A/N: I do not own DBZ, its characters or settings. Anything new is mine. Thanks to Meilin76, Trunks-lover5 and Smack54 for their reviews!

Lorian was up early the next morning, getting ready. She had no idea what a Zoo was, but she didn't think it sounded like a formal place, so she dressed casually in khaki shorts and a comfortable short sleeve shirt. Because she had been so hot yesterday, she decided to wear her hair up and threw it into a ponytail.

She wandered out into her living room and turned on the T.V., her thoughts on the events of the previous day and Goten. He was such a wonderful man, prone to laughter and very kind. And he was rather handsome. He certainly kissed well, although truthfully she didn't have that much experience in the matter, so she couldn't be sure.

When Lorian had decided to come down to Earth's surface, she had never given much thought to dating anyone. It had seemed too complicated to even consider, seeing as how she'd have a whole side to her life she had to keep hidden. But Goten was so very sweet, and she had such fun with him, that she decided she would spend time with him and see where things went.

She turned her attention back to the T.V. as some very melodramatic music blared out, announcing the start of some show called "Days of Our Lives."

Goten had a much more restless night then Lorian. He had dated before, several times, and some of the relationships had been quite serious. He had never felt half as drawn to those women as he did to Lorian, and he couldn't say why, considering he'd only known her for a day. The attraction he felt to her was almost elemental, something he didn't understand and probably should have been wary of but chose to ignore instead.

He was on his way home when he realized he was starving, so he stopped at his mom's house and raided the fridge. He was careful to be quiet, not wanting to answer any questions about his date. He knew how determined his mother could be when she wanted answers, after all. He ate in record time and then went home.

He had just floated into his apartment, his stomach full and his mind dancing with thoughts of Lorian, when a familiar voice sharply retorted, "Well, I'm so glad I took off from work early so I could sit in your apartment and wait for you to show."

Goten's head whipped around and there, on the couch, was Trunks. His eyes widened as he recalled inviting Trunks to go out. "Hey man, I'm sorry. I completely forgot we were supposed to go out."

"So I gathered," Trunks replied in his cool, sarcastic voice. "Did something come up at your mom's house?"

Goten knew what Trunks meant, his friend was asking if there had been some sort of trouble at his mother's because Trunks knew Goten wasn't completely welcome there anymore. He quickly shook his head. "No, everything went fine."

Trunks frowned at him. "Then why are you late?"

Goten nervously shifted from one foot to the next, a sheepish expression on his face. Trunks took one look at his face and heaved a sigh.

"Let me guess, it was a girl," Trunks answered his own question.

Goten gave a guilty laugh. "Yeah, it was."

Goten didn't have to say it, Trunks knew him too well, they had been friends since childhood and were so close they could read each other's minds at times.

Trunks slanted him a look and said, "I don't know whether to be annoyed with you or not. Standing me up for some girl."

Goten's normally friendly face abruptly changed, turning tense and almost irritable. "Look, I said was sorry."

Trunks immediately surmised this girl was not just some girl. Had Goten run into an ex? Was that the reason for his defensive air?

"Fine, but tell me, who did you run into?"

Goten heard and recognized the curious tone in Trunks' voice, and while he wasn't sure he wanted to discuss Lorian with anyone yet, he did feel as if he owed his friend some sort of explanation. "Someone you wouldn't know."

Trunks tilted his head to the side. Someone new, then? And Goten hadn't told him about her? How odd, and unprecedented.

"Will I be getting to know her?"

It was more a question of whether or not Goten thought he might get serious with this girl, and they both knew it.

Goten gave a slight shrug. "I don't know."

Trunks noted his friend's anxious state and decided to drop things for the moment. "Fine, let's just consider her forgotten for the moment. How about we go out and try to find a party or two?"

Goten gave a nervous cough. "Uh, I can't."

Trunks leaned back on the couch in surprise. "Why not?"

The two Saiyans often went out until dawn when they decided to go out on the town.

"I have a date tomorrow."

The way he said it told Trunks it was a date with this new girl. Trunks abruptly rose to his feet and said, "Well then, get some sleep."

He headed for the door, wondering who this girl was and how things had gotten so serious with her so quickly.

Goten said, "Thanks for understanding."

It was another apology, and Trunks just waved it off, even though he was highly annoyed and infinitely curious. "Whatever."

He was out the door before Goten could say anything else. Goten debated chasing after him, but decided against it. He'd already apologized; the best thing to do now was to let Trunks cool off.

With a sigh, Goten had stalked into his bedroom and dropped onto his bed, thoughts of Lorian already replacing those of Trunks. He hadn't told her what time he'd pick her up tomorrow, he'd suddenly realized as he'd drifted off to sleep.

The next day Goten was up and ready to go before noon. He headed over to Lorian's, wishing he could ditch the car and fly but knowing he couldn't do that.

He practically ran up to her front door and then paused to compose himself before knocking.

