AN: And we're off with Chapter Seventeen!!! Hooray!!! *whew* After this chapter is over, we'll be delving back into full-fledged humor…or at least my poor excuse for humor, anyway. I do have a few more frying pan gags up my sleeve…which is kind of impossible, because I'm wearing a tank top as I type this author's note. *ponders* …okay, enough of that. On with da ficcy!!! I don't own DBZ, or the songs used in this fic, and I don't own any proms, or any hypnotists or footbridges…yah.

Chapter Seventeen—The Big Night

The pounding on the lab door stirred Bulma from her studious concentration. Growling to herself under her breath, she wheeled around, stormed to the door, and flung it wide open, a scathing reprimand primed and ready on her tongue to be delivered to whoever dared to disturb her important work.

But the sharp words never flew. They froze behind her lips when she saw who was there.

It was ChiChi, looking a few steps beyond frazzled. She was leading an equally frazzled looking Gohan by the hand. Goten was by her side, looking genuinely confused at what was going on.

Bulma blinked in amazement, not quite sure how to react. Then, slowly, she said, "Well, this is a surprise. What brought this on?"

"We don't know," ChiChi sighed. "But it doesn't matter. Can you help?"

The heiress to Capsule Corporation straightened her shoulders and nodded confidently. "Who do you think you're talking to here? Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

*~*~*~*

For the most part, the large hall was dark. Light was cast from a few bright spotlights that were panning over the dance floor. The walls and floor were shaking from the sheer volume of the music. The room was decorated almost entirely in silver and turquoise, with brightly colored flowers everywhere. The decorating committee had almost outdone themselves.

One person wasn't really paying attention to the wonderful décor or the music. This person was having a few problems at the moment. Problems that involved a group of young men who had crowded around the table she and her friends had claimed upon their arrival at the dance.

"No, I don't want to dance," Videl said automatically for about the hundredth time in maybe fifteen minutes. "I have a date."

Yet no matter how many times she rejected them, the guys just didn't seem to get it. They flocked around her like the pack of empty headed puppies they were. Most of them didn't ask more than once, but instead continued to hover near her, as if by just persisting in their very presence, she would change her mind or something equally unlikely. And then there were the really aggravating ones, the smart ones, who would try to pull something cool by asking where her date was. She would pretend not to hear them, or in a few cases of those who couldn't be dissuaded by rudeness, she would reply with a curt," somewhere else."

Why were they bothering her? Probably because of how she looked, she supposed. She had looked in awe at her reflection in the mirror at home, and she had glanced at herself in the mirror a short time ago when Erasa had dragged her into the bathroom. She did look wonderful—or as Donovan, her family's butler, had said, alluring. Hair curled and twisted up into a fashionable creation, light makeup expertly applied, perfect accessories, and a stunning, floor-length red dress that flattered without revealing too much. Her father had cried, Hannah had gloated, Donovan had sighed, Erasa had giggled, and Sharpner's eyes had bugged out for miles.

Finally, the guys started to get the hint, and slowly the crowd dispersed, headed for parts unknown. By what magic that had happened, she really didn't know, but she was grateful. She was finally, blessedly, alone. With a semi-relieved sigh, she listened to the music.

It's something unpredictable

But in the end it's right

I hope you had the time of your life

Well, wasn't that just ironic.

Something behind her eyes started to burn, but she willed it to stop. That just wasn't what she needed at this moment. Curtly, she brushed off one of the last puppy dogs and crossed her arms. She looked angry enough that the rest of the annoying males finally took their leave.

A new song came on, a slow song.

Alone again tonight

Without someone to love

Stars are shining bright

So one more wish goes up

She bit her lip, both in vexation and to further hold back the tears that threatened to come spilling out and destroy her makeup. Besides, puffy, red rimmed eyes weren't going to enhance her look at all. This really sucked. Why was she even here? She would have much rather gone over to the Son house and spent the evening in comfortable clothes, hanging out with Gohan and Goten.

