The Strangest Thing

by Ladii-Chocolate

[BG] The only thing anyone could ever see of Bra was a cold, almost rigid exterior. No one can see past this shell, but can one half Saiyan break through and see her for the gentle person she really is?

21. Bra, the Beautiful and the Merciless

-New Week. New Chapter. New Drama.-

-Same Author. Same Style. Same Humor.-

-Poll-: Thanks to everyone for their participation in last chapter's poll. Want to know the results? Here you go! Please note that even if you questioned a character and you weren't exactly certain if that person would find out about Goten and Bra first or not, I'll still have you listed under the character in question.

Pan: Orinos, SonChan, Thomas Drovin, Godzilla2

Gohan: TorankusuGohan, Godzilla2

Chi-Chi: Tellemicus Sundance

Goku:

Trunks: Orinos, LucreziaNoin86, SonChan, Tellemicus Sundance

Videl:

Bulma: Tellemicus Sundance

Tanith: Orinos, Tellemicus Sundance

Vegeta: TorankusuGohan, LucreziaNoin86, SonChan, Tellemicus Sundance, Godzilla2, Goten's fan, Psycho Aisheteru Hedgehog

I'm going to have to say that I'm pleased with the results. Some of you hit the nail on the head, while others... Let's just say you're a teensy bit farther away from the nail's head than others. (Grins) Well, at least all of you guessed that Goku and Videl are among the least likely to find out first, which is correct. But don't worry, all will be revealed in the twenty-seventh chapter. Maybe. Oh, and I forgot to tell all of you that there are actually two characters who will find out about Goten and Bra before everyone else: One will find out directly by spying on the two, while the other will find out simply because either Goten or Bra told him or her about their relationship. How was that small spoiler for you?

-Deserved Gratitude-: I have to say that I'm very pleased with the review responses this time around. Lots of insightful comments; thank you SonChan, Orinos, TorankusuGohan, LucreziaNoin86, karen, angie, satan'stoasterstrudel, Thomas Drovin, Tellemicus Sundance, 89, DBZAngelX, Garowyn, Dacheran, Godzilla2, Goten's Fan, TearsOfInfinity, NebuNeferu, Psycho Aisheteru Hedgehog for reviewing!

-SonChan (Chapter 19...)-: Well, if it isn't my long-lost twin! Oh, don't worry about forgetting to review. At least you remembered at the last second, lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the nineteenth chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

-Orinos-: Wow, I hope you didn't fall asleep during class! Thank you for your input in last chapter's poll. If you stay tuned, you may be able to find out Vegeta's reaction to Bra and Goten's relationship. Thank you!

-TorankusuGohan-: Aw, I'm sorry! I hope you did well on your macroeconomics test! Ugh, that subject sounds really hard. Heh, you're not the only lazy one. Yeah, I think the majority of the next chapters are going to be long, whether people like it or not. Thank you for your participation in the poll last chapter. Can't tell if you were right or wrong, though. You'll have to wait. Thanks!

-LucreziaNoin86-: Thank you for your insightful input in the poll! And yes, I did say that this particular story would not be a Trunks romance (or a Pan or Marron one). You know, I could make one, but I don't think so (at least not for this story). I enjoy reading long reviews, don't worry! Do you like Pan? Because if you do, you may like the chapter regarding her party and my next story (which kind of revolves indirectly around her).

-karen-: Thank you for reviewing and for the compliment.

-angie-: Thank you for showing your interest in the story, and thanks for reviewing.

-SonChan-: Well, thank you! I'm happy you think so! Okay, thanks for your input on both polls. I'll consider what you said. Oh, and I enjoyed the latest chapter of BTT! Good work!

-satan'stoasterstrudel-: A new reviewer! Wow, thank you for the review! I hope you continue to read and comment on what you like or dislike about the upcoming chapters.

-Thomas Drovin-: Thanks for the compliment and the input in the last poll. No, I don't think it's sad not to have a girlfriend in your entire life. And um, seeing as how it's July now, I don't think your character came in June... (Laughs nervously) I'm really sorry!

-Tellemicus Sundance-: Well, hello there, my most insightful reviewer! I enjoyed reading who you thought would find out about Bra and Goten first and I felt that you provided very good reasons for each character. I'm glad to see you have predictions as to what'll happen in the near future (still can't tell you, though!). And I apologize for going a bit OOC with Pan. How do you picture her personality? You should probably read my "Changes" below.

-89-: Glad to see that you came by again. You will find out Bra's reaction to Goten in a bit; don't worry. Heh, I think you meant "Update soon" instead of "Review soon", but I get the idea. Thanks for reviewing.

-DBZAngelX (Chapter 8...)-: Wow, the eighth chapter was long? Was that the chapter about Bra's infancy? It's been such a long time since I've written that one. Ah, the good days, when Bra was sweet, tolerable, and generally nice to everyone...

-Garowyn-: One of my favorite reviewers! It's okay - we all have email problems. Can't wait to read the G/B oneshot. I know I'll like it. Maybe I'll get to read it before I go to London. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Thanks for always encouraging and inspiring me!

-Dacheran-: A new reviewer; welcome to TST! I'd like to thank you for the perceptive review. Thanks for the compliments as well. Are you planning to review again? I'd love for you to give me more suggestions.

-Godzilla2-: The chapters will only get longer, my friend. Thanks for your participation in last chapter's poll. Good point. Hmm... Why don't you read this chapter and see if you like it? I hope you do.

-Goten's fan-: Thanks for the compliments!

-Goten's Fan (Chapter 19…)-: Wow; congrats! I'm glad to hear that I've inspired you! Keep up the good work on your first story!

-TearsOfInfinity-: Glad to see you're back! I love that new username of yours!

-DBZAngelX (Chapter 10…)-: Well, thank you for reviewing!

-NebuNeferu-: A new reviewer! Maybe you should read on for your answers about possible sequels.

-TearsOfInfinity (Chapter 17…)-: Aw, thanks for telling me that. You've really brought my spirits up. It's nice to know that there are such encouraging reviewers like you in the world! And thanks for telling me that I inspired you! I'm sure you're a good writer.

-Psycho Aisheteru Hedgehog-: A new reviewer; thank you for your input in last chapter's poll!

-DBZAngelX (Chapter 14…)-: Thank you for the compliments! Yes, we all felt sorry for Trunks in that chapter…

-DBZAngelX (Chapter 15…)-: The chapters only get longer, my friend. Yep, only five more! Well, make it six more now…

-Changes-: I know I said that Pan is my least favorite character in the last chapter. I would like to adjust that statement slightly, because when I sit down and think about it, it really isn't true. I guess she annoys me a bit in GT. I think I preferred her a lot more in DBZ, when she was younger, and dare I say, cute. I have to admit, though, that I liked that little joke that Goten's Fan made in his last review (without a Pan, what would Chi-Chi hit people with?).

-Sequel? Or no sequel?-: Hmm. Many readers have been asking me the same thing about a possible sequel to The Strangest Thing. If you want the answer, you'll have to read my ending note after this chapter.

-"Hey, Ladii-Chocolate! I won a freebie a while ago, and never got it!"-: Does this statement apply to you (well, it really should apply to about three of you...)? Fear not; I have the third-place freebie ready to give to sexy-jess, and when I'm done with hers, I will go on to the second-place freebie. The reviewer with the first-place freebie (TorankusuGohan!) will have to wait a bit before I finally send it. I apologize for the delay!

-"Hey, when are you going to give out more freebies?"-: Heh, you're going to have to wait for that, readers. When I get settled down again and my computer functions properly once more, I'll see about possible freebies.

-WARNING!-: This chapter is the mother lode of all chapters - a whopping 39 pages. Don't say I didn't warn you beforehand. Don't worry – there's more than enough time to read it, because I'll be on vacation for three weeks.

-Disclaimer-: Don't own DBZ.

-In this Chapter-: The morning starts out a little rocky for Goten; Bra gets a note from him that annoys her slightly; she takes the opportunity to shop for a perfect party dress for Pan's party (taking an annoyed father along with her); at the mall, she tries on numerous outfits for Vegeta, who doesn't seem in the least bit interested (hey, he's more interested in staring down her annoying attendants!); Bra meets her number 1 fan; Daddy Dearest gets into a little conflict with one of Bra's would-be pursuers; Vegeta leaves in a huff after receiving a small phone call from Bulma, leaving Bra all by her lonesome; Bra sees a certain person at a fast food restaurant; our two favorite people both get into some trouble with one of Valese's friends; Goten offers to 'fly' Bra home after another mall incident, but she 'politely' refuses, which ends up in yet another imminent mishap.

-Chapter 21-: Bra, the Beautiful and the Merciless

-Subtitle-: Not Again!

---

Goten had woken up the very next morning in a rather pensive mood, especially for him. He glanced at the small clock by his nightstand, groaning as it read seven forty-eight in blaring red characters. 'It figures,' he told himself blandly, rising up from underneath his blanket to stretch absently, 'I've become so used to Mom waking me up at the same time everyday that I can practically do it myself.' But today wasn't the day to sit back and complain all day, he reminded himself, heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Today was the day that Valese would be liberated from his mind once and for all.

But as soon as he had stepped from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, freshly rinsed and wearing nothing but a clean white t-shirt and blue boxers, he heard an argument rising heatedly from downstairs in the kitchen. Curiosity and a small sense of dread settled in, and he slowly ambled down the steps, where Chi-Chi was verbally quarreling with her oldest son for the fourth time that week.

The furious woman was apparently in a particularly ferocious mood today, and it was definitely becoming painfully evident as all of her usual, peaceful tasks quickly and rapidly transformed into violent and fierce ones. Presently, she slammed her lavender duster into a small crack by the window powerfully, almost shattering the glass. "Son Gohan, I seriously don't know where I went wrong with you." She threw the duster to the side and stood on her tiptoes to begin a heated search in her cupboard for the best frying pan in which to prepare her husband's bacon. Her scowl grew deeper and more menacing when she realized that the skillet in question was deeper into the cupboard, and began to hurl the other pots and pans in her way out of her shelves.

Gohan, who was seated at the kitchen table with his father, seemed a bit fearful of his mother's brutal temperament but had long since made up his mind to stay steadfast and resolute to his own decisions. "Mother," he tried again for the third time, barely ducking a particularly large pot that he was quite certain had to have been aimed at him, "please understand that I am listening to your suggestions. I just don't think it'd be fair for my daughter to have to abide by your rules." Heck, he didn't even know why he still had to abide by her rules, but that was another question for another day.

Chi-Chi spurned her son's last comment, heading over to the kitchen sink to fish a dingy rag from the murky, soggy waters swiftly. She proceeded back towards the table, and without another word, began to scrub the table with much vigor and gusto, not paying any mind to the hands she rubbed over deliberately. Finally, "Just what do you mean by that, Gohan? What have I ever done to my poor granddaughter?"

"Do I have to count?" he retaliated crossly, using each of his fingers to calculate. He stopped immediately, however, stealing a slightly reluctant glance at his resentful mother. Wait a second - was he sure that he wanted to go through with this? After all, this wasn't his father he was talking to, nor was it his brother - it was his mother. 'Oh, well,' he resolved a bit nervously, although his anger overtook his anxiety quite easily. It was far too late to regress back into his usual, timid behavior - he would simply continue his attempt for his daughter's sake. "One, you made her some dress that you'll be forcing her to wear; two, you invited those troublesome goons from her school, Stapler and Poster, to the party, especially when you know that they're good-for-nothings; three..."

Chi-Chi cut him off after that last point in the argument. She threw down the dirty washrag into a nearby trash can viciously, ignoring the sights of her husband and her oldest son jumping slightly in their seats at the ruckus. "What? You came to my house at seven in the morning to convince me about your having second thoughts about Pan's party, only to tell me about the people on the invitation list?" She began to sob openly, not bothering to shield her face from the two men. "Haven't I taught you to be more considerate of women's feelings, Gohan? Why are you treating me like this? I thought I taught you better! Didn't I give you a decent bed to live in, with decent food to eat? Even though we never had the money for certain luxuries..."

Hence began her daily (and usually unwelcomed) melodrama. Gohan placed his head on the table sullenly and wondered why he had even bothered to come visit his parents in the first place. He wasn't going to point out to his mother that she always made sure to visit his house at seven in the morning, or that she was really over-exaggerating about having money issues (after all, they had managed to afford to let him go to college)... Wait - maybe it was better not to bring that up. It'd probably be brought up against him later on.

Too bad his father wanted a try, too. "But Chi-Chi," Goku mumbled, who was quite sure Chi-Chi wasn't covering her face for the sole purpose of making Gohan (who was by far one of the most gullible he knew in this type of 'game') feel guilty, "Gohan's right. Poster and Stapler are definitely the teenage versions of Goten and Trunks when they were younger – they'll make sure Pan's absolutely miserable at her own party. Remember Parent-Teacher Night? They got suspended from school for roughhousing, and school wasn't even in session! But can't we just forget all of this? It's way too early..."

"I don't care, Goku," Chi-Chi pronounced with a resolute tone in her voice. She brushed away the few remaining tears on her cheeks with her sleeve and stood adamantly in front of the two, serving her husband with his eggs and her son with his coffee and pancakes. "I can only hope Goten doesn't follow in his brother's footsteps... Hmph. Some prime example you're setting for him, Gohan..."

Oh, joy. Goten, having heard his name brought into the conversation, sighed in annoyance, still leaning behind the kitchen wall. It sure was 'fun' being the only son in his house lately. He'd gotten used to his mother telling amused visitors how it was only a matter of weeks until he found a perfect wife, and how he'd better find one quick and give her more grandkids...but now this? 'Oh Goten, I want you to be just as successful as your brother...' 'Goten, can't you be more serious when you study? When Gohan was your age...' Yeah, it actually was a bit amusing to see Gohan, definitely the mama's boy out of the two, get yelled at for once.

Now shrugging in resignation, he crept back up the steps again to go into his room where he fully dressed himself, grabbed a small note he had written the previous night, and snuck out of his bedroom window stealthily. His mother would have another fit once she found out that he had disappeared again, he knew, but at least it wouldn't be taken out on him when she saw him later. She had a slightly better prey sitting right before her now, he thought wryly, heading towards the direction of Capsule Corp.

As soon as he reached his destination, he dropped his ki level down to a more ineffectual rate, so that if Bra or her father ever happened to wake up and pinpoint his presence, they would simply assume that a regular human (maybe Tanith) was walking about in their house casually. 'This is just like breaking in...' he reminded himself grimly, gulping and opening the nearest window gently to stick one foot in the house, then the other. 'It's really dishonest, but it's been too easy so far...maybe I should tell Bulma later that she should boost up her security.' Wait a second, he contradicted himself suddenly, entering one of the Briefs' many dining rooms, Bulma didn't need better security. She had one easily angered Saiyan Prince living at her house, a thousand times better than any old security guard.

Goten shut the window behind him and snuck out of the room, now in one of the main hallways of Bulma's mansion. He closed his eyes, attempting to pinpoint any familiar ki that might be awake at this very early hour, be it Trunks, Bra, or their father. There was no one within a hundred feet of where he was standing, he noticed gratefully, so he opened his eyes again and began a small adventure of locating Bra's Friday bedroom.

