped his fist into the air, cheering for his dearest and best friend. He took off running around the grounds, hootin' and hollering, kicking dust into the air, and for some reason, launching and detonating harmless balls of ki into the sky. The effect was something akin to some sloppy fireworks show, but that didn't matter to the gleeful-saiyan. He was ecstatic for his friend and he wanted to show it, which he did with gusto.

"Come now, Gohan," Whis motioned. "If you're willing, I know a few ways how you can take your "ultimate form" further than ever before."

I hope this chapter was much better to you than the last one. I was really proud of it, but please, please, please leave a review and let me know what you thought, what worked, what didn't work, what could be better, etc. If you will, I'd also appreciate something more than "It was great! Keep it up!", but that's up to you. Regardless of how long they are (I love the long ones by the way), I make sure to read all your reviews. But anyway, I hope you liked it, stay safe and healthy, and God bless you all. Cheers!

P.S. Let me know if you want me to keep the old chapter up. It is no longer canon with my story, but if you all still want it, I can leave it if you like.