Gohan…she dug her teeth harder into her lip, and closed her eyes against the hot tears.

"You look upset," one of the guys said from somewhere behind her. She restrained the urge to stand up and repeatedly punch the idiot who could make such an understatement. But instead, she didn't reply, but focused her stare straight ahead, watching Sharpner and Erasa hang on each other.

This really sucked.

She was contemplating leaving when she became aware of someone standing next to her chair. She blinked back her tears and lifted her head. It was a guy, wordlessly offering his hand to her.

Videl's heart suddenly started pounding as she raised her gaze further and found herself staring into a pair of very familiar charcoal-black eyes. Very amused eyes. Eyes belonging to someone who looked absolutely drop dead gorgeous in a tux. She tried to say something, but her voice caught. She probably looked like a dead fish caught on a hook, with her mouth hanging open like that.

"Would you like to dance, milady?" a blessedly familiar voice asked softly. She had missed hearing that particular voice for quite a while now. Quite frankly, the question sounded outdated, like something from a courtier of old; it didn't help that he had bowed slightly as he asked. It was only saved from total absurdity by the gentle smile on his face. It was a smile that made her either want to laugh or cry, she couldn't quite decide which.

Slowly, she lifted one hand and placed it in Gohan's proffered one.

Gohan, who was a child no more.

Their hands fit perfectly.

Videl didn't resist; she allowed herself to be lead out onto the dance floor. She barely even noticed how many eyes followed her and her newfound partner.

He spun her out and pulled her back in expertly; her arms slid around his neck, while his arms encircled her waist. Her head lulled comfortably against his chest as they fell easily into the slow, constant rhythm of the music.

Oh, I wish I may

And I wish with all my might

For the love I've been dreaming of

And missing in my life

For a while, they were silent, ignoring the jealous and startled glares being shot their way. They didn't notice anything; they simply moved together, enjoying the simple pleasure of just being together.

Finally, Gohan broke the comfortable silence that had been hanging between them; he spoke in a hushed whisper, as though afraid to disturb the mood they had so carefully enveloped themselves in. "So…did you miss me?"

She chuckled. "I can't believe you're here."

"Me neither."

"How did you—"

"I don't know," he cut her off. "It was just after I got off the phone with you. I don't know what happened, but I close my eyes, and the next thing I know, I'm…me again."

"How does it feel to be eighteen again?" she asked, half teasingly.

He grinned. "Weird. It's weird to be tall again."

She laughed and let silence lapse over them again.

I guess I must be wishing on someone else's star

Seems like someone else keeps getting

What I'm wishing for

Why can't I be as lucky as those other people are?

Oh, I guess I must be wishing on someone else's star

When the song ended, they broke apart, albeit a bit hesitantly. For one split second, their eyes locked. Then they were attacked by two overly energetic blondes.

"Gohan!" Erasa gushed. "Videl said you couldn't make it! We didn't think you would be here!"

"Yeah, G-man!" Sharpner said, sounding surprisingly friendly. "Where were you?"

"Where have you been?" another girl from their class descended on them. "You haven't been at school for months! Was something wrong?"

"Well, there were some circumstances beyond my control. I didn't think I'd be able to make it, but everything worked out all right in time. I am glad I could make it, though," Gohan explained. The interesting thing was that every word he spoke was the truth—just not all of it.

Erasa felt the need to fawn over him for another forty five minutes or so, as did half the senior girls. After all, this was Son Gohan in a tux they were talking about! Not something to be taken lightly, disregarded, or ignored. One of the nicest, cutest boys in the school looking even better than normal? Every girl in the school needed to get a picture.

Finally, he managed to escape from them and made a successful retreat back to his ever patient date. Videl was just standing there, watching most of the girls at the dance hang on her date, with this strange little smile on her face, like she was off in a dream.

A fast song came on. Videl looked out at the dancefloor, then up at Gohan with a mischievous grin on her face. "Hey…wanna dance?"

