So. Uh. I mentioned my "kindergarten OT3" a couple of chapters ago. Well, here they are in all their five year old glory. I love Gohan, Videl, and Dende so much. This is probably the longest chapter so far? I have a lot to say about my babies being in love.

By the way, westcitypubliclibrary on Tumblr has a couple of art pieces of the kids on it. Just saying.

Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoy it! I'm always open to feedback if you have any.

Summary: Gohan, Dende, and Videl are best friends. And best friends are supposed to get married, right?

The man was big and had a scary face. He stood in front of Dende and Cargo with his arms folded and a scowl that looked permanent. Actually, if Dende looked at him from the right angle, he looked a lot like his cousin Nail.

"You must be Moori's kids," the man said.

Dende nodded, twisting his hands in his shirt. This man's scary face made him nervous. "Yeah," Cargo said from next to him. "I'm Cargo, and he's Dende."

"My name is Mr. Piccolo. I run After School Readers." Mr. Piccolo glanced at a clipboard he was holding. "Says here you two are only signed up for a one week run, huh?"

"Daddy said we can't go to Grandpa's this week 'cause he has to go to the hospital," said Cargo. Dende squirmed. He didn't like it when Grandpa went to the hospital-he came out tired and quiet and Nail fussed over him more than usual and everyone was really stressed and sad whenever it happened. It was the first time it had happened since the boys had started school, though, so it was the first time they didn't have someone to look after them while their father was at work.

Mr. Piccolo looked down at Dende. "Your dad said you usually let your brother speak for you. That true?"

"Yep," said Cargo. Dende nodded again. "He's shy," Cargo added, "and I'm better at English."

Mr. Piccolo shook his head. "Not gonna fly here. I don't know what they let you get away with at school, but here you'll speak for yourself."

Dende's eyes went wide as saucers and he shook his head violently. "No!" he blurted.

"So you can talk." Mr. Piccolo looked annoyed, thoughtful, and a little bit pleased. "I was starting to wonder." Dende looked down again, embarrassed. "I don't care what language you use, but I want you to use your own words." His voice was firm, but not unkind. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Go on in. There's a couple of kids your age in there already. When we have some more we'll have storytime. In the meantime, there's books around. Grab one. Or more; I don't care."

Cargo tugged on Dende's hand and Dende followed him into the room, keeping his eyes down to avoid Mr. Piccolo's. He might've looked like Nail, but he wasn't nearly as nice.

The program room was a pretty nice space. It was sort of cramped with tables and chairs and piles of books everywhere. But it was brightly lit and the walls were painted to look like mountains. One wall even had a mural of a group of children putting a bright red flag on a high snowy peak. There weren't many kids there, and most of them were older than Dende and Cargo. Dende tried to grip Cargo's hand a little tighter, but Cargo wandered off to look at a stack of books and Dende didn't, so he was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the room by himself.

"Hi!"

Dende jumped at the voice from behind him. A boy about his age was there, with long dark hair, a winning smile, and at least four books clutched in his arms. Dende looked closer and found they were all about space. A girl around the same age appeared next to him, squinting at Dende like she wasn't sure what to make of him and twirling one of her black pigtails around a finger. "I'm Gohan," the boy said.

Dende twisted his shirt in his hands and looked around for Cargo, but he was talking to another boy-Dende recognized him from class-and couldn't help him. He dropped his gaze to the floor. "Hi," he mumbled.

"I'm Videl," the girl announced. "I'm Gohan's bodyguard."

"Videl," Gohan whined. "I don't need a bodyguard."

"Yes you do and I'm it." It sounded like a conversation they'd had before, several times.

They were looking at him expectantly. Dende gripped his shirt even tighter. "'M Dende."

"Wanna read with us?" Gohan asked. "Mr. Piccolo's gonna read to us later but we gotta wait until there's more kids."

He wanted to run away, but it was a small room and there was nowhere to go. "I...I can't read too good," he whispered. "'Specially not in English."

Videl scratched the side of her nose. "Gohan can read. I can too, kinda."

"We could read to you!" Gohan suggested.

Dende squirmed and shook his head. Why wasn't Cargo staying with him? Why were they even at this stupid library when neither of them could read most of the books anyway?

