Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or GT, nor do I own their characters. (As if it weren't obvious.)

Author's Note: Hi! ^_^; ::waves meekly:: Okay, so I've been on a long hiatus (Word of the moment! O_O Scream REALLY loud if you spot it…), but here it is (finally): Chapter Two! ::plays a trumpet triumphantly, but suddenly wails off-key:: o_o;; There's some comedy- at least I hope you'll find it somewhat amusing- and some cute Paresu/Goten moments, so enjoy! Chapter three is in the works, and hopefully I'll get it out faster than I did this one. Oh, my Lord, I just realized it's been NINE months since I posted chapter one. O_O;;;;;;;

(P.S. I re-uploaded this chapter because of all the little errors… God, I HATE errors…. ::shudders:: And there are probably still more in there… O_O ::screams:: Hopefully there are spaces between the scene changes now. ~_~;)

Chapter Two: Reunion

Blue eyes peered from behind disheveled lavender hair at the screen. The flight from Satan City to West Capital was right on time, so he expected their guests to walk in through the gate within the next five minutes. He loosened his tie; he'd driven straight from the office to meet his family and girlfriend at the airport so they could be there to pick up their guests. He had wanted to change out of the aggravating tan suit and cramped shoes, but there had been no time.

"They're on time," Trunks said as he unbuttoned the top button on his shirt and turned to the others.

Marron's blue eyes shined as she clasped her hands together. "I can't wait to see them again! It's been so long!" She'd picked out a nice outfit to wear for the occasion: a long-sleeved, light pink blouse tucked into a black skirt that came down to mid-thigh, with flesh-colored hosiery and ebony boots that came up to the middles of her calves. She'd put her long blonde hair into low pigtails on either side of her head and worn her favorite rose-tinted hat.

"It's only been five months since we've seen the Sons," Bra pointed out, obviously less enthusiastic about the visitors. She was dressed more casually. Her aqua hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a white tank top and denim jeans that flared at the knee. Her white sneakers matched her shirt, as well as her ivory gothic gloves, which covered her arm nearly up to the shoulder and stretched across the back of her hand to loop around her middle finger. The gloves were Bra's own personal trademarks; she had them in just about every known shade of every color conceivable.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me that you're not happy to see them."

"It is nice to see them again, but I think you're just being a bit too excited about it." Of course, what Bra wanted to scream was, "Of course I'm not happy to see MY Goten with some dim-witted model!" She kept that thought hidden in her mind.

Marron winked and laughed. "Oh, I see. You're just trying to be all 'cool' and collected like your otousan, right?"

"Oh, Lord, no," Bulma said jokingly. "The last thing I need is another Saiyajin Prince to worry about." Her blue hair was pulled back into a tight bun, which had two brown hair chopsticks shoved through it. A silk evergreen blouse, with the top two buttons undone, covered her torso, a beige skirt fell almost to her knees, and her feet were clad in tan heels.

Vejita only rolled his eyes at the remark and maintained his usual silence. He wore a simple outfit of a long-sleeved navy blue shirt, brown slacks, and black shoes. As usual he stood with his arms crossed and scowled at everything around him with aware, critical sable eyes.

"Hey, Bra!" Marron said enthusiastically. "You, me, and Paresu should go shopping together."

"Yeah, sure!" Bra replied, trying to sound as thrilled as the blonde. After all, shopping was her favorite thing to do.

Marron frowned. "Are you okay? I thought you loved shopping."

"I do, but I… I'm just tired," Bra lied, faking a yawn.

Marron didn't believe the tired facade for a moment, but decided to leave Bra be.

"Attention," a calm, soft voice announced over the loudspeakers throughout the plane terminal. "Flight three-ninety-seven, Satan City to West Capital, had just arrived. Passengers will be entering the terminal shortly."

