Awh, thank you all for such wonderful reviews, and for the birthday wishes! They mean a lot to me! :D
Well, as I promised…CHRISTMASSSSS! YAYYYYYYY! :D because it's that time of year again—well, Christmas is gone now, but who cares!? As long as it's still January, Christmas is still the season X3 Cuz Christmas is SO awesome. :D
I have a LOT more stuff written down at the bottom of the chapter, some of it kinda important—but I'll stop boring you to death with this A/N and torture you at the end X3 so yeah.
And without further ado, ENJOY THE CHAPTER! :D
Disclaimer: Fa la la la la, la la laDIE. Oh, and I still down own DBZ. So there.
Time passed.
The days, which surely bled into weeks, which blurred into a couple of months, went by quickly, everyone still readjusting to life after Majin Buu, and then after Abo and Cado. Tarble and Gure stood at Capsule Corporation, where they were learning more about Earthlings and (maybe) learning about their long-lost and unknown family members as well. Often, the two newcomers from space visited the Sons as well, and often simply explored the planet together.
Goku's relationship with Gohan was improving. After that talk in the woods, when Gohan had finally unleashed all his anger and frustration at his father, things had taken a turn for the better when Goku promised he'd never leave again. Their family ties were improving, getting stronger. Goku was spending as much time as he could with his sons now, as well as with his wife; as such, they were becoming a better family, happier and more natural.
However, the nightmares were still haunting Gohan, and many nights he found himself awake in a cold, clammy sweat. The nightmares continued to be twisted visions of his, of one of his loved ones dying, being killed in front of his very eyes in a brutal way. One of them had featured a gruesome image of his little brother's head being ripped of his shoulders by Frieza, and another had been his mother being torn limb from limb by Aka, and another had been Cell ruthlessly pulling out Videl's heart and crushing the still faintly pulsing organ…
He found himself going to the Satan mansion in the early hours of the morning many times, when the nightmares were too gruesome and left him too shaken up to fall asleep again. Videl would always wake up at the slightest taps that he made against the window, and, surprisingly, she hadn't gotten angry at him for continuously visiting her house at insanely early hours in the morning. She always let him in with a small smile on her features, and let him talk about his nightmare if need be, before they would climb into her bed and share it. It was always on those nights that Gohan didn't have any more nightmares for the duration of the night, comforted by Videl's soothing presence.
Time passed, and suddenly, it was only a few days before Christmas.
The joy and happiness was practically able to be felt in the air as Christmas day got closer and closer. Everywhere one turned, there were either bright lights on people's houses and decorations on their lawns, or there were children playing outside in the snow from the light snowfalls that had come, or there were people buying their Christmas trees, or caroling along the streets. People were getting ready to leave and visit family members, Christmas trees were being decorated, even more lights were being put up, and the gaiety was always there in the atmosphere.
On the last day of school before break, almost all the students were eagerly bouncing around in their chairs. The teachers had decided to be nice to them that day, and as such, most of their time was spent having fun and being given parties as the teachers handed out snacks and let the students do whatever they wanted. Of course, there was always that one teacher who actually wanted to do some work, but that was a very bad idea, because most of the kids didn't pay attention to what their teacher said.
In Orange Star High School, the cases were no different. It was almost the end of the day, and the teacher had given all the kids some treats, before he simply leaned back in his chair and made sure that the kids didn't get too rowdy as he did whatever he had to do on his computer. The teenagers were all eagerly chattering amongst themselves, munching on their treats, and quite a few of them had begun to sing Christmas carols.
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!" Erasa sang along with the other kids who were all scattered around the room, randomly singing the carols. Upon seeing that her boyfriend was being a bit grumpy, she turned to him and poked him lightly. "Come on, Sharpie, sing some Christmas carols with me!"
"I don't sing," Sharpener retorted gruffly, arms crossed against his built chest.
"Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh—come on, Sharpie, please?" Erasa pleaded, making slightly puppy-dog eyes at him, pouting her lip. Sharpener quickly averted his gaze.
"Do not do that look," he muttered, knowing exactly what she was doing. When he looked back at her again, she was still doing the wide-eyed look (something that they had "affectionately" dubbed as her "Bambi-eyes"), and, after a few more moments, Sharpener let out an aggravated sigh, shaking his head, before he joined in on the next song that the class had decided to sing.
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la," Sharpener grunted out, sounding like he would rather die than be saying the words in the most bored tone he could muster.
"Oh, sing it with a little more life than that," the blonde girl prodded with a grin at her boyfriend.
"Hey, I did something," Sharpener said in his defense.
Beside the slightly bickering blonde couple, Gohan and Videl both laughed at their friends' antics. "It's hilarious to see how Erasa kind of has Sharpener wrapped around her little finger," Videl commented with a light snicker. "I don't think anyone could make Sharpener do the things she makes him do at times."
