Chapter two

Hee, me had fun with this chapter! Plz review again! Luv, ~Vivi-sama

Chapter two

A flurry of brushes, eyeliner, mascara pencils, and lipsticks were tossed into the air after quick usage. It was a mad scramble of cosmetic products, and Pan giggled every time she used one. Quickly adding a touch of lip liner, she reached for the handheld mirror and held it up to the face she was working on.

"Aaaahhhh!" screeched Goten in horror at the sight. "What did you do to me?!"

"Nani? You don't like it?" Pan asked innocently. "I thought you said you wanted to look good for your date with Parisu tomorrow!"

"Yes, I wanted to look good," agreed Goten. "But looking good doesn't fall under the category of 'drag queen'!"

Pan sighed. "You look beautiful, Goten-ojichan."

"I'm not supposed to look beautiful Pan-chan! I want to look cute and fresh!" Goten protested.

"Cute...and fresh?" A sly smile played on Pan's lips, and she reached for some light blush.

Holding his hands up in front of him in surrender, Goten replied, "Did I say cute and fresh? I meant natural. Totally natural."

Pan shrugged. "So, we'll add some darker tones under your eyes and you'll be all set." She paused. "That was a good idea, Goten-ojisan. The blush would hide your eyes, but this should make them look more attractive."

"MATTE!" Goten cried before the dreadful cosmetic product could touch his face. "I mean, hold on. Can't we...can't we compromise a bit, my wonderful darling beautiful niece? Heh heh..." A sweatdrop appeared on his face, but he smiled persuasively to hide his fear.

"Hmph. You don't like my ideas, do you?" Pan accused him.

"No, no, they're great!" Goten objected. "But I just thought we should change my face a little bit, you know, take off some things..."

Pan looked over him, studying his features in deep thought. "Well...I guess we could get rid of the lipstick."

"The lipstick? I was thinking more along the lines of this purple eyeshadow."

"You don't mind the lipstick?" Pan said happily. "Well, then could I use a darker shade? It'll make your lips more noticeable!"

"Heh..." A look of dread appeared on Goten's face, but he quickly hid it. "Um...Pan-chan, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom before you do anything drastic - er, wonderful."

"Wait!" Pan looked angrily at her uncle. "You just want to wash off the makeup! How dare you!"

"Well, actually I was just gonna hide in there until - er, that is, I just need to go to the bathroom really bad," Goten said. "Really, really, really bad." He jumped up and down uncontrollably in his supposed urgent need to...well, to pee.

"You don't have to lie to me Ojisan," Pan said sighing. "But since you did, I won't let you go! You have to stay here until I finish your makeover!" She giggled at the thought, a playful smile protruding from her lips. "You'll look great Goten-ojisan, I promise!"

"Um...er, that is...uh..." Goten dashed out of the room, almost flying in his incredible speed.

"GOTEN-SAN!!!" Pan rushed after him, but it was too late. She pounded on the locked door, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Come out this instant! I told you I wasn't done!"

"Aw, Pan-chan, why don't we do something else? At least let me wash this stuff off! I mean, go to the bathroom."

"Goten-kun, I'm warning you! You know I'm perfectly capable of breaking this door down! And I don't care if you're in your boxers or not! So you BETTER come out RIGHT NOW!" Pan shouted.

"That'd be a good idea. Too bad you'd never hear the end of it once ChiChi finds out you've broken down the door," Goten replied. "And she's probably already mad since you're yelling so loud."

Sighing, Pan whined unhappily. "But Goten-ojisa-an, it's not fair! Puh-lease can I finish the makeover? I promise I'll take off the eyeshadow!"

Silence answered her, and Pan could hear the loud stream of water rushing from the tap. She sighed again, knowing that all her work was for a lost cause.

Finally, the water stopped. "Pan-chan, I've got an idea. Why don't we spar a bit?"

"Spar?" Pan said. "I don't wanna spar! I wanna finish your makeover!"

Goten wiped his face on a green towel. "You're only saying that because you know that I'm way stronger than you are."

"Nani?! Hey, don't you remember the last Tenkaichi Budoukai? I practically won! Well...almost."

"Key word: almost."

Pan puffed up in anger, and replied, "I bet I could knock you around easily Goten-kun! I'm a lot stronger than I used to be! You'll never be able to lay a hand on me!"