A few moments later the nearby double doors were opened and travelers dispersed to meet their families and friends. Soon the group saw Chi-Chi emerge from the line of people. The raven-haired mother of two hitched her carry-on bag more securely on her shoulder as her dark eyes scanned the people around her. After a moment her gaze flashed over her shoulder and she smiled at the couple who had come up beside her.

Bra's stomach turned when she saw the smiling Goten and Paresu. Goten looked absolutely fantastic (as usual) a snug maroon t-shirt tucked into loose-fitting denim jeans. To Bra's disappointment, however, his girlfriend looked as stunning as ever (which was also as usual, Paresu being a model and all) in a spaghetti-strapped white sundress and wooden-heeled sandals. The young man's arm rested on the brunette's shoulder, and her arm was around his waist.

Everyone smiled at the three guests as they approached except for Marron, who stared at Bra quizzically. Bra's smile was bright and welcoming, but the blonde didn't miss how the teenager's hands were balled into tight fists at her side. Marron followed Bra's gaze to Goten and Paresu, then looked back at the blue-haired girl.

The revelation made Marron feel extremely oblivious and dumb. How could she not see it before? She had thought that all the smiles and giggles directed at Goten in the previous years were just part of Bra's personality, but now the hints of flirtation accompanying the girlish gestures were blatant. How had they been so unnoticeable until now, when the jealous girl's fists were shaking to get one shot at the professional model?

Marron flushed slightly. Well, she knew why she hadn't noticed. She'd spent many years focusing how to get a certain lavender-haired half-Saiyajin's attention. Marron had been too preoccupied in her own goals to notice Bra's ambitions.

Marron's thoughts were interrupted when Trunks approached Goten and embraced him. "Hey, man!" he exclaimed. Goten was his best friend, and five months was way too long a hiatus. "How you doing?"

Goten's eyes flickered to the grinning woman beside him. "Great as always."

Trunks smiled back and turned to Paresu, who cried out when he gave her a hug that lifted her off the ground. "It's easy to see why," he chuckled, putting her down again. "How 'bout you, Paresu?"

Paresu giggled. "I'm great too, and it's also easy to see why." She latched onto Goten's arm.

Marron elbowed Bra, who was miming gag noises at the affectionate moment, before greeting the couple herself. "Welcome to Western Capital!" she said. "It's been too long since we've see each other!" She raised her arms in a hugging gesture and received embraces from both Goten and Paresu. "We missed you too, Chi-Chi-san!" she added, giving Goten's mother a bright smile.

"And we're all glad to see you too," Chi-Chi replied.

"You bet!" Bulma chimed in. "It's been so boring without any of the gang around. We love having you as company."

"Do we now?" grumbled the prince who stood beside her.

After a sharp, ineffective jab to Vejita's abdomen, Bulma laughed contritely. "Let's go find your bags, alright?"

Chi-Chi and Bulma walked at the head of the group, sharing stories about what they'd been doing since they'd last seen each other. Vejita followed close behind and was quiet as always while listening to their conversation. Next came the three girls: Bra, Marron, and Paresu. The blonde had decided it was best for the girls to know one another better, and asked Paresu to tell them about life as a model. (She remembered Bra having a small interest in the career, but had no idea that the young woman had given up on the idea.)

Trailing behind the others were Goten and Trunks, who were having their own conversation.

"She's really great, Goten." Trunks laughed. "As if I need to tell you that."

Goten smiled back, but the grin was oddly forced. "Yeah… she's fantastic…"

Trunks blinked. "What's wrong? Things are going well, right? I mean, after two years-"

"Oh, yes!" Goten interrupted. "Everything is fine… right now anyway…"

"But…?" Trunks prodded.

"But…" Goten hesitated, then said quietly. "I… I bought a ring, Trunks."

Trunks stumbled a bit, but caught himself before he went sprawling. "A ring?" he whispered. "Whoa, you really are that serious!"

"It has been two years, like you said."

