The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret

--"How About One That EXCLUDED Telling Your Relatives?!"--

Bra wasn't really in the mood for school today. Her body was still in pain, her muscles were sore and her eyes had begun to ache now for reasons beyond her understanding. Everything from the night before came back to her in a wallscroll of events.

Goten had been so willing to stick around after she and her father fought last night. It was a dangerous thing to do, considering her father never liked the man AND she and her father decided that if she lost against him, she was to never see Goten again. But there he was. And it was pretty obvious that he was concerned about her well-being. It made her heart flutter to know that he was there to watch over her.

Man, she really was turning into one of those romance-ridden high-strung teen pop-fruit bubblegum girls that she hated so much. That was probably one of the reasons she was unable to even hold a candle to her father. She was getting weak. She wasn't training like she should have been.

Bra made her way to the kitchen where her mother sat at the table, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Morning, honey," Bulma greeted. "How are you feeling?"

Did she really want to answer that? Should she be honest and let her mother know that she ached from head to toe? Or should she lie and tell her mother that she was feeling fine?

"Hey, Mom. Is Dad back yet?" Bra asked. Changing the subject was a sure-fire way to avoid answering questions she didn't want to answer.

Bulma shook her head. "You knew he left?"

Bra nodded. "I heard you two arguing when I woke up last night."

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry you had to wake up to that," Bulma apologized. "I have no idea where he goes when he does that. He'll probably be back tonight." She sighed.

Bra could tell that her mother was worried. Why she would be worried about one of the strongest fighters in the universe, Bra wasn't sure. She sometimes found herself worrying about Goten when it was completely unnecessary. Must have been a part of the 'love' thing. Her mother would probably be happy if Bra asked her about the whole 'love' thing. Of course, her mother would probably prattle on and on about it, but it would definitely brighten her day.

"Mom..., I think I'm in love...," Bra announced.

Bulma looked at Bra and smiled that warm, sweet smile that mothers do when they find out that their daughters have just been proposed to or that their daughters are going to have babies. This was really the last thing Bra wanted to get into right before going to school. But if it made her mother happy....

"This is wonderful, dear," Bulma said. "And that Goten is a real keeper too."

Bra rolled her eyes.

"I could tell that when you were younger you had a little crush on him, but I thought you grew out of it and that you two had just become good friends," Bulma recalled. "I never really thought about it after that. You've always liked him, haven't you?"

Bra blushed a little and nodded.

"Yeah. I remember when I first fell in love. I was about your age," Bulma reminisced. She started babbling about how she first went out hunting for the Dragon balls and how she met Yamcha. All the stuff that usually bored the crap outta poor Bra. She'd heard the story a million times. Then her mother started talking about when she fell for Vegeta. Yet another story she'd heard a million times. It wasn't that she had no interest in hearing how her mother fell in love with her father. (It was a subject that often puzzled her. As a matter of fact, it made her wonder how their relationship worked in the first place, having the attitudes that they both had. And how on earth they were still together NOW was beyond her as well.) It was just that Bra had heard the tales so many times that she had them memorized.

"....As you can probably guess, my father wasn't the biggest fan of Vegeta," Bulma babbled on. "He never liked the idea of me seeing him. But he had to understand that I couldn't live my life the way that HE wanted me to live it. I had to live it the way that made ME happy. It took a long time for your grandfather to understand that, but eventually it got through to him."

"Hmph. Not exactly the same situation. Grandpa was nowhere near as strong as Dad," Bra reminded her. "Dad could have crushed Grandpa in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. That's probably why he came around. In MY case, Dad could destroy Goten if he wanted to. And my dad doesn't have a pleasant attitude like your dad."

Bulma laughed sardonically. "Believe me, sweetheart, I know the situation. And sometimes it's hard to tell what your father's next move will be. We just have to hope for the best. In the meantime, I'll take responsibility for you two being together."

Bra looked at her mother strangely. She wondered if her grandmother had done the same for her mother while she was with Vegeta. It was a shame really. Bulma was a grown woman by the time she met Vegeta, yet Bulma's father still expressed his dislike for their relationship. It just goes to show that no matter what the age, a girl's father would still have his say in her choice of men.

--at school--

Bra walked into the classroom. Goten wasn't there writing on the board like he usually was by this time of the morning. There was actually only one person in the classroom before she was. And that one person was Pan.

Pan. The villain in all of this. She'd been the one to cause all of these problems. Had she not opened her big mouth, none of this would have ever happened. She went over and stood in front of Pan's desk.

"Good morning, Bra," Pan greeted cheerfully.

An angry look crept up on Bra's face. "Don't give me that 'good morning' crap. You can't hold water."

Pan looked up at her. "What are you talking about?"

Bra frowned. Was this girl feigning idiocy or what? "You KNOW what I'm talking about. Why'd you tell everyone about Goten and me?"

"Oh, that. Well, let me explain," Pan said.

"Alright. Explain. I wanna hear this," Bra told her, folding her arms across her chest.

"It's like this," Pan began. "I was walking by to see if my uncle was going somewhere for lunch and to see if I could tag along. Well, when I got to the classroom, guess what I saw. You two in there lip-locking like your lives depended on it."