Chuckling, Goten opened up the door. "We'll see about that." In a swift movement, he charged at Pan, who barely had any time to dodge the attack. Grabbing her ankle as she moved, he pulled her downwards and she landed on the floor with a thud. "Not even a hand, eh?" Grinning, Goten flew out of the house and outside near the woods in a quick instant.

"Hey, wait!" Pan got up, dusting herself off. "I'll get you for that, Goten-ojisan," she said through clenched teeth. But her eyes sparkled with glee; she'd felt like she'd never had so much fun before... at least, not since her recent loss. In an instance, she was out of the house, and right beside her uncle. Smirking, she said, "Ready when you are."

"Ready for what?" a voice behind them said.

Pan whipped around. "Touchan? Touchan!" She dove into his arms, sighing in relief. "I was worried about you. So you decided to come stay with Ojiisan and Obaasan with me, ne?"

Gohan nodded. "Yeah...I think my head's on straight now."

"Hey Gohan, ya wanna spar?" Goten asked excitedly. "I'm really up for a good workout!"

Pan slapped her uncle's arm. "Hey, what about me? I thought I was going to be your sparring partner!"

"Don't worry, you still are," Gohan told her. He sighed, and she could see that the dark burden that hung on him before was still there, no better but no worse. "I think I'll go take a little rest. You guys have fun." Gohan walked into the house in a silent, almost surreal stroll.

"Tou...chan?" Pan said quietly. She turned to Goten. "Will he be okay?"

Goten looked confused. "He looked fine to me."

"He's your brother! Can't you even tell when he's feeling bad?"

"Um...still wanna spar?"

Pan sighed, then giggled. "Sure. I'll go talk to Touchan tomorrow. It's getting dark anyway, we should just spar for a little bit, then head inside."

"Hey, who said you get to make up the rules?" Goten protested, then shrugged. "Oh well, as the niece of such an incredibly handsome man, I guess you must have some kind of special privileges. Well, ready?"

"Yosh'!" Pan said happily with a giggle, then charged.

~***~

"Aw, come on ChiChi, it'll be fun!" Gokou said. "We haven't really done anything together for such a long time!"

ChiChi turned to look at her husband, her hands on her hip with an angry firmness. "Excuse me, but my son has just come, and I intend to make him feel as welcomed as possible! You don't just go barging off every time Gohan comes to visit!"

"Aw, but ChiChi!" protested Gokou. "What about me?"

"What about you?"

Gokou wrapped his arms around her persuasively, rocking ChiChi back and forth. "It'll be fun! Wouldn't you just love to bath in a nice, hot spring, and feel the bubbles soothe your skin? Didn't you say you needed a vacation?"

"Well...it would be nice..." ChiChi said thoughtfully, but went back to her original mood right after. "But I can't just leave Gohan in his time of need! I need to show him that we care about him!"

"ChiChi-san, he knows that," Gokou told her. "Gohan-kun is the brightest kid I know, and believe me, he knows at least that much. Now, let's just go, ne? He'll be fine!"

"Hmph." ChiChi sighed. "You always get your way."

"Me? Get my way?" Gokou almost choked. "Um...if you say so..." He picked up his wife and the flew out of the house, where Goten and Pan were sparring in a field of ki blasts. "Hey! Goten!"

Goten paused his attack, and turned to his father. "What's up Tousan?"

"Me and Kaasan are going off for a little while! Think you can take care of yourself?"

Goten smiled. "Sure."

"I'm only going because he -" - she pointed accusingly at Gokou - "Is making me go!"

"Gee, Obaasan listening to Ojiisan?" Pan looked confused. "I don't think that's right. Isn't that supposed to happen the other way around?"

Gokou shushed her, then whispered, "I'm only going because I can tell your Tousan needs some time alone. I don't want you guys to bother him either, okay?"

Pan nodded. "Sure thing. Have fun Gokou-ojiisan!"

Smiling, Gokou flew off with a fuming ChiChi (who had heard everything) in his arms. "Bai bai!"

"Gokou, I can't believe you! How dare you bring me here just to make sure Gohan was totally by himself! You baka!"

"ChiChi?"

"Nani?" she asked impatiently.

"I love you."

"Oh..." ChiChi was taken aback, but quickly regained her composure. "I love you too, Gokou."

And they flew off into the distant night, the stars above twinkling upon them.