He found it successfully on his second try, luckily for him, on the second floor, right near her brother's regular room. The soft breathing on the other side of her door informed him that she was probably still sound asleep, while the loud snores coming from the room right next to Bra's told Goten that Trunks was definitely still snoozing. Not wanting to wake either of the two siblings up, he mentally debated on whether he should place the note under her bedroom door or not.

He had hastily made up his mind, safely stuck the note underneath her doorway and was already down the hallway towards the dining room from where he had come in from when he began to have second thoughts about the whole thing. Maybe he shouldn't have left it there...what if Tanith found it while she was cleaning Bra's room? He shuddered, pausing his quiet and secret journey - what if Vegeta found it? That last consideration had made up his mind for him, and he quickly retraced his steps back to the room, where he knelt down and retrieved the note that was sticking quite visibly out from under the door. Clutching it in his hands once more, he proceeded to find the next best area to put it.

He was steadily nearing the GR, where he was positive Bra would find the note easily (but wait a second, that would be a worse spot to put it, seeing how Trunks and Vegeta used the facility every single day), when a very ominous voice coming from behind him made him stop in his tracks fearfully. He turned around hesitantly, and found himself staring face-to-face at Vegeta, someone who was obviously not a morning person. "Looking for someone, brat?"

Before Goten could rattle off the list of excuses he had prepared for such an occasion the night before, someone else's voice made them both turn around. "Oh, leave him alone, Vegeta. If anyone needs to be asking someone something, it's me. What are you doing skulking around at eight in the morning?" Bulma admonished her husband, joining the two in the dimly lit hallway. She was still wearing a silky mauve nightgown and her matching slippers, which led both of the men present to believe that she had just woke up. She glanced at Goten's clenched fists curiously, and misinterpreting his actions for something else, added, "Trunks is probably still sleeping now, so you should probably leave that note under his door. And don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't read it." She stared pointedly at her husband, and without another word, turned on her left slipper's heel and left the scene.

Vegeta, who had felt rather triumphant about his very lucky find of the day, seemed to have had his spirits broken rather cruelly by his wife. 'Unbearable woman...' "I don't want to have to remind you again, boy, but I'm watching you. I will find out, sooner or later, what you're up to. And for your sake, you'd better hope it isn't sooner." He directed one last malevolent glare towards Goten and disappeared into the shadows again.

Goten seemed to be ill prepared for that final threat, and as soon as he was alone again, he sighed in relief. Both Vegeta and Bulma were pretty intimidating people, and not just toward each other. Oh, well. He'd mind Bulma's suggestion, he resolved, and began to head back toward Trunks' room. If anyone in this very confusing family could understand to give Bra her note without reading it himself, Trunks could. And that was if Tanith didn't venture into the room without alerting someone first, of course...

After safely slipping the note under his best friend's door, Goten quickly found himself out of the window from where he had first come in. 'That went much better than I expected,' he told himself, opening the window slightly to let himself out. Reliving what had just transpired in Bulma's hallway in his thoughts, however, caused him to quickly change his mind. 'Okay, maybe not.'

Now, he was deftly flying through the pale blue skies of West City, heading for the one establishment he had never really ventured in without a female by his side: West City Mall. He shuddered grimly just thinking about the horrors - er, enthusiastic shoppers he was going to encounter when the mall finally opened. Oh, what an adventure this would turn out to be.

A few hours later...

Bra was the very last one awake in the Briefs household. After taking a prolonged, comfortable shower, she dressed herself stylishly for the first time in weeks, having decided to take a much-needed break from all of her training the night before. She had never felt so much stress pressing on her aching muscles and bones, and had resolved that this was just as good as any to take the morning off. Of course, this didn't mean that she'd take the entire day off. If she stayed up long enough, she could probably sneak in a couple of hours training late at night with Goten... 'Where is he, anyway?'

At present, she met her entire family (Tanith included) in the nearest kitchen, where they were all situated doing various tasks. As the scene stood, Trunks was sitting by the kitchen table perusing through a science magazine carefully; Bulma was seated next to him, sipping her coffee casually and looking through her latest blueprints for the school project (she was, however, dressed in a lab coat, with goggles hanging from her neck - she planned on going back to improving the cell phone capsules while simultaneously working on the school); and Tanith was preparing homemade waffles while arguing fiercely with Vegeta about nothing in particular, the latter of who was leaning against the corner of a wall indifferently. Bra selected a seat by her mother, and was listening to her father and housekeeper's verbal clash in slight interest when Trunks tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Yes?" she asked her brother, moving her aquamarine eyes from her father to him.

"I was about to warn you not to taste Tanith's waffles today," he warned solemnly (a small smile was making itself on his face, however), setting down his magazine on the table. He dug into his left pocket, extracting a small piece of paper from his khaki shorts. "They're positively disgusting – she's trying to decorate our waffles by using syrup to write our names on them. It's not really working out with Dad - he keeps arguing that he hates strawberry syrup, or something like that... But anyway, I found this note on the floor of my room. It's for you." When his sister arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him in suspicion, he added in a haste, "Don't bust a vein wondering if I read it or anything; I didn't. Although I really should've... I just figured it was from Pan. Probably girl talk, although I can't see why she would want to discuss something with you through a note." Dismissing the thought (why would he care, anyway?), he handed it to his sister and picked up his magazine again.

'Pan? Please.' Bra's eyes couldn't have gotten any narrower as she received the note from her brother. 'Oh, who could it possibly be?' she asked herself wryly, stealing a quick peek at her father to make sure he wasn't looking in her direction. When she noticed that he was still involved in his petty argument with Tanith, and had already brought his wife into it as well, she opened the note, scanning over it quickly before anyone else noticed:

Bra,

I know you're probably wondering why I'm not at your house at the moment, or why I'm telling you this in a note, but I just can't train with you today. I did come by earlier today, hoping that you were in the GR, but you weren't awake.

I guess the reason for all of this is that I sort of have other things to do, but don't worry too much about it. We can always train together tomorrow.

Well, at least he was intelligent enough not to leave his name. Maybe she was underestimating him. Nah. Bra frowned and read it over once more before crumpling it violently and tossing it swiftly into the dustbin beside her brother. 'What 'other' stuff does he have to do, of all people...' She turned to her mother, who had given up on drinking her coffee to participate more in Vegeta and Tanith's argument. "I guess I'm staying at home today, Mom."

Bulma momentarily paused in the middle of a very valid point in the argument to answer her daughter. "Oh, okay. Well, did you buy your dress yet for Pan's party? The Sweet Sixteen's in a couple of days, you know." Before a very surprised Bra could respond, she added to the housekeeper, "Tanith! I said to cook the waffles, not burn them! Goodness, sometimes I wonder why I still have you here everyday..." She rolled her eyes and began to fiddle with her goggles nervously, a very bad habit she was beginning to do daily, the closer the grand opening of the school came.

Bra groaned and placed a soft hand on her head in exasperation, just as Tanith shut off the stove and reached for four elaborate plates, cups, and eating utensils within one of the many cupboards of the kitchen. "I completely forgot, Mom." She grimaced slightly as Tanith began to set the table, and her father sullenly joined the rest of the family to eat. 'How could I forget something like this?' "I guess I could go shopping today. They have some new stores open."

"Well, we're not letting you out alone, at least not after what happened last time. You came home with a broken boot in your hand and the other on your foot. I'm not even going to bother asking what happened back then. Anyway, you really should've gone shopping with me a few days ago, but that can't be helped, I guess. Your father will go with you," Bulma announced resolutely, staring at her plate of waffles in disgust. One after another, the rest of the family followed suit, each glaring, wincing, or sniffing at their plates in repulsion. "I just hate blueberry syrup, Tanith! I could even be allergic to it! What are you trying to do, poison me? You should know by now that Vegeta's the one who prefers blueberries, Bra and I like strawberries, and Trunks prefers maple syrup or honey...but no, you have to mix everyone's up!"

"It's okay, Mom," Bra intervened promptly, eagerly awaiting the prospect of one day having some peace and quiet for once in the household. It was definitely not worth it having her mother act all Chi-Chi on Tanith for something so pointless. She watched as Trunks picked morosely at his strawberry syrup-drenched waffles before adding, "I like honey on my waffles, too." The two siblings stared at each other for a few seconds before quickly swapping their plates.

Bulma observed them in mild interest before turning to her husband for a small request. "Hey, that's a good idea. Why don't we do that, too, dear-" she started gently, but Vegeta had already begun to scarf down his berry delight hungrily. Tanith smirked in smug satisfaction as her mistress's eyes widened in shock. "Wait a second, Vegeta, I thought you said you hated strawberries!"

He didn't even look up at her in acknowledgement as he continued to wolf down his breakfast. "I dislike a lot of things sometimes, you and the maid over there being very high on the list," he finally growled in response, finishing off his strawberry round and snatching her blueberry waffles away from her side, "but I can learn to cope with them at times. You should learn to do the same. It might make you live longer, you know." A second later, something she had said to their daughter earlier crossed his mind. "What were you talking about, woman? I'm not accompanying the girl anywhere today."

"You are, Daddy," countered Bra. She finished her own breakfast, and Tanith picked her empty plate up from the table, along with Trunks', Bulma's, and Vegeta's, to take them to the nearest dishwasher. The way she figured it, maybe those lechers and perverts at the mall would finally show her some appropriate respect if her father was with her. "You're going whether you want to or not." After all, it was for her own good, whether he failed to realize that or not.

Apparently, this was not the right day to challenge Vegeta, she would soon find out. Evidently, something had happened before she had woken up this morning and it had set off his mood to be more grouchy and irritable than usual. "Listen here, girl," he growled, annoyance dripping in his voice. He rose to his feet and began to exit the room, never once looking back as he continued, "I'm the Prince of Saiyans, if you haven't noticed already. No one can order me about, not even my own daughter."

A very Vegeta-like smirk immediately permeated Bra's facial features. She had practiced several times for something like this - after all, this occurrence happened almost every time they wanted to go shopping, or do something remotely feminine. Standing up, she proceeded to oppose his proclamation, in turn making him stand stiffly in his place, "But that would make me the Princess of Saiyans, right, Daddy? And I'd need someone to boss around, don't you think? If no one's going to boss you around, I think no one should boss me around, either."

"Ooh, good one," Tanith egged on the argument, not even comprehending the whole conversation. The way she figured it, Bulma had found and married a very weird husband who could magically turn his hair blond on cue, had very weird kids who could shoot light from their hands, and had befriended very weird friends who commonly frequented the house on regular intervals. And just what were Saiyans? Probably some sports team Bulma had invested in (maybe Vegeta and Bra were secretly basketball or football fans)... All in all, the tabloids and paparazzi definitely weren't doing a spectacular job on uncovering Bulma's real life. If they only knew what was behind all of the glitz, intelligence, and glamour that was Bulma Briefs...

Trunks shot her a very dirty look, breaking her immediate thoughts of somehow making quick money. "Tanith, you'll only make things worse if you open your mouth again. If you want to do something remotely productive with your life, do something you enjoy, like shopping for different-colored contacts, or something. We all know you never had violet-colored eyes before. Didn't you have blue eyes last week, and green the week before that?"

Said eyes flashed meanly at the young adult's indifferent form. 'How dare he... That boy can be just as rude and indignant as his sister!' Speaking over Vegeta and Bra's strained (but rather calm) argument, she declared, "First of all, it's Miss Tanith to you. I don't know how many times I have to repeat myself to children who are supposedly the offspring of the most intelligent woman on Earth. Second, this is my eye color! I do not go shopping for different eye colors!"

Trunks shrugged his shoulders carelessly before returning to a very intriguing article in his magazine. "That's what you said last week, Tanith." He suddenly looked up in interest, as Bra and Vegeta's argument escalated to something a bit more personal. Nudging his mother (who still sat beside him) lightly, he tuned in on the conversation. Bulma, who had been listening to Bra and Vegeta's conversation since her son had gotten into a little spiff with Tanith, grinned inwardly. The victor of this verbal brawl was about to be chosen.

"But Dad," Bra finally concluded the rather pointless argument, sickly sweetness just oozing out of her words, "you wouldn't want any weird Earth guy to come and hit on me, would you? I thought that I was your little princess." She folded her arms and tapped her foot expectantly against the tiled floor, the same Vegeta-like smirk from earlier across her face now. "Just face it. You know you wouldn't want your little princess to get hurt." That did it. She knew she had won, and Vegeta realized it too, although he wasn't in the least bit pleased with the outcome.

A few very short moments later, he found himself stalking out the kitchen door with Bra, who was happily trailing in his steps, swinging her purse excitedly in her triumph. "This better not take long..." Oh, who was he kidding. The girl was three times as bad as her mother in the subject of shopping - she could spend weeks at that abominable, loathsome shopping area if she really wanted to.

"Help her pick something cute, Vegeta! Try Stacey's first - they have the best Louis Vuitton and Armani gowns! Miss Maria will be expecting you!" Bulma waved cheerfully behind them, not bothering to placate her disgruntled husband. Trunks chuckled along with her, and even Tanith joined the laughter, her feigned amethyst eyes reflecting her amusement. "Have fun shopping!"

That was the straw that broke the camel's, or rather, the Saiyan Prince's back. "Insufferable woman! I do not shop!" With that last comment spoken so harshly, the father and his daughter exited the building, standing in the blaring red haze of the May sun. "How do you want to go?" he finally mumbled sullenly, crossing his arms with a perfect scowl darkening his face. Oh, he and Bulma were definitely going to have a little talk about this when he came back home. He'd make sure of it.

Bra almost blurted out the wrong words, but caught herself in the nick of time before she sold herself (and possibly Goten) out to her father. "We can fl- I mean, we can drive," she suggested carefully, digging into her purse to deftly extract a small green car capsule. If he ever learned about her new and improved flying abilities, he would begin to suspect her. And of course, he'd somehow suspect Goten, and ultimately even his own father might be dragged into this, seeing as how her dad loved to blame things quickly on Goku. She cleared her throat at present and threw the capsule at the ground, watching as it instantly transformed into her second favorite automobile, a green sportscar (alas, her faithful red convertible had long been dismantled since that car accident a while ago). "You ready to go now, Daddy?"

He snorted lightly and climbed in the driver's seat without so much as a second thought. "I'm driving, in case you were never informed," he explained shortly, seeing Bra's gaping expression of shock. "Your mother's orders. And for once, I can agree with that intolerable female - you are not to be trusted around vehicles and computers. Now get in, keep quiet, and don't touch anything." As soon as she complied, and had joined him in the front seat, he took the keys from her and started up the ignition expertly. However, he made no complaint when she skillfully maneuvered the air conditioning with ease and switched the radio on to the station of her preference.

Soon, they were very well on their way to the mall, driving casually on Route 9. Other than a few random whoops and whistles from other male drivers regarding a certain Saiyan Princess; a few violent responses towards these drivers from a very abashed and angered Bra and her father; a stop from a police officer who seemed genuinely worried about the other drivers on the road (apparently, Vegeta was 'endangering the lives of West City civilians by exceeding driving rates'); and a "You know, you really should learn how to fly completely well. It would save us from a lot of things these asinine Earth men say toward you, and ultimately save them from future dismemberment of body limbs" from a seemingly concerned father figure, the ride went pretty smooth. Bra seemed relieved, on top of many other emotions, when they finally neared the parking lot of the massive West City mall, which came complete with six levels of about five hundred stores, seventeen movie theaters, fifteen department stores, five enormous food courts, two carousels, three ice skating rinks and laser tag arenas, ten restaurants, and about twenty-seven arcades scattered randomly around the area. Oh, and add about a thousand giggling girls and wives, five hundred babbling babies, and seven hundred griping and grumbling boyfriends and husbands, and you were set.