Trunks shrugged. "I just never really thought about you settling down before." He scratched his head. "It's difficult to picture." The purpled-haired man frowned. "You know, even though Paresu is successful, you can't expect her to support you two. How did you even earn enough for a ring?"

"I've been working as a bartender for the last few months. The tips were unbelievable." Goten bit his lip. "Although it's not really what I want to do with the rest of my life, I'm going to stick with it until I figure out what I do want."

Trunks raised an eyebrow. "So you're nervous about asking her?"

Goten gave Trunks a look. "I still haven't told her about… you know… the whole… Saiyajin… thing…"

Trunks snickered. "The whole Saiyajin thing? Is that what we're calling it now?"

Goten did not laugh. "Do you think she'll… be okay with it?"

"I don't know, Goten," Trunks replied honestly. "It is a lot to handle." His face became solemn and he put an arm around his best friend's shoulders. "You do realize," he cautioned, "that if she acts… irrationally after acquiring this delicate information… that we'll have to kill her."

Goten's jaw went slack and he stopped immediately in his steps. "WHAT?" he exclaimed.

The six ahead of them turned around and looked at them curiously. Trunks laughed nervously and motioned for them to keep walking. Then he punched Goten in the shoulder. "I was just kidding, idiot."

"That wasn't funny," Goten muttered. "So what about you and Marron?"

Trunks blinked. "Heh, you know, it's funny. I hadn't really thought about it. We've never talked about getting married."

"Why not?"

The lavendar-haired man's brow furrowed. "I don't know…" It was a little disturbing. He and the blonde had been dating for nearly as long as Goten and Paresu, so by now shouldn't marriage be an obvious step to take? Marron wasn't the type to let things go, so if she wanted to become Marron Briefs she would have brought it up. Unless she wasn't as happy as he thought…

Trunks felt Goten's hand on his shoulder and heard the dark-haired young man say comfortingly, "Don't worry, Trunks. She probably just hadn't thought of it, like you."

"There's the belt for your flight!"

The two boys looked up and saw Marron pointing to one of the rotating belts surrounded with clusters of people.

"Well, Vejita," Bulma said sternly, "why don't you get our guests' bags?"

Vejita eyes widened in surprise. "What?" He glared at her. "I am not your servant!"

"It's not slavery, Vejita. It's hospitality!" Bulma snapped.

"Yeah, 'Tousan," Bra added mockingly. "Be a little hospitable for once."

"Fine," Vejita said, walking towards the belt and grabbing his daughter's arm. "If you're so supportive of hospitality you can be a good example."

Bra grumbled to herself as she was led by her father. Chi-Chi followed to identify the right luggage.

Paresu suddenly embraced Goten enthusiastically. "Goten-kun!" she squealed. "I just remembered! We first met in an airport!"

Goten laughed and put his arms around her. He remembered that day well. He had been leaving the airport after a failed job interview when he'd seen Paresu get knocked over and dropped her bags. After she'd gotten situated again and walked off to the cab stand, Goten realized she'd accidentally left her purse behind. He picked it up before a more dishonest person could and chased after her. He caught up after she'd flagged down a cab, and in return she gave him a ride home. In the cab they'd gotten better acquainted and exchanged phone numbers, and they'd been dating ever since he'd called her back the next day. (Confused? Although it's not essential, you can read a longer version of this. It's called Woe, and if you're interested, you can find it in my profile.)

Paresu nuzzled his neck. "That was the greatest day of my whole life," she sighed.

Goten smiled. Mine too… which is why I hope you accept the truth about my ancestry…

"'T-tousan!" Bra exclaimed, and everyone turned to see that the girl was in fact holding all the bags.

Vejita impassively walked beside her with his empty arms folded across his chest. "You said you were an advocate of hospitality," he jeered.

An hour later the group was at the Capsule Corporations compound in the Briefs' dome-shaped mansion. Bulma led everyone down a curving hallway to the guest rooms. She stopped at what was to be Chi-Chi's room.

