"You teach me how to fly and shoot those cool lights out my hands like you and I'll teach you a few dance steps."

"No, no that's okay. I'll teach you for free. I might not be a good teacher though."

"Please! You 're ten and practically a genius! And I'm not surprised, with all that studying you do."

"Yeah well...this is different. It's using your body not your brain er...sometimes."

"Right. You don't want to learn how to dance?"

"Pfft, I know how to dance!" The young boy blushed. His female companion tilted her head, fixing him with an intense stare. "Uh, sorta." The girl continued to stare. "Fine! I don't know how to dance."

"I didn't think so. You never dance when I put the radio on."

"I do too. You just miss it every time."

"How convenient. I don't miss that sad excuse for dancing you do. Head bopping doesn't count." The boy ignored the slight.

"Who said?"

"I did. Now come on Gohan!" She laced her fingers in his. He stared apprehensively at their intertwined hands.

"What are you doing?"

"It's called ballroom dancing, the basics. It may seem stupid but it's just to get you in the flow." She closed in the space between them a little more.

"Are the partners usually this close?" Gia sighed.

"You can't be nervous Gohan. Just enjoy yourself, that's what it's about." He inhaled.

"Okay."

"I promise I don't have cooties." She said, acting braver than she was. Gohan laughed.

"Right. So I'll meet you tomorrow in this spot?"

"Are you agreeing to teach me?" She beamed.

"I'll try."

"Thank-you so much!" Gohan smiled. She was such a strange girl, but he couldn't help liking her.

Gohan awoke with a smile. He had dreamt about her again. She'd been the first he'd ever taught. Suddenly he remembered teaching Videl how to fly, remembering how her question had stung him at first. Back then he'd been convinced it was some cruel sort of deja vu. But he realized he really liked her quite a bit. He never expected to feel like he did for her, but he was grateful for her intrusion into his heart. Videl slowly faded from his mind as he moved through his morning rituals, the night's dreams ran through his head. All of which involved Gia in some way.

But even as he thought back to the pleasant dreams he'd just had about her, the nightmares he used to have about her death came to him as well. There was a place he never wanted to go again, the day he found out she'd died.

And for a while after that, he'd had nothing but nightmares about her. About how he didn't save her, how she didn't save herself.

He remembered being angry with her for a long time. As far as he'd known, she was too tough to crack. She was so strong in her resolve, (which is how she always talked him into things) to the point where he'd thought her almost invincible. Invincible like his father.

He fastened his hands to the side of the sink. Memories of his father haunted him more, because unlike Gia, it was certain he father's death was directly his fault. For some time after that he'd fallen into a depression of sorts, knowing that his father would never be coming back because of him. His dreams had been filled with his fathers face as he sacrificed his life yet again, for the world. It was so vivid, a spiky halo of golden hair dancing with the energy around him, two fingers to his head in the clever maneuver of instant transmission. It was strange, even with his immense sadness Gohan felt proud. His father had died like the crafty fighter he was, a true representation. But that was all past. He was sure his father would want him just to live on happily and not dwell on it. Those nightmares had morphed into pacific dreams of fond memories he'd had with his Dad and the nightmares about Gia had left him, leaving behind fond memories with her as well. Even at the young age of eleven it was obvious they had a relationship in bloom, one fated to be more than friendship at some point. He wondered if that same fate still existed and his thoughts automatically went back to the other night and how good it felt to have her so close. He felt awful about it, Videl didn't deserve that. He was serious about Videl and cringed at the thought of ruining what they had.

But still the thoughts about the other night vexed him. She'd felt so soft, so solid, so real.

It was like dreaming, after years of her absence when she was so close to him it was almost too much not to touch her. He began lose himself in his thoughts as he recalled how heavy and overwhelming the mingling of their scents were, how her curvaceous form had been pressed against him, how he could practically taste her...but he was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by a squeal.

"Ah!" He turned quickly, in the process landing on his butt on the damp linoleum floor.

It was then he noticed the sound of the shower running. A explosion of laughter sounded from behind the shower curtain and Gohan looked over just in time to see a hand pull it back.

"Gia?"

"Yes Gohan!" she sang his name out and the vibrato crescendoed in the bathroom acoustics. A few giggles followed and Gohan continued to stare at the closed shower curtain.

"What's so funny?" He smiled and got up from the floor.

"You and your not-so-gracefulness." Gia sighed and sank against the wall letting the water rinse her off. She hugged her scrubbing brush close to her, exhaling shakily. She had to pretend this wasn't happening. She had to keep the conversation going, make a joke, something.

Something to distract herself from the current situation. After the other night, her being naked in the shower and having Gohan a few feet away was a little much.

"Hey, you startled me. Why'd you scream?" Gia sighed. Leave it to Gohan to be dense at the worst times. He was so smart, but so oblivious. She ran her pruny fingers through her hair.

The kink in the current situation would most likely hit him soon. She almost wanted to be out there, just to see how red his face would get.

"The same reason, you startled me. I didn't expect to see anyone in the bathroom while I was showering. Thank Kami for fast reflexes, if I'd pulled the curtains back any slower you'd have probably seen some boobage."

