-New Week. New Chapter. New Events.-

-Same Author. Same Style. Same Humor.-

-Deserved Gratitude-: Thanks to TorankusuGohan, Godzilla2, sexy-jess, Garowyn, Thomas Drovin, SonChan, and Goten's fan for reviewing! You're all awesome!

-Disclaimer-: I really doubt a lawyer will come flying at poor old me for ever forgetting this, but just in case, I don't own DBZ.

-In this Chapter-: Bra and Goten have a tiny conflict again; of course, it's nothing too violent... Many months later, Goku and the others come back again.

-Note-: I do realize that the story was updated on Tuesday, instead of the usual Mondays. You see, I did try to upload it on Monday, but apparently, the servers were messed up. So I had to wait until Tuesday to update. I apologize for any inconveniences on your behalf – but to set the record straight, I did have the chapter ready to be posted yesterday.

-Second Note-: This chapter covers a span of many months. Please bear in mind that, again, it may be a long one. Also, please read my ending note. It might be very important for you to do so.

-Chapter 17-: The Next Few Months

-Subtitle-: Is Someone Left Out?

Four months later...

Goten was trying to concentrate on training. Really, he was. The only problem was that he was currently situated a little too near the girl of his worst nightmares while doing so. Training in the GR had always been rather enjoyable for Goten, but because everyone he usually trained with was currently traveling the vast universe for the last remaining dragon balls, it proved to be now a bother than a stress-reliever for the problems a young adult could sometimes face. And besides, punching and kicking into space was definitely not enjoyable when the only other person in the room was a rather self-assured girl who just sat across from him most of the time, head buried in a novel, only lifting her beautiful face every now and then to scream at him for 'training too hard.' But really, Bulma hadn't created the GR for the sole purpose of reading books, and how could he possibly train 'more quietly'?

The youngest Son couldn't help but be annoyed by the way she sometimes hummed absentmindedly to herself when she was stuck on a particular page of her novel, or the way she would self-consciously flick her impossibly shiny blue hair out of her gorgeous aquamarine eyes. And he couldn't possibly forget the way she'd randomly bark out orders to him, honestly expecting for him to follow them accordingly. Humph. And apparently, he was the irritating one. Sighing, he resumed his unaccompanied training match.

Bra sat at the lone bench of the enormous Gravity Room, thoughtfully perusing through her book. However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to read within each passing minute, as Goten would let out an occasional pant or grunt as he trained against the overwhelming pressure of the second-highest gravity level of the room. At present, she irritatedly wiped the back of her hand across her quickly-dampening forehead, squinting at the boy training strenuously before her. Feeling about three hundred thousand times heavier than she usually weighed was making her extremely uncomfortable. This was getting a little too hot and heavy, if one asked her, even though she was dressed in a miniskirt and a simple red tube top.

Now, wait a second. Just why was Bra in the GR, anyway?

Simple. Bulma was mysteriously and abruptly disappearing, sometimes not coming home for many days (and when she was seen, she was usually on the phone); and the girl was beginning to develop and suffer from a rather unfavorable bout of loneliness, although it would probably be forever and three eternities before she'd ever admit that to anyone. Even if the only person she could hang around with was that 'extremely foolish brat of Kakarot's - that soft-hearted mistake for a warrior,' (as her father so thoughtfully put it), it was better than nothing.

Hold up a minute. What exactly was she thinking? "Didn't I say to stop making that noise?"

"What noise?" he asked innocently, wiping many beads of perspiration from his face and blinking cutely.

Bra scowled in slight annoyance. Yep - he was just like his father. "You know, that noise." When he made no immediate reaction, she groaned and began to imitate the 'noises' he had made. "You're distracting me."

"I'd like to see you try and train for three hours straight without panting for a single second," he shot right back, but strangely enough, there was a traditional Son grin sprawled across his face. "Or maybe acquire enough knowledge to expand your vocabulary, at least."

"Of all the rude things to say to me, of all people...!" Bra was so red that she was certain a tomato would be envious.

"Oh, be quiet - you know, that's when normal people shut their mouths for once and give others around them some peace of mind."

"I'm not stupid. Go take your own advice."

Wait another second. Why was Goten in the GR, anyway, hanging out (although it was rather unwillingly and begrudgingly) with Tag-Along Bra?

Again, another simple question.