"After you and Goten and Paresu unpack," Bulma said as she opened the door, "we'll go out to eat. You can pick the restaurant."

"Thank you," Chi-Chi replied as she walked into her room. The ceiling and walls were painted a pale maroon. A bed, covered with a white bedspread, sat against the right wall and a wood bureau stood opposite it. The ivory door to the private bathroom stood open, and beside it was the closed closet. There was also an oak desk and chair beside the dresser. Amongst the everyday decorations were various pictures and a clock on the walls and a small flower arrangement on top of the bureau.

"What a pretty room," Chi-Chi complimented, looking around. "You have lovely taste, Bulma."

Bulma was about to cut in with a modest thank you, but Vejita interrupted, saying, "She hired a decorator."

The younger four broke into snickers and giggles, and Bulma elbowed Vejita in the gut (once again with no effect). "I'm going to duct tape your mouth shut one day, Princey," she hissed.

"Let's leave Chi-Chi to unpack, Okaasan," Trunks suggested as he placed Chi-Chi's luggage at the foot of the bed. "We need to take Paresu and Goten down to their room."

Bulma nodded and waved for the couple to follow her. "Come on. Your room is a few more doors down."

"Why don't they take the room next door?" Chi-Chi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No reason," Bulma replied slyly, giving Goten a wink before setting off down the hall. The man's face immediately flamed to a bright red, and a mortified Paresu covered her face with a hand. Chi-Chi only caught a glimpse of their reactions before the two quickly turned to follow Bulma, flanked by Trunks, Marron, and Vejita.

The raven-haired mother's eyes narrowed when she caught on to Bulma's meaning, but she repressed her motherly urges and closed the door. After Goku died she'd done her best to let her sons live their lives; she'd realized that she couldn't hold on to her little boys forever, just like she couldn't stop Goku from living the more dangerous parts of life without her.

But the revelation didn't make her loneliness any weaker.

Chi-Chi lifted one of the hefty bags onto the bed and undid the zipper. She tried to hard to not think about her husband, but even now as she transferred her clothing from her bag to the dresser she couldn't avoid it.

She was never really sure why this death was so different than the one before. When Goku had perished during the Cell games no one had thought he would ever return, but her grief had not been as severe as what her heart had gone through two years ago.

She smoothed a hand over the shirts in the drawer. Maybe this emptiness was a sign that this time Goku was never returning, that she would have to wait for her own demise to see him again, or maybe that she would never see him again. Goku had told her that in Heaven he was allowed to keep his body because of his service to the innocent. She hadn't committed anywhere near as much of her time to defeating evil as her husband had; many times she had even discouraged him against doing so. Chi-Chi doubted she would be given the same privileges as Goku. The only chance she had was if Goku asked that she also be able to keep her body, but, although it pained her to think of such things, she wasn't sure he would.

Goku had forgotten her many times when he was alive. He would run off to train or go camping with his friends or other such things without her consent, or mostly without even telling her. Even though she knew he appreciated and loved her, the times he admitted it were rare. She didn't handle the child-like man's ignorance well. She vented her frustrations mostly by scolding him as if he were one of her own sons, since trying to talk like adults had no effect. Of course, screaming at him gave no results either.

Chi-Chi sighed. Shouldn't his absences have prepared her for this? He'd hadn't been home very often in life, his complete lack of presence in death shouldn't have been too much to bare…

But it was, and Chi-Chi didn't know if she would ever stitch her heart back together.

Paresu and Goten were unpacking their own things in their guest room, which was a blue version of Chi-Chi's room.

"I think this trip will be lots of fun," Paresu commented enthusiastically as she placed her and Goten's shoes in a straight line at the bottom of the closet.

Goten nodded in agreement. "It's always fun when we come to visit."

"Bulma-san and Vejita-san make a cute couple," the model giggled. "How on earth did they meet?"

