Title: Endearing Irony

Summary: Gohan and Videl each have their own problems after the Cell Games. Little do they know; fate has a romantic sense of irony.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball or DBZ. Nuff said.

Author Notes: 1.) Read and enjoy, and please review! Reviews that say you like it are nice, but reviews that say why you like it are better.

2.) Some characters will have personality differences from the anime. Like Chi-Chi will be a little more calm at times or Mr. Satan losing his redeeming quality (the big caring heart) from the Buu Saga.

3.) There is no Buu. There is no Great Saiyaman. None of the DBZ movies happened (and by extension the Garlic Jr. Saga). I have used characters from these movies/episodes for the reader to have preexisting images for most of the villain characters in this story. The WMAT also continued before the Cell Games revived its popularity for this storyline.

4.) I want to thank dragonrain618 for being my Beta for the first 8 chapters of this story. I've started posting from Chapter 9 on, but am looking for a Beta. If you are interested please PM me here on the site.

Chapter 1: The Newfound Peace

"Here we go; this is the beginning of the rest of our lives!" exclaimed the eleven year old savior of the world. With that Gohan, Krillin, Yamcha, and Trunks left the lookout and headed their separate ways. As Piccolo watched his first friend and only student fly off he thought to himself. Even though you're stronger than me now, if you ever need me, I'll be there for you kid. With that, the Namekian warrior turned around and walked back toward his new home.

The day following the Mr. Satan TV Special, the phone at the Son Residence rang.

"Son Residence, Gohan speaking."

"Hey Gohan, it's Bulma. I'm having a gathering this weekend so we can celebrate you beating Cell. With Trunks leaving to go back to the future and everything, this was the earliest I could get everything together. Can you and your mom make it?"

"I'll ask her when she gets back. She went somewhere with Grandpa."

"Okay Gohan, I'll talk with you later."

As Gohan put down the phone after hanging up, the door to the Son Residence swung open.

"Gohan, we're back," shouted the Ox King.

"Hi Grandpa. Welcome back Mom."

"Thank you Gohan. Who was on the phone?" Chi-Chi replied.

"It was Bulma. She was wondering if all three of us could come over this weekend. She wants us to celebrate Cell's defeat with our own party."

"As long as you finish making up the studies you've missed before Friday, we'll go."

"Okay mom. By the way, where did you and Grandpa go? You didn't come back with anything."

"Well with your father deciding to stay dead, I figured we would have to buy more food since you'll be studying and won't have as much time as Goku did to fish and hunt for food. You'll still help get firewood and stuff, but you need to have enough time for your studies. I had your grandfather drive me to the bank. Back when your father won the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, I took the prize money and put most of it into an account. We only really used it during that time after you got back from Namek and we were waiting for your father to return. I wanted to see how much the account had grown."

"So you and Grandpa went to the bank?"

"Yes Gohan, now get back to your studies while I fix dinner. Remember if you don't catch up on what you've missed, we won't be going to Bulma's this weekend.

"Okay Mom."

"Welcome everyone. Chi-Chi, how have you been?" asked Bulma as she greeted the Ox King, Chi-Chi, and Gohan.

"I've been doing fine. Thanks for inviting us," replied Chi-Chi.

"I was happy to Chi-Chi. I figured if the whole world is going to throw celebrations for Mr. Satan, we should at least have our own party."

As the group walked into the first floor garden, a voice was heard. "About time you showed up Gohan. After all this party is because of you," shouted Yamcha from one of the food tables.

"Sure didn't stop you from starting to eat and enjoy yourself," Krillin piped in.

"Yeah well…you know," stammered Yamcha in response. This brought a round of chuckling from everyone. After eating and partaking in some of the conversation, Gohan walked over to Bulma.

"Hey Bulma, did you invite Piccolo?"

"He said he would be coming late. He's helping Dende and Mr. Popo with something they wanted to do today. Piccolo will be here eventually." As soon as Bulma finished speaking, Gohan felt Piccolo's ki.

"Oh, he just got here Bulma,," Gohan spoke as he turned around and floated over towards to the front door. He then opened the door and greeted his mentor. "Hey Piccolo, how have you been?"

"I'm doing well Gohan."

As the teacher and student walked towards the party, Gohan asked, "So what were you doing that made you come late to the party?"

"Dende and I realized that while we restored to life all those killed by Cell, we hadn't done anything to repair all the land that got destroyed from the Cell Games. We've spent the last week doing what we could to restore the trees and wildlife."

"Did you restore all of it?"

"The only thing we didn't repair was the ditch and crater made by your and Cell's Kamehameha wave. It seemed like a fitting landmark for memory's sake."

"Yeah, I guess that works," said Gohan as he and Piccolo walked into the garden.

While Gohan got back into the swing of the party, Piccolo found a comfortable wall to lean on and proceeded to relax against it. As the banter picked up when Gohan came over to the group, Yamcha said, "We could always just show up at one of the events Mr. Satan has been holding and beat him. It would stop all of this nonsense."

"It's not that bad Yamcha and beating him up wouldn't be right," responded Gohan.

"Oh come on Gohan, credit should go where it is deserved," replied Bulma.

"I really don't care about the credit Bulma. The world can be at peace and I can try living life like a normal kid. Besides, I wouldn't want all that attention. If he wants it, he can have it." Despite the silence that followed, there was an obvious understanding of consensus to leave the matter alone.

Up against the wall, Piccolo thought to himself. Gohan, you sure have grown-up fast. All that power and yet…

Piccolo's thoughts were interrupted by Krillin saying, "I gotta say Yamcha, I'm surprised Vegeta didn't suggest doing something worse to Mr. Satan before you even brought the idea of confronting the fraud."

After glancing around the room, Piccolo asked, "Speaking of which, where is Vegeta?"

"He's been either sitting in the gravity room without turning it on, eating in the kitchen, or just being in the baby's room starring at Trunks lying in his crib," answered Bulma. This revelation brought confused looks from just about everyone at the party.

"Think we should see if he's okay?" asked Gohan.

"NO, just leave him alone. He's probably trying to figure out something," said Piccolo. Seeing how serious Piccolo's face was and trusting in the Namekian's judgment, the group just moved on with the party.

Eventually, the party died down and everyone went their separate ways. Gohan laid in his bed and fell peacefully asleep. He couldn't' have known the turn his life would soon take.