He blinked. "Umm…I don't think I'm very good at it."

"No problem," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the floor. "Me neither."

*~*~*~*

"Come on, come on!" Erasa bubbled, pulling both Gohan and Sharpner by the hand. "We gotta get going! It's time for the after-prom party! Let's go!"

Neither of the two males resisted much, and the four teens soon hustled themselves into the white  limo, and they were off.

Erasa and Sharpner were all over each other in an instant, so Gohan and Videl were for all intents and purposes alone in the spacious backseat of the limo.

They could have talked and had a conversation, but they didn't. Gohan simply switched on the radio to try and semi-mask the sound of what the two blondes were doing a couple feet away. Videl leaned against him, letting her head rest almost possessively against his shoulder; his arms easily encircled her waist in an equally possessive pose. It was quite comfortable.

Too bad the ride was so short.

The driver opened the door, and the four teenagers clambered out and headed inside the large downtown building—an athletic center—where the party was being held. They could hear the sound of loud music and voices coming from inside. And as they got closer, Gohan doubted the others could pick it up, but his overly sensitive Saiyan nose could smell a combination of pizza, chocolate, and pop, and a few other scents he couldn't quite distinguish.

The second they were inside, Erasa grabbed Videl and pulled her down the hallway to the girl's bathroom so they could change out of their formal dresses and into jeans and things. This left Gohan and Sharpner to do the same, only in the men's room.

"So, Brains," Sharpner said casually while they were changing, "where've ya been? You haven't been at school for, what, a month now? Something like that."

Gohan glanced over his shoulder; the blonde jock wasn't really paying any attention to him. Sharpner was too busy admiring his "physique" in the mirror to look at his classmate. So he didn't notice that Gohan had gone a shade lighter. The demi-Saiyan debated for a moment, then grinned.

"My little brother gathered these seven magical rocks. When he got them together, a dragon came out of them and said it would grant him two wishes. He used the first wish to wish that I was seven years old again. So since I was just a kid again, my mom decided to keep me at home until we can get the seven magic rocks again in four months and wish me back to normal."

Sharpner burst out laughing, telling Gohan that he had been very correct in assuming that the truth wouldn't be believed. "That's a good one. No, seriously, where've you been?"

Gohan smirked. "Family issues. That's all I'll say."

Surprisingly, the jock didn't press the issue. They gathered their formalwear (most of which ended up being shoved into the bottom of a gym back and thrown over a shoulder with absolutely no regard for wrinkles) and meandered back out into the hallway. A few minutes later, the girls also emerged.

"Are we ready?" Erasa bubbled. She was wearing denim shorts and her favorite green tube top. "Don't forget about the hypnotist!"

Gohan shot a quizzical look at Videl.

"There's a hypnotist who's gonna do a show for us," Videl answered the unspoken question. "I don't know much about it, but I've heard that it's fantastic."

"We've got a little time before the show starts. Let's eat!" Sharpner declared, pointing towards a sign that said 'Dining Room.'

A few dozen slices of pizza and about twenty Mountain Dews later, the four teens emerged with full stomachs and caffeine highs. Erasa actually had the shakes, which the others (who were wired like none other) found extremely funny. They wandered into the gymnasium, where about twenty-five folding chairs were set up at the front of the room; a large number of students had already taken seats on the floor, waiting in eager anticipation to watch what they were sure would be an amazing show.

About ten minutes after they sat down, a young blonde man in a bright red shirt walked up to the front of the room and picked up a microphone. "All right, let's get started!"

A chorus of cheers met his announcement.

"My name is David, and tonight, we're going to hypnotize a few of you. But first, we're going to do a little test," he said cheerfully. He proceeded to instruct them—they were to hold their hands out in front of them and focus on join them together. Then, at his command, they would find themselves unable to pull their hands apart. Finally, he stopped talking for a second, and said, "All right, open your eyes. If your hands are stuck together, stand up."

Erasa's hands broke apart easily. "Aww," she pouted.