"Aw, come on!" Gohan grabbed Dende's hand. "There's beanbag chairs over there and me an' Videl can read you stuff!" He started pulling Dende along, Videl at his elbow. Dende looked around wildly for someone to help him, but Cargo was still talking to the kid from school and he didn't know anyone else. He caught Mr. Piccolo's eye, but the man just shook his head and looked almost fond.

Gohan suddenly released him and settled into a blue beanbag. Videl flopped into a yellow one beside him. Gohan patted the green one on the other side of him. "Come on, Dende! I hope you like books about space!"

Dende hesitated. He did like books about space. He worried at the hem of his shirt and looked back at Cargo one last time. Cargo was seemingly oblivious to his brother's plight. Dende sighed and looked at Gohan and Videl. Videl had snuggled down into her beanbag chair and was peering at the book Gohan was holding out. She looked up at Dende and smiled. Gohan patted the green beanbag again and smiled as well.

Dende sat.

Gohan's lower lip quivered and fat tears started welling up in his eyes. "How come you can't go?"

Videl shook her head. "I told you. Daddy's coming to talk to Mrs. Deaning and I have to be there."

"Is this about the time you threw a baseball at Jeremy or the time you dumped all the blocks on Darryl's head?"

"I think it's about both of them. And the time I kicked Sharpner in the knees."

Gohan gave a watery giggle. "You're so mean, Videl."

"They all deserved it!" she said defensively. "Sharpner took Erasa's juicebox, Jeremy tried to push you off the slide, and Darryl knocked over our tower! If they weren't mean I wouldn't be mean back."

Mrs. Deaning stuck her head into the tiny coatroom. "Gohan, what are you still doing here? It's time to go! The bus is waiting! Videl will see you tomorrow."

Gohan threw his arms around his friend. "Don't cry," she said.

"I'm not," he sniffled.

She pushed him away and patted his head. "Say hi to Dende, okay?"

He brightened at the mention of their other best friend. "Yeah! Okay! See you tomorrow, Videl!" And off he went.

Videl wandered out of the coatroom, flopped onto the circle time carpet, and sulked. "None of that," said Mrs. Deaning. "You can go sit at one of the tables until your dad gets here." Videl dragged herself to a chair, sat down, and continued sulking.

He could've at least pretended he didn't prefer Dende over her. Ever since they'd met, all Gohan talked about was Dende, Dende, Dende. It was getting harder and harder to pretend she wasn't jealous.

And yeah, she liked Dende a lot too. She was glad he'd decided to stay in After School Readers for more than just one week. Once he got past his shyness and started talking more he was really nice and sometimes he'd say something or make a face that made Videl laugh for ten minutes. He gave the best hugs and he was tiny and cute and good with numbers. No wonder Gohan liked him.

But Gohan was her best friend first! And she wasn't going to lose that to a new kid!

When Videl shuffled into the classroom the next morning, she didn't see Gohan anywhere. "Good morning, Videl," Mrs. Deaning said.

"Hi," Videl replied, still looking around for Gohan. He took the bus and Videl's dad dropped her off, so he was usually at school before she was. She still didn't see him, though.

"Go put your coat and backpack away, please."

Videl trudged into the coatroom and there was Gohan, carefully taking two crumpled pieces of paper out of his backpack. He beamed at her. "Hi, Videl!"

"Hey," she said, hanging her backpack on the hook with her name on it in pink.

"Did you get in trouble again?" Gohan asked. He looked worried. He was always worried about her, even though he didn't need to be. It was part of why she liked him so much. "Dende asked too," he added. "He was really sad when you weren't there yesterday."

Videl was touched. "Well, I'm kinda in trouble," she said. "I have to stay in at recess for the rest of the week with Mr. Logan and do math." Videl hated math. "So you have to look out for yourself at recess. But other than that I'm not in trouble."

Gohan immediately perked up. "Yay! That's good!"

"Mmhm." Videl slid out of her jacket and hung it over her backpack. Her jacket had the Superman logo on the back and she was very proud of it. She remembered her dad getting angry at the lady in WalMart who said it was a jacket for boys and that made her love it all the more.

"Here." Gohan shoved the papers at her. "These are for you. Me an' Dende made them because you weren't there yesterday."

