Chapter 11: Savior's Park

Piccolo spun around after punching through Gohan's after image. The Namekian blocked Gohan's kick before using a speed burst to get behind his pupil. Without wasting any time, he closed his hands together while raising them over his head. Piccolo hammered Gohan in the back as the Namek swung his hands down.

As Gohan crashed into the ground, his mentor landed next to the hole the demisaiyan's body had made. "Your concentration is lacking today. What's on your mind that's keeping you from focusing on the fight?" asked Piccolo.

Gohan let out a half-hearted chuckle as he climbed out of the hole. "Was I that obvious?"

"Even when you're not a super saiyan, you would at least connect with a counter attack at the moment I hit you with my attack."

Gohan nodded in affirmation of Piccolo's observation. The teenager sat on the ground before answering Piccolo's question. "I'm just trying to figure out if I should accept an invitation from friends at school to go camping with them. Mom doesn't have a problem with it and I'd enjoy spending time with people my own age, but…" Gohan trailed off and paused before continuing. "…the camping trip is planned for May 16th through May 19th."

"So it's during the Anniversary, but you don't want to turn down Videl's invite."

"It wasn't Videl who invited me," corrected Gohan. Although Erasa seemed very adamant in conveying to me how much she thought Videl would have a better time if I was there too. "Erasa and Sharpner are the one's organizing the campout."

Gohan's mentioned those two before; although I still have a hunch Videl is involved in his dilemma somehow. "So it's not wanting to tell Erasa and Sharpner 'no', but you're concerned over it being during the anniversary next month?"

"That's pretty much it," confirmed Gohan.

"So you want me to strand you in the wilderness of a remote island?" Piccolo challenged.

Gohan let out a small laugh.

"I told you then you would laugh at your fears when you found out who you really are."

Understanding Piccolo's advice to just face his fears head on, Gohan replied, "You sure did. Thanks Piccolo."

"Now that's out of the way, how about we turn this sparring session up a notch?"

Gohan stood up and transformed into a Super Saiyan. "Sounds good to me."

The two martial artists promptly resumed their sparring session in the sky.

"I said NO!" Videl angrily hissed at her best friend as she kept roundhouse kicking the punching bag in the Satan Mansion's Gym. "The last place I want to be for the Anniversary of Cell's defeat is the actual location of the Cell Games."

"Come on Videl, Sharpner got one of the remote camping spots. Hardly anyone would be around to bug us, if anyone even went that far into the park. We can get there really early, before any of the crowds arrive. All the festivities will be around the recreated ring. That would draw the attention away from us." Erasa tried to persuade her friend.

Videl stopped kicking and punched the bag. She effortlessly broke through the thick canvas exterior. The sand poured out of the bag when Videl withdrew her fist. Her irritation obvious, Videl questioned, "Why are you being so persistent about me going?"

"Because I don't' want to see you all grumpy and negative like you are every May. You're my friend, so I'm not going to do what I can to help you through the times that get you down," the blond teen shot back.

During the tense silence that followed, Erasa glanced over at the punching bag. I don't know what she's been doing in her training with Gohan, but those punching bags don't last longer than one session with Videl anymore.

"You can't even give me one reason as to why I would enjoy the trip. You've only told me why I won't hate it. Give me one reason why I would like going. If you can tell me one thing I would actually enjoy and not just have an absence of hatred for, I'll go," challenged Videl.

"Yesterday Gohan told Sharpner and me that he'll come too."

"So?" Videl retorted, but with a distinctly less harsh tone.

Looks like you were right Sharpner. I needed something besides Gohan's prescence to get Videl to come. Guess I'll try your idea. "Well, Gohan has been giving you some training right?"

Videl nodded.

"When Sharpner and I go and partake in some of the festivities, it'll just be you and Gohan in that area of the park. You could get quite a bit of training done."

"I guess that qualifies as something I would enjoy since I like what I've been learning from Gohan," Videl agreed with a begrudging tone. The sparkle in Videl's eyes that contradicted her voice did not go unnoticed by Erasa.

It was seven o'clock in the morning on May 16th when Videl landed her jet copter outside Savior's Park. After capsulizing it, she walked towards the entrance where she saw Erasa and Sharpner waiting in front of the Visitor Center the Martial Arts Society built. Erasa quickly greeted her friend.

"Great, you're here. Now the only person left is Gohan," said Erasa.

