Lost on Titan

{Part 27}

~Videl~

Videl felt like she was floating on air. Thanks to Kane pushing her, she had accomplished what she couldn't manage to do on her own. And when he told her how proud he was of her, it felt like her whole world tilted on its side. Once she had rinsed the pool water off and was back in her warm, dry clothes, she paused in front of the mirrors. For the first time since Cryo, she felt like she recognized the person that was staring back at her. Her long, dark hair was a little wavy from the water, her golden eyes no longer looked hollow and lost. Her reflection felt more familiar. Like her soul had returned to her body, after an extended astral journey through the cosmos, and was finally settling back home in the shell it had left behind. Was she glowing because of it? She smiled as she tentatively ran her fingertips across the curve of her cheek where Kane had last touched her. She felt like she was.

Was all of this a dream? A fantasy swimming in the depths of a mind in cryo-stasis?

Videl dragged her eyes away from the mirror. She moved to the doors that led back out to the main room of the Gym, but ended up stumbling as she bumped into two girls who were coming in.

"Stars! Sorry!" Videl yelped, righting herself.

It was Ava and Kayleigh - the girls who had approached their table in the Cafeteria that one day. Ava's hands reached out as if to steady Videl, then she smiled and dropped them to her sides.

"Oh, it's okay!" Ava chimed in a friendly way.

"You're fine," Kayleigh said, at the same time, shaking her head at Videl's apology to show that it wasn't necessary.

Videl giggled awkwardly, stepping aside so that they could walk past her. Kayleigh did, moving toward the lockers with a duffel bag that looked brand new. Ava lingered, looking shy.

"We've never been here before." Ava admitted with a blush.

"Oh," Videl tilted her head slightly, before hesitantly asking, "Did you just join today?"

"Yeah," Ava nodded, twirling her hair around her fingers. "We didn't know it was so expensive, though."

"Worth it for Ava to be around her crush!" Kayleigh called over her shoulder nonchalantly.

"Kayleigh!" Ava turned scarlet as she scolded her friend, and glared at her.

"What?" Kayleigh grinned mischievously. "That's why we're here!"

She turned her gaze to Videl. "We could only afford one membership with both our allowances, so I graciously agreed to let Ava have it, and I'm her guest." She shrugged, obviously enjoying her friend squirming with her confession.

"My very rude  guest who can't keep secrets," Ava chided, but she was smiling.

Clearly used to Kaleigh's bluntly honest way of showing all of Ava's cards, Ava was only mildly annoyed.

"So, is Dare around?" Ava asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet with a hopeful lilt in her voice. "I didn't see him out there."

"He's probably still getting dressed," Videl giggled when Ava's eyes widened like she was imagining it. Videl leaned closer and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Just so you know, he's usually leaving around this time. If you want to catch him working out - he gets here at 6."