Ever since Pan successfully snuck onto one of Bulma's ships, Goten was now left without a training partner. Sure, he could've tried to spar with Gohan, but as of now, his poor brother was in no shape to have a little sparring match. And he had resolved to stay away from home's general direction a long time ago, ever since his mother had it glued permanently in her mind that he himself might decide to hitch a ride on a stolen spaceship. She was, at present, reveling in her own little melodrama, one in which Goten desperately wanted no part in. Gosh, she seemed to take everything seriously these days, whether it was Goten waking up late, or Gohan not calling within a two hours' period.

And so, he chose to spend his days within the GR, where he had the 'pleasure' of having Princess Bra grace the room with her presence every single day. Flipping through her book now, she commented (yet again breaking his concentration), "You know, life would've been absolutely perfect if you had left with Pan."

Now, before we proceed any further, there was something strikingly different between the two families, who had been friends for many years. The Sons, for one, were awfully similar in both their external features and their temperaments. Each Son (whether it was the very good-natured Goku; or the very fiery, but totally loving Chi-Chi; or maybe even that innocent bookworm Gohan; and don't forget the rather complaisant, ever-lovable Goten) possessed shining ebony hair, deep obsidian eyes, the extremely-envied ability to concentrate on tasks at hand (even Bulma had to admit it - Chi-Chi had better cooking skills than she herself could own within three lifetimes), and overall, a pretty bright outlook on life. Also, most of them (unfortunately, excluding Chi-Chi) possessed an overwhelming innocence and naivety that was both treasured and envied by all who knew them.

The Briefs family was a bit more diverse - but unfortunately, it was comprised of people who lost their temper frequently, and above all, were attention-diverters. Whether it was a sixteen-year-old Bulma screaming in a troubled and annoying manner as a frequent damsel-in-distress, or Vegeta attempting to achieve his life-long dream of defeating Goku while the poor Saiyan, in turn, was attempting to defeat, say, Frieza or Buu; the Briefs were notorious for stirring up trouble and soliciting both negative and positive attention, whether it was intentional or not (after all, who could blame poor Bulma for always getting into the mix of things? She did come out with very useful technological items for everyone, after all - and it wasn't that aggravating to hear her complain to a younger Goku about her woes of her beauty being a curse sometimes, although it was her nosiness and attitude that had been the things that caused most of the trouble anyway).

And so, even if a Son had a seemingly pleasant, optimistic perspective on life, it could always be broken by one of the Briefs' attention-diverting. This seemed to show well in many instances - whether it was Chi-Chi scolding at Vegeta for threatening to maim a younger Goten if he didn't start learning to keep his mouth shut and begin training more; or a rather perturbed Goten's sudden jump-start on verbal abuse when a juvenile Trunks began teasing him about his father's IQ; and maybe an extremely furious Gohan's shouting at a seemingly innocent Bra, who accused him of being a 'lifeless geek who would amount to nothing but knowing pointless logarithms, functions, and hyperbolas - thanks to Chi-Chi' one time; it was completely and utterly impossible to change the way things were between the two families.

One other thing (if needed to be added) that Goku's family had in common was the lack of keeping their attention span in check or having patience for long, which sometimes seemed to create a huge chasm between innocence and insanity.

And today, Bra Briefs was trying both of Son Goten's weaknesses, by far the most good-natured and amiable of the Sons, if one didn't count his father. She seemed to be pulling his chasm even farther apart, and it didn't seem as if poor Goten could keep his cool much longer.

"Bra," he started, with gritted teeth, "Honestly, could you please keep quiet?" Time and time again, Chi-Chi had reminded him not to raise his voice at girls - this girl should've been an exception, however. In fact, the rule should've been 'Don't raise your voice at girls who listen when first spoken to,' instead.

"What? Did I break the widdle boy's train of thought?" she supplied innocently, a devilish grin ironically on her face. Wow; whatever she had said to him (it was too unimportant for her to actually remember) must have really cracked him - Son Goten never got annoyed at anyone, as his mother and older brother claimed. She suddenly craned her head to stare him down furiously, just after a lone energy beam came speeding dangerously close to her nose. "Watch what you're doing, stupid!"

Calming down a little, he shrugged and continued with his training.

She rolled her eyes and went back to reading, deciding it was better to let him be. For now, of course. He wouldn't have the guts to try and hit her, anyway.

