To Start Again

Disclaimer: No, I still don't own DBZ 'Nuff said.

A/N) I decided to make my second attempt at fanfiction writing, I apologize to those who wished to see my first fanfiction completed but I decided it was not going to way I hoped, I may decide to rewrite it one day. Anyway the idea of this story came to me one night in a sudden burst of inspiration; I only get these like once a year so I figured I may as well put it to good use. I have no idea how far this fic is going to go, or if I will even manage to complete it and as such updates are expected to be extremely erratic. All I can say is that it will be updated whenever it is ready to be. A forewarning, this fic will not be very Goku or Chi-chi friendly, among other things. One last thing, any author's notes during the story will be marked with a number and can be found at the bottom of the page, now on to the story!

"…" Speech

'…' Thoughts

~…~ Telepathy

Summary: A mere two days after Gohan's defeat of Cell, and Goku's subsequent decision to stay in the afterlife, Gohan is disowned from his family and shunned by his friends who blamed him for both Goku's departure and not wanting to be wished back. Gohan, who is also cut off from both his Namekian friends via Vegeta, is left to his own devices after his abandonment but quickly learns he is not alone. He finds another who has a problem not unlike his own, in the form of a young raven haired girl….

Chapter 1: The Whim of Fate

Gohan was an extremely bitter person at current moment. It was only the day before that his "friends", and even his own mother, had turned on him and exiled him from their presence. He had almost nothing. He had even been cut off from both Piccolo and Dende, the last two beings he could call friends, by Vegeta. Vegeta had been exceptionally angry about his rivals passing, and promised death to the two Nameks if they associated with Gohan anymore, dragon balls be damned. Gohan did not even want to remotely risk the lives of his last friends and so decided it would be best to avoid contact. All he had was his wallet which contained little bits of money that he had collected over time but never had any use for. So now here he was, wondering aimlessly through a forest just outside of the newly renamed Satan City in honor of the man who 'saved the world' from Cell.

Gohan's thoughts were centered on the ultimate source of his current problem in life – his father. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, it was his own decision to stay in the afterlife after all. Gohan thought about his past as well, when he wasn't fighting for his life or for the fate of the planet, he was confined to his room studying for endless hours. What kind of childhood is that?

'They probably all think I'm going to crawl into a hole and die, but I am going to prove them wrong. I am better than them.'

He had the will and resolve unlike anyone before him.

Gohan continued to aimlessly wonder through the forest as his anger kept rising. Gohan thought he was condemned to a life of relative loneliness but it seems that fate had taken pity on the young hero. It was at that moment that Gohan's keen saiyan hearing heard something that dissipated his anger instantly. It was the sound of someone crying.

'My life may be a mess.' Gohan thought to himself. 'But I might be able to help someone else'.'

Gohan followed the sound of soft sobs until he came upon the source, upon which he was surprised it was a raven haired girl that looked to be roughly his age. She was sitting against a rather large tree with her arms wrapped around her legs and head pressed against her legs. Because of her position she failed to take notice of Gohan's approach.

"Hi there, would you like to tell me what's wrong?" Gohan asked gently as he made his approach.

Videl's head shot up at hearing someone's voice which was the last thing she expected considering where she was. She tensed and pressed herself against the tree slightly when she noticed the build this boy had.

Somewhere in the back of Gohan's mind, he registered that she had beautiful sapphire eyes.

"Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you."

Something about his voice made his words ring true to the raven haired girl. She relaxed some before her eyes shot open in recognition.

'It can't be! But even his outfit is the same!' she thought to herself, with her mind reeling in shock. It was true, Gohan was wearing the same clothes he wore at the Cell Games.

"You're the boy who fought Cell! Please you have to tell me… were you the one to beat him?"

That was hardly what Gohan had expected the girl to say, especially off the bat. The entire world thought that Mr. Satan had been the one to beat the maniacal android. Gohan just nodded mutely, with a slightly darkened expression on his face, to answer the girl's sudden question.

She let out a heavy sigh and tried to mentally prepare herself for the story she was about to tell. Gohan took this opportunity to sit down next to her and to diligently listen to what cruel twist of fate had befallen this girl and perhaps attempt to help.

"My name is Videl Satan, former daughter to the "World Champ and Savior". She said this with obvious anger in her voice.

Gohan took notice of the word 'former' in her statement and was able to put together a very rough idea of what happened to this girl.

"After the Cell Games, my father came back and claimed to have beaten Cell. I didn't believe him after what I had seen on the broadcast. My father was nothing to Cell, yet you were able to hold your own. The next day I confronted my father about it and told him to tell me the truth. My father didn't take to me being that like very well. He probably thought I would threaten the fame and money he had gotten (1). So he told me to get out and never come back. My mother died when I was really young, and I have no other relatives so I have nowhere to go now."

Videl was, by this point, desperately trying to hold back the tears but was comforted by a gentle hand on her shoulders causing her to look at the boy she had just shared her sad story with.

Gohan let out a bitter chuckle and he too mentally prepared to tell this girl what had happened to him.