Videl took the papers and looked at them. One was a crayon drawing of the three of them holding hands with Mr. Piccolo just off to the side. They were all labelled in Gohan's handwriting. The other was done in pencil crayon and showed the cover of the Supergirl comic book Videl had been reading the last time she was there.

Videl wasn't a cryer-she often said that Gohan cried enough for both of them-but when she launched herself at Gohan in a tearful hug, he didn't seem the least bit surprised.

A man with long hair poked his head into the program room. "Hey, Piccolo," he said, "is the Satan kid here?"

Videl looked up from her book. So did Dende and Gohan. Mr. Piccolo glanced at them, then back at the other man. "Why?"

The man sighed. "Remember that one guy who was here last week looking at cookbooks and screaming until he was red in the face?"

Gohan saw a look of resigned recognition come over both Videl's and Mr. Piccolo's faces. "The one that only shut up when Hercule showed up?"

"That's the one."

"Uncle Buu is here?" Videl asked. She sounded just as enthused about the news as Mr. Piccolo.

The man looked directly at her. "Yeah. He's just outside. He wants to read with you until your dad gets here, if that's okay."

"Yamcha," Mr. Piccolo started, "I don't think it's a good idea to have random grownups in with the After School-"

"Buu isn't a random grownup; Videl knows him," Yamcha said. "Besides, Hercule usually gets here at quarter after four, right? It'll only be about half an hour."

Mr. Piccolo's eye twitched. Gohan glanced at Dende, who shrugged. Neither of them had any idea who this Buu guy was.

Videl stood up. "We can go sit somewhere else," she said.

Dende scrambled to his feet, Gohan following suit. "We'll go with you," Dende said. Gohan nodded. Uncle or not, they weren't letting Videl go off with some random grownup-she protected them enough, now it was their turn.

The two adults exchanged a look (Gohan had seen his parents do a similar one when deciding whether he could go to Videl's house) before Mr. Piccolo sighed. "Alright, but you stay close to the desk, okay? Where Miss Mai can see you. If there are any problems talk to Miss Mai. If Buu starts screaming you can leave him there. I don't care," he continued when Videl started to interrupt him, "if he screams all the time. If he starts screaming in the library you can shush him. If he doesn't quiet down you can leave and come back here."

"Can we take the beanbags with us?" Gohan asked. Normally Mr. Piccolo was pretty strict about where the beanbag chairs Should and Should Not Be. But he was pretty lenient if he was already being strict about something else.

To his credit, Mr. Piccolo tried to look like he was annoyed about it. "Sure. Fine. Take one for Buu, too."

When they arrived in the big carpeted area in front of the Children and Youth Services desk, there was a man there waiting for him that Gohan assumed was Buu. He was huge. Tall and fat and ruddy-faced, with squinty eyes and a pout. He was reading a book with a picture of a cake on the front, but he was holding it upside down. Videl made a beeline for him and hugged him around the legs, the only part of him she could reach. "Hi, Uncle Buu."

Buu grinned and squatted down to hug Videl back. "Little Satan! Read to Buu!"

Gohan dragged his chair over to them and plopped it down. Buu looked at him, then at Dende. "Little Satan's friends?"

"They're gonna read with us too," Videl said reassuringly. Dende put his beanbag next to Gohan's and settled down in it, keeping an eye on Videl and Buu. "We're gonna read about firefighter cats."

Buu pouted. "Buu wants food books."

"No." Videl folded her arms. "I can't read the food books. Find me a food book I can read and I'll read it to you. If you can't we're reading about firefighter cats."

Buu looked like he was going to start wailing, but instead he collapsed into the beanbag Videl had brought him and let out the biggest sigh Gohan had ever heard. "Fine. Firefighter cats. Then Buu find easier food book."

Videl's dad found them half an hour later all piled onto one beanbag chair and arguing about the pronunciation of "quiche."

"Did you know you can't breathe in space?"

Videl looked up at Gohan from where she was sprawled on the library carpet and shook her head. "Nope. How come?"

"'Cause there's no air."

"Oh. Why?"

Gohan peered at his book. "I don't know. It doesn't say."

"That's silly," Dende piped up. "Why would they tell you that and not say how come?"

"Maybe it's in another book." Gohan closed the book he was reading and picked up a new one. "This one's bad anyway. The pictures are bad. And there's no index."