Likewise, it took no effort for Sharpner to separate his hands. "Damn," he muttered angrily, though he wasn't quite sure if he should be angry or not.

But on the other side of the coin, Videl was in a rather unpleasant situation. Her hands would simply not come apart. Not at all. And it seemed like the more she tried, the harder it became. Considering her nature, she did NOT like this at all. Not being able to control something as simple as her hands was definitely at the bottom of the spectrum of likeable things. Someone grudgingly, she stood up and was appointed to a chair on the stage.

And Gohan was in the same boat. If Vegeta had been able to see, he would have laughed; one of the strongest beings alive, the son of his sworn rival, could not pull his clasped hands apart. Not even Saiyan strength could stand up to the power of hypnotism. It was positively unnerving. But never one to disappoint, he stood up and was also directed to a chair, right beside Videl.

Moments later, the chairs were full; twenty-five high school students were standing there, receiving thunderous applause from their peers. Most weren't really focusing on the applause, though. Most were still struggling against the invisible bonds that seemed to be holding their hands together.

David grinned at the expressions on their faces. Then his eyes narrowed in on Videl, and he walked over to her. "Young lady, do me a favor, please. Hold your arms straight out."

She complied, a little suspiciously. He took hold of her hands. "Now, focus on the sound of my voice. One…" he began moving her arms in a wide circle, "…two…three…sleep!" When he said 'sleep,' he touched her forehead, and caught her as she fell. He laid her down on the ground, where she didn't move. The mighty Satan Videl was completely unconscious on the floor.

The assembly gasped at this turn of events. This was definitely not what they had expected.

A second later, another girl joined Videl in slumber on the wooden floor, but the audience was too busy jabbering in amazement to even really notice.

He touched both of their foreheads, and said, "When I tell you to, you will wake up. You will be more relaxed then you've ever been in your whole life, and you will be very cheerful. Wake up!"

Two pairs of eyes snapped open. Videl's focused in on the hypnotist immediately, and a wide smile crossed her face. "Hi!"

"Hello," he grinned. "What's your name?"

"Videl."

"Well, Videl, can I help you up?" he offered her his hand, but she soon discovered that her fingers were still locked together. "Oh, you can all go ahead and pull your hands apart."

All twenty-five of the victims were suddenly able to yank their hands apart. Most rubbed their now-aching knuckles while they watched Videl and the other girl stand up and retake their places. By now, Gohan looked more than a little panicked. What had he gotten himself into?

But the show went on, and within a few minutes, David had managed to put everyone in the chairs on stage under his spell. They were all leaning against each other, eyes closed and breathing even, giving every appearance of being sound asleep. After all, they had been told to focus on the hypnotist's voice, and his voice had told them to be completely relaxed.

For their first experience under hypnosis, they were instructed to be driving a Mercedes in their favorite color. All of them had their hands poised in the air as though they were holding a steering wheel. They followed the hypnotist's instructions, from the air conditioning breaking and making the air unbearably cold, to driving to the beach, where they saw a really old fat guy in a thong bending over (the facial expressions were absolutely priceless at that point). Along the way, they managed to flip off a cop as well. The assembly of students and teachers were in stitches. Then they were knocked out again, leaning quite comfortably on each other's shoulders.

"All right, you are all five years old again, and you are students in my kindergarten class," the young blonde man said into the microphone so that everyone could hear him. He was pacing back and forth in front of his assembled victims, grinning from ear to ear. "When I'm looking at you, you are good little boys and girls, but when my back is turned, you are naughty children, and if I catch you, you'll have extra homework and no recess. But you are energetic children, eager to make me happy. Also, when I ask you to say the alphabet, you won't be able to remember anything after the letter L. When you reach the letter L, your mind will go completely blank. And when I ask you to count to ten, the number six will no longer exist. You will go straight from five to seven. Now…wake up!"

Everyone's eyes opened, and they all sat up. Their demeanors had completely changed, from a small group of high school students enjoying their after prom party to a class of eager first graders, paying studious attention to their "teacher."

