Gohan looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. Something just did not seem to be right with his reflection. He turned slightly to the right, then to the left, and eventually made a full circle, but nothing seemed to help.

"What seems to be the problem?" a voice called out from behind him.

The teenager jumped and gasped. "Geez, Bulma, don't do that to me!"

The blue haired heiress just waved him off. "Oh, please, like I could actually scare you."

"My heart rate begs to differ!"

Bulma laughed as she approached the boy. "So, what seems to be the problem?" she repeated.

Gohan's frown returned. "Oh, yeah..." He turned back toward the full length mirror and shook his head. "It doesn't look right."

"How?" Bulma genuinely asked, circling the boy. "Everything seems okay to me. In fact, I think you look quite handsome."

The half blood whipped around. "I look like a magician!" he whined.

Bulma blinked in confusion. "No, you don't!" she insisted. "Gohan, you look fantastic! Where in the world did you get the idea that you look like a..." Her bright blue eyes narrowed dangerously, and Bulma shot a furious glare at the door. "TRUNKS!"

"I didn't do it!" the voice called from down the hall.

As the heiress geared up to hunt down her son, Gohan grabbed her shoulder. "Whoah, whoah, easy there!" he counseled. "Bulma, it wasn't Trunks."

Bulma huffed, her glare still facing the open doorway. "Then it was Vegeta, wasn't it?" she demanded.

Gohan laughed. "Has he even seen a magician before?"

The anger slowly began to ebb from her, and was replaced by confusion. "Was it Goten?" she questioned.

"No," Gohan insisted. "It also wasn't Krillin or Yamcha or any of the guys, so you might as well stop asking."

"Well damn it, Gohan, who put this ridiculous idea into your head?" she demanded.

A gentle blush spread across the boy's cheeks. "I did," he sheepishly answered. "I'm the one who thinks I look like a magician." With embarrassment clear on his features, he gazed again upon his reflection. "I mean, even I know that this looks ridiculous!"

Bulma smacked the teenager on the shoulder. "It's a classic look," she pointed out.

"It's a bow tie and cummerbund in bright red," Gohan countered. "Even I know I look like a dork."

Shaking her head, the heiress brushed out the sleeves of Gohan's jacket. "Well, you should have said something three days ago when I ordered it," she countered. "It's too late to change it now."

"It didn't get here until this afternoon," the teen fought back. "I couldn't have changed it anyway."

Bulma opened her mouth to retaliate again, but was caught off guard by something flying past her head. Gohan reached out and easily caught the dark blue cloth that was sailing for his face. He flipped it over in his hand, surprised to find that it was a vest and long tie. "What's this?" he asked.

"My mandatory act of civility for the month," Vegeta answered from the doorway. "Consider it the only act of mercy you will ever get from me."

A small smile began to form on the teenager's face as he realized that the garments were in his size. "Thank you!" he enthusiastically replied.

"Whatever," the prince muttered, walking away.

His shadow was still within eyesight by the time Gohan had changed. "Much better!" he chuckled. "Thanks, guys!"

Bulma growled. "I swear, all of you men are teaming up against me!"

"No we're not!" Gohan insisted, shrugging in to his jacket. "I promise, I didn't know he got that for me!"

The scientist smacked the boy between the shoulders. "It's a joke, you hypersensitive loon!" she laughed. "Look, you're going to be late if you don't head out now. Even flying, you're going to be cutting it close."

Gohan glanced down at his watch and jumped. "Oh, man, you're right!" He gave the woman a quick kiss on the temple before opening his bedroom window. "Thank you!" he called out, flying off into the night.

Bulma shook her head as she descended the staircase and entered the living room. She took a seat on the couch, next to her husband and rubbed the gentle swell that was forming at her belly. "That was nice of you," she gently said.

"If you get mushy on me, I'm taking it back," the prince threatened.

The heiress smacked her husband on the shoulder before resting her head on it. "Well, it was still nice."

Vegeta crossed his arms and scowled. "Someone had to do it. Kid looked like he was about to pull a damn rabbit out of his hat."

/

Gohan knocked gently on the window, mindful not to crack it again. He was grinning from ear to ear as his date approached the window. Gohan waved as Videl opened her window. "Wow," he loudly exhaled, "you look...fantastic!"

The petite fighter blushed and coyly looked up at her boyfriend. "Do you really think so?"

The taller teenager looked his beautiful date up and down. Her dress was a slightly dark blue, and the bodice hugged her fit form snuggly. The skirt flared gently at her hips, coming to a gentle, gold trimmed stop just above her ankles. The top was fairly simple, a standard tank silhouette, but the subtle gold stitching that lined her collar brought out her natural glow.

Gohan smiled. "You look wonderful," he softly told her.

"Aw, you're sweet," she graciously responded. It was rare that Videl got dressed up, but that did not mean that she did not enjoy the flattery that came her way. "Well, shall we?"

With gentle care, Gohan took her into his arms. "And where do you wish to go this evening, m'lady?" he played.

Videl pretended to think. "Well, I really want to go for a spar in the dirt and the mud," she teased, "but I guess I'll settle on going to our senior prom. Just this once though!"

/

Goten hopped down the staircase and looked around. "Has anyone seen Gohan?"

Bulma looked over the back of the couch at her youngest charge. "Oh, honey, we talked about this. Gohan's at the prom tonight."

The little boy pouted. "Oh, yeah. Well, is he going to get home soon?"

Closing her eyes to keep herself calm, Bulma sighed. "Goten, I told you this morning that your brother is going to be gone until very late tonight."