Videl snorted. "You sound like Mr. Piccolo."

He beamed at her. "Really?"

She rolled her eyes and went back to her comic book.

"Dende, there you are."

The kids looked up to see Dende's cousin Nail approaching them. Dende smiled at him. "Hi, Nail! Where's Dad and Cargo?"

Nail patted Dende's bald head. "Uncle Moori has to work late. Cargo's still at Grandpa's so Grandpa sent me to get you so you're both there when your dad gets off work."

Videl squinted at him. "Who're you?"

Dende and Gohan both started to chastise her for being rude, but Nail just smiled. "I'm Dende's cousin. My name is Nail."

"Nail, can't I stay a few more minutes?" Dende pleaded. "Just five minutes? Please?"

Nail shook his head. "Sorry, Dende. Grandpa said to come home right away. And besides, I can't be away from him for very long. You know how it is."

Mr. Piccolo appeared before Dende could ask again. "Gohan, your mother is here." He pointed as Chi-Chi approached, giving Mr. Piccolo a wide berth.

"Time to go, sweetie!" she said. "Let's get your books checked out and go home, okay?"

Gohan sighed and started gathering up the books he wanted to take home. "Okay."

Videl sat up and looked at Mr. Piccolo. "Is my daddy here yet?"

He shrugged. "Haven't seen him."

"Nail, can't we stay until Videl's dad gets here?" Dende pleaded.

"Me too, Mommy?" Gohan added. "Please?"

Chi-Chi wavered. Nail did not. "No, Dende. I have to get home to Grandpa right away, and you have to come with me."

Dende sighed and pouted, but picked up his book. He knew Nail was right-if Nail wasn't at home with Grandpa, there was always a nurse or one of Nail's med student friends there, except if Nail was picking up Dende. "Will Grandpa read to me when we get there?"

"Grandpa was asleep when I left, but if he can't, I will." Nail took Dende's books. "Do you need to check these out?"

"Yeah." If Dende had known Nail would be the one picking him up, he would've checked them out beforehand.

"Let's go and do that, then." Nail turned to Mr. Piccolo. "Thanks for always taking good care of Dende."

Mr. Piccolo shrugged, looking more uncomfortable than Dende had ever seen him. "Whatever," he grumbled.

Dende hugged Gohan, then Videl. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

Nail gave Mr. Piccolo a smile-a weird smile, an eyes-half-closed smile that Dende had never seen him give anyone before-and Mr. Piccolo clenched his jaw and looked away. "Bye," he said abruptly, turning on his heel and stalking off.

Dende looked back as he took Nail's hand and started toward the checkout desk. "Nail," he said, "do you like Mr. Piccolo?"

Nail looked down at him, part surprised and part embarrassed. "What? Of course I do. He's nice."

"Not really." Dende put his books on the counter so Mr. Shinhan could check them out. "He's kinda loud and scary sometimes."

"He means well," Nail said. Dende frowned. Adults always said that. "Don't you like Mr. Piccolo?"

"Yeah," Dende said. "But you love Mr. Piccolo, right?"

Nail's face flushed at that, and Dende noticed Mr. Shinhan trying not to laugh. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please tell me you actually have a crush on Piccolo," Mr. Shinhan said. "Because I will die laughing and what a death."

"I have nothing of the kind." Nail snatched up Dende's books in one hand and grabbed Dende's hand with the other. "Let's go now, Dende."

"Are you and Mr. Piccolo going to get married?" Dende asked. "Can I go? Cargo and I couldn't go when Dad went to a wedding last week; so can I go to yours? Because boys can marry boys. Gohan said so."

"Of course Gohan said so," Nail muttered. They were out of the library at this point. "No, Dende, I'm not marrying Mr. Piccolo."

"Why not? I want to marry Gohan when we get older."

Nail choked. "Don't you think you should ask Gohan first? That's why I'm not marrying Mr. Piccolo-I haven't even asked him on a date or anything."

Dende thought. "How many dates do you have to go on before you can get married?"

"Lots! Can we stop talking about this now? How was school?"

"Gohan, what do you want for your birthday?"

It was a Sunday and Videl was at Gohan's house. Dende couldn't visit on Sundays because he had church in the morning and visited his grandpa in the afternoons, so usually it was just Videl and Gohan. Gohan's mom's cafe was closed on Sundays, so they often ended up at his house, colouring and playing dress-up.