He paced back and forth in front of them, asking them if they'd done their homework and such. When he was looking at them, they were obedient little children. But the minute he passed by and his back was turned, they began making faces at him and each other and other minor troublemaking.

"Now, children," he said, "we're going to say our ABC's. All together now!"

Like good little children, they began reciting. "…H, I, J, K, L…" Everyone stopped in perfect unison and stared blankly ahead. The laughter washed over them, but they didn't really seem to notice.

"I'm disappointed. I thought you said you did your homework," the hypnotist scolded gently. "But we'll move on. Now we're going to practice our counting. Let's count the fingers on our right hand, first." They complied. "Now our left hand." In both cases, they came up with five. "What is five plus five?"

"Ten!" they all replied enthusiastically.

"All right, let's count all our fingers together."

"One, two, three, four, five," they counted on one hand and then turned to the other, "seven, eight, nine, ten." Then everyone's faces went blank as they stared at their extra pinky.

Videl tilted her head to one side for a second before calling out, "Eleven!" The audience roared at the sudden stupidity of their resident hero.

"Maybe we should try it again," David suggested. "Let's go one hand at a time."

"One, two, three, four, five," they all counted the fingers on their left hands obediently.

"Now the other one."

Most of them got five again, but Son Gohan suddenly jumped up, like someone had set a firecracker off under his chair. "I have eleven fingers on one hand!" he screamed, staring at his left hand in panic. This sent all of his classmates into uncontrollable laughter. This was the smartest guy in the school, the resident genius, the guy who aced his entrance exams? It was just too much!

After calming Gohan down, the show went on. Everyone was put back into the hypnotic slumber, and started leaning on each other again. David then told them, "Now we're going to play a game. We're going to play Jeopardy. The prize is one million zenni. I'm going to ask each of you a question, but when you have to say the answer, it will fly from your mind. Your mind will go completely blank, and the harder you try to think of the answer, the further away it will get. Awake!"

Everyone stood up. The hypnotist walked up to the first person in the line, a guy from one of Gohan's classes named Mark. "All right, young man. Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir!" Mark replied confidently.

"You think you can answer the question?"

"I sure can."

"Okay," David said. "What is your first name?" He then held the microphone up so that whatever the kid said next would be broadcast for all to hear.

The teenager opened his mouth…and froze.

After a few seconds, David smiled. "Oh, too bad."

He went down the line, and it was the same with each of the twenty-five victims. The reactions differed slightly, though. For example, Videl actually said, "Oh, shit," when she realized she couldn't remember. After Gohan's turn, he ran down to the end of the line to get another turn, and ended up getting into a shoving match with a couple of the other people.

It went downhill from there. At one point, Videl was hypnotized into believing she was American singer Britney Spears, and started dancing and singing. Some other guys became a boy band.

But probably the best stunt of the night was one of Gohan's. The hypnotist walked up to him while he was 'asleep' and put a small orange lifejacket around his neck, the kind of thing used for small children who are just learning to swim. He also hung something else around the demi-Saiyan's neck, and said, "When I say the word 'safety, you will…" he then leaned in and whispered the rest of the instructions right into Gohan's ear, so that no one else could hear what Gohan would do when the word 'safety' was uttered.

A few minutes after this, the hypnotist said to the audience, "Well, I noticed when I was coming in that the security here is pretty tight. They must be concerned about…safety!"

At the sound of the word, Gohan jumped to his feet, looking furious. He blew long and hard into a whistle that had been placed around his neck, stormed forward, and glared at everyone before bellowing, "Quit peeing in the pool!!!" Then he turned and stalked back to his chair, where he sat and stared menacingly at everyone watching, just daring them to try and cross him.

Everyone nearly died laughing at that. And unfortunately for our favorite demi-Saiyan, he was forced to repeat the exercise a few more times. The third time, the hypnotist said, "It's disgusting, isn't it? And they just won't stop, will they?"

