AN: Sorry this chapter took so long to finish, my mind has been running wild a bit lately. Please review, even if you hate it. - Mirioux

Chapter Nine: The Eve of the Tournament

The group traveled to Goku's house where Chichi had prepared a marvelous dinner. Gohan thought Gabe looked radiant and stunningly beautiful. Chichi noticed that her eldest son could hardly keep his eyes off of the mysterious Saiyan Princess during the entire meal. "Gohan honey, can you help me bring dessert out?" Chichi asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Sure mom." Gohan said following his mother, and nearly running into the door, forgetting momentarily where it was, because he was so fixated on Gabe.

"There's a door there dear." Chichi giggled at her son. "Gohan, is there something you want to tell me about you and Gabriella?" Chichi wondered looking Gohan straight in the eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Mom. Gabe and I are just strictly friends. Why does every one seem to think that I'm in love with her or she with me?" Gohan insisted. "If I love anyone, it should be Videl."

"Just because it should be Videl doesn't mean that it will be. You can't control who you love and hate Son." Chichi warned Gohan carefully. "And your heart is telling me a completely different story than you mouth is dear. I saw the way that you were looking at that charming young lady." She revealed to him as she picked up the cake she had baked for dessert.

Gohan grabbed the ice cream and sighed as he followed Chichi back out to the dining room. Gabe glanced up at Gohan as he came out of the kitchen momentarily catching his large brown eyes. "So, Vegeta how is Gabe progressing?" Chichi asked, returning to the conversation.

"She has made quantum leaps in her physical strength in the hyperbolic time chamber. She is now a stage two super Saiyan and she finally beat Trunks sparring today." Vegeta answered politely.

"Last time I checked pinning to the ground wasn't being beaten, we aren't wrestlers Dad." Trunks grumbled.

"She held you down on the ground for the whole ten seconds that would have counted as a win." Gohan laughed.

"At least she never slammed my face into the ground." Trunks retaliated quickly.

"Chichi, my compliments on you cake, it's fantastic." Gabe said quietly, trying to either change the subject or start a side conversation, Gohan wasn't really sure which she was after.

But he found himself saying, "Yeah Mom this cake is really great."

"Well thank you kids." Chichi blossomed with a slightly red face from the flattery. "It's really nothing, just a very simple recipe."

"Living with three guys, you must not get very many compliments." Gabe commented, raising an eyebrow in Gohan's direction.

"I used to get them a lot, but the boys have grown up so much that I'm afraid they lost their manners as they grew." She sighed.

"That's too bad, you deserve nothing but compliments." Gabe whispered looking down at her plate. "Dad, tomorrow's going to be busy then I expect?" she asked her father, but glancing once again at Gohan.

"Yes, it will be signing in and getting divided into our brackets and after everyone is sorted the real fun will begin. It will be a long time consuming process but once all of the paper work is finished it will go by quickly." Vegeta explained.

"Oh, sounds like it will be a real blast!" Gabe joked making fun of Trunks.

"It's really run, for how utterly boring it sounds." Bulma remarked taking a sip of coffee.

The group finished their meal and migrated to the back yard patio. Where the parents and the teenagers sat around talking about the past. Gabe wasn't really listening to what they were saying, she was a few feet away from the main group and she was staring into the sky

Trunks knew she was thinking deeply about her home and what her birth mother could possibly be doing. Wondering what could have happened to her to make her go so bad so easily. Gabe was really concerned with what Takuya was planning.

He joined his sister away from the others, "Hey, how are you holding up there?" He asked putting his arm across her shoulders.

"I'm doing pretty well. What about you, how are you doing?" She lied forcing a smile across her face.

"Ah, you know how it goes. I like it here, but I really miss my home and you in the future. I have a girlfriend there and everyone's happy. They don't worry about why their birth mother took the road to evil, and wonder if you'll follow the same path." Trunks sighed.

Gabe looked at Trunks in great surprise, "How…How did you know that was what I was thinking?"

"I know everything about the past Gabe. And I know that your life is going to go through some difficult times, but you don't turn into Takuya."

"That's a relief I suppose." She interjected quietly. "I think that I'm going to go for a walk. I'll see you at home later ok…?"

"Ok. Just promise me that you won't get lost or hurt. Dad will pummel my face in if you do." Trunks waved and sat back down with his parents.

Gabe took her time walking through the woods, enjoying the crisp cool night breeze. She wondered what it was like to be in love, she knew that Gohan had been staring at her all night and could only hope that the reason for his prolonged visual attention to her was because he was falling in love with her.

Every time she thought about Gohan that day she had felt a deep pull on her heart and she couldn't explain her feelings. She felt all jumbled into a knot at dinner, and thinking about it, she let out a sigh of complete content. "Hope you don't mind if I walk with you." Gohan said as he matched her stride.

"Well, it's a good thing I wasn't talking to myself, and spilling my inner desires. But I would enjoy your company." She laughed lightly. "So, Trunks thinks that you have a thing for me. Or so my source tells me."

"Is your source reliable?" Gohan questioned, he felt himself begin to sweat. Videl had never made him this uncomfortable or nervous before.

"He's very reliable. But it doesn't really matter if it's a secret now does it?" she was piercing his heart with her emerald green eyes.

"Now if it was a secret then you would have a good point, but since I admit that you unexpectedly caught my attention then it's not considered a secret anymore is it?"

"That wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for, and since you're incredibly nervous, I'd say that would explain why you're avoiding answering my questioned directly." She was reading him as if he was an open book. "Clearly I was wrong about you. I guess it's a good thing I didn't waste a whole lot of energy on you."

"Wait, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gohan demanded taking her hand in his and making her face him, "Gabe, I do like you. I've been fighting with my true feelings for you, and what Trunks told me about the future. I don't want to put you in any danger, that's how much I care for you."

She yanked her arm away from him and ran away. She was crying, Gohan knew that much, he chased after her until he knew she was safely back at Capsule Corp., and then turned around to go home. He changed his mind at the last second, chasing Gabe into her yard. "Why did you follow me? I don't need you to protect me! I can take care of myself." She screamed at him.

"Gabriella, I think that I'm in love with you." He sighed, looking deeply into her eyes. He kissed her deeply, passionately, and in a way that he had never dreamed of kissing Videl.He wrapped his arms around her petite yet very muscular little body as he finished kissing her. "I don't know what I've been thinking all this time. I just don't want to have to lose you in the future…I always wanted us to be together…I know I sound crazy, because I've never said anything about this to anyone else before, but you made me realize today that some things besides doing what's right and defending the Earth are worth fighting everyone for, and I think that you are one of them…" He tried to rationalize his words, but to him they just weren't making any sense.

Gabe just gazed in his brown eyes, her thoughts were uncontrollably flooding her mind. She was happy, yet still upset over his mindless arrogance. "We can't be together." She whispered trying to push Gohan away.

"Yes we can. I won't let anyone take you away from me." Gohan announced.

"That's not why." She told him as she left him standing there in her front yard.

"I'm not leaving here then, until we can be together." He called as Gabe entered the house. She looked back at him once and closed the door behind her. She let out a sigh and leaned against the door. Gabe stayed there momentarily and then went up to her room. She closed the curtain and changed into her pjs. The she climbed into bed and laid down, staring at the ceiling.