Gohan propped his hand on his chin and looked at her. "I don't know," he said. "Crayons?"

"Don't ask me," Videl said. "Your party's next week, right? Daddy said we could go get your present after the library tomorrow, so I wanna know what you want. If you don't tell me I'm getting you a Superman action figure."

He still looked indecisive. "I wanna book about Brazil. Or Mars."

Videl blinked. "Why Brazil?" Mars she understood-Gohan was always talking about space. Brazil was new though.

"That's where Dende's from," he said. "I've never read about Brazil. Mommy's had me read about China and Japan before, because that's where she and Daddy are from, but I don't know about Brazil. Yeah, a book about Brazil."

"Okay." Videl went back to her colouring book. Superman and Wonder Woman were fighting a giant lizard. She was colouring the lizard orange. "Have you ever been to China? Or Japan?"

"Nope." Gohan reached across her to grab a yellow crayon for the cat he was colouring. "Mommy says she'll take me someday, but not for a long time."

"I think you and me and Dende should all go," Videl said. "When we're grownups. We should go on a big trip to Japan and China and Brazil and see what's there." She paused. "I don't know what's there."

"There's a really big wall in China," Gohan suggested. "And a big tower in Japan. I've seen pictures."

"Okay, we'll go there. And when you have your Brazil book we'll figure out where we're going in Brazil."

Gohan grinned at her, and Videl smiled back. She knew that wherever she was in the world, as long as Gohan and Dende were with her, it would feel like she'd never left home.

Dende pulled his knees to his chest. "I can't believe school's almost over."

Gohan, Dende, and Videl were the only three children left in the program room. That was how it usually happened, what had been happening for the last six months. Mr. Piccolo was cleaning up and hauling around stacks of picture books. Gohan had asked if he wanted help, but he'd brushed him off. "This is what they pay me the big bucks for, kid," he'd said, and even the five year old could tell he was being sarcastic.

"The summer reading program's gonna start soon," Videl said. "Gohan and me-"

"And I," corrected Mr. Piccolo.

"And me," Videl said, "came last year." Mr. Piccolo rolled his eyes and muttered something about a "lost cause." "Daddy signed me up for this year already."

"Me too," Gohan said. "Mommy wasn't happy about it, though." He saw Mr. Piccolo tense across the room. "Are you okay, Mr. Piccolo?"

"Read a damn book," he snapped. That was what he always said when he didn't want to talk about something. Gohan decided to drop the subject.

"I'm not sure I can go," Dende said morosely. "My dad said Cargo and I might be going to a sitter's this summer because we can't stay with Grandpa and Nail all the time."

Gohan reached out and gave his friend a hug. "I'm sure we'll see you other places! You and Videl can come to my house and my mom will make us jiaozi and hot pot again!" They'd had both at Gohan's birthday party, and Dende had eaten so many jiaozi he'd made himself sick.

"And you can come over to my house and we'll make pillow forts and play Mario Kart," Videl added. "And no stinky dogs are allowed in the pillow fort this time."

Dende clung to Gohan's shirt and seemed to be thinking about something. "Gohan," he said, "can we get married?"

Mr. Piccolo dropped an entire stack of books on his foot.

"When we get older," Dende added. "Because married people see each other every day and you're supposed to marry your best friend, or at least that's what Grandpa said, and if we got married then we could always be together."

"Oh," Gohan said. He wasn't sure how to respond.

"No way!" Videl shouted, lunging over and hugging Gohan around the shoulders. "I wanna marry Gohan!"

Mr. Piccolo, who had just finished picking up the books he dropped, promptly dropped them all on his other foot.

"Um," Gohan said.

They both stared at him intently. "Well?" Videl asked.

Gohan looked to Mr. Piccolo for help, but he'd gathered up his books again and booked it out of the room. "C...can't we all get married?" Gohan suggested. "All three of us? If you're supposed to marry your best friend and stuff, then that'd make sense, right?"

Dende and Videl looked thoughtful. Then Dende nodded and reached for Videl's hand. "Okay."

Videl put her chin on Gohan's shoulder and held hands with Dende. "Yeah, okay."