Goten turned back toward their bags so she couldn't see the panicked expression on his face. "Uh… I don't really know… I think my otousan introduced them."

"Your papa and Vejita met at a tournament?"

"I'm not sure."

"Huh…" Paresu was silent for a moment, then commented, "It kind of makes you think, doesn't it?"

Goten turned back towards her with an armful of pants. "It does?"

She sat on the bed and looked up at him. "Well, if Vejita had never met your 'tousan, then he never would have met Bulma, would he?"

Goten put the garments in the bottom drawer. "Heh. You know, you're right."

"It just makes you think. Some people may never have met if it weren't for a series of specific events," Paresu explained. "What if I hadn't left my purse behind that day? What if some other person had picked it up? What if you never went to the airport that day? We never would have met. We would have met other people, perhaps fallen in love and gotten married to them, and-"

"No way," Goten interrupted with a frown. "I refuse to believe that. I think we would have met somehow, some way if not at the airport."

"I don't like the thought either," Paresu replied, "but it's possible-"

"No," Goten insisted. "I… no."

Paresu giggled. "Okay, Goten-kun. Let's just stick with being as happy as we are." She fingered the comforter for a moment, then said softly, "You know, some people actually think that love doesn't exist. They believe that people just become attached to others because they're afraid of being alone. They think that people like us are just being foolish."

The mattress squeaked when Goten sat beside her. He wound his arm around her waist and took her chin in his hand. "Well," he replied, "I prefer being a fool." Then he held her tightly and kissed her.

They parted, and Paresu tucked her head under his chin. "I'm glad."

Dinner (at a respectable Italian restaurant in downtown Western Capital) went by with no extraordinary circumstances. The supper was like any other meal for the average cluster of family and friends. The group talked and quipped in-between bites of food, and returned to the Briefs' home afterwards. There, they sat in the den to continue their dinner conversations and begin new threads.

They stayed up late that night as they exchanged various anecdotes so the Briefses and Sons could get to know Paresu better, and vice versa. Bulma also made plans for the following day to show her guests the highlights of Western Capital. They had not realized how late it was until the clock struck twice, and it was decided that it was time for everyone to retire to their rooms.

In her and Vejita's bedroom, Bulma pulled a silky pale blue nightgown over her head. As she straightened it she said, "Maybe one night you could share an old story. When Paresu is better acquainted with us, that is."

Vejita was brushing his teeth in the bathroom. After spitting into the sink, he replied, "I have nothing to say that anyone would want to hear."

Bulma padded over to her vanity and sat on the stool. "Not even an old battle? We talk about the old fights all the-"

"I've already told you that the wars I have been a part of were fought for much less righteous reasons," he snapped as he came out of the bathroom.

Bulma sighed inwardly. Vejita was always guarded about his past. With little hints he would unknowingly or accidentally drop now and then, she'd only been able to piece together a small picture of what life under Freeza's guidance was like. She'd always known, however, that the one image was only a small part of a whole gallery.

She picked up her brush. She ran the bristles through her hair as she gazed at her reflection, and soon the motion of her arm was automatic when she became lost in her weary image.

This must have been the first time she'd looked- really looked- at her reflection in years. A once flawless complexion was now interrupted with thin wrinkles at the corners of both her eyes and lips. Slight bags hung under her eyes, which were below eyebrows that were thinning just like her hair. Even her blueness of her locks had betrayed her; the only thing that kept them perfectly azure now was the dye she used every two months. Bulma put down the brush, and looked at her hands. The smooth skin was now wrinkly and thin, making her fingers look bony.

She had maintained herself enough that she didn't look nearly as old as others her age did, and with well done make-up she could hide most of the faults, but she wished she could just be young again instead of looking it. She'd gone under the knife and produced some moderately effective serums in order to mock youth, and she exercised regularly to stay thin and healthy, but none of those things made her feel truly young.

