*cough* Erm, anyway. I thought I'd mention that the rest of the Scouts might make appearances through out the story, so I've not forgotten about them completely.
*disclaimer…..*
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Chapter 3 – Usagi and GohanUsagi walked around the public park as the afternoon turned into early evening. Her thoughts were anything but on where she was walking, and immediately she tripped on a stick in the walkway and fell flat on her stomach. The shock of falling stunned her for a moment before she sat up and started to wail.
"Life is so unfair!! Why do I have to be the clumsy one? Why can't I be smart and graceful and beautiful and loved by everyone?! I wish I was like Ami!! It's so not fair! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"
Several people were walking by in the park, minding their own business when they heard the blond teenager wailing. She didn't appear to be hurt (except maybe her pride), so they covered their ears and continued their almost pleasant walk in the park.
After a few minutes Usagi couldn't cry anymore (it was starting to hurt her voice), and sat on the ground, sniffling occasionally, and pouted. Her life wasn't fair at all. She was the daughter of a high official, but that didn't make up for her big problem. One of her best friends had men crawling after her, including the only man Usagi ever had interest in.
At the thought of him Usagi sighed, her eyes going into a dream like state. He was so perfect and beautiful and kind and strong and perfect and…yes, he was perfect. But, he would never notice someone like her; someone who was always tripping on her own two feet, who never was serious in her studies, who wasn't graceful, or elegant, or pretty.
She could never be like Ami, who was the object of his affections.
"I guess I will always be just a good friend…nothing more…" Usagi mumbled, becoming quiet again as she stared at the sky. "Oh Gohan…"
"What?" a male voice asked behind Usagi. She jumped three feet in the air and fell back down on the ground again, startled out of her mind. Turning around she saw Gohan's tall figure towering over her.
Gohan couldn't help but laugh. "Man, I didn't know I'd have women falling at my feet today. I should've dressed better," he joked. He held his arms out to show the nice greenish-white shirt and dark pants he was wearing, a perfect fit on him.
Usagi almost blushed, but giggled quickly, waving her hand in dismissal. "Haha! You look fine. Really, if you weren't blind to the obvious you'd see women falling for you every day," she giggled, but immediately clamped her hand over her mouth.
'I can't believe I just said that out loud!!' she thought, giving Gohan a sideways look of innocence. If he ever found out that she liked him in any way she'd never hear the end of it!
Luckily, he only thought she was joking and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Though I wish I had a girl falling for me right now…" he sighed, sitting down on the ground next to Usagi. She gave him a funny look, but his mind was somewhere else so he didn't notice that he had sat on the ground.
In a quick movement he grabbed her wrist, his eyes begging. "Tell me what she said today! Did she say anything about me??"
"H-huh?" Usagi sputtered, her face feeling warm as Gohan held her arm. "What…er…who said?"
"Ami! Did she say anything about me today? I have to know!"
"Um…I don't know… Why?"
"Why?....Why?!?" Gohan's voice rose as he dropped Usagi's arm and stood up to pace. "Usagi, you don't understand! I'm in love with Ami! Every moment I walk around her image fills my head, her lingering scent teases my nose, her graceful figure seems to dance before my eyes and I reach out, thinking that I can touch it, but it's only an illusion. True, we only dated a few times, but she never seemed to realize what an impact she had on me when we broke up. I can't sleep well at night because all I can think about is her. I can't eat because I think about all the times we went to that little café and had our mid-night talks. I can't function knowing that she is going after that arrogant, incompetent jerk named Mamoru!"
"Oh he's not so bad…" Usagi trailed off, picking at the ground.
Gohan had stopped pacing long enough to give Usagi a pleading look. "Can you help me?"
"Help you?" she repeated, feeling very numb.
"Yes! Help me find a way to win Ami back! I must have her back!"
"Um…I don't know about that…"
"Why not?" Gohan demanded, looking angry.
Usagi was a little afraid that he might yell again and seemed to shrink in size. "Uh…well… She and Mamoru have been going steady for awhile. They seem really serious. I even heard her say that they might marry—"
"WHAT?!" Gohan yelled, turning to Usagi with wide eyes. "Why in the hell would Ami do such a thing to me? I thought I had more time, but apparently I'm going to have to put the plan into action sooner than I thought."
"What plan?" she asked, getting curious.
Ami was her best friend and Usagi only wanted her to be happy. Supposedly Ami loved Mamoru, but Gohan loved Ami. Bu Ami loved Mamoru, and Mamoru loved Ami too. So Ami had two men that loved her, and Usagi was still left loving Gohan, but he loved Ami and not her.
Usagi shook her head, her thoughts becoming too confusing, even for her.
"It will be perfect, if I have your help," Gohan said in a quieter voice.
Usagi leaned in closer, speaking in a whisper. "Help with what?"
"Getting Ami back."
"I already know that. I meant what are you planning to get Ami back?"
"Oh!" he laughed. "Heh, um, I'm still working on it."
Usagi fell backwards. "You mean you haven't even come up with a plan yet? What kind of a perfect plan is that if you don't even have anything planned?"
"I do have an idea, but I wanted to make sure you were willing to help me before I worked out the fine details," Gohan answered, pulling her back up to a sitting position. "Come on, Bunny," he said, calling her by the nick-name that only he was allowed to say. "You're the best friend a guy could ask for, but sometimes you're match-making skills are a little off."