"If not tomorrow morning," Vegeta muttered, earning yet another smack on the shoulder from his wife.

Goten pouted slightly. "But I wanted to play with Gohan," he whined. "I wanted to show him a cool new trick I learned!"

"I know you do, sweetie," Bulma sympathetically responded, giving him a soft smile. "But Gohan should be here for just about the whole day tomorrow, and I just know that if you tell him that you have something to show him, he'll be thrilled to see your new trick."

With a renewed sense of home, Goten beamed and bounded his way back up the staircase. Behind him, Vegeta shook his head.

"You shouldn't have told him that," he scolded.

Bulma whipped her head in his direction, definitely caught off guard. "Why?"

The Saiyan prince looked over at his wife, a serious look on his face. "The older kid is going to be heading out on his own in three months," he pointed out. "When that happens, the little idiot is not going to be able to access him on a whim."

"So?" Bulma asked, still not getting the point.

"So," Vegeta explained, obviously getting frustrated, "counseling Goten to seek his brother out at earliest convenience is going to lead to a lot of hell when Gohan moves out."

The heiress sighed. "I guess you have a point," she relented, "but I just couldn't do that to him right now. Those two have just started to adjust, and I want to protect them as long as I can." Bulma sighed and shook her head before resting it comfortably on her husband's shoulder, closing her eyes gently. "I can't believe that Gohan is already going to his senior prom. I remember mine like it was just yesterday." A wicked smirk formed on her lips, but her eyes remained shut. "That was a good, good night." She snuggled deeper against Vegeta's shoulder and let out a deep breath. "Oh, and you did have that talk with Gohan, right?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Yes, you unbearable woman."

"And you talked about how the 'post prom moment' should be handled with great responsibility, right?" she asked.

The room fell silent. Bulma cracked an eye open and glance at her husband's face. "You told him that it was a serious, life altering decision, didn't you?"

Vegeta kept his eyes on the wall directly in front of him, remaining perfectly silent.

"Vegeta?" Bulma questioned, opening both eyes fully. "What did you tell Gohan about sex?"

The prince opted to direct his gaze up toward the ceiling.

The heiress sat up completely. "Vegeta?"

Never had that ceiling fan seemed so interesting…

/

Gohan sighed, a content smile on his face. It was nearing the end of the evening, and everyone was fairly relaxed. The tall teenager had long abandoned his jacket and tie and opened up his vest. A slow song played over the speakers, and Gohan reveled in the sensation of Videl pressed up against him, her head gently resting on the front of his shoulder.

It felt like an absolutely perfect moment. The strain of the past few months had been almost unbearable, but he was finally starting to feel as though his life was back under control. Dancing there, with the girl he loved, knowing that she loved him back, it was all just what he needed.

As the song began to come to a close, Gohan wrapped his arms all the way around his girlfriend and pulled her in for a deep hug. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.

A faint trace of scarlet spread gently over Videl's cheeks. "I love you, too," she gently responded. She snuggled gently against him and positively glowed. She, too, had been desperately needing an evening like this. Trying to be supportive of her boyfriend's needs while giving him the distance he craved had put more emotional stress on her than she would have imagined, but it was all well worth it. She really did love him, and he was worth the fight.

A new song, fast and upbeat, began to blast through the speakers. Gohan cringed a little, his sensitive hearing not at all enjoying the blasting volume. With a gentle tug, he guided Videl off of the dance floor. They traveled up a side staircase and stepped out onto an empty balcony, enjoying the cool, fresh air of the evening.

"Whew!" Videl sighed, wiping a thin layer of sweat from her brow. "It's hotter than hell in there!"

"It's not surprising," Gohan responded in a matter of fact tone. "When you factor in the average amount of heat put off by an active human body, the number of people in the room, the amount of ventilation, and the dimensions of the room itself, it comes out to roughly…"

"Gohan," Videl gently interrupted, "I was really just stating the obvious for the sake of stating the obvious. I don't need to know the math behind why slow dancing was making me sweat."

The eighteen year old half blood blushed. "Sorry," he apologized.

Videl giggled and snuggled back up against him. "Don't worry about it," she assured. "Besides, it's cute when you do that."

Swallowing what little saliva was in his mouth, Gohan nodded. "Hey, Videl?"

"Yeah?" the girl asked, looking up at her love.

"There…there's something I wanted to ask you," the teenager stammered.

Confused, Videl opted to simply nod.

Gohan tried to swallow again, but he could not seem to find enough spit in his mouth to do so. "Well," he began explaining, "we've been together for a while now, and…and I can't even begin to imagine living life without you in it."

Videl blushed and took Gohan's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"As such," the boy went on, "I think that we should…that we're ready to…" Gohan pulled at his collar, trying to fight the choking sensation he was increasingly aware of. "Man," he confessed, "I don't think I've ever had this much trouble talking…"

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Videl teased. "In fact, you've stammered at every major moment since I met you. Introducing yourself, explaining your history, asking me out for our first date…you almost passed out before we kissed for the first time." She guided him over to the stone bench on the terrace and sat down. "Now, whatever it is you want to ask me," she gently told him, rubbing his hands reassuringly, "now is the time to ask."

Gohan smiled down at her and squeezed her hands back. She truly was wonderful to him. Through all the hell that he had been through, she had been the only one to give him exactly what he wanted. She always stood by his side, no matter what. She was his other half in all that he did, and he love her so, so much.

A sense of calmness washed over him, and a warm sensation of happiness overcame him as he finally asked her.