When Mr. Piccolo came in and found them, they had all fallen asleep curled up in a single beanbag chair.

"Marriage?" Chi-Chi asked. "I think you're a little young for that, dear."

Gohan pouted. "Oh, c'mon, Chi," Goku said, patting Gohan on the head. "We were pretty young when we got engaged, too."

"Yes, but that was halfway to an arranged marriage and we weren't five."

"Six," Gohan corrected.

"Of course, because that makes everything okay!" Chi-Chi was getting that voice again, the loud, high one that usually meant Goku was in trouble. This time, though, the one in trouble was Gohan.

"But Mom-"

"Don't 'but Mom' me, young man. You're not getting married until you're at least eighteen; I don't care what Videl said about next Saturday."

"But it's my wedding. I have to go."

"You are not getting married next Saturday at the library!"

Goku went over to her and snaked his arms around her from behind. "Aw, Chi, it won't be a real wedding."

"Yes it will," Gohan said confidently.

"No, it won't," Chi-Chi snapped, "because it's not going to happen at all. I'm going to call Videl's daddy right now-"

The phone rang and Chi-Chi sighed, extracting herself from her husband's grip. "That's probably him now. Or Dende's daddy." She pointed at Gohan. "This conversation isn't over, young man." Then she dashed off to answer the phone.

Goku pulled out a chair at the table next to Gohan and sat down. "So you want to marry both Videl and Dende, huh?"

Gohan nodded solemnly. "They're my best friends."

"Gohan, you don't have to marry someone just because they're your best friend. If that were true, I would've married Uncle Krillin." Gohan wrinkled his nose. He couldn't imagine his parents married to anyone but each other. "There are lots of reasons people get married," Goku continued. "Mommy could probably explain this better'n me, but mostly people get married because they love the other person in a certain way."

"That's why you and Mommy got married, right?" Gohan asked.

Goku paused. "Sorta. We got married when we were real young, and engaged even younger. Heck, at the time I didn't know I was getting engaged! Her daddy and my grandpa were friends, and they said wouldn't it be nice if our kids were married, and, well, things kind of snowballed from there."

Gohan frowned, turning the concept over in his head. "So...you don't love Mommy?"

"I never said that," Goku said immediately. "I do love Mommy, but our marriage was...unconventional." When Gohan looked at him blankly, he tried again. "It wasn't like a lot of marriages are here," he explained. "Sure, she chose her own husband and I chose my own wife, but we did it a lot younger than most people in West City do. And you're even younger than we were then." He scratched his head. "I'm having a hard time putting it into words, but I think the reason Mommy's so upset is because she doesn't want you to get married so young and then find out you love Dende and Videl in a different way. A not-marriage way."

"That," Chi-Chi said, returning from the other room, "and children aren't allowed to get married. It's illegal." She looked at Goku fondly, then turned her attention back to her son. "That was Videl's daddy on the phone, like I thought. He said Videl can't get married next Saturday either."

Gohan's lower lip quivered. "Then we're just gonna leave Dende at the altar?"

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Where do you pick up this stuff? No. Dende won't be there either. I talked to his daddy as well."

Gohan buried his face in his arms. "Why won't you just let us get married?" he wailed.

"Because you're six!" Chi-Chi yelled. "Six year olds go to school and learn things and draw pictures of dragons and dream about going to China and Japan and Brazil with their best friends and don't get married!" She took a deep, calming breath. Goku took her hand and squeezed it. "Besides, you haven't even been on any dates yet."

Gohan looked up at her and sniffled. "How many dates do you have to go on before you can get married?"

"Lots!" She sighed. "How about this: you and Dende and Videl can be engaged. That means you all promise to marry each other when you're older. And if you ever decide you don't want to marry them, you can be un-engaged. Sound fair?"

Gohan thought. "I guess." Secretly, though, he knew he'd never decide to get un-engaged. He didn't quite understand what his father had meant by loving someone in a "not-marriage" way, but he thought that was how he loved his parents and grandpa and Mr. Piccolo and Uncle Krillin. He loved Videl and Dende-he'd loved Videl and Dende for six months-and it was different. He wasn't sure how, and even if he was he didn't have the vocabulary to put it into words.

But as far as Gohan was concerned, he'd see Dende and Videl at the library every day from now until the day they did get married.