They entered the impressive, five-mile radius building as soon as they left the car (Bra had succeeded in encapsulating the vehicle, conveniently placing it within her purse again), and the Saiyan Princess immediately went to find the nearest directory, marveling at hundreds upon hundreds of stores to choose from. She placed a finger on the very top of the list to peruse through it quicker. "They sure have a lot of designer names here...Versace, Armani, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Fendi, Coach...the list is endless," she mused to herself, grinning excitedly. "I like - I like a lot. Daddy, let's go!" She turned to motion to him to come with her to her first store, but it seemed as if he was already in yet another conflict.

"Princesa! Princesa! Ven aca, por favor!"a husky feminine voice, dripping in a rich Spanish accent, greeted Bra from afar. The source of the voice tried to advance toward her favorite person to enclose her within a very tight embrace, but a certain Prince stepped in her way, blocking her. She stopped in her tracks and placed her hands on her hips impatiently, not understanding his actions. "Que pasa, Senor? La princesa quiere ir de compras hoy, si o no?"

'What the-?' Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the petite young woman, taking in her appearance quickly. She was dressed fashionably, just as Bra was, in a purple miniskirt and a matching midriff-exposing top, both of which matched her hair and eye color perfectly. She couldn't have been much older than Bra, either, but he wasn't about to entertain the question. "What are you babbling about, lady? And just who are you to the girl, anyway?"

Apparently, the woman understood English, but didn't know how to incorporate it into her own speech. At present, she stuck her chest out proudly, beaming as she declared, "Soy Senorita Maria! Mucho gusto, Senor! Ahora, puede mover? Yo quiero hablar con mi amiga favorita!"She began to push forcedly past him, but he stayed put. Growing agitated, she pleaded to Bra, "Princesa, ayudame, por favor. Tu papa es muy dificil!"

"She said 'Princess! Princess! Come here, please!' And when you intercepted her when she tried to talk to me, she added, 'What's wrong, sir? Doesn't the princess want to shop today?' And after you responded, she replied that her name is Miss Maria, and it's a pleasure meeting you. But she wants you to move now, because she wants to speak with me," Bra translated dully, who was quite talented in the language. Well, she didn't translate everything. The least thing she wanted on this shopping excursion was for her father to personally maim Miss Maria for referring to him as 'difficult'. "Daddy, I'm pretty certain Miss Maria can speak English perfectly; it's just that she enjoys speaking her native language the majority of the time. Trust me, I would know – she's the acclaimed manager of my favorite designer store."

The manager's eyes lit up upon hearing Bra's explanation. She smiled arrogantly, placing two hands on her hips as she winked up at Vegeta knowingly. "Si, es verdad. Como dije antes de tu hija le dijo sobre mi exito, mucho gusto. Mi tienda de ropa tiene muchas cosas por los hombres tambien..."She proceeded to fish out a couple of credit card pamphlets and a few coupons out of her skirt pocket and began to discuss how many deals Vegeta could get if he signed up for a Stacey's credit card today in fervently-spoken Spanish.

Once again, Bra prepared to tell her father that Miss Maria was confirming what she had said previously to be true, and was simply repeating herself again with her introduction; but Vegeta stopped her. Evidently, he didn't need Bra's help in translating this time around. "Does it look like I enjoy that disgusting hobby you Earth women call 'fun'?" Nevertheless, he didn't make a violent reaction when Miss Maria succeeded in reaching Bra, tugging her along anxiously to reach their first destination, the store otherwise known as Stacey's. Vegeta's first instinct was to keep away from that prestigious but accursed boutique as much as he possibly could, seeing as how the majority of the women present at the mall where flocking towards it in frenzied exhilaration, but no, Bra just had to choose to go to that one first...

They reached the store in record-breaking time it seemed, and Miss Maria promptly detached her arm from Bra's to inform her that "la mujer pelirroja se llama Trixxie y la mujer rubia se llama Stephanie"weren't present today. The red-haired attendant and her blonde companion had won a paid vacation from the West City Mall, and were allowed to select any location of their choosing. It wasn't too much of a surprise to Bra when she learned that they had chosen the exotic beaches of the Paragon District (which were conveniently located very far away from West City) to vacation at, but she kept her tongue from making any rash comments. Miss Maria's feelings were easily hurt, and she possessed a fiery temper that almost countered Chi-Chi's perfectly.

After filling Bra and Vegeta (the latter wasn't even listening anyway) in on what specific changes had happened to the store in the small period she hadn't visited, the manager left the two to aid three young girls on their shopping venture, who certainly looked like they were out of place in the massive store. But hey, they looked like a trio of suckers. Maybe she could 'persuade' them to purchase a couple of 'not-so-pricey' purses and shoes, if they couldn't comprehend Espanol, of course...

Now alone with her father, Bra pondered how to begin her shopping excursion. Should she find her substitute attendants and have them help her out, or should she simply trust her own instincts this time around? She reminded herself that it had been a long time since she had read a fashion magazine (her life was now inconveniently circulating around secret sparring sessions, private workouts, and more discreet training) and perhaps it was better to trust her assistants' guidance and tutelage. "Daddy," she spoke out loud, as she walked aimlessly through numerous clothing racks, "I think I'm going to go find my attendants first, before I do anything..." Her voice faltered when she realized he wasn't even in hearing-range of her comment. He was already sitting on a bench near the entrance of the store, a scowl plastered on his face as if to signal him being bored already. "Never mind..." She turned around to where she was facing before and almost collided into a young boy. "Well, hello," she stared at him curiously, suppressing the instant annoyance she had felt when his gargantuan foot had stepped on her own precious, pedicured toes, "what brings you here?"

The brown-haired boy (who resembled one of those deeply poetic kids who would rather sit and write meaningful songs all day than go out and socialize), who seemed a bit unnerved to have run into the blue-haired girl in the first place, stiffened up and shot back defensively, "I have the right to be here, just as you do. Stacey's has men's clothing now, you know."

"Not in the lingerie section."

He froze, aghast, as his normally dreamy looking brown eyes dilated into wide orbs upon seeing the numerous lacy brassieres and underwear the location around them held. "I...I was just shopping for my mother. N-No big deal."

"Oh, I'm sure Mommy Dearest would let her clueless son shop for her." She rolled her azure eyes and shook her head, in turn making her long blue locks swish gracefully from side to side. She noticed the way his eyes immediately glazed over upon witnessing the usually harmless sight, seeing how his dark brown eyes were now half-closed and how a tiny smile was on his lips. Rolling her eyes once more, she decided to just move the bumbling bozo out of her way but thought better of it when she saw some drool forming at the corner of his mouth. It was then that she got a little worried, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder to wake him up from his daydream. "Anyone in there?"

He looked sincerely startled for a second before he regained his composure. "I apologize, Bra, I really do. I know you're too smart to believe my lie. It's just that I never thought I would see you face to face before... I never thought that I would be so close as to smell your heavenly skin, which happens to smell like strawberries, by the way... To breathe the same air that you're breathing... To be able to gaze into those lovely blue pools you call eyes-" Oh, no. He was getting that half-lidded, dreamy look again.

She snatched him from his reverie almost promptly. "Wait a second, you. First of all, I don't even know your name. Second, I do not smell like strawberries. I used wild strawberry body spray today, imported directly from Amibo City, and there's a difference between a wild strawberry and a regular one. Third, you're really freaking me out with what you're saying. Do I really have to call store security on you? And fourth, how do you even know my name?"

He put his hands up quickly to compensate for offending her (no matter how insignificant the offense was). "I'm sorry, Bra! It really smelled like strawberries at first sniff, but now I know for sure that the scent of wild strawberries totally beats the scent of regular, genetically-enhanced ones!" He nodded brightly to show her he honestly had some clue as to what he was talking about, happy to have gotten her complete attention. "And of course! You'd need to know your future husband's name! My name's Todd Bridgewater and I love you, Miss Bra Briefs!"

"What? How can you love me? I don't even know you!"

"But I know you, my sweet love." Todd cleared his voice at this moment and appeared solemn. "My dear Bra, I have known you since I was naught but a little kid. I saw you at an ice-cream store with your mother and fell in love upon first seeing your innocent beauty. Since then, I've been won over by your wit and charm. I have all the magazines that I've seen you read, every article that has you in it, and I even snuck and got your name and picture tattooed on my arm!" He pulled up the dingy sleeves of his jacket to expose a cute colored illustration of Bra winking playfully, her name sprawled neatly below it. "Even better, I've bought all of your mother's tracking devices and put them to perfectly good use. I've even collected samples of DNA from numerous sources," at this, he dug into his jacket and revealed a jar full of turquoise eyelash hair (Bra was beginning to become grossed out), "I know everything there is to know about you - your favorite type of music, how many bedrooms you have, the last thing you ate, even the fact that you ran your favorite car into a tree a while ago. Now I'm thirteen years old, and I'm determined to make you mine." He cleared his throat and replaced the jar back into his jacket, bringing out a crumpled paper in its stead. "I've been working on this baby for as long as I can remember, in hopes of one day using it to win you and your affections."

Bra's sapphire eyes only clouded over in confusion as she watched the boy she once thought of as adorable upon first seeing him (now she just thought of him as plain weird, and a tiny bit flattering, in his own special way) in amazement, just as he began singing his 'work of art':

"Oh Bra, you're really neat,

Whenever I see you my heart skips a beat.

Bra, I think you're so swell,

Your hair is a deeper blue than the water of a well.

The day I first saw you I can actually confess,

That very night I dreamt of you in my mom's wedding dress.

I've been following you both near and far,

C.C.'s bodyguards caught me and made me see stars.

Bra, don't you see how much I love you?

My face changes colors at the thought of touching you.

I see us one day having a couple of kids,

A brunette named Amy and a blue-haired boy named Sid.

You're so gorgeous, better looking than the other dames;

Forget the other girls! I want you to have my last name!" He finished his song finally and gazed at her hopefully for a good comment. Needless to say, she didn't seem too pleased.

"And this is what you've been wasting your entire adolescent life making?" Bra looked less than amused at the interpretative dance moves that accompanied the song. "It's nice and all, for a fellow thirteen-year-old maybe. Now get out of my way, you little stalker."

Todd blinked innocently, slipping the paper back into his jacket's pocket. "You didn't like it, dearest darling?"

"Maybe I would have appreciated it more if you didn't inform me of all the stalking deeds you've done your entire life," she answered indifferently, looking around and hoping to at least catch a glimpse of a fatherly figure stomping his way towards this menace. Where was he? She had required his presence for a reason, and he sure wasn't being faithful to that reason. "Now be a good little boy and let Miss Bra do what she came here for. And in case you didn't know, I wanted to shop, not be serenaded by toddlers. And that's what I'll be doing for about half the day, until about five o' clock, when my mother's lawyer opens his office. You can definitely count on me making you something in return for that lovely song – I'll be filing a restraining order against you."

He gasped dramatically, which reminded the blue-haired girl somewhat of Chi-Chi. "But Bra, you wouldn't!"

"You obviously don't know me as well as you claim, because I definitely would."

Todd grew red at the statement, and began clenching and unclenching his fists in his rage. His long hair clung damply to his forehead as he proclaimed, grasping her wrist rather sharply, "Bra, I promised myself that you would be the next Mrs. Bridgewater, right after my mom. And you're...rejecting me? I won't have that, Kitten!"

"'Kitten?'"Bra repeated in disbelief, the boy's anger becoming infectious. She glared at his tight grip on her wrist. Suddenly, she recalled what had happened with the older thug at this same mall. Well, she wouldn't let it happen again. She was under training now, and knew what to do and what not to do. She'd definitely make this Todd sorry he was born... Forget him and his 'Oh, Bra, remember not to oppose weaker opponents'. "Well, you'd better watch out then, 'cause this 'cat' has claws-"

But this situation was definitely different from the last, despite the age difference between Todd and the punk. She didn't have her father there to come to the rescue last time, something she didn't really need this time around. "What's going on here, Bra?"

Todd frowned, staring up at Vegeta darkly. His grip on Bra's arm tightened even more so as he voiced his next statement in a stiff tone, "None of your business, geezer. Just handling my property, that's all."

"Property? You sang a little song to me and now I'm your property?You are really getting out of hand here." But she made no effort to loosen his firm grip (subconsciously, she knew her father would immediately question her if she really gave this boy what he was asking for). Smirking, she added lightly, "And you shouldn't call him a geezer again. Because 'Geezer' is really your sweet love's 'Daddy Dearest'."

"Why should I listen to you? This guy doesn't even look like you. You're in denial," retorted Todd rashly, as Vegeta steadily neared him, a dangerous and deadly scowl planted on his face. "You don't know what's good for you, anyway - Hey! What're you doing, old man?" He loosened his hold on Bra's wrist completely as Vegeta swiftly grabbed his collar, pulling him upward to face him eye-to-eye. His eyes transformed from mean and resentful to bewildered and fearful in no second flat. "P-Please don't hurt me!" he whimpered like a coward, while Bra watched from her place in mild amusement.

"It's amazing how quickly your tone of voice changed, brat," the Saiyan Prince snarled violently, placing his index finger on the young boy's chest. "It's not your lucky day today. You've caught me in a bad mood. I just don't know how to voice it to you mindless Earth goons. Maybe this will permeate through your thick skull." He prodded Todd's chest with a little bit of pressure and away the boy flew with a pained cry, crashing through about three racks and four table displays of carefully arranged underwear. Bra couldn't suppress a girlish giggle as the brown-haired boy emerged from the damaged mess dazedly, struggling to maintain balance on his own two feet. He stared back at his former idol and her father, silently removing a pair of light blue panties from his head, before turning to the other direction and running for his dear life.

"Guess he won't be my number one fan anymore," she shrugged to her father, who had returned from his tensed countenance to that of an unemotional one. "I wonder how long it'll take to remove that tattoo he had of me." She glanced at the spectators of the event - a couple of awestruck ladies were staring after the princess and her father, then looking at the colossal mess that they were leaving behind. She groaned grimly - she was going to have to pay for all of that damage; Miss Maria would make sure of it. "Maybe it wasn't totally necessary to hurt him, Daddy. He was only thirteen." Not wanting to admit that the boy had been very stupid, she continued jokingly, "You probably scarred him for life – he'll be having nightmares of you now."

Vegeta only snorted as they walked away from the spot. "I would have done worse if your mother hadn't gone off that one time I blew up the house of the twit who demeaned you when you were younger. She was wrapped up in lawsuits for so long I hardly saw her. Maybe that was actually a good thing." He shrugged as they continued walking to the department of his daughter's choosing. "Besides, it's not like I killed the boy. He was only in the hospital for a few months. Anyway, from what I've heard, you've done worse." He smirked. "In other words, you shouldn't be talking, should you?"