...When we finally left our house, it wasn't overly noticeable. I was pretty certain that the only people who had at least a slight sense of what we were about to do were the girls who usually followed me around: Estella, Marie, Amy, and Gisella (I'm pretty sure that that wasn't her name - I recall it being something very common, like Meghan), who, after first meeting me, seemed to all decide in changing their names to Estelle, Marielle, Amelle, and Giselle (the last of who I was soon certain was a stalker - she seemed to possess all of my clothes. Of course, I never wore any of my clothes twice, so she always resembled an ugly, second-rate version of me).

Amy clung tightly to my Versace dress's waist as I continued my brisk walk toward our limousine. "Oh, Gissy! Don't leave us! Please!"

I didn't even respond to her ordinary behind. On second thought, I didn't like anyone touching me, or wrinkling my dress for that matter, unless it was Donovan and the other men I usually met on the street - and that was acceptable only after they bought me a few designer clothes and jewelry. And I definitely didn't appreciate these girls calling me that common-sounding 'Gissy.' "Don't you dare touch me."

Gisella stood peculiarly still while the others trailed morosely behind me, fingering a green lock of hair consciously. Anyone could tell that that nasty sea foamy color wasn't her real hair color - just the fact that it was a faded attempt of my own beautiful hair would inform them. She obviously lacked the money to have her hair done as well as I did, and her hair, in turn, lacked the natural sheen and beauty that mine had always possessed. I have to say, I was wondering why she didn't attack me like the others were presently doing. Maybe she felt she could actually have a chance with guys now that I would be gone.

Please. She couldn't buy a clue if Estelle, Amelle, hell, the whole 'Elle team supplied her with all the money in the world.

Gosh, I couldn't stand other females sometimes. Yes, I caught those many covetous glances towards my way, but I just threw them right back. My attitude toward other women was: "Hey, your father works for my father, now bow down to the family that puts food on the table for you and yours."

I got inside the limousine, along with Father and Mother, ignoring Estella's shrill cries, pleading me to stay. For once, I'd have to agree - I actually did want to stay. I actually did want to hear Marie's whiny, pitchy voice waking me up everyday. I actually did want to stay and watch Gisella's (or Meghan, or whatever she really was named) jealous little face whenever I attracted a cute guy. But alas, it was never meant to be. I'd simply have to move to East City and rebuild my glorious empire.

I didn't even blink or turn around to view North-East City as the limo began to leave our old house, our old memories, our old everything.

Chapter 3

I met Daddy in our new sitting room a few weeks later. He was sitting there, his chessboard out, staring intently into it. The funny thing was he wouldn't play against anyone, only against himself. When I asked him why, he told me, "That's how I stay on top, Giselle. I look at life from every position. You have to know what each man on the board is thinking, down to the smallest, insignificant pawn."

And, with the question answered quite simply, he sent me outside to greet Takei.

It wasn't that hard to find the insufferable blockhead. He was flexing his muscles right outside our mansion, finally finished with toting all of our new possessions into the grand estate (Daddy insisted that we bring nothing with us when we moved - according to him, we wouldn't need anything - and honestly, if that meant he was willing to buy me a brand new wardrobe, I was agreeable with it). A redhead was fawning over him, loitering our property. It took me one second to check her out. My eyes zoomed in on her ears first - humph, those cheap 10-karat gold earrings. I glanced at her garments next. The rack that she must have pulled those off of had five thousand pairs of the same thing, which meant that at any party, seven or eight girls would have it on. There was nothing unique about her or even the way she dressed. It wouldn't be hard for me to move her right out. Yeah, she was nothing but an ordinary, commonplace chick - I wasn't intimidated in the least.

I simply stared her down and she scattered. Easy as maraschino cherry pie. I then approached Takei, who seemed a bit shocked that the girl had left so quickly, and said coyly, "Hey Takei, I haven't seen you in a while." Hmm. The way I figured it, if I could actually snatch Takei away from all of my so-called 'competition' and dupe him for the pushover he was, I'd succeed in both making every girl on Earth positively jealous, and breaking his fragile, weak heart.