Sharpner added, "As smart as he seems to be, telling him 28 miles northeast of Eastern City at the Cell Games site should have been more than enough directions."

The trio then heard a voice coming from the view on the horizon. "Guess I'm the last one," spoke Gohan.

"Yes, you are. Why didn't you land closer? There's plenty of space for your jet copter," asked Erasa.

"A little bit of walking never hurt anyone. I just think of it as a subtle way to keep training," replied Gohan as he caught up to the trio.

Especially if you wear weighted clothes like the sets you gave me thought Videl.

Gohan took a moment to look around. A giant ribbon was draped across the Visitor Center. "I see everything is set up for the dedication tomorrow," he observed with a neutral tone.

"Yeah, the dedication is part of tomorrow's fesitivities. The park already had its grand opening on May 1st." replied Sharpner.

"Who cares," Videl cut in. "Let's just get to the site before everyone starts showing up."

"Sounds great!" Erasa chimed in. "Sharpner and I already have the park passes and camping permit." She started walking into the park, followed by Videl, Sharpner, and Gohan.

As the quartet hiked towards their destination, Gohan took in all the changes. The re-creation of the grandiose ring Cell had made, even down to the detailed four corner pillars. Around the ring were several smaller competition platforms. I guess they put those there so numerous fighter could have matches at the same time.

Instead of the rocky and dusty landscape of the actual Cell Games, the land had been greatly transformed. Now there were lush green surroundings by the planted trees and vegetation. Man-made lakes were also created throughout the park.

"It must of taken a lot of time to terraform all this," said Gohan.

"No kidding," commented Sharpner. "I was out here about a month after the Cell Games. It was just barren rock."

"There was so much enthusiasm for the park, I heard the Martial Arts Society raised the money to get all these fully grown trees in just one month," added Erasa.

The quartet arrived at their campsite as Erasa finished speaking. When Gohan was taking his knapsack off his back, he heard Videl's comments.

"At least they didn't change everything."

"What didn't they change?" inquired the demisaiyan.

Videl pointed to the edge of the tree line, about ten yards from their campsite. As Gohan headed in that direction, Videl answered, "The researchers in charge of recreating Cell's Arena in its original location determined that spot was where Cell planted his biggest bomb before the army's pre-Cell Games assault."

Gohan barely hid his shock. It was the massive crater that his and Cell's Kamehameha Wave had made. Videl walked up beside Gohan and added with admiration in her voice, "It was left alone as a dedication to those who put their lives on the line to protect others; people who strive to do so day in and out without any kind of famous recognition that my father has."

This site serving as a dedication for those kinds of people is more appropriate than you could imagine thought Gohan. "It's certainly a deserving location to be used in that manner," he solemnly affirmed.

"Definitely my favorite part of this whole park," responded Videl.

The pair of martial artists heard Sharpner yell, "Hey you two! Are you going to help set-up camp or OUCH!"

The duo turned around to see Sharpner shaking his left foot and Erasa whispering something that Gohan couldn't even make out with his superior hearing.

"Sure thing," Gohan answered Sharpner's interrupted question.

"The stars are so bright and clear here," admired Erasa as she and her friends roasted marshmallows around a campfire beside a lake that bordered their campsite.

"Yeah, their beauty isn't hindered by Satan City's light pollution like the star gazing session at our park," spoke Videl. "Star gazing is probably just as good here as it would be at your house, Gohan." When he didn't respond, Videl looked directly at him. His eyes held a faraway look as he just gaze into the fire. Videl projected her voice a little louder. "Gohan!"

He shook his head and replied. "Sorry about that, what were we talking about?"

"The stars," answered Sharpner. "Are you sure you want to sleep out here by yourself tonight? I've got space in my tent. You've been getting spacier than Erasa on a bad day ever since the sun went down." His cheerful girlfriend playfully jabbed him in the ribs before Gohan replied.

"I'll be fine. I've slept in more remote places with less before."

"Suit yourself," replied Sharpner before Erasa changed the subject.

"So Videl, with your birthday a week away now, where do you want to hide out for the day?"

"Hide out for the day?" interrupted a confused Gohan.

"Every year since the first anniversary of the Cell Games, all the local media decided covering my birthday would be front page news. So to get any type of peace and quiet, I have to try and find a place to hide," answered Videl.

"Unfortunately the Satan City paparazzi have been getting better at finding her. Two years ago, they found her by ten o'clock in the morning. So last year we tried hiding inside Satan Mansion. The media still figured it out by lunchtime," Sharpner before eating a marshmallow.

