Chapter 21

How time flies. Without realising it, a year has passed since the Cell case. 'Cell' was the codename the police gave to the still unsolved Briefs family murder case, based on the last words of Bulma Briefs.

Videl walked along the streets of the Western Capitol. She was in a contemplative mood tonight. 29 years. That's how old she is now, and still single. Normally she wouldn't have given this much thought, but tonight, as she returned from Shapener and Ireeza's party, she couldn't help it. Shapener and Ireeza had announced their engagement and invited their friends to celebrate the occasion. Videl was genuinely happy for them; they were among her oldest friends and they had been together for a long time now. But it also made her feel painfully aware of her own status. On her way back from the party, she stopped over at the Western Capitol Park to enjoy the night view.

The Western Capitol Park overlooked the sea. At this time of the night, it was quiet and peaceful. Videl walked slowly along after encapsulating her car, enjoying the silence. The city looked peaceful, bathed by the ligtht of the stars. There was no moon, there hadn't been one for decades. Those old enough would remember what a moonlit night would look like. It was supposed to be romantic. Videl sighed. She found a bench overlooking the sea and sat, trying to find comfort in the beauty and solitude of the night.

Her thoughts returned to her childhood years, and inevitably to him. Son Gohan. She wondered where he is now. Is he even still alive? If so, why didn't he ever try to contact her? Maybe he's forgotten about her. She sighed. What is the matter with me? she thought. It's not like me to allow myself to fall into depression like this. But for some strange reason, she didn't want to shake the depression off. Just for tonight, she wanted to become sad and feel sorry for herself. So she continued to sit and did just that. The night's atmosphere seemed just right for such feelings anyway. Tomorrow she will be back to becoming the hardworking and dedicated police officer, but tonight she'll indulge herself. It occured to her that she ought to be sitting in a bar somewhere and get drunk. Well, here is just fine. Videl smiled ruefully to herself, fumbling in her handbag for her capsule box. She popped open a capsule. It turned into a cooler, which she opened. The cooler was well stocked with her favourite alcoholic beverages. She took out a can and began chugging. Now the picture's complete. "Sigh."

***

"Unh..." Videl squinted at the light shining in her eyes. The hot morning sun and the sounds of people walking by woke her up. "What time is it...?" She looked at her watch. 11:30 in the morning. I'm late for work, she thought hazily, closing her eyes and feeling around for her handbag, intending to retrieve her car capsule. Her eyes opened wide. Where's her bag? She sat up and looked around. The people passing by stopped to look at her, some with sympathy, some with scorn. Only then did she realise what a sight she was, sitting sleepy-eyed in a dress in a park in broad daylight, surrounded by empty beer cans. She glared at them, and they quickly continued on their way, minding their own business. Not only that, she had been robbed of her car, money and cooler. "Damn." she cursed. Good thing the robbers didn't steal her watch as well, probably afraid of waking her up. She started to push the phone button to call somebody from the station to pick her up, but stopped halfway. How embarrasing it would be to have the junior officers see her like this, robbed while she was drunk in a public area. She'd rather walk home. Videl started to stand up. Her head throbbed. "Ugh, I think I'll just take a sick leave today," she thought, and walked unsteadily towards the direction of the city.

The streets were quite busy at this time of the day, Videl found to her annoyance. The racket made by the people and the vehicles made her headache worse. She trudged along, wishing she could fly home. Taking a turn into a narrow and busy street, she bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry," she apologised. "Oh, it's OK," the man replied and disappeared into the crowd before she could have a good look at his face. Videl was about to continue on her way, when she felt the urge to take a look at the man she just bumped into. She turned around to try to locate the man, who was already swallowed by the crowd. And then she saw him. Son Gohan! Videl blinked. Was she still dreaming or still drunk? She tried to follow him, but he was lost in the crowd. Videl looked around desperately. She's got to be sure. And then she spotted him again. She tried to walk as fast as she could towards him, but it was difficult in this crowd. She squeezed her way through, and now she was close enough to reach him. She could see his face clearly now. She had a vague sense of something not quite right with the image, but couldn't quite work it out at the moment. She reached forward to touch his shoulder, but at that moment a small group of people came from the other direction. They were rushing through, and Videl was pushed back. Through the crowd, she wasn't able to see his head, but she could see what she thought to be his shoulder. She managed to get a grip, and the owner of the shoulder turned around. Videl found herself face to face with a face she's seen before, but it wasn't Son Gohan. It was handsome face, youthful with vivid blue eyes underneath silky lavender hair. It was the face of someone who was supposed to be dead.

He spoke. "Can I help you?"

Videl tried to get a hold of herself. This was a really weird dream, if indeed she was dreaming. She opened her mouth. "Y..you.. you can't be... you're dead... This isn't--" She didn't get to finish the sentence before she passed out on the street.

Chapter 22
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