"What do you want?" he finally responded. "I was talking to Reese before you came sauntering along and scared her away." Now, I was upset. I knew my designer perfume had to be working - I had dabbed it on more than I usually did so when I got close to him, my scent would reel him in. Shoot, I had on 24-karat gold earrings and 1-karat diamond studs, much more than that 10-karat commoner I had seen earlier. But the whole point of this little game was that I didn't want to go off on him, although he deserved it. The bottom line was that I wanted him, so I'd have to play it cool, simply put, and make sure that he was mine by the end of the day.

I answered sweetly, "What do I want?" I gently touched his hand with mine and looked him straight in the eye, "Oh, I want it all."

He snatched his hand back like I had some kind of flesh-eating disease and coldly spat back at me, "Well, that makes you like all those girls back at North-East City, now, doesn't it?"

Rage ripped through my chest as it slowly became evident that I wasn't even a consideration of his. Heck, he acted like I wasn't even a woman. He was acting like I was one of my own groupies! My mind automatically flipped back to Father, who I knew would have ripped out Takei's throat for even thinking of talking to me like that.

Then, like a fortune-teller, Takei, hearing my thoughts, said, "What, are you going to tell Daddy? I'm my own man now, Princess." He turned and walked away.

I felt so played it wasn't even funny. That wasn't me. That wasn't Giselle Chartreuse. As he disappeared behind the wheel of his convertible, I told him, "Wait, Takei. I regress. You're nothing but a commonplace delivery boy. I'm wasting my time with the likes of you."

"Sure," he snorted in response, and quickly left.

He'd come back, though. They always did.

As soon as he left, Reese came back from whenever she was hiding. She politely introduced herself, which only received a stiff nod from me. Wondering how long she had been within ear-shot of the conversation, I asked her if she lived close by.

"Yeah. I'm your next-door neighbor."

Oh, boy.

"Anyway," she continued, "is Takei your boyfriend? I left because...well, I thought-"

"No," I told her stiffly. "He's just a worker of my father's. Why, do you like him?"

She nodded exuberantly. So typical. Staring down at my white leather, open-toed stilettos, and my elegantly done fingernails, she added, "I was wondering, do you do your own nails?"

"Yeah," I responded cautiously, watching as she glanced down at her own fingers, quickly trying to cover the three fingers with chipped nail polish. Who was she kidding? Jeez, I noticed her nails when I first saw her. "Why?"

She finally did it. "Can you do my toes, please? I was so happy that Takei noticed me, and I want to, well, impress him some more." Now, the long pause between her question and my response should have been enough of an answer. But this girl seriously expected me to touch, clean, and design her crusty, icky toenails.

"Funny thing, I can't seem to do anyone's feet but my own."

"Well, then, do my hands. I'm sure you can figure how to do that," she said, being too pushy for my taste. So I begrudgingly nodded, and led her into the house, because the way I saw it, she could never be competition for me-

"What are you reading, anyway?" Goten suddenly wondered twenty minutes later, peering at the book closely. "I thought you were the type to read fashion magazines, but you've surprised me, yet again-"

She squealed loudly and shut the book immediately, having not noticed his presence there for some time now. "Mind your own business, jerk!"

"Bra," Goten ducked and avoided the flying makeup bag and cell phone, but her purse hit him squarely in the face, "just because I'm curious to see what you're reading all the time doesn't mean you can start hurling things at me. Be reasonable."

"Be reasonable?" she repeated sharply. "Learn to stop poking in people's businesses; that'd be reasonable! Don't you understand anything?"

He held her makeup bag, purse, and cell phone in his hands, cringing lightly from under her piercing scowl. Handing her back the items, he responded, "Okay, okay, I take it back, Snow White. Or would you like to be called Cinderella, instead?"

"Stop mocking me!"

Snow White? Please. Bra pondered the very possibility of him ever saying that to her again as he bid her a small farewell, finally leaving the GR. She had never liked Snow White or Cinderella ever since she was younger. She couldn't stand that Snow White had let a despicable, ferociously ugly stepmother push her around, and she definitely loathed the fact that Cinderella had originated from such lowly beginnings. And that was why, whenever anyone asked, she would proudly exclaim that her all-time favorite fairytale (and the one she liked to think her life closely paralleled) was Sleeping Beauty. And why Sleeping Beauty? Simply because, well, she just had to be sleeping if she couldn't find a single guy on this earth worth loving her.

And it'd probably stay that way, too, for the next three months.