Bra rolled her eyes.

"I was really happy for you," Pan continued. "I couldn't keep that kind of information to myself. So, it was either tell someone at the school, which would have gotten both of you into some major trouble, or tell my family. I couldn't think of another way to deal with such good news. What other option did I have?"

"How about one that EXCLUDED telling your relatives?!" Bra shouted. "You have no idea what you just put us through!"

"Put you through? What are you talking about?" Pan asked.

Bra sighed. "YOUR grandfather told MY father."

Pan cringed. "Ooooo.... Not good."

"Yeah, I said that too," Bra said. "Trunks and I had to chase my dad down to keep him from pulverizing Goten. Then I had to fight him to determine whether we'd get his blessing or we'd never see each other again. I lost. Now, if my dad catches us together, it's lights out for Goten."

"YOU fought your dad? How did that end up happening?" Pan asked.

Just like a Son. They pay attention when it's about fighting, then ignore the rest. The fight wasn't the important part of what she was saying.

Bra thought for a minute. None of this would have been happening now if it hadn't been for Pan, yet she was telling her everything that had happened. With what went on in the last day, she shouldn't tell Pan anything. Of course, now it was too late to turn back. She'd already told her all of the major stuff. The hunt, the fight, the loss. Everything. Of course, there was nothing to fear in her telling THIS bit of information. All the real damage had already been done. So she should just let bygones be bygones and let the good times roll on. Right?

No! That wasn't right. Bra was still in hot water if Pan told anyone that she was still seeing Goten behind her father's back. It would be the resurrection of the madman by the name of Vegeta.

"Pan, listen to what I have to say. We're friends. And one friend isn't supposed to put another friend in harm's way. Am I right?" Bra began.

Pan nodded.

"Well, by telling your parents and grandparents, you put not only me but your uncle in harm's way," Bra continued.

"Bra, you don't understand," Pan started.

Some students were finally entering the classroom. Still no Goten. What was his deal today? Why was he later than usual?

"My parents already told me that you two liked each other. And in a way, I already knew. I just couldn't be too sure," Pan said. "I've been trying to find out by regular means, but you've never given me a straight answer. So when I found out that everyone's been right about it, I HAD to at least tell my parents. It's not my fault that my granddad over-heard, then went off and told your dad."

Blah, blah, blah. Yapping away. Bra had never cared for it. She never cared for excuses either.

"What do you care anyway? You're still gonna keep seeing him. You have a tendency to rebel and this is no different," Pan told her. "As a matter of fact, you probably think it'll be more exciting to see him if your father forbids it."

Pan had a point. She WAS a rebel by nature. And she DID get a certain kick out of doing something she knew she wasn't supposed to do. Since when did Pan get to know her so well?

"You don't seem to understand what I'm trying to say to you," Bra sighed. "I NEEDED for you to keep what happened yesterday to yourself--"

"I didn't KNOW that," Pan interrupted. "How was I supposed to know that you didn't want anyone to know?"

"Any moron could have guessed that we didn't want anyone to know something like that,"

Bra argued. "You should have talked to me about it first."

"Yeah right! What good would that have done? You never wanna talk to anyone about anything," Pan said. "I've tried on so many occasions it makes my head hurt to think about it."

Once again, Pan had a point. Bra had a record of not talking about certain things. But, it still didn't give Pan the right to do what she did. There was no way to justify the injustice that was done. Then again, there was no way to go back and correct the mistake that had been made. All of this arguing was futile.

Bra sighed. "Okay, I'll admit that I should have told you how I felt about him when you asked. But you have to admit that it was wrong for you to go around telling everyone what happened between us."

"Fine. I'm sorry for spilling my guts," Pan said. "I shouldn't have--"

Bra interrupted her. "And I DO want something in return, since you caused so many problems for us."

Pan raised an eyebrow.

"Any time I need for you to help us out of a jam or any time I need a witness or an alibi, you're my patsy. Got it?" Bra asked.

"You want me to be your fall guy?" Pan questioned.

Bra nodded. "Exactly. And not just for me, but for--" She looked around the room at all the students who had shown up for class now. She couldn't just announce who she was talking about in front of all of the other students. "--'him' too...." There was no telling who had been listening to their conversation. She couldn't risk other students finding out about this whole affair.

"It's the least I can do, I guess," Pan told her. "I owe you that much." She smiled mischievously. "I told Marron that you had a thing for him."

"You WHAT?!!" Bra asked. That was really the last thing she needed. To hear about all of this from Marron of all people.

--End "How About One That EXCLUDED Telling Your Relatives?!"--

--Pan's nothing more than a little gossiping rat! Who would have guessed it?

--Oh! Hello, again. Sorry I'm late coming out with this episode. I've had some things going on, but I hope they're all taken care of now. And I also hope you enjoyed reading this episode of Versus 2. Most of you probably thought this story would be over by now, but there are still a lot of issues that haven't been covered. So, we've got a while to go. I hope we can make it to the end.

--Thanks for all the past reviews. And once again, I'm really sorry about the long wait on this chapter. Hopefully I will get the next one out in a more timely fashion.