"What if you weren't inside the city?" Gohan asked.

"Then it'll be worse. I'd be followed by the local and global press. Someone would make a scene and attract the media."

Sharpner followed up Videl's answer, "It's gotten to the point that a hideout would have to be in the middle of nowhere and she'd have to sneak out the night before."

Videl's entire face lit up as she drew her marshmallow away from the fire. "The middle of nowhere?" She looked squarely at Gohan. With a hopeful look in her eyes, she asked, "Could I spend it at your house? Come over the night before and leave the morning after?"

As Gohan pondered his reply, Erasa whispered to Sharpner, "nice one."

Her boyfriend whispered back, "not my intention."

"I still like how it worked out," Erasa said before giving Sharpner a quick kiss on his cheek.

Gohan answered Videl, "The only gurantee for my mom to agree to that would be some type of prolonged study group."

Erasa came to her best friend's aid. "Well the four of us are taking Natural Science. Not in the same class time block, but it's still a class we share. When Videl and I had group meetings for our living history project at your house, we had to fly over twenty some miles of forest. That forest would be great for studying in the field and not just a book."

"I'll ask her when I get back from this campout," replied Gohan as he started to roast another marshmallow.

"Thanks Gohan," responded Videl with a cheerful smile.

An hour later, they put out the fire and started to turn in for the night. Gohan got into a sleeping bag that rested on a bed roll. Sharpner went inside his tent. The girls conversed as they settled down for the night in their shared tent.

Erasa's bubbly curiosity was evident when she asked, "So what did you and Gohan do this afternoon when I went to watch Sharpner in some matches at the martial arts rings?"

Videl started to subconsciously stroke her right pigtail. "Not much, we talked about fighting strategy. I guess you could say it was a mental training session."

"Did he mention anything that you haven't thought about before? After all, you said that was the only reason you asked him to train you."

"Well. Gohan did mention my hair."

"Your hair?"

"Yes, he said opponents could easily grab hold of my pigtails and use that against me."

"You really think someone would stoop that low in a match?"

"I fight criminals too." Videl started to twirl a pigtail in with her right hand. "Gohan suggested that my hair would be better short."

"So he likes girls with short hair," Erasa teased.

"That's not what he meant."

"O come on, I'll trim your hair for you before you go to his house for your birthday. I'm sure Gohan will just-"

"Erasa," Videl interrupted with a warning tone.

"Okay, I'll stop teasing. I was serious about cutting your hair if you want though."

"I'll think about it," replied Videl as she crawled into her sleeping bag. She cut off the battery powered lantern. "Goodnight Erasa."

"Goodnight Videl."

It was a couple hours before sunrise when Videl woke to the sound of something loudly crashing in the campsite. After taking a few seconds to find her flashlight, she grabbed her boots and looked at her tentmate. You're as heavy a sleeper as ever Erasa and if you didn't wake up, Sharpner definitely didn't. Promptly putting on her boots, she exited her tent wearing a T-shirt and sleep shorts.

Shining the light around the campground she located a tree branch about four feet long and an inch thick. Videl initially thought the branch fell near Gohan. Upon not seeing Gohan anywhere she became worried that she was wrong and the branch had fallen on Gohan. She scurried over to the branch. As she stood next to it, Videl saw it was broken in two with both pieces right next to Gohan's bed role. Her mind glossed over the perculiarity of the tree branch pieces being full of healthy leaves because of her worry about what happened to Gohan.

Videl methodically and expidently scanned for clues to where Gohan might be. She heard faint sounds similar to water splashing out of sync with the movements of the tide. The black haired teen immediately headed for the lake.

With less tree cover by the shore, Videl was able to see without her flashlight and just use the moonlight. Walking closer to the lake, she saw Gohan splashing water from his hands to his face. He was wearing the bottom half of an orange fighting gi. His shirtless upper body was drenched in sweat from his nightmare of Goku's death. Gohan didn't even pick up Videl's ki until she was only a few feet from him. His rapid breathing had just settled down moments before he heard her speak.

"Are you okay? I heard a loud crash and saw a fallen branch by your bedroll."

Gohan nodded as he replied, "I'll be fine. The branch never hit me." Although that's only because my energy made it break in two before it landed after an energy burst from my dream made it break off the tree in the first place.