As the months slowly dwindled down to weeks until Goku and the others would return, she began to learn, the hard way, that perhaps it was her incredible loftiness that kept people away from her (maybe the book she'd been reading had taught her a couple of things), and she begrudgingly began acting a little more civil towards her only companion of the moment. He seemed to notice her abrupt change very rapidly, and suddenly began to visit more often, and for once, not to go the GR. Since Bulma was almost always everywhere but home, it was usually just the two of them together in the vast estate.

Okay, things still weren't peachy between them (Bra still thought herself above anything he stood for, and wouldn't dare entertain the notion of bringing herself down to call him by his name; and Goten couldn't help but be slightly repelled by her condescending behavior), but at least a quarter of their conversations now didn't lead up to bitter exchanges of words, nasty looks, and violence (at least, the violence only came from Bra's side - no matter how much Goten was aggravated by her, he would never actually harm her). Bra seemed to enjoy discussing who was stronger between their fathers the most, something Goten never really liked talking about - as Bra would become unnecessarily vexed when he patiently reminded her just who had saved the planet on many an occasion, and just who had wanted to obliterate the planet when he'd first arrived on it.

But overall, it was interesting keeping up a polite conversation with Bra, Goten felt. She could be very, er, intriguing sometimes, but of course, she was "Bulma Briefs' daughter - I have to be intriguing," as she always boasted. Plus, she seemed to sympathize with him on the way Chi-Chi was overreacting excessively, and always greeted him with a decent amount of lunch every time he visited.

At present (they were in one of Bulma's many kitchens, where they usually stayed these days), Bra frowned at the way Goten stuffed himself with the food that she had actually made especially for him. Usually, she made enough for both of them to eat while they conversed, but the way he was smearing the alfredo sauce from his linguini all over his mouth without even bothering to lift up a napkin made her lose her appetite. It was so rude - she wanted her food to be eaten politely, not like it was the last meal in the whole world. But inwardly, she thought it was kind of... cute that someone actually appreciated her food like he did. She wasn't the best chef in the world, as both Trunks and her father would often state.

"You know, after Pan called a few days ago, saying that they found the sixth dragon ball, I actually kind of felt upset," she was telling him, watching in distaste as he continued to inhale her hard work. "I'm not sure if I want them to come back so soon, after all." Of course she didn't want them back - with Goku and the others in space, Chi-Chi torn up at her house, and Bulma disappearing all the time, Bra actually felt as if a bit of the spotlight could finally be on her, even though it was only one other person that she usually spent her days with. "Hey, what about an answer? What exactly are you thinking about, anyway?"

"I wasn't thinking about anything," he replied a bit defensively after swallowing his mouthful. "I was just miles away, like anyone can get."

"I'm sure," she told him, not believing a word he said. 'The only thing he's probably thinking about now is what's for dessert…' "You know, the fact that I actually want to talk to you sometimes is one of those unsolvable mysteries."

"You're still as patronizing as you were before they left, you know."

"And you're still as moronic," she smiled up at him, just as he rose from his seat to clean the dishes.

She began to seem a bit dejected, however, when the weeks began to deteriorate into days (at least Goten thought as much when he would visit). This observation started to become even more evident when she sometimes gazed at him softly without a word, hence creating a sense of uneasiness when they sat by the counter.

As for Bra, the only thing she could concentrate on besides her family coming back was, well, Goten's sudden eccentricity. Why was he always... well, staring at her? Her azure eyes curiously searched his obsidian ones for any answers about his peculiar behavior. "If I had a dime for every time you looked at me that way," she finally told him, "I'd be... well, even richer than I am now."

He groaned from her loftiness. Forget it - she wasn't upset. Wait a second... "Excuse me? You're the one staring at me!"

She rolled her eyes, and self-consciously pulled down on her trademark red gloves. "Please. There're much more interesting things in life than you. Sorry for the disappointment."

Oh, no. He was staring into space again. Bra became subdued, picking at her now-straightened hair, until finally, he spoke again. "Hey, Vegeta did sound pretty proud when I told him about that guy at the mall."

"He could care less. It was just some ordinary scum trying to hit some points," she responded carelessly, but Goten could see that too-small-to-be-seen smile. "Actually, I was surprised when he wanted to speak with you."

"He kept asking me if I really thought Trunks was a pushover in training, or something like that... Your father can be really weird sometimes-"

The phone rang, catching both of their immediate attentions. Bra went to pick it up from the retriever. "Hello?"