"Yeah, it's gross!" Gohan yelled. "I'm gonna kick 'em out if they don't knock it off!"

"You're a very good lifeguard, son," David said. "What's your name?"

Gohan opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. A look of confusion replaced the angry expression on his face, and he sat down, scratching his head.

Another girl, Penny, suffered a similar fate as Gohan. She was told that when she heard the word 'roadrunner,' she would run around the gym, yelling "Beep beep!" And another girl, one that wasn't in any of Gohan's classes, had to skip around the room like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz when she heard the word 'Toto.' Similarly, when asked, they still couldn't remember their own first names.

It continued. The last stunt of the night was when they all had to mimic the actions of a doll in the hypnotist's hands. When he moved the doll's left arm, everyone on the stage moved their left arm.

When the twenty-five in the chairs woke up, it was to thunderous applause, cheers, and extreme laughter. They took their bows, but all were looking at each other with expressions that clearly read, "What the hell happened?" None of them remembered a thing of the last two hours of their lives. All they knew was that whatever they had done had to have been embarassing, judging by the reactions of their peers.

*~*~*~*

The after-prom party had finally adjourned, and the upperclassmen of Orange Star High School flooded out into the parking lot, all but drowning themselves in laughter. The victims of the hypnotist—Gohan and Videl included—were more than a little confused. They didn't remember much, if anything, of their exploits on stage, which made it all the more hilarious to fill them in.

"Gohan, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life!" Sharpner laughed, much to the demi-Saiyan's chargrin. He was referring to when he had gotten up and performed the 'I'm a Little Teapot' song, complete with dance, while he had been convinced that he was five years old and couldn't say his alphabet. Still, he had reasoned that the jock's reaction and teasing could have been a whole lot worse; Erasa was laughing so hard she couldn't even speak.

"I really don't want to go home yet," Gohan commented as they climbed into the limo for about the millionth time that night. He'd been spending way too much time at home anyway. In spite of all the fun he'd been having reliving the lost days of his childhood, this was better. He missed hanging out with his friends from school, crazy and ditzy as they could be.

To his surprise, his offhanded interjection was met with extreme enthusiasm, and it was quickly decided that they were going to go someplace else for a while. It was a pleasantly comfortable evening, a clear night with a beautiful moon (AN: The moon's back, just so everyone knows. Why? Because I'm the author and I said so!) and millions of stars. All in all, they agreed, it was a perfect night for a relaxing walk along the river in the park.

In fairly short order, the group of teenagers once again climbed out of the limo and into the fresh, cool night air.

Almost immediately, the two blondes ran off by themselves. Gohan decided he really did NOT want to know what they were doing. And in his opinion, this was actually not a bad arrangement, when he looked at the bigger picture.

He looked down at Videl; she looked right back up at him. "Wanna go for a walk?" she asked, suddenly feeling a little shy. Gohan nodded, and without another word they began walking slowly along the path that followed the river's course.

For a while, they were quiet, simply drinking in the beauty and perfection of the night. Suddenly, Gohan felt a little bolder than usual, and he reached out a hand, searching for hers; to his surprise, her hand was already seeking his, and their fingers interlocked in a perfect fit.

The lingered in the peaceful silence for a moment more, reveling in the night and the miracle that they were actually there together at all.

Finally, Videl broke the silence to ask something that had kind of been bothering her. "So…where exactly did you get the tux?" It wasn't exactly the most romantic question—or whatever—but she was quite curious, considering the circumstances.

"Bulma," Gohan chuckled in reply. "There are definite perks to knowing one of the most influential people alive, and being able to get a formal tux that fits is but one of them."

She laughed. "Makes sense."

The had wandered onto a small footbridge that crossed the river, a neat little structure under a natural canopy of tree branches. Water flowing beneath it provided gentle background music.

It was on the bridge that Videl suddenly stopped walking. Gohan took a few more steps before he noticed and also came to a halt. He half-turned to look at her, still holding her hand.