Bra recalled the time Goten had told her that he had spoken to Vegeta while he was in space, informing him about the thug she had beat up at this very mall, and smiled. "A girl needs to be able to look out for herself in this world of mindless lechers and over-enthusiastic stalkers, you know. Even if they are just starting out in junior high school. Did you know that he wanted me to be betrothed to him? I was supposed to be the next Mrs. Bridgewater and you ruined it," she teased.

Her father snorted again at the mere thought. "Over my dead and rotting carcass. None of these inferior weaklings on this blasted mudball of a planet could ever have you and live to tell the tale." He went silent, staring at Bra's wrist (which had shown no signs of bruising from the boy's strong grip, something very unusual for someone who had never trained before in her life) curiously as they continued walking down the aisles.

They weren't allowed another moment to themselves, however. The Saiyan Princess's other two faithful attendants, Mamie and Sharon, met them near the jewelry section. "Princess B!" the former chirped, coining the two words into the store's affectionate nickname for the Saiyan Princess (of course, they didn't really know that she actually was royalty). She bounced around the father and daughter excitably, irritating Vegeta even more in the process. "We haven't seen you in a while! What's up? What'd you come here for? How can we help you today? Huh? Huh? Huh?" She prodded a finger at Bra's shoulder in an energetic manner, her green eyes lighting up exuberantly as she waited for a response.

Sharon, who seemed to be the complete opposite of her raven-haired companion, smiled warmly, tucking a mauve strand of hair away from her blue eyes, giving her a somewhat more kept appearance than Mamie. "Welcome back, Princess," she said calmly, prying her fellow attendant's fingers off of her favorite customer. Turning to Vegeta, she bowed apologetically. "Please excuse Mamie. We haven't seen your daughter in a long while, and we've been eagerly awaiting her presence again." She directed her composed glance back to Mamie before giving a dazzling smile to Bra (after all, being Bra's attendant only meant a significant increase on her next paycheck). "Now let's start over, shall we? How may we help you today?"

"Well, Sharon," Bra started softly, still questioning whether Mamie had had a little too much coffee today. She glanced around her surroundings, taking in the many sights of fellow patrons hustling and bustling along with their own attendants. "I have a Sweet Sixteen that I have to attend soon. I was hoping you'd have a dress that I could wear. Of course, it has to be something no one else has, and it has to be incredibly breathtaking. And you know by now that the price of the gown is never a problem-" Vegeta cleared his throat at that exact moment, which caused her to add hastily, "Oh, and it can't be too revealing, too tight, or too skimpy, either." 'Which defeats the purpose,' she told herself dully, 'but I can still look great with anything Mamie chooses. She might be the weirdest person I've ever met, but she has excellent fashion sense.'

Mamie was already gone, running swiftly to the nearest rack of dresses and gowns. Taking that action as a cue to follow, Bra and Sharon trailed in her footsteps, leaving an already aggravated Vegeta to lag sullenly behind. Of course, a very energetic person plus a very indifferent one caused some conflict, and Mamie seemed to make it even worse by retracing her steps quickly and grabbing Vegeta by the collar to move him along faster. "Come on, come on, you slowpoke!" she giggled lightly, stopping at a beautiful orange dress embroidered with large, gorgeous diamonds. "Here's one of the newest Stacey's dresses, Princess B! It's long, slim-fitting, graceful, and best of all, it's sexy!" She motioned to the sides of the dress, which would expose parts of Bra's stomach if she wore it. "And the good thing is, these sparkly things that are decorating the dress's lining are diamonds, not rhinestones! You won't look cheap in this, that's for sure! And it's only seven thousand zenie! Do you want to try it on now? Huh? Huh?"

Bra knew she would have no choice in the matter. Mamie always got her way, even with someone who always got her way, too. Besides, the dress was gorgeous, she had to admit. It wouldn't hurt to try it on, would it? "Why not, Mamie?" she shrugged lightly. She turned to glance momentarily at her father. "Daddy, I'll be back soon, okay?" She didn't wait for his reply, knowing that it would probably be a negative one, and quickly left for the dressing rooms, Mamie and Sharon close behind.

Back at the Briefs' residence...

Bulma, apparently, had slightly fibbed to Bra and Vegeta about what she was planning to do today. At present, she tossed aside her blueprints and her goggles, and stood before her companions, most of them fellow women (mostly young interns in high school or college), all congregated in a living room. She cleared her throat loudly and began. "Hello, everyone. I want to thank you for successfully making it here to this very secret meeting. I personally applaud some of you for getting past very suspicious husbands and daughters, as well." She stared at Videl pointedly. "As you know, I myself have personally made sure that my own husband and daughter won't be here throughout the duration of this entire engagement, seeing as how they can both be extremely nosy and might, in turn, ruin this whole thing with bad attitudes, which we definitely don't need. Without further ado, Operation Sweet Sixteen shall now commence. Chi-Chi, do you know everyone's duties for today?"

"I sure do, Bulma," Chi-Chi announced from her seat at the couch. She leapt to her feet and began to rattle off names from a list she held in her hands. "Tanith and Videl will take care of the overall decoration. I'll do the food and catering. You said that you'd take care of the entertainment. Jessibel from the Communications Department and Satsuki from the Inventions Department will work on the overall theme. Angel from the Business Department and Simi from the Advertising Department will work on the invitations. Trunks and Miriam from the Engineering Department will deal with the overall itinerary for the party. I think that's all for now."

Bulma's eyes shone happily, and she clapped her hands in delight. "It sounds great! Jessibel, Satsuki, Angel, Simi, and Miriam, you already know my son Trunks and Tanith. Meet my friends Videl and Chi-Chi. You'll be working with each other. Now let's get started! No bad attitudes, okay? We want happy faces, enthusiastic smiles, right? I'm talking to you,Tanith, so wipe that scowl from your face already and get to thinking up possible decoration ideas."

The women set off to do their various tasks exuberantly (with the exception of one very annoyed Tanith, who seemed set on ruining Videl's parade), but Trunks checked once to make sure he was supposed to do whatever it was Chi-Chi had said. "Mom, do I really have to do this? I'm the only guy here, you know."

"Aw, don't be complainin' about nothin' but hogwash," Jessibel reprimanded him, digging into her purse and extracting a few blueprint capsules from it. She laid them down on a nearby coffee table and allowed her partner Satsuki to open and examine them closely. "Shucks, back in the country, the fellers did lots of womanly things. It was the only way to tell if you was a real man or not."

Not wanting to inform this Jessibel that her grammar was by far one of the most atrocious he had ever heard, Trunks shuddered visibly and reintroduced himself to the very young lady he had to work with, who seemed to be keen on winking his way every few seconds. 'This is going to be a very long day,' he thought to himself, moodily digging into his pocket for a paper and pen to design the itinerary. He caught Tanith smirking at him, just before she deliberately brought up the much-dreaded subject about what dress each of the women present was planning to wear to the party. 'A very long day.'

Meanwhile...

Bra sat by her father at a nearby bench, still in Stacey's, now dressed in her regular clothes again. She sipped lightly at a cup of pink lemonade that Sharon had provided for her, letting the cool, refreshing taste soothe her as she contemplated what to do next. Her father...he just wasn't cooperating today. She had gone past about three casual dresses, two elaborate ones, and about six or seven luxurious gowns within the past three hours, and each and every one of them had been rejected by him. She could see why that first orange one had been denied (it showed her entire stomach - she almost resembled a belly dancer, for Pete's sake), but she didn't see what his motives were for rejecting the other eleven dresses. She sighed at present, wiping at her forehead. Shopping sure was stressful, and her father wasn't helping.

Sharon kneeled beside the blue-haired girl, gently dabbing her flushed face clean of impurities with a soft Kleenex tissue. "It's not healthy to be so worried, Princess," she told her, rising up from her spot. "Mamie'll come back in a few minutes with another selection. I'm sure your father will like it."

"That's what you think, if you're planning on bringing some more trash out here for her to try on," Vegeta supplied derisively, but Mamie had reappeared again, and was now dragging Bra and Sharon along to try the newest selection she had to offer. 'This is taking longer than it's worth. And we haven't even begun looking for those other things she'll need...' Seven minutes later, he was mentally debating on whether he should drag her out of the store and leave the mall altogether, but she had appeared again, dressed in the most horrific dress he had ever seen. '...That's a dress? I'll never understand Earth women's taste in fashion...'

"Now feast your eyes on this beauty!" Mamie announced loudly, showcasing her latest gown. Bra was dressed in nothing but an enormous, brown, dingy-looking sack that draped her body repulsively, hiding her figure perfectly. "Imported directly from that trend-setting North City, we have 'Le Sacque'! Very high fashion, no? Based on those vintage fads we have these days, she'll have the boys singing, 'Hello, Princess!' when she shows up at that Sweet Sixteen! And it's only fifteen thousand zenie! So, what do you think, Pops?"

He didn't even need to think twice about what he thought. "That is, by far, the most hideous thing I've ever seen on this planet," he supplied in a bored monotone from his seat. And for once, he was actually telling the truth. "Even Kakarot's woman has better sense not to wear that outside her house." He thought for a few moments, staring at Bra in the 'potato sack' critically. "As a matter of fact, it'll ward off anyone, including those idiotic Earth men. Let's take it and leave."

His daughter, who certainly seemed out of place in that dress, looked as if she were about to cry. Known far and wide for her love of shopping and her appreciation of clothes, it was surprising to all present to see her show hatred and disgust for this garment. "But Dad! I look like a sack of spuds!" she pleaded desperately. "I'd rather wear that poofy yellow dress I tried on earlier, or even that purple one with too many layers of chiffon..." Her voice trailed off as a shimmering red in the distance caught her eye. Despite her recent expression of repulsion for what she was wearing, what she saw displayed in the front window of the store quite literally took her breath away. "Mamie, Sharon! Why didn't you show me that one before?" she gushed, staring at the gown in all of its glory. "It's the perfect dress!" Without another word, she ran in a mad dash to examine the gown better, almost dropping her normal clothes (she was still holding them in her hands) in her speed. Her father and her assistants stared after her wordlessly.

Someone reached the dress before her, though. A very pretty blonde, about the same age and height as she was, was already gushing at the dress, her attendant accompanying her. "Isn't it beautiful, Dolly?" she sighed blissfully, stars in her eyes. She fingered the delicate fabric gently, almost afraid to ruin it. "I think I want it to be my prom dress!" She caught sight of Bra, standing on the opposite side of the gown. Giving her the once over, taking in Bra's potato sack dress, she added coldly, "I hope you're not looking at this dress, because it has my name all over it. Maybe you'd be better off at the nearest garage sale, which is only a few miles away from here."

Bra's jaw immediately dropped in shock, and her fists involuntarily clenched in her quick fury. 'A garage sale...?' How dare she speak to her in that way! Didn't she know who she was addressing? "Excuse me? I think you'd be better off at a garage sale, with that incredibly cheap makeup you have on. You look like a clown."

The girl practically bristled in her anger, which caused her attendant to take immediate action. Heaven forbid what would happen if Miss Maria caught hold of a fight. "Calm down, Vee, she probably doesn't know who she's talking to."

Bra was the one who needed to keep her temper in check, evidently. "What? She's the one who doesn't know who she's talking to! I'm the one who set that fashion trend she's wearing right now!" She pointed rather rudely at the girl's feet, where she was wearing a sock and a shoe, to make an additional emphasis.

Vee, or whatever her real name was, sniffed haughtily. She stared her opponent up and down again, wanting to know just who this blue-haired girl thought she was. Her green eyes widened, however, when she recognized the familiar blue eyes and blue hair that highlighted the famous Bulma Briefs, but, determined not to give Bra the satisfaction she was yearning for, she snarled back viciously, "As if. You're not even following the trend yourself. Anyway, this dress probably isn't even your size. It's more my size than whatever you are... What size is it, Dolly?"

Not bothering to mention that the two girls in front of her were probably the exact same size in clothing, Dolly gingerly checked the tag located on the dress's side to calm both of the customers down. "Just as you thought, Veronica, this gown happens to be your size," she justified. She looked at Bra for a few moments. "But, not judging how this girl looks in the new 'Le Sacque' dress, I would have to assume that it's her size, too. Nonetheless, the two of you have to realize that this dress is very expensive. Pricey, as in not your ordinary four thousand zenie. I'm thinking about sixteen thousand."

Bra exhaled in relief, the look of shock and anger slowly dissipating from her face. At least this Veronica's attendant seemed to be a lot more respectful and intelligent than her patron. "Thank you, Miss, for informing her that she obviously can't afford this dress. Besides, I'll be wearing it for a Sweet Sixteen that'll be in a few days - your prom won't be for another year. So step off, Little Miss Vee - now."

"Why I never-!" huffed Veronica, and was about to give Bra a piece of her mind when her cell phone abruptly began to ring. "Shoot. Who could that be?" She fished it out from her purse and spoke into it, her tone of voice changing for the better. "Hello? Oh, hey! I didn't know you were here at the mall, too! Okay, I'll meet you over there in a few minutes. I was searching for a prom dress at Stacey's...yes, I know the prom's not for another seven months, but it's better to get it before everyone else does, right? Okay, okay. I'm on my way now. Bye!" She hung up her phone and hissed genuinely at Bra, "Just because your mother basically owns half of the city doesn't mean you'll get your way all the time. I'll let you have this dress for now." She turned on her heel and stalked out of the store angrily, leaving her attendant to stare after her in slight bewilderment.

"You know," Bra called after her wryly, "if you're still looking to buy a prom dress, you can always try some garage sales. I know a great one that'd be affordable for someone like you – it's only a few miles away from the mall." She stopped herself from nearly doubling over in laughter as the part of Veronica's face that could be seen from her retreating back turned an interesting shade of red. Instead, she shrugged indifferently as the blonde finally left her sight; this happened every single time she came to this store. And she always won the article of clothing that was being fought over every single time, too. "She's just mad because she couldn't afford it. They always are."

"You know it, Princess B! I bet she was positively green with Gucci envy!" Mamie crooned energetically from behind her, Sharon and Vegeta in tow. She sucked in a dramatic breath of air as Bra still stood marveling at the ruby dress. "Ooh, you're looking at this one? I have to agree, it is mighty pretty. It's a one-of-a-kind," she suddenly added, just as Miss Maria came striding over to them, done with her job of 'suckering' those newbie shoppers, "which means only one was made to adorn our gorgeous window. Would you like to try it on?"

"Oh, yes - yes! Compared to all of those other second-rate dresses you had me wear in the past few hours, this one is simply breathtaking!" exclaimed Bra, clasping her hands together enthusiastically like a five-year-old during Christmas. She turned to Miss Maria, who she was certain was bound to suddenly elevate the price to about three times more than it was probably worth now that she was interested in it, "Are you going to help me try it on?"

"Si," confirmed the manager, immediately (but oh-so-gently) snatching the dress away from its place at the window. She sharply tugged on the left sleeve of Bra's potato sack dress to lead her to the back of the store, chattering uncontrollably in Spanish how she was just so pleased that 'La Princesa' had chosen her personal favorite dress of the store to try on, and not some stuck-up brat like Veronica, who only frequented Stacey's once every two months...