"So you're not injured, but are you okay?" Videl reiterated as she lightly clasped Gohan's wrist.

The demisaiyan gave her a questioning look.

"Relax. I may not be a doctor like my mom was, but I've studied first aid almost as much as martial arts," Videl assured her friend as she checked his pulse. "Everything seems fine; except for the fact you sweated buckets like a rainstorm in-"

When Videl let go of his wrist and stopped talking abruptly, Gohan turned to face her. He was drawn to the depths of concern in her blue eyes. There was a tense silence for three straight minutes as the slight breeze removed most of the sweat from Gohan's body. Videl let out an obvious sigh of relief.

"Maybe I should ask if you're okay," said Gohan.

"I'm fine. For a moment I thought you had the Contractor's Virus. The only warning sign is perfuse sweating. Calling that a warning sign isn't very accurate, at most it's two minutes before it starts attacking the heart."

That's about the time Dad's heart virus took to affect him when he fought the androids. Could it be the… "Sounds fairly new, how did you learn about it?" Gohan asked.

Videl seemed to be on the verge of mourning as she struggled to speak her thoughts. She felt an unexpected wave of comfort when Gohan silently placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's what killed my mom."

Videl shrugged off his hand and quickly added. "But you don't have it so it was nothing to worry about." She turned to head back to camp. "I'm going to catch a few more hours of sleep. I'll talk to you at breakfast." She hastily walked back to her tent.

So much for keeping my bad memories from impacting the campout; I probably just drudged up bad memories for Videl by making her think of her mother's death. I only hope I can make it up to her. Gohan continued to let his mind wander as he stared at the moonlit lake.

Videl exited her tent to see Erasa sitting at a Capsule Corp picnic table. The blond girl was talking with Sharpner as he finished cooking some bacon and eggs for breakfast. The duo looked over at Videl.

"Good timing, breakfast is ready," stated Sharpner.

As Videl took a seat after getting food and coffee, Gohan could be seen walking from the area of his bed roll. While he was able to mask the depths of sadness May 17th brought him, the gloominess Gohan felt was completely evident from his facial expression and body language.

Being equally startled and confused by Gohan's demeanor, Sharpner asked, "What's eating you? You look more depressed than Videl."

Gohan mentally winced before answering, "Today is not a day I like to celebrate."

Videl put her cup down and stared at Gohan in confusion and curiosity. Before she could speak, Erasa asked, "WHY? This was the day six years ago that Cell was defeated and the world was saved by Mr. Satan."

The awkward silence gave Videl sometime to ponder. Why indeed? I don't care for all the reminders of Dad becoming more distant with a bigger ego, but why would Gohan…

"Well Gohan," Videl prompted, "Why don't you like today?"

Gohan took a deep breath as he closed his eyes to compose himself. He solemnly answered, "Today's the anniversary of my Dad's death."

Trying to be sympathetic, Erasa asked, "How long ago? Two or three years?"

Gohan turned his head to face in the direction of the kamehameha crater. "It's been six years."

After a long, tense silence, Sharpner spoke up. "Well, I need to get going for a match at the Park's main ring. I'll see you all later today." Erasa got up with him. As the couple walked away, Sharpner whispered sarcastically, "smooth move Erasa. It'll take a miracle for those two to enjoy the trip now."

"They say miracles happen every day," Erasa sheepishly replied.

Back at the campsite, Videl apologized, "Sorry if Erasa pressure you to come out here this weekend."

"She didn't really pressure me. I was hoping the camping trip would take my mind off the anniversary for a little while," Gohan answered.

"That makes two of us," Videl replied. She added, "Since we're both here trying to not dwell on sad feelings, are you up for some more training?"

Gohan smiled slightly at Videl's initiative. "Sure, why not?"

At midafternoon, Erasa and Sharpner were strolling back into their campsite.

"Figures I would only lose to Shero in the competitions today," commented Sharpner.

"I guess so. I feel bad for Videl though. With Shero winning the tournament today, Mr. Satan noticed him and agreed to take him as a private student," replied Erasa.

"Don't tell her until the weekend is over at least. She gets gloomy enough on the Cell Games anniversary as it is."

Erasa smirked as she pointed to the picnic table. As her boyfriend looked in that direction, the blond duo saw Gohan and Videl enjoying a water break from their training session. Both martial artists were distinctively grinning as they conversed. "Maybe this year will be better for a change," Erasa remarked hopefully.