"What's up?" he asked softly.

But her eyes were cast upwards towards the sky. "Looking."

He followed her gaze. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Hmm…" she murmured in agreement. "When I was a kid, I always used to think the sky was a big city, and all the stars were people who lived in the city, and the moon was the leader. But then the moon disappeared, so I decided that the leader had gone away for a while." A slight blush tinted her cheeks. "Pretty silly, huh?"

"Not at all," Gohan replied, smiling as he remembered that Piccolo had been the one to make the moon-leader 'go away.' He also remembered the day that they had wished the moon back. But his mind was logging away the notion of the sky-city and star-people as a possible future bedtime story for Goten. That kid would just love this! "It's a really cute idea. But I actually know what happened to the moon—"

"Gohan, look!" Videl cried suddenly, interrupting him; she was pointing excitedly at the sky with her free hand.

His eyes flew to the heavens, and widened in awe. "Wow…"

A shooting star streaked across the velvety blue-black sky. The tail that flew in its wake almost looked like a rainbow, trailing along behind it.

Videl's eyes didn't leave the sky until she felt a tug on her hand, pulling her gently along. She didn't resist the pull.

"Are you going to make a wish?" Gohan whispered. He was standing close, and his proximity when he spoke combined with the soft voice he had used to send a chill down her spine.

She closed her eyes tightly and wished with all her might…after a minute, she relaxed.

"Man, you must have wished for something big. What did you wish for?" Gohan queried, his voice reflecting amusement at the fervency with which she had made her wish.

"Uh-uh," she shook her head. "Can't tell. It won't come true."

"Aw, you're no fun."

"I don't have to be fun."

As she spoke, she turned a little, and her eyes locked with his. They both froze.

It happened slowly. They both moved forward, inch by agonizing inch, until finally, for a brief second, their lips met in a featherlike touch. They broke apart for only an instant before going in for a second, less tentative try. Her arms snaked their way around his neck, while his hands found their way to her back. (AN: You perverts, I know what you're thinking, and no.)

When they seperated again, this time after a little longer time, an awkward silence descended with an audible thunk as they both looked everywhere but at each other, faces burning.

Then Videl heard a dry chuckle. "You know," Gohan said, "after I got off the phone with you, my back started hurting really bad. It felt like someone was kicking me. I thought my tail was growing back! But then the pain stopped and I opened my eyes and suddenly, voila, I'm me again! I wish I knew exactly how it happened, though…"

The awkwardness gone, Videl leaned happily into a simple hug. Considering how badly it had started, this had truly turned into a wonderful night…

Her eyes snapped open, and she pulled away from the embrace far enough to look up at Gohan with one eyebrow quirked in curiousity. He'd said something that was just too weird for her to ignore.

"Tail?"

*~*~*~*

"I'd really like to know how you pulled that one off, Yemma," Baba commented wryly, observing the wonderfully romantic scene in her crystal ball.

"You have to know the right people," the giant replied before turning his full attention to the other person sitting on his desk for this viewing experience. "Well? What do you think, Goku?"

The Saiyan was smiling happily. "I owe you big time for this one."

"Damn straight!" Yemma boomed, though he didn't really mean it. After all that Goku had done for him, the Earth, and the Otherworld, helping Gohan out of some very unfortunately circumstances was really the least he and the other powers of the afterlife could do.

"Is her permanently back to normal?" Goku asked.

"No. It's just for tonight. He'll change back as soon as he falls asleep," Yemma shook his head in answer to the question. "I'd love to see the look on his face when he wakes up."

"Gohan is Cinderella!" Goku laughed. Then he sobered a little. "But look at that. My son's all grown up and has a girlfriend…geez, I've missed everything, haven't I?" He watched Gohan and Videl walking for a few more seconds, then grinned up at the giant in the purple suit. "Thanks, Yemma. I really owe ya one. This was great."