Sharon, Mamie, and Vegeta were all left standing where Miss Maria had just been less than three seconds ago. The latter of the three had had quite enough of all this ridiculousness. "Look," he turned towards the nearest assistant to him, who was still chattering up a storm, "I'll give the girl ten more minutes. If she takes longer than the time allotted, mark my words – I'll have plenty of reason to maim you, woman, because this is mostly your fault for not picking a good dress in the first place."

Mamie seemed to be amused by the prospect of the Saiyan Prince physically harming her rather than be frightened out of her wits. "He wants to maim me - Mamie!" she giggled obnoxiously, jabbing her quickly-paling companion enthusiastically in the shoulder. "Shar, that rhymes!"

"No kidding," Sharon trembled, sneaking an awkward glance at the prince. The Princess had told her all about her family, and had informed her about her father's temper. Although she had insisted that he was nothing but bark and no bite with women, Sharon still had some reason to fear him. Maybe it was just the way he scowled ominously at everyone, like he had a withstanding grudge with the entire world. Or maybe it was the way he voiced his threats...

'How about all of the above?' she told herself. He was downright scary, and she desperately didn't want to get on his bad side today. Hopefully, Mamie would buy a much-needed clue within the next few seconds and do the same.

Meanwhile...

Once they were at the back of the store (in a convenient, personal dressing room for only the elite shoppers), Miss Maria took Bra's pocketbook and normal clothes, and placed them on a small posh bench near her. Hanging the dress up on a nearby hanger rack, she gestured for the girl to step upon a small footstool located in the center of the dressing room and pulled out a tape measure and some pins magically from under the strap of her tank top. "Princesa,"she asked innocently, proceeding to take Bra's measurements, "por que quieres este vestido muy hermoso?"

"Why do I want this beautiful dress?" Bra repeated in disbelief. She shifted uncomfortably as Miss Maria pinched her side. "Senorita, we - this dress and I - were simply meant to be. I've never seen anything so gorgeous, so it's only fitting that it deserves to be on someone like me. It can't be changed; it's most definitely fate. Speaking of me, have you helped me pick any other things I might need for the party?"

"Claro que si," Miss Maria justified smugly, gesturing to the large basket on the floor beside the footstool Bra was standing on. As she continued to brag how she had known Bra would somehow select the dress in question while she continued measuring Bra's waist, hips, and bust, the Saiyan Princess could see an innumerable amount of makeup products; a gorgeous gold necklace with matching earrings; a single pair of stunning, strappy red shoes, tiny red rubies adorning the straps; a lovely matching bag; and simply breathtaking ornaments to adorn her hair. The manager handed her customer the dress and let her pull the crimson velvet curtains around herself, allowing her to finally have her wish fulfilled.

Bra took off her shoes gently and placed them to the side, while simultaneously wrenching that horrid potato sack dress off of her body. She tossed it carelessly to the side, fingering and marveling the soft, exquisite fabric of the new gown. 'It's...beautiful.' Being very cautious as to not ruin the gown, she stepped into it gingerly before pulling the halter neck over her head. She smoothed down the embroidered lace gently, because she knew how to treat a dress of this caliber. 'Just another reason why this dress should belong to me,' she told herself confidently, before pulling the curtains back so Miss Maria could examine her.

The manager didn't even have to draw a sharp intake of breath on this one, but she couldn't hide the slightly awestruck look Bra could see reflected on her face. "Perfecto, princesa,"she managed to make up for it, waving her hand airily as if she already knew it would be, her words stifled with the incalculable amount of pins she had in her mouth. She continued to mumble to herself as she knelt expertly beside her patron's legs, sticking pins in random spots all over Bra's body, before she stood straight and declared that the dress was absolutely her size, and didn't need to be adjusted. She removed the pins and instructed the very delighted Bra to change back into her normal clothes. The girl complied, but only after sneaking another quick look at herself in the mirror. Well, she did look marvelosa, but Miss Maria was determined not to let it get to her head.

In a couple of minutes, Bra emerged from the dressing room, the dress folded neatly in her arms. She had been planning to let her father see it, but recalling that he would merely be disagreeable with just any dress she tried on, she decided against it. 'He can see it at the party,' she thought giddily to herself, heading over to the nearest cashier's register, where Miss Maria was already fast at work calculating her expenses (and slipping a few extra items in her pile whenever the girl wasn't looking).

"Una fiesta de sorpresa para tu amiga, no?"the manager reflected amusedly, discreetly adding another perfume bottle on top of Bra's other purchases. She received the dress from Bra and continued calculating. "Es tu mejor amiga?"

Bra thought for a moment before unearthing a small credit card from her purse. "Yes, we're throwing a surprise party for someone, Miss Maria. I...I don't know whether to refer to her as a best friend, though," she confided, her voice dropping to a soft tone. "I don't know whether to refer to her as any type of friend..." Her voice quickly and abruptly hardened into the cold one Miss Maria had come to recognize at times. "What am I doing here chatting? Every time I stand here and talk with you, I end up buying more things than I came here for. Charge it, Miss Maria, and let me go. You're risking a possible life being lost, namely Mamie's, if you don't." She motioned to her father, who was scowling sinisterly in the background, to make her point come across successfully.

Miss Maria understood perfectly. She snatched the credit card from Bra and charged all of her bills without a single witty or wry comment coming out of her mouth. She gingerly encapsulated all of Bra's purchases within little capsules, placing them in a large shopping bag and handing them to her. She gently folded the dress neatly in half before placing it in its own hanger, where she placed a plastic cover over it. Handing it over to her favorite customer hesitantly, she proceeded to inquire (in her native language, of course) why Bra didn't want to stay in the store for a little longer.

"I'm so sorry," Bra apologized, clutching her shopping bags tightly within her hands, "but I have to get going. I need to set up appointments with my mother's makeup artist and my hairstylist. But thanks so much for all you've done."

Even though Miss Maria was sorrowful to see her go (one could easily interpret her pleads and cries of "Espera, Princesa, espera! Queda, por favor!") Bra had to exit the posh store. The way her father was glaring ominously at Mamie and Sharon gave her a very vague idea where this would all lead if she didn't leave quickly. Besides, she was starving, and unless Miss Maria was suddenly serving filet mignon and chocolate mousse along with clothes and accessories, she didn't see any more need to stay there. "C'mon, Daddy, it's lunchtime," she announced, finally leaving the store, her father beside her, "I'll buy you half of the largest food court if you don't threaten to mutilate Mamie again."

He didn't even need to think twice. "Agreed," he said, and was about to question her whether or not they would have to venture in another accursed store like Stacey's when her cell phone rang. He watched her hurriedly fish into her pocketbook, flip the phone open, and speak into it for a few moments before handing it over to him. "...Who is it?"

"It's Mom," Bra informed him, standing near him while he answered the phone. A small smile of mild amusement tugged on the corner of her lips as she continued. "She said she wants to see how you're faring so far."

He scowled and spoke darkly into the cellular device, "What do you want now, woman? It seems that every single day you want to make a different person's life completely miserable with your ridiculous comments."

"Can't you say 'hello' anymore? Seriously, all you want to do is complain these days," she snapped, but she was trying her best to suppress a small laugh all the same. A short yelp of surprise could be heard from her side of the line, and she quickly covered the phone with her hand to hiss urgently, "Miriam! Satsuki! Angel! Could you three please start acting your ages and stop harassing my son? I'm talking on the phone!"

"But it's so hard to keep our hands off of him!" Angel squealed childishly, winking at a very flustered-looking Trunks in a coquettish manner. "He's so cute!"

"Aw, they don't mean no harm," replied Jessibel loftily, just as her partner Satsuki and Miriam separated themselves from their tickle fest on poor Trunks in slight abashment. "C'mon now, he's so dang adorable - even ol' Tanith's got to admit it." Moving her comments to her fellow workers, she added, "Y'all know Miss Bulma's son is kinda shy around us, so quit botherin' him already and git back to work!"

"For the love of all that is educated and holy, woman, I hope to the heavens above that you did not let that unschooled whelp of a secretary in my house again."

Bulma's usually bright blue eyes clouded suddenly in her easily-fueled annoyance, causing Chi-Chi and Videl to stare up at her from their seats in slight alarm. "Vegeta, this is not your house. I honestly don't know how many times I have to get it through that thick skull of yours. Second, Jessibel is a very intellectual woman, our best secretary in the Communications Department. Don't stereotype her just because she came from humble beginnings, not Illiterate Cowboy Camp. Anyway, I want you to come home now. I wanted to ask you a question regarding what you want to wear to Pan's party, and show you a couple of things I want you to wear, in fact."

Vegeta snorted contemptuously at the mere idea of the many suits she would show him (and possibly force him to try on - of course, he would never admit that to anyone else) when he arrived home. "I'm not going to that foolish event. I told you that already... It's not my fault you're extremely deaf." He thought for a moment and somewhat resigned, "But if I must attend the brat's birthday celebration, then I'll go in whatever I deem fit for the occasion-"

"No. I won't stand for it this time, Vegeta." Bulma's voice was strict and unrelenting. It would have made anyone but her husband feel sick to their stomachs. "You're my date for this event, just as you've been for my past formal dinner events, and I am not having my date wear training gi to this party. You'll embarrass Bra and me, not to mention the entire corporation, by showing up looking like you just came from a battle. So, absolutely not. You're wearing what I want you to wear and that's final."

Vegeta was quiet for a mere second (Bra, who was still standing beside him, was growing a bit afraid at the moment), reflecting a bit on what he had just heard from his very irritated wife, before he erupted in a loud, derisive sort of laughter. Was she attempting to go all Chi-Chi on him, or something equally asinine? Too bad it wouldn't ever work. "For a second there, I thought you were actually serious, woman. But I'll come home now, and it has nothing to do with this celebration for Kakarot's grand-brat. The girl is finally finished shopping for her dress, and I'm about ready to leave this accursed establishment." He shut the phone off in the middle of his wife's protests and handed it back to his daughter. "I'm leaving now. Although it's preferable that you come home with me, I don't mind if you stay here for a couple more hours. If you're really as smart as you claim you are, you'd make sure that the woman never finds out I'm letting you take the car home, because I'm flying home." And without further ado, he turned in the opposite direction of where they were heading to exit the mall, making sure an open path was made for him (something that remarkably resembled the parting of the Red Sea) by directing very threatening glances to the wary shoppers around him.

Bra stared after him before replacing her phone back into her pocketbook. "'Bye to you, too," she muttered after him sarcastically. She was about to call after him and change her offer into buying him more than three-quarters of the food court for his so-called suffering, but thought better of it. 'Besides,' she reflected wryly, heading to the nearest escalator to go to the fifth level, 'my credit card is probably really close to its max... I've got to get a new one when I get home. I bet this dress wasn't even supposed to be twenty thousand zenie, too. Miss Maria is nothing but a money-sucking, greedy lady.' She glanced at the dress's bag and had to manage a smile as the electrically-operated stairs moved her along, and cooed, "But you were worth the twenty thousand, darling. You're going to make me look as good as anything for Pan's party."

She desperately wanted to shop her behind off like crazy after her lunch, but decided it was better to just grab a bite to eat before leaving the mall altogether. She grimaced lightly as she walked to the nearest fast food restaurant - she wasn't starving, she was absolutely famished. She'd take what she just thought of back – she'd grab about a hundred thousand bites to eat before she left.

She quickly located the closest McDonald's and quickly strode towards it, taking out a huge wad of cash from her wallet. Hey, when a credit card failed you, it was always best to carry some cash.

Meanwhile...

Six hours after walking through the glass doors of the West City Mall, Goten found himself lounging lazily at a fast food restaurant on the fifth level, staring idly into space while his purchases of the day sat on the table before him. He was tired; he was annoyed. He sighed loudly, resting his head on the table while he gazed at the long, winding line of hungry shoppers waiting to place their orders for lunch. He really shouldn't have taken all of the credit card pamphlets he had in his hands (after all, where would he find time to use them? He just didn't want to hurt the vendors' feelings by denying them), he reflected. All he came here for was to confront Valese, but that plan had seemed to go down the drain within the first three hours of searching. She was a girl - why wouldn't she be at the mall?

But this shopping adventure hadn't been entirely futile. He'd managed to buy a birthday present for Pan (he and Marron had decided to pool their money together at school to buy her something small), a pair of roller blades and a pair of ice skates, complete with a helmet and shoulder, arm, and knee pads. But even though he had bought something for his niece, he found himself buying things he really didn't need. For instance, he shouldn't have let that girl in that huge store on the second level persuade him to buy three shirts, a pair of sunglasses, and four sneakers; or let that especially pretty girl in that store on the fourth level talk him into buying six pairs of shoes (two each for Pan, Marron, and him). As his mother begrudgingly commented, he couldn't deny a pretty face whatever she wanted.

'She has a point, though,' he thought to himself. After all, when he'd met Valese in school many months ago, he'd been literally knocked out by her beauty. She was by far the most popular girl in Orange Star High, and all the other girls (even her best friends) were positively envious of her - not only because of her looks, but mostly the fact that she had the most ex-boyfriends in the history of the famous high school. She was the object of every boy's affections (from the most diligent nerd, to the buffest jock, and even to the guy who landed himself in detention every single week), and Goten wasn't an exception. Marron had warned him to watch out - Valese was 'shelling' her bland, uninteresting self; while Pan had simply stated that the brown-haired loveliness was nothing but a shell, but he had ignored both of them. He remembered the day she had finally noticed him - that fateful day in gym class when a baseball had inadvertently found itself flying towards her beautiful face, but fortunately enough, he had saved her from getting potentially harmed. And when she'd allowed him to take her out after they had introduced themselves (well, actually, it was just Goten introducing himself - everyone knew Valese), he had declared that day the best day of his short life.

Too bad their relationship hadn't lasted very long. He still didn't get why, to this very day, she had broken up with him. When he took the time to sit down and ponder over it, the whole thing didn't make a single ounce of sense. He had been nice to her and treated her with respect; he was possibly even better than all of her ex-boyfriends combined. Well, he resolved to find out the truth today. Maybe that was the reason for his nightmares - what he didn't know really was hurting him...

Ignorance really wasn't bliss.

Hopefully, he would catch her shopping in some store before he left the mall himself-

Apparently, today was his lucky day. "Goten?" a feminine voice inquired meekly from behind him. She walked over to his table, verifying what she had questioned before to be true. "Hey! I haven't seen you in ages... How are you doing? How's life been treating you?"

Goten took a look up at his ex-girlfriend, who was dressed in a blouse and tan miniskirt with matching beige flip-flops, for once without a boy hooked onto her arm. Forget those meaningless questions - he finally found himself with a chance to confront her, and he was going to use it wisely. "Now's not the time, Valese. I want to ask you a couple of questions - Oh, hello, Veronica."

Aforesaid blonde was the almighty tag-along of Valese - she was everywhere Valese was, except maybe her dates. She cracked her gum noisily as she stood beside her best friend, holding all of the brunette's shopping bags and her own. 'That 'hello' of his sounded a bit forced. Maybe he's still sore about Valese breaking up with him, just like she told me he might... Well, toughen up, kid - it happens to every guy at least once.' "Hey, Goten! We haven't seen you in ages... How are you doing? How's life been treating you?"