"Bra?" a male voice asked from at his own house. He stared anxiously at his daughter, who had raised a finger to play absently with her blonde pigtails as he awaited Bra's response.

"Who is this?"

"Krillin. How are you?"

"Wait a second. You're Krillin, as in the midget who used to be bald and was usually only in the midst of a fierce battle to get in the way?"

He visibly paled as his daughter, who had happened to overhear Bra's question, began to snicker audibly. "You hang around your father too much. But anyway, I called to ask if you called the spaceship today."

"No," she answered suspiciously. Goten glanced over at her almost curiously as she continued the conversation. "Why?"

"Well, my daughter Marron - I'm sure you remember her - has been calling Trunks at least twice a week, and just yesterday, he told her that they'd located the seventh dragon ball. Of course, they summoned Shenron almost immediately, and Goku's back to normal again. It was kind of quick, if you ask me. It was only, what, September when they left, and now it's April already. They're already nearing Earth's orbit as we speak, and will probably be here by tomorrow morning. Boy, time goes by quickly when Vegeta's not there to ruin your daily parade..."

Bra wasn't listening to any of his worthless ramblings. The only thing she could hear was, "...They're nearing Earth's orbit as we speak, and will probably be here by tomorrow morning." The presumably innocent statement kept ringing throughout her troubled mind, and she quickly hung up the phone in the middle of Krillin's babbling, currently at a loss of words.

"I guess you finally heard the news, then."

She finally found her mind again, and turned to glare viciously at Goten, gripping the back of her kitchen chair fiercely. "What do you mean? Are you telling me that you've known this since?"

"Well, I have been calling them almost as much as Marron has," he responded carefully, staring down at her red boots, his face almost as crimson as they were. "Trunks still holds an everlasting grudge towards me for not making it to the ship on time, and I keep telling him to forget it already-"

"Oh, shut up. I really can't stand you sometimes," she scowled, adjusting her red headband. Oh, she was going to show him, alright. She was going to show them all that they couldn't surprise her so easily. No one would ever catch Bra Briefs off guard again.

So, she paid no mind when Goku eventually appeared before her the very next afternoon, back to his normal size. She ignored the sight of Bulma (who had finally reappeared for the first time in months) hugging a very surly Vegeta, while discreetly slipping Trunks a few blueprints when no one was looking. She disregarded Chi-Chi's tears of mirth and furiousness, as she clutched Goku tightly and refused to let go. She overlooked Eighteen's glare at Chi-Chi, simply because she was 'behaving rather childish'. She spurned the sight of Videl and Gohan admonishing their daughter for stealing a spaceship and endangering her life and others', but nevertheless embracing her anyway. She didn't even crack a smile when Pan directed a menacing glare towards Marron when she began a friendly conversation with Trunks. She paid no attention to Chi-Chi's unabashed protests to Goku's decision to suddenly go train in the GR, even though they had only just arrived. But she made sure to smile (even though it was a half-genuine one) when her father directed a stiff nod of recognition towards her general direction, and she gave a snide smirk when Goten got struck not once, but twice with Chi-Chi's frying pan for randomly disappearing throughout the seven months.

"Were you so unhappy, Goten, that you had to leave your poor mother alone all that time?" she howled pitifully, still holding on to a very confused Goku's waist tightly, and not watching as Goten winced slightly in pain. "Have I ever raised you in any uncomfortable setting? Don't I feed you right? Don't I give you a decent bed to sleep in? What have I ever done to make you consider becoming a felon?"

Goten could say nothing in response to his mother's mindless accusations - he was too busy soothing his almost-fractured skull to respond. Jeez, where had that frying pan come from, anyway? Interdimensional space? Finally, he protested, "Mom! I wasn't joining any secret cult or some school gang or anything like that! I was with Bra the whole time!"

Vegeta froze momentarily, and his left eyebrow began to twitch involuntary, the closest thing to emotion as he was ever going to get amongst these babbling ingrates. "And what business do you have with her, brat?"

Goten, for all of his fatigue and blinding headache, was still unable to say a thing. Tiny Bras were currently circling his head, skipping around happily with little shopping bags and credit cards in their hands. He rubbed his sore head sorrowfully, finally erasing the dancing beauties from his mind, and was slightly pensive for awhile.

Chi-Chi had finally released her tight grip on her husband, and began to reassure herself (still wrapped up in her theatrics), "It's really okay – I have good children. I have great children."

