A/N: Due to popular demand (*cough*) I have decided to post this nice simple little one-shot. One-shots is all I seem to have the inspiration for anymore nowadays but my Chiara story is near and dear to my heart so I figured why not. So here it is. I hope you enjoy!
"CHI!" a young boy's voice rang out. "HE'S SAYING IT AGAIN!"
Chiara winced at the shrill voice and then sighed.
She should have known better. In fact, she did know better. Any time she was left to babysit Goten and Trunks at the same time, it ended in drama. But she had said yes anyway.
Of course, there wasn't really anything else she could have said. Her mother never asked for much, and when she did ask for something, no wasn't really an appropriate answer.
Her mother had approached her that afternoon, after she got home from training with Vegeta, and asked her to babysit her little brother and his best friend for the rest of the day so their mothers could go out for a day on the town. When was the last time her mother got to have a day off from being a mom? She couldn't remember, so – even though she was exhausted from school and training – she had said yes without complaining.
There was no one else to ask anyway. Their father was off training and wouldn't be home until dinner time, Vegeta was out of the question and Gohan was off with Videl, doing Dende knew – and Chiara didn't want to know – what.
Chiara had apparently been the only other choice.
She had gone into the situation with unwarranted – and frankly mystifying – optimism. She figured she would take the boys to a lake near the Son residence so they could spar and play – while Chiara napped nearby. They would pass the rest of the afternoon that way until it was time to go home. She would drop Trunks off at the Capsule Corporation and then go home with Goten. Simple. Easy. No problem.
She shook her head exasperatedly. How foolish of her to think that that would ever happen.
They had been at the lake for less than half an hour when the first argument between the two boys burst loose. One minute they were sparring, the next they were all-out fighting and Chiara was forced to jump in and separate them by holding them by the collars of their shirts.
(Flashback)
"What is all this about?" she demanded, glaring down at them both.
"Goten keeps saying you love him more than you love me," Trunks said angrily.
"It's true," Goten insisted while Trunks insisted it wasn't before they both chimed, "Tell him, Chi" simultaneously.
Chiara sputtered in disbelief for a moment before she regained her composure.
"Now, boys, you can't put me on the spot like that." She turned to Goten. "How would you feel if I asked you to choose between me and Gohan?" Goten hung his head and Chiara turned to Trunks. "And how would you feel if you were forced to choose between your mother and your father?" Trunks too hung his head and Chiara could see they were sorry. She released their collars and crossed her arms.
"No one should have to make such a choice. I love you both and that will have to do. Now go play and no more foolishness."
"Yes, Chi," they said in unison.
(Flashback ends)
They had all gone back to their respective activities after this, playing for the boys and napping for Chiara, and she had been confident she had solved whatever problem there was but now – only fifteen minutes later – the yelling had started up again and Chiara snapped out an angry 'HEY!' when they suddenly lunged at eachother. She flew to where they were fighting in mid-air and pulled them away from eachother again.
"What are you two doing?" she all but yelled.
"He keeps saying it," Trunks complained.
"Well, I only started saying it because Trunks kept saying that he's stronger," Goten whined.
"It's true," Trunks said.
"CHI!" Goten wailed.
"Enough," Chiara snapped. "I can't believe the way you two are acting, like you're three years old. I told you no more foolishness and I meant it. I'm giving you one last chance to behave before there will be consequences. Now go."
"Yes, Chi," they said in unison.
Chiara narrowed her eyes. She had heard that one before. That said, they left and Chiara laid herself down again, not fully able to relax. Sure enough, not ten minutes after she had sent them away, she was hauling them back. Without a word to either of them, she deposited one of them on each end of the clearing near the lake and placed herself in the middle, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Don't look at me like that," she snapped at both of them as they each gave her wounded looks. "And don't try pouting either. You've had your second chance and a third. You're not getting a fourth. Now, our mothers won't be home for another hour so we're not going home just yet. But neither of you are moving from those spots. Got it?"
Both boys mumbled something.
"I can't hear you," Chiara snapped.
"Yes, Chi," they said in unison.
She tried to relax after that but it was useless. Her back felt tight, her shoulders and neck were stiff and her stomach cramped. Any chance of relaxation was now well and truly gone. She noticed the boys were glaring at eachother. Well, they could glare the day away, none of them were moving until she said so.
When the hour was up and it was time to go home, the two boys were still at odds and Chiara was still tense. She dropped Trunks off at his home, assuring Bulma that everything went fine and confirming to her Senpai that she would be there the next day for training. She and Goten then went home.
As they flew home, Chiara could feel Goten stealing glances at her. She knew he was anxious but she wasn't in the mood to make nice. He should have thought of the consequences a little sooner. Maybe then he wouldn't have to be anxious right now and she wouldn't feel like a coiled spring. When they got home, they had dinner and Goten went to bed not long after.
Before going to bed, and as he did every night, Goten hugged his father and big brother good night – his mother being the one who was going to tuck him in – but instead of launching himself at her big sister as he would any other night, he stopped in front of her chair, unsure of what to do.
Chiara looked at her little brother, standing there so sweetly in his little pyjama's, and her heart melted. She couldn't do it. Maybe she was soft, maybe she was weak, but she couldn't let him look so sad any longer.
She reached for him and pulled him into an enthusiastically returned hug, kissing his cheek and grumbling in his ear that he was a rascal.
When Goten was in bed and their mother had joined them in the livingroom, Goku turned to his daughter.
"What happened, Chi?" he asked.
Chiara threw him a questioning look. It was true that she had been very tense when she got home but her father wasn't normally so observant.
"Your ki was flaring when you got home," he explained.
"You try watching the two brats from hell, see how your ki does," Chiara said, only half joking.
"You only watched them for a few hours," ChiChi said, an amused look on her face.
"A few hours was long enough," Chiara grumbled.
"That bad, huh?" Gohan asked.
"You have no idea."
A/N: And just so you all know, she makes her peace with Trunks the next day and Goten and Trunks are BFF's so they do too and they all live happily ever after ^^