Not caring to tell this Veronica that she had merely repeated everything Valese had just said, Goten simply ignored her. She had just ruined his chance at asking Valese his very critical question - because no one (not him, not a teacher, not even Vegeta) could ever detach the lackey away from her idol. "I'm fine, Valese...and Veronica."

"Oh, that's good!" his ex-girlfriend chirped lightly. A second later, she had already forgotten who she was talking to. "Vee? Could you do me a favor and get me some spring water? Not the normal one, the Briefs type – it's in a blue bottle instead of a green one. That water's 'in' right now, you know," she added knowingly to Goten, just as Veronica sped off obediently in the direction of the long line like a trained puppy.

'What difference does it make, honestly?' he thought, moving his glance from her to Veronica's receding back to her again. Instead, he found himself asking, "The Briefs have a spring dedicated to them now?" Wow - Bulma sure worked quickly.

Valese played with a curly strand of hair before responding. "Yeah, Goten. Where have you been? It's in a blue bottle with the President of Capsule Corp's face on it. You can't miss it. By the way, are you going to Capsule Corp High, Mrs. Briefs' new school?"

Forget about Bulma working quickly. Her overwhelming vanity was the one working wonders. "Yeah. Our families have known each other for ages, so I guess I'd have to go. Marron and Pan are going, too."

She laughed loudly, but her eyes weren't sharing her easily-accomplished amusement. "Oh, Goten, you never were a good liar. No one knows the president of Capsule Corporation like that... But anyway, I'm not going. I got back together with Dom, my seventh ex-boyfriend, and he refuses to leave Orange Star High. He doesn't want to abandon his precious football team, you know. And he's so darling...he actually led a protest around Orange Star High's razed building site to make sure another one was built. They're building a new Orange Star High School now, but it's going to be a lot smaller because of health issues. And Dom gets to be the captain of the football team and the baseball team!"

Goten groaned inwardly - she had always behaved like this. Anyway, hadn't she gone out with this Dom at least six times by now? 'Wait a sec! Veronica's not here! I can ask her now!' "Valese, there's something that I need to ask you-"

"Really? Well, can it wait?" she asked innocently, just as Veronica came running back with two bottles of ice cold water in her hands. "Vee's back with my water."

Veronica reached the two with the water and handed one to Valese, grinning widely. "There was absolutely no way that I was going to go on that long line. So I simply flirted with the cashier and he let me cut everyone! He also gave me two complementary bottles of water and his number! Of course, I had to get one myself. It is the 'in' thing, Goten." 'Top that, my dear Valese-'

Valese giggled absently before receiving her water from her groupie and taking a sip out of it. "That's nice to hear, Vee." She stared at her watch and began to edge away from Goten's table. "Anyway, I must be going now. Bye, Goten! It was nice seeing you again! I'm sure you can tell Veronica what you wanted to tell me, and she'll relay it to me!" She quickly left the fast food establishment, running towards the nearest of the seventeen movie theaters to catch a date with Dom, her third movie-seeing of the day.

Veronica was positively seething as her best friend disappeared, leaving her alone with this...this nobody. "I swear, no one ever respects me!" she declared, flopping down on the seat across from Goten miserably. Her spirits perked up, however, when she realized that Valese had entrusted her with the responsibility of learning whatever Goten's 'question' was to her. "Oh, Goten," she now slathered her voice with sweetness, "what was the question you wanted to ask Valese?"

"Forget it, Veronica..." Goten stared glumly at the long fast food queue, just as a familiar head of flowing turquoise tresses waiting impatiently on the line caught his eye. 'Is that...' "Hey, Bra!" he waved exuberantly to her. Hey, he'd take Bra to talk with than Veronica any day. "Come here!"

Bra flinched visibly, weighing her chances as she stood stiffly in her place. Should she turn around and see if the source of that voice justified her worst fears, or should she just ignore it and wait for her turn to order her meal? Better yet, couldn't she just buy her place in line? She really didn't have to wait for decades in this unmoving line... She chose the first option and eyed him quickly before turning away in annoyance. 'So, hanging out at McDonald's was the other thing he had to do today? How typical. Wait a second... Was that...' She whirled around to view him again, and certainly wasn't happy with what she saw. "The garage sale snob!" Leaving the line once and for all to stalk over to the uncanny pair, she demanded, "What are you doing here with him?"

"Why do you want to know?" replied Veronica shortly, recognizing the face of the girl who had snatched her potential prom dress from her. Her eyes narrowed menacingly as she stared up at Bra for a few seconds before widening in shock. "Don't tell me... You go out with her now, Goten?" No wonder he wasn't as spiteful-looking as the other boys who had gotten dumped by Valese! He had gone out and picked someone else already! 'Whoa...he's smarter than he lets on. He picked the richest girl ever over the most popular one!' "But I thought you loved Valese!"

Both Bra and Goten reddened impressively - one in shock, disgust, and indignation, while the other was embarrassed and confused besides. "Actually, Veronica," the latter started slowly and carefully, not sure whether the look on Bra's face was that of someone about to murder another or someone who was so appalled by another's comments that they couldn't muster a word in response, "Valese and I...weren't meant to be, I guess. We never really worked things out. I didn't...er, love her, but I'm not dating Bra. She's just a..." He thought for a second. What was Bra to him?

Veronica didn't permit him to complete his statement. She grabbed his hand and gazed in a contrived fashion into his eyes, batting her eyelashes coquettishly and purring, "I think I get you, Goten. Do you like natural blondes better? I never thought Valese or Bulma Briefs' daughter were your type, anyway... You need someone like me, someone who knows how to make a guy treat her right, someone who knows how to make herself look good, someone-"

She squealed in slight pain as Bra dropped her purchases on the ground, reached over in one fluid-like motion and wrenched her hand off of Goten's powerfully. "Someone who's a complete moron? I don't think so," the Saiyan girl supplied, hissing genuinely. She paid no mind as many other customers around them began to look on in curiosity. "So do us a favor. Leave him alone and do something more substantial in your life, you bimbo."

Veronica was livid as she rose from her chair and clutched her bags of capsules close to her chest possessively. "Why, I never! Goten Son, I'll make sure that you'll never be able to get another date at Orange Star High again, once all the girls know that you picked Bulma Briefs' daughter over Valese! And you!" She pointed a manicured finger directly at Bra's nose, a scowl darkening her offended face, "I have connections, you know! Your mother won't be in business much longer once my father, the most well-known lawyer in West City, learns about this!"

"Oh, really?" Bra casually glanced down at the blonde's quivering hand, where she clutched a familiar-looking bottle of water (with a certain blue-haired billionaire's face on the label) tightly in her grip. Pushing the girl's finger away from her face in annoyance, she replied softly, "Your hand doesn't seem to agree with your words, does it?"

The look of pure hostility intensified on Veronica's face. "Both of you will pay for this!" she cried, unscrewing the bottle of water promptly. A loud gasp simultaneously rose from the mass of people observing the event, and a few cashiers even left their posts to step into the tension. "Make no doubt about that!" In another second, she had dumped the entire contents of her expensive mineral water on both Bra and Goten's astonished heads, hurling the now emptied plastic bottle violently at the latter before picking up her shopping bags and leaving in a huff.

Bra, who squealed loudly upon feeling the ice cold water drench her hair and face, could feel the ki flowing gallingly throughout her body. "Look what you made her do to me! She's going to wish she'd never crossed paths with me!" She glared down at Goten, who was still speechless in his seat, as if to tell him that she would deal with him as soon as she exterminated a certain blonde wench from existence. An ominous aura swept dangerously around her, but she wasn't allowed to use her newly-found strength to her advantage. Someone had his hand secured to her arm, and was refusing to let go. "What gives? You let go of me right now-" Her eyes widened when she realized that the intolerable oaf, the same boy she must have lost her mind to be defending a few minutes ago, was laughing. "Are you out of your sane mind?"

Goten was in a rather good mood for one who had just been shown up in front of an entire restaurant. Having not moved since Veronica had doused his entire face with the frigid mineral water, he continued to laugh, seemingly having a good time. He wiped the water from his eyes as he stared up at Bra, who was still standing stiff in her place. "Aw, let her go, Bra. You should be happy you got her to leave on her own accord, something that's rarely ever accomplished."

Bra looked less than amused as she methodically reached her other hand over to pry Goten's hand off her arm. She merely blinked twice, still in awe that some conceited whelp she didn't even know could actually have the audacity to ruin her appearance, and stared at the way Goten's own hair clung damply to his forehead, not understanding the entire reason for his actions. "But she just dumped water all over my hair," she responded in a dead calm that would have made anyone nervous just hearing it. "Do you even care to realize the quality of conditioner I used today? What a waste... Not to mention the makeup I had on. It's a good thing I didn't wear mascara today, and the water isn't reaching my clothes. Otherwise I would've torn your hand off from my arm and gone after that little-"

"Don't worry so much," he reassured her gently, still grinning up at her optimistically. "Remember what I told you about picking your opponents wisely? Somehow, I don't think Veronica would be fit to take you on. Anyway, I think she might have done some good. You look better like this."

'What?' She stared blankly into his obsidian eyes, not understanding. That last comment of his was confusing her to no end. Was what he just said an insult made to look like a compliment, or rather a compliment made to appear as an insult? Oh, well. She would take it as a compliment for now, because he was going to need all the kissing-up in the world to make sure she wouldn't get on his case too much about what exactly he was doing at the mall in the first place. She grumbled dispiritedly, the vivid flushing in her cheeks finally dissipating to her normal creamy complexion, and took a seat beside him, glaring at any other patron in the mall who dared to glance in her general direction.

Goten figured, given the circumstances, she was taking this quite well. He'd been expecting a security guard to come rushing to them with two restraining orders. "So... What brings you here at the mall, anyway?" he attempted to bring about a new subject weakly, but the way Bra was scowling at him ominously gave him a pretty bad feeling about where this was all heading.

"Funny," she responded slowly, using her hands to wring the remaining water from her sodden locks, "I was about to ask the same thing of you. We all know I like to shop... What's your excuse?" She smirked in a superior fashion and rested her arms soundly on the table in front of her. "I'm really curious to know what you had to do for the entire day at the mall." Her smirk slowly faded away, however, when she realized Goten's carefree appearance had long let go to show a serious, more stern side of him that she had only seen during training.

"Don't worry about it, Bra," he told her firmly, staring straight ahead at the wall and avoiding her inquisitive gaze. "I just bought a gift for Pan's birthday and that was it."

Bra was about to wittily comment that it didn't usually take about six hours to shop for a girl's birthday present but thought better of it when she saw how steadfast the Saiyan boy looked. "Never mind, then. I think I should start leaving, anyway. I need to get more hairspray in this mess as soon as possible," she teased weakly, pointing up at the tangled blue mass that used to be her gorgeous hairdo. It was so hard to turn this into a joke... How did he manage it?

He quickly transformed his stern stare at the wall back to the Son smile she was beginning to know so well. "Is there anything other than looks and shopping that you care about?" he joked, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. A couple more training sessions ought to purge that train of thought from your mind."

"I happen to like shopping." Bra bit down hard on her bottom lip, almost tasting the coppery flavor of her blood in her mouth. 'Of all the rude things to say!' She turned around to face him all the way, flashing him a mean scowl, and smacked his hand away from her shoulder violently. "Don't ever touch me again. You'll give people, such as that garage sale girl you were talking with before I came, the wrong idea."

Goten blinked a couple of times, deeply confused. He scratched his head, sincerely at a loss for words. Was she really taking offense for a simple joke? And also, what was with the "Don't ever touch me again" command? He found his voice at long last and asked, "Wrong idea? But Bra, we touch each other all the time in the GR-"

The last remaining cashier who was still standing around their table (probably in hopes of another dramatic scene) eyed them weirdly before retreating back to his post near the front of the restaurant. "Um, guys?" he began meekly, not looking at either of them straight in the eyes. "Can you keep what you do privately to yourselves? There're little kids around, you know." Jeez, teenagers these days were forming their lives into one soap opera after another.

Bra fought not to let out a tormented scream as she abruptly rose to her feet, fists clenched tightly as she mentally debated whether to hit Goten upside the head or just strangle him. "Do you see what you're doing?" she hissed urgently, not sure whether her face could get any redder than it had been when Veronica had dumped water on her. "You're giving people the wrong idea!" A second later she fell back in her seat, exhaling profusely while simultaneously touching her heart to make sure it was still beating properly. Goodness, just talking to this ridiculously dense simpleton was giving her unnecessary high blood pressure. "You know what? I think you've made me lose my appetite for today. No, I regress. You've made me lose my appetite for the rest of this week. I'm going home now, and I don't want you following me," she declared, picking up her purchases and rising to her feet again wobbily, still gripping the edge of the table for fear that she might collapse. "I'll deal with you...later."

"Are you sure you don't want me to fly you home?" he asked good-naturedly, standing up as well. He crumpled up the untouched credit card pamphlets and tossed them in the nearest garbage can before picking up his own purchases of the day. "You look really...unstable."

"And you weren't of any help," she muttered wryly. "And no thank you, by the way. I can drive myself home." She declined his polite asking to hold her bags for her, stiffening as she regained her composure. "Heck, you're more of a detriment to my health than a benefit. Hmph. 'Oh, Bra, but we touch each other all the time in the GR…' Doesn't that sound in the least bit maybe, I don't know, perverted to you? Or are you too simple-minded to actually understand that your own words have double-meanings to them? And I'll be expecting you at my house at around eleven tonight, of course, unless you want to squeeze in some more shopping for Pan."

Goten looked a bit skeptical. "That might be tough, you know," he said carefully. "My mom's been keeping a really close eye on me ever since I pretty much disappeared during those seven months, and although it was pretty easy to sneak out unnoticed this morning, she'll be on my back as soon as I get home. I didn't exactly mention leaving the house to her."

The Saiyan Princess seemed downright miffed to hear his words. "Are you saying that you won't come after all I've been through today? Some prepubescent kid harassed me, I was forced to wear a brown sack for a miserable five minutes, I had to deal with a stupid conceited twit who literally ruined my face... Jeez, can my day get any worse?"

"Yeah," he supplied as they stayed in their spots, "Gohan thinks you're up to something."

"And what does that mean?"

"He's still thinking about that last training match, and how you corrected Pan. He wants to know how you knew, especially since you've never trained before in your life, apparently."

"Oh?" She lifted a perfectly sculpted blue eyebrow. "Well tell your brother to mind his own business. The same goes for my brother, or anyone else who has a question. I'll have them know about me when I'm good and ready. Now get out of my sight - I need to find the closest beauty supply store, so I can get some hairspray."

Goten smiled sweetly at her furious countenance. "If I didn't know any better, Bra, I'd say you're taking things a little out of proportion. Who cares if Veronica ruined your hair? Who cares if that cashier thinks...well, whatever he thinks? Live for the moment!" He gave her a playful wink before waving and heading to the entrance of the restaurant. "See you around!"

She gazed after him for a few seconds, shaking her head softly as he finally disappeared from view. 'That moron...' As she walked out of McDonald's herself, making sure not to look that specific cashier straight in the eyes, she didn't notice a small smile unknowingly making itself form on her face. "...He's so weird."