Lorian was almost in a trance, staring at her T.V. in wide eyed wonder, when she heard the knock on the door. She gave a startled yelp and then raced over to the door.

"Hi Goten," she sniffled out, tears streaming down her face, doing nothing to diminish her beauty, at least not in his smitten eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, immediately concerned.

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just that Lily found out Jason two timed her with her cousin Anna, who is really her half sister that was sent to a mental institute after murdering their father," Lorian explained in a hurried rush.

Goten gazed at her blankly. "Um, okay."

"I'm ready to go," she assured him. "Is what I'm wearing acceptable for the zoo?"

Goten glanced down at her, still confused, but just shrugged and said, "You look fine."

Lorian smiled at him, grabbed her purse and said, "Let's go."

The ride to the Zoo was uneventful, but once they were inside, Lorian's reaction was not what Goten had expected it to be. She took one look at the animals on display and frowned.

"What's going on here?"

Goten glanced over at her and saw the frown on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Why are these creatures being held prisoner?" Lorian demanded as she marched up to the nearest cage and pointed at the birds inside.

Goten chuckled. "They're not being held prisoner."

"I doubt they'd agree with you," she primly replied, gazing at the lovely parrots with sad eyes.

Goten shifted then, not wanting her to be upset. "Well, they've probably lived this way their whole lives. They don't know anything else."

His words had been meant to comfort, but Lorian's expression became even more horrified. "You mean they are imprisoned from birth?"

Not knowing how to explain such a simple matter to her, since it was obvious she knew nothing of zoos just as she'd known nothing of malls, Goten nodded. "Sort of."

"How terrible," Lorian whispered, her heart aching in sympathy for the confined animals.

She had spent her entire life in confinement, kept under the watchful eye of her father and his servants. She knew very well how it felt to have no freedom. Tears came to her eyes as she glanced at the man she had regarded as kind only moments before.

"And you find this entertaining?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Goten suddenly felt like a complete ass, even though he hadn't done anything wrong. "Look, it's not like that."

Lorian walked away from him before he had a chance to finish explaining. She could tell by the way his voice had softened that he was not deliberately cruel, he was only thoughtless. Apparently it was acceptable in this culture to lock up wild beasts, but it was not acceptable to her.

As she paused in front of the next cage, four sets of curious, bright eyes met hers. The Japanese Macaques had brilliant red faces and furry gray bodies, but they reminded her too much of things from her past. Without warning, she leaned forward and wrenched the cage open with her inhuman strength.

"Run, little ones, run," she cried.

The monkeys jumped out and indeed ran…to the first person who was holding food. They swarmed over a hapless man holding a box of popcorn, wrestling it from his grasp and bickering over the stolen food among themselves.

Goten, who had been staring at the scene in wide eyed disbelief, came rushing over to Lorian. She ignored him, staring at the monkeys in surprise. "Run, you fools!"

A crowd had started to gather, watching the monkeys leap from table to table in search of more people food, and several people were pointing in Goten and Lorian's direction, obviously aware who was responsible for the animals' escape. Great, they were probably going to get banned from the zoo, Goten thought as he hovered over Lorian to protect her from the playful primates.

"What are you doing? You can't let the animals out of their cages!"

"But they are being held captive against their will," Lorian protested. "It's cruel!"

Goten heaved an exasperated sigh. "It might look that way, but trust me, these animals are better off in captivity."

Lorian thought back over her own life, her gilded cage at Maidejai, and disagreed. "No, confinement is never right."

One monkey shrieked as it leaped up onto a food stand, sending bags of chips flying.

"Sometimes it is," Goten gently argued. "For instance, many animals are endangered in the wild. They are dying out, and the only way they can survive safely is in captivity."

Lorian considered his words as another monkey stole an ice cream cone from a child, causing the startled toddler to scream in anger. The monkeys weren't even trying to escape the zoo, she realized.

Just then, a zoo keeper arrived and began approaching the animals. One of them ran over to him and jumped up into his outstretched arms, shrieking in greeting.

"Perhaps you are right," she consented. "But I still don't like it."

Goten would have answered, but just then another zoo keeper began marching towards them.

"Hey, you two, did you release these animals?"

"Uh, time to go," Goten said, grabbing Lorian's hand.

Lorian frowned at the zoo keeper but before she had time to tell him she had indeed released the monkeys, Goten was running across the courtyard. The zoo keeper gave a shout and started to chase them, but Goten was too quick for him even with Lorian in tow, and the zoo keeper was soon left fading in the distance.

"Well, so much for the zoo," he grumbled to himself as they hastily made their way to his car.

Lorian sent him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry if I ruined our day."

Goten looked over at her, startled, and immediately sent her a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. You didn't ruin the day, you just gave me an unexpected...surprise. Why don't we go get something to eat?"

As he'd hoped, mention of food brought a smile to her face. "Oh, yes, let's go eat!"

Goten laughed at her eager expression and thought he just might be in love.