"Keep saying that, you insane little twit," Vegeta snorted. Kakarot's whiny, obsessive mate and his youngest whelp were really trying his patience, he decided, and he hadn't even been on the planet for a few hours yet… "You obviously can't see right." He paused, a cruel smile on his face. "On second thought, the brat does seem to be heading into the statistics' side. It won't be long until he's incarcerated for dealing with drugs or gambling, or whatever lowly, felonious humans do for instant riches-"

Undoubtedly, this prompted Chi-Chi's frying pan to connect with Goten's skull once more, for good measure, of course. "You see? Even Vegeta knows that you might become a delinquent!" She continued to sob, this time on Bulma's shoulder, leaving Goku and the majority of the guests to sneak off into the locations of their desires.

"Mom! I couldn't even think about anything that time! Jeez!" He quickly left to escape with Trunks and Pan (the latter was more than fearful about her own turn to get hit with the dreaded, infamous cooking object).

Chi-Chi let out a prolonged sigh. "Okay, I feel much better now. Let's go prepare an appetizer for now, Bulma. How about homemade ice cream, or something along those lines?"

"Well, I was thinking more on the tropical side of the globe. Trunks told me that the last planet they visited had subzero conditions, and I thought it'd be nice to remind them of good, warm April..." She began to head over towards the kitchen, secretly glad that Chi-Chi's little drama had ended on a slightly happy note; although she had no doubt that it would be back very, very soon.

Bra stood there, not speaking. Part of her wanted to bang her head repeatedly against the wall, and the other wanted to sulk for the rest of her young adult life.

The truth was, even though she was surrounded by family and friends, Bra was alone again - no one to talk with at all. No one understood her or cared to think about understanding her, and she was beginning to fear that no one ever would understand her, except for her father, maybe.

And so, when the festive group began to separate to go to different rooms (the living room, the kitchen, and the GR), Bra was stuck with nowhere to go. She didn't want to waste her time chatting with Marron, Videl, and Eighteen, and definitely didn't desire cooking with her mother and Chi-Chi. The only choice left was the GR, and she wasn't exactly sure whether she wanted to venture in there or not.

But the most important things came first, she decided - and the most significant thing on her mind right now was locating Goten.

So, where was that half-Saiyan son of Goku's (who was incredibly gullible and couldn't afford to buy a clue most of the time when he needed it most) located? In the GR, of course. And she had a bone to pick with him for not telling her about Goku's arrival soon enough.

Later on…

Pan held her small fists up in slight defense as she glared up at her father. Even after all the torment she went through under Vegeta's watchful eye in space, her father was still bent on teaching her a little lesson in training, and seemed to be pushing her past her limits. She grunted in obvious pain as Gohan rammed yet another fist into her cheek. "Dad… Could you please calm down with all of this?"

He merely shrugged, and lightly kicked her stomach, sending her flying a couple of feet. As she halted her fall angrily, he continued, "Do you see now why I didn't want you in a spaceship with Saiyan men?"

Pan really never had the opportunity to answer, as a feminine voice squealed, "How are you going to let your dad beat you up like that? And you're bleeding! That's gross!"

She scowled in annoyance, and self-consciously wiped her bloody lip with the back of her hand, accidentally smearing it all over her face. "Bra, just what exactly are you doing here?"

She didn't even pay any mind to her – the princess was already behind Trunks and Goten, tapping her foot expectantly against the tiled floor as she waited for them to cease their sparring match.

Trunks, having noticed Bra enter the room a couple of minutes ago, paid no attention to her, and began endeavoring in a speed-attack of many punches per second towards a very flustered Goten, and of course, this began to show just who had been training without much distraction.

But as he blocked yet another hit from Trunks, the younger half-Saiyan caught Bra standing a little too close for comfort. He turned around in a sort of half-angle and groaned slightly. "Can you leave, please? You're sort of in our way..."

She sniffed haughtily and turned her nose up in a lofty manner. "Can't a girl just watch?" Nevertheless, she respectfully backed a few paces away from the viciously sparring boys.

A few minutes later, after receiving a small notion that someone was watching him, Goten turned around again. She was still there (did she ever listen?)... But this time, her facial expression seemed a bit wistful, reflective, longing, and regretful. Smiling a little too widely before he could say a thing, however, she proceeded to leave the GR, closing the door slightly behind her.