Bulma sighed. She used to stare at the mirror and marvel at perfection, but now she only mourned about how she had deteriorated and how she had to work twice as hard to even resemble the gorgeous woman she had once been.

She stood and trudged over to the bed, where Vejita was already under the covers. He saw her forlorn expression and raised his eyebrows.

"What's wrong with you, Onna?"

Bulma slid under the covers with him and then just sat there, staring blankly.

"Bulma?"

She suddenly whirled and threw herself on him, crying profusely. She buried her face in his chest as she babbled incoherently.

Vejita, never really sure what to do in these situations, just awkwardly put his hands on her back and sweatdropped. "Uh… it's okay…" Whatever "it" was, anyway.

She pulled away. "No, it's not okay!" she blurted out. "LOOK AT ME!"

Vejita couldn't stop looking at her; how could her crazy behavior not have his full attention? He looked her up and down cautiously. He saw nothing different.

Bulma saw her husband's blank expression and glared. "God, Vejita! How could you not see it?"

"… See what?"

She let out an "aargh" of exasperation and a few more tears slid down her cheeks. "I'm old and ugly!" she cried out and looked to him desperately for some assurance.

But the unfortunate Vejita had no idea what to say. He never did. From his vague recollection Saiyajin women did not care very much about their appearance, and all his other experiences with women didn't apply to his current situation. By the way she was staring at him, though, Vejita knew he had to say something…

"Well?" she nearly shrieked at him, and Vejita went into a slight panic that caused him to respond with the first thing he could think of.

"You look the same as usual."

When Vejita caught a flash of the fires of Hell in his mate's eyes, he knew that had been a wrong answer.

Down in the den, Trunks and Marron were laid back on the massive couch. The only light came from the flashing, bluish glow of the television on the opposite side of the room. The pale flickering lit the pair's faces as Trunks snugly wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and she contentedly snuggled against him. When the others had gone to their rooms, the couple decided to watch a little television instead, but the bland late night programming was taking its toll as it lulled them closer to slumber.

Trunks was mere seconds from slipping into sleep when a slamming door and a noise on the staircase above the television stirred him. With some effort he cracked open his eyes and saw his father, with a pillow tucked under his arm, coming down the stairs. Too tired to ask or ever care why his father was reduced to couch duty, however, he resumed falling into heavy, blissful unconsciousness, which Marron had already achieved.

Vejita tossed the pillow onto a couch perpendicular to the occupied one, snatched the remote from the coffee table, and sat back in his seat to see if anything worth watching was on.

Click.

"And once again, the day is saved, thanks to… the Pow-"

Click.

"And then I said, 'That's not my dog! That's my wife!'"

Click.

"With this fantastic weight loss plan, I went from a size twenty-four to a ten in two weeks, and I feel-"

Click.

"I love you too, Dave, but we can't be together because when my mother had the affair with Father Jacob she developed a drug problem and through her dealer she met Charlie, who turned out to be your second cousin, and when he became a doctor he had a fling with his nurse, and this was while I was brainwashed by that cult-"

Click.

Vejita settled for an old horror movie, despite that from the first five minutes he could tell it had poor acting, an awful plot, and terrible quality in just about every other film element.

Ah, television. Very few things such as this provided mind-numbing distraction for hours at a-

Vejita blinked when he finally felt the approaching presence. There was a being advancing towards Earth at a fair speed, and he judged that it would arrive within the hour.

Now, this had occurred a good number of times before, but in this case it was unusually interesting because this intruder did not seem to be much of a threat. That thought had come to him often in his past battles, however, and he was usually proved wrong with humiliating consequences. Of course, how many times could that assumption be wrong? Was it mathematically possible that every strange visitor to Earth was stronger than him?

Vejita glanced at his dozing son. Well, whatever the threat, they and a collection of others had become accustomed to dealing with it.