Meanwhile...

Things at Capsule Corporation had literally taken a turn for the worst. The women were bickering amongst themselves now about pointless things, and Bulma had to separate Tanith from a certain Engineering Major (also known as Miriam) not once, but three times throughout the course of the planning session. Also, when the housemaid had brought up the topic of dresses to the group, and Bulma had vainly shown them what she was planning to wear; Chi-Chi had to put a very griping Simi, who seemed upset that she herself couldn't afford the kind of dresses her boss wore, in 'time-out' for knocking over all of Angel's carefully and tastefully done three-hundred and seventy-four designed invitations all over the floor in her temper tantrum. The Briefs woman had had quite enough of this absurdity after just four hours, and was about to make it known to the entire group. At present, she cleared her throat loudly and caught the attention of the majority of the women. "Well, I want everyone to take a break. It's apparent that half of you aren't getting anywhere with what Chi-Chi and I arranged for you to do. I'm almost done with the entertainment arrangements, and Chi-Chi's basically done with the menu for the party. Now I want to see what you all have been doing," Bulma announced. "Videl, you're first. What did you and Tanith come up with for decoration ideas?"

Said woman rose up to her feet nervously, clutching a large piece of paper in her hands while her partner still sat in her place at the couch, snacking loudly on some fat-free chips. "Tanith and I worked hard, Bulma," she started slowly. "I'm somewhat glad I had to work with her, because she's somewhat acquainted to Pan. Well, anyway," she revealed what was on the other side of the chart paper to the other women, "we decided that we'd use your largest ballroom for the party, decorate it with numerous 'Pan's Sweet Sixteen' banners, stars, roses, and balloons that Tanith will have designed especially for the occasion, and have many circular tables spread around the majority of the room. In the center, we'll have a square dancefloor for those that want to dance, and to the right of the dancefloor, we'll have a long, buffet-style table where our guests will be able to serve themselves of Chi-Chi's home-cooking. That's all we have for now. We don't know what colors to make the banners and tablecloth, because Jessibel and Satsuki were supposed to do the theme."

Bulma nodded, bright stars of admiration seen in her eyes. She respected Videl so much for putting up with Tanith these past few hours. The younger woman was just so nice and pleasant, sticking up with that incompetent housekeeper even though she was most likely not even bothering to help out Videl in the first place. "That's great, dear. Okay, Jessibel and Satsuki..."

The former cowgirl hopped up to her feet just as Videl took her seat again. "Me an' 'Suki here have got lots o' things to share with y'all." She unfolded the crumpled paper she had in her hands and cleared her throat loudly. "Firstly, we want this here celebration to be full o' pink and purple, the colors that little girlies love these days. An' we want the party to be a 'Precious Princessy' type of theme, along with a 'My Lil' Pony' theme! Wouldn't it be great to have cute, multi-colored ponies at the party?"

Videl and Bulma blanched, but decided not to say anything. Luckily for them, Tanith hadn't lost her voice. "Jessibel, you obviously haven't met this bratty nuisance before," she proclaimed, discarding her empty bag of chips to the side. She took a speechless Videl's purse from her and dug into it, revealing the younger woman's wallet. She swept past the numerous credit and debit cards quickly, arriving at a small collection of pictures with Pan on them. Showing them to Jessibel and the others, she continued, handing the purse back to Videl, "Do you honestly think this tomboy looks like the type to like the colors pink and purple? Or ponies, for that matter?"

"That's what I had for my Sweet Sixteen," Satsuki shot back angrily, snatching a picture of Pan from her to stare at it before tossing it back. She sniffed haughtily and straightened her dress self-consciously - how dare that Tanith! "Don't go insulting our idea! Anyway, lots of girls like pink and purple. If I recall correctly, your own daughter had a Sweet Sixteen with lots of ponies in it."

"That's if she was actually there to see it," added Angel wryly, sticking up for her close friend. She chomped loudly on her gum while she sat at her seat, still picking up the dark blue invitations she had designed that were strewn all over the floor. "I bet Tanith hasn't even spoken to her daughter since she was in diapers."

"Diapers with little pink diamonds embroidering them," Simi reminded everyone from her corner, still in time-out. "Tanith always spoiled that little girl-"

"Until she got fired, that is," Angel mocked. She turned her cold green eyes to stare at the housekeeper in question as she gathered all of the invitations into one pile and placed them on the nearest coffee table. "You really shouldn't have treated Miss Bulma's kids badly... But you're paying for it pretty darn well, I'd say. How is that little cherub of yours, anyway?"

"She's doing fine, thank you very much," Tanith hissed dangerously, not liking the way all of these younger girls were addressing her. "She's about to graduate from her boarding school, and I'm enrolling her in Bulma's new school."

Bulma didn't like where this was heading, and knew exactly where it would lead. All of these women were tired, hot, and aggravated, and if they didn't stop bothering Tanith about her daughter soon, the maid would completely lose her temper and possibly hurt somebody. "Tanith," she implored sweetly, plastering a lovely smile on her face (something the blonde mogul-turned-maid had never seen before), "maybe you'd like to take a break from housekeeping and see your daughter. If you'd like that, maybe you should stop arguing with everyone. I wouldn't want you and someone here to get into a fi-"

Tanith sniffed in a highly contemptuous manner, scorning the kind woman's generous offer. "Oh, you don't? Well, why don't you do Capsule Corporation a favor and get rid of all of these kids, especially the Plum Princess over there?" she pointed a rather rude finger towards the direction of the mauve-haired Miriam, who was talking deliberately louder than usual in hopes of Tanith hearing her trash-talk about her daughter. "Don't think I can't hear you!"

Miriam laughed derisively, happy to have caught the slightly older woman's attention. She played with a strand of her plum-colored locks, bringing Bulma's son into something he really wanted no part in. "Anyway, Trunks, like I was saying... Tanith's daughter is probably ashamed that her darling Mommy can't afford things for her now. Maybe even scorning the fact that I, someone who didn't even go to college to get a degree, is going to get her mother's old job."

Tanith's amethyst eyes glowed horribly at that last comment. "What?"The other women present had to cover their ears for fear of becoming deaf. "Is this true, Bulma? You're letting this aggravating flirt have my job?" How could Mrs. Briefs let a nineteen-year-old have her old job?

A very flustered Bulma never had a chance to explain herself. It was too late, anyway. What was going to ensue was now inevitable.

"Hey," protested Miriam dangerously from her seat. "Watch who you're talking to. Otherwise I might get really mad."

"Oh, what are you going to do about it?" Tanith mocked, and exchanged her anger for smugness. Still sitting in her seat, she crossed her arms triumphantly. "You planning to go home today and cry to Mommy that a big bad lady insulted you? Go back to nursery school where you belong, you sniveling baby."

"You're just jealous, Tanith," Miriam smiled, "because someone who was just a 'sniveling baby' when you were working here is getting the job you've been coveting to get back for twelve years. And your daughter Amaryllis is nothing but a prissy little kitten that won't get anywhere in life without her mother's guidance. Oh, wait, I regress. She's gotten far enough without seeing your Botox-injected face most of her life."

The other women (especially Chi-Chi, who definitely didn't like where this was heading) couldn't hide their shock. Videl tried to calm the growing tension down. "Don't you remember what we were doing here?" she asked meekly, holding up her chart and a picture of her daughter as a small reminder, but none of the workers paid any mind to her. They were too busy egging on a pretty imminent brawl.

Tanith was positively livid at the insult. Even Bulma's daughter wasn't this audacious and insolent! "You...You! You little tramp!" She began to systematically pull off her fake tips from her nails, tossing them to the floor beneath her and reaching up to pull her false eyelashes off from her eyes. Now was the time to use the kung fu her self-defense teacher had taught her well. She cracked her knuckles loudly and planted a menacing scowl on her craggy face.

"Old witch!" Miriam had found a scrunchie from seemingly out of nowhere and was now using it to pull her long hair back into a ponytail.

Trunks felt horribly sick. Maybe his nausea had first occurred when Tanith began peeling her eyelashes off, but it had definitely had taken complete force when she let out a shrill yell and lunged at the younger girl, both of them landing on the floor and thus beginning their fight. Ordinary guys would have preferred to stick around and watch the entire duration of the brawl, but Trunks found it much harder to stomach than more gruesome battles. He silently excused himself from the room and didn't come back.

Bulma felt the same way the young Saiyan did, but was in too much of a shock to actually stray from her spot. She just stayed put as Miriam and Tanith continued to struggle against each other rather pointlessly, and continued keeping her mouth agape comically when a furious Chi-Chi jumped into the fray herself to break the two up, prying Tanith's swiping fingers off of a shrieking Miriam's face. Soon after, the Son woman was screeching hysterically for all of the other women to "Get out of my sight, now!", which caused the majority of the group to disappear in their fright. And as soon as the room was emptied of every single woman who worked at Capsule Corp. (with the exception of Bulma and a very sullen looking Tanith, who was nursing a horrendous-looking black eye from where she sat), Chi-Chi continued to scream about the incompetence of workers these days with an occasional insult for Bulma for hiring the unskilled ladies to help them out with her granddaughter's party in the first place. "This is all your fault, Bulma!"

Videl simply sat in her seat, refraining from smacking herself repeatedly on the head for even bothering to allow women who didn't even know her daughter to help out with the party. They were simply getting nowhere with this entire thing. Well, if they planned on making her poor daughter absolutely miserable at her own party, then they were absolutely set. Pink and purple? Ponies? What had this been, a planning get-together for a three-year-old's party? Pan hadn't even liked those colors when she was younger! She groaned as her mother-in-law continued to verbally assault her ashen-faced friend for things that had been beyond her control. They were set for disaster, simply put.

Several minutes and a couple of rushed apologies and painkillers later however, Chi-Chi, Videl and Bulma seemed to have patched the things Tanith and the other ladies had torn apart together again. The serious-minded women (and Trunks - he had returned as soon as he was certain Miriam had left) were determined to make the party something Pan would remember for the rest of her life. They decided on change the 'Precious Princess' and 'My Little Pony' themes to a single 'On the Road to Blossoming Beauty' theme (actually, it wasn't really a decision, it was a 'must', as Videl so thoughtfully put it), with midnight blue and silver being the main theme colors. After all, Chi-Chi pointed out, Pan's dress was a very dark prussian blue, which wouldn't exactly match well with the pink and purple Jessibel and Satsuki had been planning on... "Oh, wait, Bulma! How're we going to get Pan into that dress without her knowing about the party?"

Bulma grinned smugly, taking the worn ice-pack Tanith had been using on her eye wound and replacing it with another colder one. "I've already thought that out, Chi. We'll just let one of the kids take her out for the day, and tell her about a costume party. She'll protest, of course, but when she hears that the party isn't for a completely formal occasion, she'll do it. And then the person escorting her will take her to the party at around seven-thirty, thirty minutes after the party's started." She thought for a few seconds, seemingly stumped. "But who would we pick? Trunks?" She stared at the boy in question imploringly.

"No way, Mom," he put his hands up in quick resignation, shaking his head energetically from his seat. "She'd literally kill me when she realizes that it's a surprise party." He thought for a moment. "I'll only do it if someone comes with me. How about Marron, or even Bra?" he suggested quickly. Pan wouldn't kill one of her kind.

"No," Videl, who had been busy calling potential cloth designers from her cell phone, quickly spoke up. "Girls wouldn't be able to keep the secret for long. Which only leaves one person."

"Mrs. Son's youngest twerp?"

"Haven't you been through enough today?" Bulma turned to face Tanith in slight pity and amusement. "You know I won't be reimbursing your medical costs, right? But if it makes you feel any better, I've decided not to let Miriam have your old job because of her abominable behavior today."

The blonde, who was about to argue about Bulma's decision not to indemnify her medical bills, seemed to be a lot more placated upon hearing that her boss was planning not to let Miriam take her previous job. She simply mumbled a thank-you that was laced with a begrudging but thankful tone and kept quiet for the remainder of the afternoon.

Chi-Chi agreed with Tanith and her daughter-in-law. "Goten can come with you, Trunks. Just make sure Pan doesn't find out, okay? I know how she loves training with you two. Don't let it slip out." She sighed dramatically and wiped a small tear from her eye. "All I wanted was a nice planning get-together, Bulma, and what do I get? Women who don't know when to stop talking, a couple of workers who act like complete babies, a fight, and a headache! I've seen much too many fights in one lifetime to have to watch a pointless one fought over who's going get a stupid job... Are all young ladies like this these days? If that's the case, my poor baby won't be able to find himself a suitable wife!"

'Have you ever considered that maybe the poor kid's not looking right now? He's probably still getting over Valese,' Bulma thought to herself wryly, but decided not to get on Chi-Chi's bad side for the remainder of her visit. "I'm sure you invited some nice girls to the party, Chi. Maybe he'll find someone there."

The troubled grandmother's hopes were apparently saved from dampening after hearing her close friend's reassurance. "You're right, Bulma. Of course, she can't be like Valese and have ex-boyfriends. After all, I married my first boyfriend... Why can't the girl that'll marry Goten be like me?"

"You know," Bulma mused jokingly, waving a small fan fashioned out of one of Angel's spoiled invitations in the air, "I didn't marry my first boyfriend and I'm perfectly okay."

Videl and Chi-Chi stared at her, questioning her sanity. Was she serious? "Bulma. You married Vegeta. That is not okay."

She smiled lightly. "Whatever, you guys. He's not as bad as he acts sometimes. Anyway, I really feel sorry for the girl who falls for Goten. She's going to have a crazy mother-in-law, right, Videl?"

"She was crazy when it was Gohan and me," the younger woman corrected promptly, turning off her cell phone, "but I'd hate to see her when it's Goten. She'll go berserk on them about the type of wedding she wants them to have, how many grandchildren she wants, and how they'll look like! But," she quickly added, just as Chi-Chi opened her mouth in protest, "the 'lucky' girl'll grow to love her new family. You can't beat being a Son's wife."

The blue-haired woman shrugged indifferently and leaned over the coffee table to pick up her glass of pink lemonade. "I still think having Chi as a mother-in-law and not falling over dead after the first few weeks is an acquired taste."

"She's better than having Vegeta as a father-in-law. I feel sorry for Trunks' wife, or Bra's husband... But I bet Vegeta wouldn't even let her husband look at her for long, let alone marry her in the first place," Videl shot back in Chi-Chi's defense. "Speaking of which, he'll be here in about thirty seconds, right, Trunks?"

He agreed boredly, not even bothering to look up from his spot. This whole day had been a waste of time and energy, filled with annoying flirty girls and mindless female chatter. Where was Goten? He hadn't spent a day training with him without interference in the longest... Maybe he was at home, feeling just as bored as he himself was. Well, he'd make sure to catch up on old times the next time he saw him, which would be the day of Pan's birthday party.

Also known as the day of their deaths, once Pan caught on to the entire plan. He shuddered visibly in his seat.

The two older women had no time to question Videl and Trunks' ability in sensing, for just as they claimed, a very amused Vegeta was standing before them near the closest open window. "Well, well, well," he drawled, taking in the sight of the three women and Trunks relaxing comfortably in their seats, while Tanith remained subdued with her injured face, "what happened here? Did you finally give the maid what she was asking for, woman?"