'What was that about?' Goten had reason to wonder, just as he shrugged carelessly and continued his training match.

Many hours later…

After too many hours of eating, catching up on old times, and training, many of the guests decided it was time to depart. They left all at the same time, to Bra and Vegeta's great relief.

"Take care, Bulma!" Goku waved cheerfully, as he exited the front door. "And thanks so much for the Dragon Radar, the spaceship, everything!"

"The food was excellent, as usual!" Krillin commented to Chi-Chi, who managed to blush exuberantly while still holding her head absently.

"My son cannot be a delinquent… My son will not be a delinquent… My son will never be a delinquent, as long as he lives under my roof!"

"Calm down, Mother," Gohan sighed. "He did apologize." Nodding gently at Bulma, he added, "It was nice seeing you all again." Videl and Pan both agreed, and they soon left, leaving only Goten to stand by the door.

"Um, thanks Bulma, for everything – the use of the GR, the food, everything," he politely bowed. Bulma smiled absentmindedly and immediately left, to do who knew what with the three cell phones, fifteen blueprints, and thirteen contractor notes innocently concealed in her purse… "And Trunks, don't worry – there will be a rematch-"

"Listen, kid," Vegeta finally got out, stressing the syllables in a dangerously cold calm that made Trunks gulp loudly and immediately disappear into the house. "I don't know what exactly you were doing with the girl over here in the months that transpired while I was absent from this mudball, but for the hope of you ever having any more birthdays on this wasteland of a planet, I'd suggest you leave now and follow your idiot father's example for once. As for me, I'll be taking my leave now – and I do not desire hearing any more rubbish about your pathetic, weakling behind being around her again, or you shall surely suffer from my wrath-"

"Vegeta! Won't you learn any manners?" Bulma still had the decency to yell from three living rooms away.

He humphed and began to walk away, leaving his surprised daughter and the stunned boy alone. "Consider yourself warned, brat."

A few moments of silence occurred, before…

"You know, Bra, you're one strange girl," Goten said softly, after getting over the initial shock of Vegeta's threats, exiting through the front door. "I have no idea whether you're suffering from chronic bipolarity, severe schizophrenia, incurable mood swings, or the fact that you're simply just angry at the whole world. Or maybe you're just under your dad's influence. But all I know is that you're a really, really strange girl."

Bra stopped in her tracks, seemingly confused. A small smile tugged at her facial expression, however, and she shook her head softly, now heading up the steps to go to her room. These past few months had been very… strange indeed.

As the Sons flew home (or rather, Goten, his brother, Pan, and Videl – Goku felt it necessary to take Chi-Chi home immediately through Instant Transmission, as she was beginning to develop slight hallucinations), Goten found that he couldn't concentrate very well on the night sky ahead of him. He kept shutting his eyes over and over again, trying to blink the haziness away from his eyes, but found it unsuccessful after a while. He next began a vain attempt of wiping at his eyes, under the misconception that maybe he was tired, but again, the haziness was still apparent. He began to grow frightened. Had his mother really stolen his wits from him from that last frying pan attack? Or perhaps, was he going to need glasses soon, just like his brother? Darn his mother and all of her useless study-inducing manners-

When he shut his eyes again however, a very hazy girl was standing before him, smiling awkwardly in the obscurity of his mind. "Valese...?"

She didn't say anything, but merely continued to fade slowly into oblivion, just as she had done so many months ago. But before she left, Goten could noticed one very puzzling detail:

One of her eyes was a very dull hazel; the other was a sparkling sapphire color.

-Ending Note-: Hey, guys! Remember when I told you to check out my ending note? Well, here's the thing - in honor of my soon-to-be 100th review, I've decided to hold a simple contest. Whoever's my 100th reviewer will win a freebie for what's going to happen in one of the next chapters, and also, a small role in the next chapter! My 101st and 102nd reviewers will also win a freebie, because they were so close. (smiles) Please give me your email address in your review if you're not a registered author on this site and we'll work things out. Also, the three freebies are going to be from different things (either from a later chapter in the story, to a story that I haven't posted on this site yet), as to not let too many people spoil the surprises for the other reviewers. So, good luck, and I'm curious to see who wins! The next chapter is called "A Small Request" - stay tuned to read it next Monday!

-Ladii-Chocolate-