*~*~*~*

The digital clock showed the time as being well after one o'clock in the afternoon. Sunlight was pouring in through the window like a golden waterfall. It finally managed to fall across the face of a person  sound asleep in the bed.

Now, this person did not take kindly to having such bright light in his eyes after such a long night. And after he had even take special care to try and position himself so this very thing wouldn't happen. All in all, it was just plain irritating. And now he was awake, much as he didn't want to be.

After quite some time of wrestling to block out the accursed brightness, he finally gave up. It just wasn't worth it, and he was wide awake, anyway. Groaning in protest at this violation of his slumber, Gohan flung the covers off and sat up, rubbing at his eyes sleepily.

Then he noticed his hands. They were small again.

Suddenly, he wasn't sleepy anymore. Not at all.

He jumped out of bed—getting tangled in the blankets in the process and ending up sprawled face down on his bedroom floor—and scrambled out of the jumbled bedclothes and across the room. A glance in the mirror confirmed his worst—and most confusing—fear.

He had been chibified!

…again.

But…how?

Finally, Gohan decided he really didn't care. He was hungry, and at the moment, that was a much more pressing issue than how he had gone from a seven year old to an eighteen year old and back to a seven year old. When you're seven, even with an eighteen year old's mind, abstract thought and reasoning takes a very poor second to the call of your stomach.

A brief dig through his closet produced a clean gi of the appropriate size (and another glance in the mirror proved that his hair was still in the multi-directional spikes, rather than the Kami-awful moptop). Once properly attired, he opened his bedroom door and walked down to the kitchen.

Unfortunately, just as he stepped into the room, it occurred to him that perhaps his mother and brother wouldn't take this turn of events as easily as he had. And that might be a problem.

But it was too late. His mother had heard him come in with a mother's oversensitive ears (or perhaps she had just seen him with the eyes in the back of her head), and she turned to greet her older son.

Her older son, who was once again the same size as her younger son.

And Goten chose that moment to come into the kitchen, searching for his post midmorning snack pre-lunch treat. He, too, froze at the sight of his brother standing in the doorway.

"Go…han…" ChiChi stuttered, holding up the frying pan she had been washing; it was dripping soapy water onto her nice clean floor, a crime Gohan himself had been thwacked for a few times. But she didn't seem to notice the small mess.

Then the pan fell from her hand with a clatter that made Gohan's Saiyan ears ring, and without another sound, her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out, landing flat on her back on the floor.

Goten looked at his brother, then looked at his now-unconscious mother; then he looked back at his brother and cocked his head to one side as if thinking something over for a minute. Then he frowned darkly and put his hands on his hips in a near-perfect imitation of their mother in a bad mood. "Oh, for crying out loud, would you make up your mind already?!?"

AN: Okay, that was my sappy, lovey-dovey G/V chapter. But no more! Ta-da, the prom crisis has been solved, and I still have a story, so it works out well for everyone. And besides, I knew this would turn into an obscenely long chapter—actually, the longest single chapter I've ever posted. Yay! But I was amazed. NOBODY who reviewed the last chapter guessed. Or if they did, they didn't say so. You guys know I'm a sucker for a happy ending!

The hypnotist thing was actually based off what happened at my after-prom party. Truthfully, I was one of the people on the stage, and I can't remember a damn thing except for counting. I know what happened, though, because after the party I went to Perkin's with my friends (at about five-thirty AM) for breakfast, and they told me the whole thing about five times. So yeah, I know what I did. Apparently, I do a very good impression of John Travolta's dancing from Saturday Night Fever. *sweatdrops*

I'm giving in to pressure and starting a mailing list. If you want me to email you when I post the next chapter, let me know in a review or an email or whatever. But if you say so in a review, pretty please INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDY IN THE REVIEW!!!!!

Next time, on "Once Upon a Chibi," Gohan's back to his chibified self, and he's decided that once again, things have gotten a little too peaceful around Capsule Corporation. Vegeta had better watch out!!! Oh, and the Voice of Doom will be coming back. Eventually.