"Boobage?" Gohan asked no one in particular. Then he realized. All the blood rose to his cheeks. Gia was naked only a few feet away from him. Naked! He backed away, their fiasco in the woods playing over and over again in his head. How could he be so thick? He's walked in on her showering and had actually begun to hold a conversation with her! Now she probably thought he was even more of a pervert. And her peculiar word forced itself back into his brain. Boobage. The last thing he needed was to have thoughts of her breasts floating around his head. His back hit the wall and he felt blindly for a knob. It was already becoming a long day.

"Gohan?"

"Y-yes?"

"Could you pass me that green towel over there?" Gohan snapped his head over in the direction of the tub and spoke to the closed shower curtain.

"Um...what?"

"The green towel behind you. Could you pass that to me? An arm popped through the side of the shower curtain. Gohan calmed himself down. He'd been through much worse things right? Still, Frieza and Cell were one thing this was another. He handed the towel to her. "I'm nervous Gohan." The shower curtain stirred.

"Why?"

"I haven't been to school in seven years. Heck, I haven't been around normal people for seven years. Other world was fun and I met more kinds of creatures and people than I'd meet anywhere else, but highschool is a whole other galaxy."

"It really is."

"Gee thanks."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, It really is like another galaxy. I'm still getting used to it."

"What if they don't like me?"

"They'll love you."

"Do you honestly think so?"

"I know so." Gia stepped out of the shower wrapped in her green towel. Her wet hair dripping a trail of water as she walked over to Gohan. She took him into a tight hug in a silent thankyou. He easily returned it, very comfortable with her closeness. "And if it gets tough, you always have me."

"We'll get through it together."

"Exactly." Gia enjoyed theses moments most. When there was nothing to be figured out, no strange sexual tension, no strife, just understanding. "And um..I'm sorry about walking in on you. I didn't expect anyone to be in here, it happened so fast and I just started talking, I didn't think-"

"That I might want to be naked alone?" she snickered. "Don't worry about it, I didn't mind you in here. I welcome the company." She finished her lie. Oh, she had minded. But better to fib a a little than to increase the strain between them. Gohan gave a wry smile. He'd seen the lie very clearly in her eyes, but was thankful for something to ameliorate the tension.

It was at that time she really understood how much she'd missed. It wasn't like when she'd first arrived in the woods and realized Gohan had grown up. As she continued to hug him close, she laughed, thinking about how they used to be eye-level. How they used to topple and roll in the grass together with nothing in the background but innocence. How when she met him at ten and there had been something so different about him. He'd tried to hide it all at first. But in the end it all came out.

"You're different than other boys Gohan."

"Different?" He looked at her, nervous about what she was going to say.

"You're so obedient to your mom and you're such a good fighter." Gohan was immediately relieved, she didn't know. But he didn't know she wasn't finished. "And you did something I've never seen before. What exactly is a kamehameha? Or Masenko? That was the coolest thing I've ever seen! Does it hurt? How do you do it?" He stared slack-jawed. She had seen him training. How was he going to explain himself?

"I...I don't..how.."

"Are you alright?" Things his mother mentioned about people finding out about his saiyan heritage, powers and ventures to save the world ran through his head. What if she didn't like him anymore?

"You don't think it's weird?"

"I 've never seen anything like it before, but I think it's cool!" He suddenly faced a decision. Should he lie to her? Or should he take a risk and let her in? The choice was clear.

"Can you keep a secret?"

Gohan thought about the past as well, as he hugged her closer to his body. He smiled. When did she actually start looking like a girl? Did he really miss that much? Her voice belonged to a woman, her face was discreetly more feminine, but her smell was still so much of a tomboy.

Her facial expressions were still crude and her manner was still unladylike. He thanked Kami for small miracles, imagining the predicament he'd be in if she was a completely different person. He could still recall her philosophy on wearing dresses.

"Don't you dare say a word Gohan." Gohan smiled at the girl who was giving him a stare almost equivalent to his mother's.

"What? I was just saying that you looked n-"

"Don't."

"I-"

"Just don't."

"Youlooknice!" He blurted it out before she had a chance to stop him.

"Damn you."

"Hey, you'll get in trouble."

"I don't care if I get in trouble. I'm in a damn dress."

"You know what my mom will do if she hears you talk like that." Even as he said it he smiled, she was miserable in her pink puffy-sleeved dress. But something about her attitude and the sight of her in a dress was laughable. "Besides, you really do look nice."

"Will you quit that? I do not look nice. I'm trapped in this...this thing! All this is, is cruel and unusual punishment." She fiddled with the ribbon around her waist, trying to untie to perfect little bow. Unfortunately, in her agitation she made it into a knot. "Damnit!"

Gohan and Gia were both brought back to the present when someone started knocking very loudly on the bathroom door.

"Breakfast is on the table!" They quickly parted, only this time with no regrets from a close encounter.

A/N: This was one of the less eventful chapters. Sorry, but I wanted you all to gain a feel for the relationship between the two. I'm having a ball writing this, I hope you're having fun reading it. As always reviews are extremely welcome! If you see anything I should work on that would be great too. Until next time lovelies, Tata!