In his boxers, Goten leaned against the bathroom door, nervously chewing his thumbnail as he debated in his thoughts. Why shouldn't he tell her now? There really was no logical reason to put it off. It wasn't like she'd really be that surprised after what she'd witnessed two years ago. She must already suspect something, although it might not be that half of his DNA originated in another galaxy.

"Goten-kun?" called a sweet voice.

"Yeah?" he called back, pausing in his nervous gnawing.

"What are you doing in there? Come to bed."

Goten ran both his hands through his hair and sighed. Okay, he would tell her everything now. Then maybe she could sleep on it and decide whether she wanted to be the mate of a Saiyajin.

He opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom. Paresu was already in bed, arranging the covers. She looked up and smiled that smile he loved so much, but then the beam changed into worry.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Goten stood by the bathroom for a moment, then took a deep breath and walked over to the bed. He kneeled on the floor at Paresu's side and took her hand.

Meeting her gaze, he said, "I can tell you anything, right?"

The smile reappeared. "Of course!"

"And you won't get… freaked?"

Now slight confusion. "Well, I suppose it would depend on what you said."

Goten nodded. That was fair.

Paresu's brown eyes widened. "Oh, I know that this is about."

"You do?"

"Well, you never did explain about that whole thing that happened before… with that weird guy… and all those bright-colored blasts… and the vegetable people…" She became apprehensive. "I've always wondered when you were going to explain it to me."

"You do deserve to know." Goten took yet another breath and gave her hand a squeeze. "Paresu, I-"

The door to their room swung sharply open and struck the wall. Paresu and Goten looked up to see an agitated Trunks in the entryway to their room.

"Goten, do you-"

"Gee, Trunks, ever hear of knocking?" Goten hissed, gesturing his head to Paresu, who looked back and forth between the two men curiously. "I'm trying to tell her something pretty important."

Trunks' face contorted into disbelief. "Goten, what the hell is wrong with you? I think there's something else more important going on."

"What are you talking about?"

Trunks pointed upwards. "Don't you feel that??"

Goten blinked, then jerked a bit when he felt a fairly powerful energy signature approaching from space. He had been too distracted by his situation with Paresu to notice it before. "Oh, man…"

Paresu was dumbfounded as she looked up at the ceiling. "Feel what?" She looked at Goten's concerned face. "What's going on?"

Goten let go of Paresu's hand and stood. "We'll have to talk about this later," he said as he took a white t-shirt from the dresser and pulled it on.

"Otousan is waiting out front," Trunks told him.

Both men were three steps from the door before an annoyed voice spoke up.

"Now wait just a minute!" Paresu snapped in a tone that was rarely heard. She got out of the bed and walked right up to the pair. "I 've been waiting patiently- very patiently- for two years to hear with that hell happened with that Bebi guy, and now you're telling me I have to wait longer? You said it yourself, Goten! I deserve to know what the hell is going on with you, your family, your friends, and all your secrets and why you have to be so hushy around me! You're not going anywhere until I get some answers!"

Shocked, Trunks and Goten stared at Paresu, who had her hands on her hips and looked back at them expectantly. The silence lasted for a moment before Goten smiled, leaned in and kissed Paresu on the forehead.

"Believe me. I would love to tell you, Paresu, but something's come up that we have to deal with right now." He pulled her over to the bed. "I'll tell you everything as soon as we get this fixed, but for now get some rest." With that, he left the room with Trunks and left Paresu standing alone at the foot of the bed.

She stared at the door for a few moments, then with a sigh plopped down onto the mattress and let herself fall back with her arms stretched out to the sides. She stared at the ceiling in silence and knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep until Goten returned.

You'd better be worth all this frustration and whatever it is you're hiding from me, Goten-kun.

I love you too much for you to be a waste of my time…

_________________________

Constructive criticism is much appreciated, praise is joyfully accepted, negative comments considered, and flames thoroughly analyzed for what little useful information exists within.