"Excuse me?" Usagi's eyes flared at Gohan as she balled her fists up. "I happen to be the best match-maker around here!"
"Good, so you'll help me?" Gohan asked, his eyes pleading.
"Well…" Usagi trailed off. He was so cute sitting in the afternoon, the sunlight highlighting his hair with golden streaks. She wanted more than anything to kiss him, but the thought of kissing her best friend made her face turn a little pink. She turned away so he didn't see the blush, pretending she saw a bug on the ground.
She wanted to help him, but she didn't want to help him get Ami back. Ami was dead set in love with Mamoru. The whole world could see that, except maybe Gohan.
Originally Ami and Gohan's families had thought they would make a perfect match, and tried to loosely arrange a marriage for them. But Ami didn't love Gohan in that way. At first she had thought he was nice and a great guy and probably really liked him, but he wasn't as daring and mysterious as Mamoru was. Mamoru was so perfect, Ami would say. He took her to the rooftops sometimes and they would "watch the stars." She'd say this with a giggle and twinkle in her eye.
When Usagi would ask Ami what she meant by "watch the stars," Ami would only pat Usagi on the head and say that she would learn when it was her time; then Ami would giggle again.
Usagi sighed. Ami was her best friend; the only girl friend Usagi had that had stuck with her through thick and thin.
But Gohan was also her best friend. They had known each other since before she could remember, growing up and dealing with life as it came. He had taught her how to swim, how to skip a rock over water, how to sword fight, how to play various instruments, how to wrestle…he had always been there for Usagi and she always appreciated it.
As time wore on Usagi found herself falling in love with Gohan, but she couldn't tell him that. She couldn't even tell Ami because at the time Ami and Gohan had been dating. It would've been too weird.
Usagi didn't know what to do about her situation, but she couldn't let Gohan down. She'd help him (sort of) with his plan, and if it didn't work out she'd be there for him. Hopefully in turn he'd see how much she cared for him and forget about trying to win Ami back.
"Ok, I'll help you. But promise me one thing first," Usagi said.
"Oh thank you, thank you Bunny! You're such a sport!" he replied, taking her up in a rip-crushing hug.
"I…air…air!!" she squeaked out, causing him to drop her again. As she gasped for air she looked at him in the eye. "Promise me one thing first, and then I'll help you."
"Ok ok, fine. What's the promise?"
Usagi took a deep breath. "If this plan doesn't work, and you don't get Ami back, promise me that you'll be happy for her and Mamoru and move on with your life." Gohan's face looked shocked at the thought and started to look in the other direction with a stubborn huff, but Usagi grabbed his ear and forced him to look at her again. "Promise me or I won't help!"
Grumbling, Gohan glared at her. "Oow! You don't understand…I love Ami! I can't just forget about her like that!"
"I'm not asking you to forget about her! But either you promise to move on with your life if the plan doesn't work, or I'm not helping you. Ami is one of my best girl friends and I don't want to be torn between you two if this plan should fail."
"It won't fail. It'll be perfect."
Usagi rolled her eyes like Gohan did to her all the time. His glare turned dagger-like.
She ignored the glare, studying her nails. "Take it or leave it. I won't choose between you two in the end, and this is the only way I can keep you both. Agreed?"
Gohan opened his mouth to protest again, but the stubborn look Usagi had on her face made him stop before saying something mean. She was so determined that he couldn't help but admire her for caring that much about his welfare.
'She's such a good person… I hope one day she finds someone good enough to take care of her. Not without my approval of course,' he thought. Sighing heavily, Gohan slouched forward, pouting. There was no way to get out of this. Either he agreed or Usagi wouldn't help him.
"Ok."
Usagi blinked, thinking she didn't hear him. "Huh?"
"I said I promise…but I won't be happy about it!" he shot out, pouting again.
"Ooh thank you Gohan! You have my help! I promise you won't regret this!" she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck to give him a girly hug.
He cringed as her voice hit chandelier shattering levels. "I doubt that, but I can't do this alone."
Usagi gave him a huge smile. "Hee hee! You won't regret it. I promise!"
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Standing not far off, invisible to human eyes, Trunks and Rini stood watching the scene before them. Rini thought Usagi was a big crybaby, but when she realized that Usagi was willing to give up everything for Gohan to be happy she thought a little different about the blond girl.
"Doesn't she realize that she's going to be alone the rest of her life promising something like that?" Rini asked Trunks.
He shrugged, his arms crossed. "Who cares. She's willing to give it up for him to be happy." He was a little bored just standing there, when an idea crossed his mind, and he started to grin.
"What?" Rini asked, noticing the look in his eyes. 'Uh oh…he's got an idea now…'
"Gohan says his plan is perfect…but the plan he's come up with won't win Ami over, unless he gets a little help…" Trunks said slowly, rubbing his chin as he thought out loud.
"Oh no. What're you coming up with now? These people look nice, and I don't want you to hurt them!" Rini demanded, stomping her foot.
"Oh shut up. I'm not going to hurt them. Maybe…play a few tricks on them, but that's it," Trunks said. Rini was giving him a sarcastic look. "What? Aren't into a little fun?"
"Depends… What do you have in mind?" she asked, getting interested.
"When the time comes, you'll see. It'll be great." He laughed, and taking hold of Rini's wrist again, ran off into the afternoon with her in tow.
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Gah, that felt like that took forever to write. I almost had a blank on where to go. ^_^ Thanks for reading this far!