"First of all I'm Son Gohan (2)…" Gohan then proceeded to tell Videl everything that had happened since the end of the Cell Games, leaving out and hiding nothing.

Videl was shocked to her very core. Much of his story sounded absurd but again his voice, along with the anguish and anger etched therein, lent testimony to his words. Thus, Videl believed him.

'How could those people do that? It just doesn't make sense! How could they do that to someone who they and the whole world owe their lives to? It had been his entirely his fathers choice to remain dead, Gohan doesn't deserve the blame, not after what he did!'

Her mind raged with questions on how people could be so heartless.

A few moments of silence ensued between the two youths before Videl broke it.

"So it seems that the two of us are alone then…"

"Not necessarily." Gohan started with an idea forming in his head. "Why don't we try to forge a new life for ourselves? Together."

Videl thought about for a moment. But that ended abruptly with 'What do I have to lose?'

"You know… I think I would like that …"

The two adolescents spent the rest of what was by now evening in companionable conversation. Videl told Gohan the finer details of her childhood and of a time when her father had been a honorable aspiring martial artist before he had won the World Martial Arts Tournament. Gohan in turn told Videl all about his past and adventures that entailed, his true heritage included. Before either of them knew it, the sun had set and drowsiness had beset the two and sleep having been found soon after. The two where still sitting up against the large tree, with the exception of Videl's head which was resting on Gohan's shoulder.

Gohan was the first to wake when dawn came the next day. He was glad it had been a warm night, while he could take the cold; he wasn't so sure about his new-found companion. It was then that he took notice of their position and became flustered but immediately calmed himself lest he wake the girl that was currently using his shoulder as a pillow. He resolved to just sit there and enjoy the moment and the scenery while deciding he could get used to having a female companion.

It was not much later that said girl's eye fluttered open and looked upwards to see the boy she had met the previous day looking down right back at her.

"Good morning." Came his cheerful voice.

It was at that point that Videl's mind started functioning again and registered the position she was in and her world took on a sudden, sharp focus. She bolted into an upright position with her face turned away and tinged with red along with the realization she had slept on his shoulder the entire night.

Gohan just laughed a little to himself but decided to spare her the embarrassment. "I guess we should get a start on rebuilding our lives."

Videl was grateful for the subject change. "But where do we even start?"

"I suppose the first thing we should do is plan for a way to find ourselves a proper home, we can't well very camp out in the wilderness for the rest of our lives. But we will most likely have to live out here until we can find a way to get something more permanent."

Videl just nodded in agreement. "I guess we should get started then."

"I'll take a look around from the air and see if I can find a body of water where we can camp out for a while (3)."

"Ok just don't forget about me down here."

Gohan just chuckled. "Don't worry I wont." With that he lifted off the ground to a high altitude to begin scouting the surrounding area.

Videl just sat down to wait for his return. She started to think about all that had happened to her within the last few days. She couldn't help but feel that living with Gohan was going to yield something good and unforgettable, what it would be, she had no clue. She was sure of one thing though, she would never regret meeting him.

It only took Gohan twenty minutes to return to where he had left Videl. "Unfortunately there isn't any water nearby. The nearest lake is about a 4 hour walk that way." He said while pointing to the south.

Videl sighed at that. "We should get moving then shouldn't we?"

"Who said we were going to walk?" he said with a small grin before suddenly grabbing a hold of Videl and taking off into the air.

Videl just yelped in surprise at Gohan's sudden move and closed her eyes and hugged Gohan as if her life depended on it which she figured it probably did.

"Sorry about that, but you can open your eyes now, I'm not going to let you fall."

Videl slowly obeyed and found herself glad that she did. What she saw was one of the most amazing sights she had ever seen, nothing but forest beneath them with mountains far off into the distance. She reveled in the feeling of flying without aid from machine and she couldn't help but wonder what it was like to be able to fly like that, to be free in the most pure sense.

"You have to teach me how to fly like this!" she nearly yelled, her mind almost overloading from the excitement and adrenaline rush.

"Sure, it will take some time and practice on your part, but I can teach you. I can get you started on the basics once we get ourselves settled."

Videl was just ecstatic now, not only had she met what people would call the perfect guy, now said guy was going to teach her how to fly, and perhaps some other nifty techniques.

It didn't take very long for them to arrive at the lake that Gohan had mentioned. They both looked around to find a suitable spot to set up camp.

"How about over there?" Videl said while pointing to an open clearing not to far from the waters edge.

"Looks like the perfect place." Gohan said as he began their descent. "First things first, we should start a fire, how about we go look for fire wood?" He said after landing and letting go of Videl.

It didn't take long to gather enough firewood to last them for some time, and so Gohan turned his attention to what he thought was a far more urgent matter – lunch.

And there you have it, Chapter one of To Start Again. It would be great if you left a review and let me know what you think about it.

Author's Notes

(1) - I have made Hercule exceptionally shallow.

(2) - I have always thought thats Son Gohan sounded better and more natural then Gohan Son, so i went with that.

(3) - Gohan explained to her in what ki was and allowed him to do in his life story.