Bulma scowled meanly as her son grimly looked up in his father's direction. She took a dainty sip from her lemonade before placing it back on the table, never once taking her eyes off of her husband. "I'm glad you decided to finally grace the room with your presence, dear. And no, Vegeta. It was another worker who did that... Not that it's any of your business anyway. Besides, where's Bra? I want to see her new dress."

The Saiyan Prince smirked smugly at his wife's curiosity. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"I'll take it that she's upstairs in her room, then," she concluded rashly, and her friends automatically nodded in agreement.

Vegeta's smirk only seemed to grow more impressive as he replied, "I never knew a time when you were more correct, woman. She must be in her room, doing whatever it is females her age do."

Trunks looked baffled - his sister wasn't even within a ten-mile radius of Capsule Corporation! "But Dad," he started slowly, not understanding his father's true reasons for his actions, "I don't feel her presence-"

Vegeta flashed him a very dirty look. "Shut it, boy."

The woman of the house gave her husband a suspicious glance. There was something wrong with this...one, Vegeta had actually agreed to what she had said (and rather quickly, at that); and two, if Bra had found a really pretty dress, she would've come to her mother right away to show it off. It really didn't take a genius to put two and two together. "I'm not even going to ask, Vegeta. She'd better be home in a few hours safe and sound, and she'd better not be driving that car. So unless you want her to walk all the way home from the mall, I'd suggest that you go back there and pick her up."

He stood strong from where he stood by the window. "I'm not going anywhere near that building again, woman."

"Oh?" Chi-Chi glanced up at him from her seat innocently, but her eyes told a different story. "I guess I can agree, Vegeta. You aren't going anywhere - you have to try on the cutest little suits Bulma had specially made for you! That's if you didn't have enough fun shopping with your daughter, of course."

Vegeta's smirk wavered. It wasn't the first time that week that Kakarot's woman had gotten on his bad side. "Listen here, I never shopped with the girl - I just accompanied her, you horrid-"

"Are you insulting me?" Chi-Chi's eyes flashed dangerously as she revealed her infamous frying pan from her pocketbook, raring to hit her first target of the day. "I'll teach you to talk to me like that, you ingrate! You should learn to respect women!"

Videl only groaned miserably as both Bulma and her son rolled their eyes and rose from their seats to leave the room, just as Chi-Chi and Vegeta's argument reached full blast. Could her day get any worse? She turned around as Tanith wordlessly tapped her on the shoulder, handing her about three and a half multi-colored pills. The maid silently mouthed out that the aspirins worked wonders for someone who lived with these horrors twenty-four-seven, assuring her that they were quite safe. Slightly reassured, the younger woman sighed loudly and popped them all into her mouth at the same time, wondering when she could go back home and take a short nap.

One that lasted for a day and a half, of course, if she really wanted to remain healthy. Just being acquainted with these people was driving her insane.

Up in the skies...

Goten was flying soundly through the slightly hazy clouds of West City, now safely far away from that dreaded mall. He had accomplished his goals, yet at the same time remained clueless. So, Valese had already found herself a boyfriend in Dom again... Now that he knew, and was secure in the fact that she wouldn't be boyfriendless for a while, would he still have nightmares of her? He certainly hoped not.

And the worst part was, he couldn't tell anyone. His brother, father, Videl, and Pan wouldn't understand; Trunks would think he was simply out of his mind; and he wouldn't even dare entertain the notion of confiding in Bulma and her family. And forget telling his mother - she would knock the mere thought of Valese out of his mind with her trusty frying pan. She had already assumed that he was over Valese since...if she had ever gotten wind of him still thinking about her often... He shivered at the thought, and continued flying home. He was done for anyway, he reminded himself, shifting the weight of his purchases to his other side. Marron had called a few minutes ago, saying that she would stop by his house to take Pan's gift to her own home to wrap it up herself. She'd also mentioned that she wanted to pay a surprise visit to Bra the day before the party - after all, she hadn't seen the girl since Trunks and the others had come back from space.

Speaking of Bra... Goten really didn't get her at times. Why did she take things so seriously? She'd be assured a much longer life if she didn't take things to heart so much. So Veronica had ruined her hair. She'd ruined his hair, too, but water dried quickly. He ran his hand through his hair to justify his thoughts. Yep, dry as it had been before. Bra was worried about absolutely nothing.

Or maybe he didn't share her feelings about the subject simply because he was a guy. Maybe that was the reason. The very same reason why most guys didn't usually enjoy an entire day spent at the mall, and why most girls didn't usually like to watch martial arts. He smiled lightly as his cell phone rang. It'd be so coincidental if the person calling was Bra, he reflected, reaching for the cellular device in his pocket. 'Or maybe it's Mom...' He shuddered for good measure and turned the phone on, hoping it wasn't the latter.

Strangely enough, the person calling wasn't any of the above. It wasn't anyone he usually talked to, either. "Hey, Goten!"

"...Valese?" he asked her to be sure of who he was presently hearing. She still had his phone number? "This is a surprise. I thought movies generally lasted two hours. It hasn't even been forty-five minutes since I saw you last."

She giggled girlishly, but a small "humph!" of derision followed promptly, leading Goten to believe that Veronica was accompanying her best friend. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, I just heard from Vee that you have a new girlfriend. That blue-headed angel who loves to drink and doesn't know how to drive, right?"

Goten blanched, stopping in his tracks and hovering in mid-air. Angel? Bra was certainly not an angel. "For the last time, she's not my girlfriend. Veronica's just mixing things up again, like she always does-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Valese rambled in a wry manner (something so ironic of her), interrupting her ex-boyfriend rather rudely. She yawned lightly and continued. "Vee warned me that you would say something like that. But I think it's great that we've both moved on. Anyway, I just called to ask you if you wanted to come with me to a party that my fifth ex-boyfriend, Joe, is having. Everyone has a date, even Vee – she's taking the cashier at McDonald's. Do you want to be mine?"

Goten honestly didn't know how pallid his face could get. "But what about Dom? I thought you were dating him."

Valese laughed coldly, absently fingering a curly brown lock of hair while Veronica looked on in disinterest. "I broke up with him roughly five minutes ago, Goten. He was boring."

"...Oh."

"Well..." she changed her voice for the better, her tone sounding much more hopeful and brighter than before, "do you want to come with me? Don't worry too much about your girlfriend; she can come with us too if she wants, and meet someone else."

He was sincerely confused at the turn of events. "Are you actually suggesting that I cheat on a girlfriend that I don't even have?"

"You're making it sound bad, but sure," shrugged Valese, paying no mind to the last portion of his question, "it won't hurt her that much if she finds someone else at the party. Everyone knows you were my best boyfriend, anyway. So, when are you coming to pick me up?"

Goten had quickly exchanged his confusion for shock - was she actually serious? Was she actually trying to come back to him? Did she actually think he was so simple-minded and gullible (and possibly even lovesick) that he would come back to her immediately, like her other ex-boyfriends? Well, she had another thing coming. "Sorry, Valese," he said coolly, resuming his flight home, "but my so-called 'girlfriend' and I have better things to do than hook up with other people at parties. We're going to spend our night training, rather than waste it hanging out with people like you and Veronica... Don't worry, though – I'm sure there'll be lots of guys that are just as quick to move on to new girls as you are in dumping your boyfriends. In other words, don't bother calling again – we've been over for the longest." He shut the phone off in the middle of her whines and protests, and smirked. It'd do Valese some good to get turned down for once.

Even though he had fudged the truth by telling Valese that he and Bra were going to train tonight, the fact remained that he had just resisted a pretty face.

Life was great.

...Too bad not everyone felt the same.

Bra was driving around the streets of West City at the same exact moment Goten was flying home, still fuming about what had transpired less than an hour ago. She grumbled incoherently under her breath about Veronica, stealing a few glances every now and then at her rearview mirror and examining her now damaged locks. "Gross..." She ran her right hand through the tangled, rough mess (her other hand was still maneuvering the steering wheel) and moaned miserably as she noticed how impossible it felt.

This wasn't fair, simply put. This was absolutely, undeniably unjust. What had she ever done to this Veronica? Okay, she had taken the dress the girl had wanted for the prom and made a complete fool of her not once, but twice. But Veronica had gotten what was coming to her, Bra reminded herself. She was the one who had started it by making fun of the potato sack dress. "I know for sure that style won't be going anywhere, though."

She fumbled in her purse with the same hand she had used to attempt to smooth down her hair and located a tube of lipgloss in one of the many compartments. Extracting it from the handbag, she pursed her lips together, expertly moving the tube of creamy pink across them. At the same time, she turned left at a red traffic light, causing the majority of the cars on the opposite street to start blasting their horns rather rudely at her. "Shut up, shut up! I have to get home soon, you know!"

Bra had safely placed the lipgloss back where it came from, now reaching for her compact mirror and her tube of eyeliner, when the unpleasant sound of a distressed woman screaming reached her ears. She hurriedly tried to locate the source, unfortunately finding it in the vehicle right in front of her, the car's front facing her own. "Oh, my God! Lady, get out of the way!" The princess had no time to scream properly or maneuver her own automobile away from the speeding car, because just as soon as she had found the woman screaming, both cars rammed into each other with immense power, resulting in two loud squeals of shock.

Bra, who hadn't been harmed in the accident, stifled a frustrated scream as she sat in her newly mangled vehicle, unable to see what had happened in the other car. "This can't be happening to me," she mumbled, the little spirit she had within now broken, crushed into pieces, and ground to a pulp. Her depressed and moody countenance, however, gave way for a furious and enraged one when she found out (judging by the voices in the other car) that everyone in the yellow car in front of her was okay and accounted for. "You are definitely going to pay for this, lady," she mumbled as she reached up to strongly punch a large hole open on the top of her car. She flew out of the vehicle, positively steaming as she stalked over to the brown-haired woman in the car, "This was my last car and you ruined it!"

The woman, who looked like she could be a mother to a young child, had been apologizing profusely ever since the two cars collided. Now, she halted her last "Sorry!", gazing at Bra critically. "I ruined your car?" she questioned. "You ruined your own car, sweetie, because you thought your looks were more important than your safety. We saw you putting on your lipgloss. You were driving on the wrong side of the road." She showed the blue-haired girl her critical mistake. "But it's okay, I guess. No one's hurt, right, Brad?"

A man who looked around the same age as the woman slowly made his way out of the backseat of the small yellow car, limping his way to the two ladies. "Sure thing, Ruth. Thank God no one was sitting in the passenger's side." Shifting slightly on his crutches, he motioned to the side of the car that was completely harmed. "We can use your spare capsule, though... I just don't want to miss Alice's play-"

Ruth placed a comforting hand on her crippled husband's shoulder. "Don't worry, dear. We'll make it." Noticing the way Bra was just standing there in confusion, she quickly added, "But I'm really sorry, miss. It's partly my fault for not swerving away at the last minute. You really don't know how apologetic I am-"

Bra sniffed in disdain, staring at the traffic jam that was already becoming apparent from the accident. "You'd better be..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed how difficult it was for this Brad to stand up on his own two feet. "What happened to him?"

"He used to be a police officer," Ruth explained, "but he got himself in a rather horrible hit-and-run accident not that long ago. It's a miracle that he wasn't confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life... But anyway, we were on our way to his daughter Alice's first play. She's only seven, and we wanted to meet her mother and her new stepfather there. I'm the girl's stepmother, but I think she's more attached to her father than any of us. So yes, we need to head to her elementary school as soon as possible-"

In the middle of the small story, Bra's hand had absently went into her purse and retrieved the only cash she had with her. She looked down at her hand, counting the bills. She had just enough zenie to buy herself a new car, but thought better of it. Nothing was more important than a father-daughter type of love, no matter how gruff the father was or how spoiled the daughter usually acted (yes, she'd admit it - she was a brat sometimes). This Alice had to be as affectionately attached to her father as she was to her own, even if there was an overwhelming age difference between the two girls.

She instead shoved the huge wad of cash in the flustered man's hands before taking off in the air. 'I can just fly home...' "This is for your medical costs, sir, courtesy of the Briefs family. I hope you catch your daughter's play. Enjoy it." She lifted up from the ground and disappeared before the man's wife could utter a word.

The couple was still as they stared at where Bra had been a few minutes ago.

"...Was that young lady an angel?"

A few minutes later...

Bra was flying through the slowly-dimming skies, her mind empty for once. Sure, she couldn't train with Goten tonight, but he'd try to come over tomorrow. A smile subconsciously rose through her face as she thought about what new things he would teach her.

Little did she know that she was being watched. A girl about her age, someone she had known since she was little, was walking along the streets of West City boredly, having not been with her parents since morning. She happened to look up at the paling sky and noticed a certain Saiyan princess flying swiftly in the distance towards Capsule Corp.

"What?" she inquired, her eyes clouded in obvious confusion. "Bra can...fly? Heh, wait till I tell the others! They won't believe this one!"

And with that, she excitedly fumbled for her cell phone and called Goten, the first person on her mind.

---

-Ending Note-: Even after everything that happened today, Bra was sympathetic to a family she didn't even know... How nice. So review! This chapter was simply a chapter to keep you involved for three weeks since I'm traveling in a few days.

-Sequels?-: Yes, I've decided to come out of the bag. A couple of reviewers have been wondering about possible sequels. Yes, there are a couple of 'em.

You already know The Strangest Thing is more humor-based, but does hold its own amount of drama and suspense now and then.

(Still don't know the title yet!) circulates more around Bulma, but will still be a sequel nonetheless.

A Silver Lining is more adventure-based. If you're hoping for some serious ascending action from our favorite Saiyans, then this sequel is for you.

Destiny Fulfilled is more serious, almost drama-based.

My next story, The Story of Beauty, will not be a sequel to The Strangest Thing. This is another serious story, almost like Destiny Fulfilled is for Bra and Goten. However, please keep in mind that The Story of Beauty (or TSoB) will contain references to a Bra/Goten relationship. And if you're wondering who the main characters will be, think along the lines of someone in the Son family. Maybe even someone I said was my least favorite character...

-The Next Chapter-: Bra brings the subject of another car to her mother, who declines and forces her to find a job; her day gets worse when she actually finds the only job available at Capsule Corp, Pan's party is finally here; Goten and Trunks may meet their potential doom (in the hands of their respective niece and friend); Bra meets two girls from Pan's school - twelve-year-old Locka, whose friendship with Pan is rather forced (Gohan's making his daughter befriend the intelligent younger girl!), and mischievous Printa, who is Pan's right-hand girl in school mischief; Tanith arrives with a completely new hairdo and face (which happens to be covered in bandages) and a rather conceited daughter by the name of Amaryllis (like Mama, like Daughter); the showstopper of the party, ironically, is not the birthday girl; Gohan, Videl, and Chi-Chi probe poor Trunks about a certain subject; Bra has to convince Gohan and Pan that she does not drink; certain visitors infuriate Gohan (Videl, not Pan and not even Bra, is the main subject of a couple of boys' discussions); Bra meets the ultimate pervert; Vegeta sends a boy on a painful trip to the nearest doctor; Chi-Chi has finally selected the second bearer of her future grandchildren, much to her friends' chagrin; some Goten-Bra interaction. And much more.

-Ladii-Chocolate-