Gohan chuckled as well, his hand holding Videl's under the table, like they usually did while they were in school. "It is rather entertaining to watch," he agreed with a grin. Suddenly, he remembered what his mother told him. "Hey…what're you doing for Christmas?"
At this, Videl let out a slightly annoyed sigh, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, bringing his other hand to thread his fingers through hers under the table.
"My dad's been invited to a stupid party in honor of him 'defeating' Buu," Videl muttered in annoyance. "It's going to be so boring, and there won't be any time for him to actually be with me. Most of the 'famous' people will be there—which means that I'll be surrounded by snobs and idiots. It spans from Christmas Eve, and then we're sleeping over in a hotel and staying for Christmas day."
"No wonder Bulma isn't going—it's that type of party," Gohan said to himself. As Videl looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, confused, he decided to elaborate. "Bulma was invited to this party, I think, but she declined the invitation. She doesn't like hanging out with snobs, and said that she'd rather spend Christmas with our little group of misfits over those fancy people any day. She dislikes the press too, and doesn't want to be even more exposed than she already is in the world."
"Yeah, I wouldn't wanna hang around them either, but my dad didn't decline, so I'm going with him," she replied with a slight sigh.
"Well…maybe you don't have to go," Gohan suggested quietly. A light blush began to cover his pale cheeks, barely there but still appearing on his skin as she looked up at him, silently asking him for an explanation. "Um…my mom suggested that you come over for Christmas. Like, you sleep over Christmas Eve and help us put the finishing touches on the Christmas tree, and stay for Christmas day. Bulma's also hosting a huge Christmas party at Capsule Corp. later in the day…so we were wondering if you'd like to do that."
After a few moments of pondering this, Videl sent a grin Gohan's way. "I really like that idea, actually—it's a hell of a lot better than going to that fancy dinner party at any rate. I'd just have to ask my dad about it."
Gohan grinned down at her, glad that she hadn't outright said that his idea was stupid. "But…don't you wanna spend Christmas with your dad?" he asked.
"Well, it's not like he'll have time for me at the party," Videl answered with a shrug. "Everyone wants to talk to him, and he always talks with them. Usually, I don't talk to anyone since they're all adults and talk about things that I'm not interested in at all. So it wouldn't make a difference if I went to your house, really."
"Mom's gonna love hearing this," Gohan stated with a chuckle. "So will Goten; he's really warmed up to you these past couple of weeks, he likes having a 'big sister'."
"I swear, Gohan, your little brother is absolutely adorable and so sweet, too," Videl informed him with a smile. "It must be a trait that runs in the family, huh?"
The demi-Saiyan smirked a bit at that, shaking his head. "If you say so," was his reply.
Videl smiled. "So modest," she teased lightly. "Anyway, I have a question about the party at Capsule Corp. Do I have to dress up all…fancy?" She made a face at that.
Gohan laughed. "No, you don't have to dress up…'fancy'. Just…ya know, look nice. Not fancy, but nice."
"OK," she returned, seeming to like that idea much more than dressing up in a fancy outfit. Far too many times she had been forced to attend one of the many parties that her father had been invited too, and forced into a ridiculously fancy dress. Oh, how she loathed fancy, uncomfortable dresses.
"We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas!" most of the class suddenly chorused, except for the few people who were too absorbed doing something else. Hell, even the teacher was joining in with their caroling. The sound was so loud and unexpected that Videl's head shot off of her boyfriend's shoulder, while Gohan actually winced at the assault that their voices had on his ears—most of them were off-key and many of the kids were tone-deaf, so they didn't even know how horribly they were singing.
Videl laughed a bit at her boyfriend's reaction to that, while he shot her a slightly dirty look in reply. "Yeah, you find it funny," he lightly muttered under his breath with an eye-roll. "Try having Saiyan ears—it hurts."
"Oh, I'm sure you've been through worse than some off-key singing of a few fellow teenagers, tough guy," Videl teased with a light smirk. "I'm sure that not everyone on your little group of misfits is an amazing singer either."
"True," Gohan relented, agreeing with her. "I've heard worse. I'm surprised I'm still alive after hearing Krillin singing."
"Krillin?" Videl repeated, raising an eyebrow curiously.
"Yep, Krillin," he nodded seriously in reply. "His…singing is more like screeching. It seriously grated against my eardrums. And it wasn't only me—Trunks and Goten were there also, along with Vegeta. The little boys didn't say anything as Krillin attempted to sing, but Vegeta literally screamed for someone to make it stop, and even added that he would rather take Bulma screeching at him for a week over five seconds of that torture, and then he commented that he was only two seconds away from blasting Krillin into oblivion for making such an ungodly noise. Trunks said that Krillin might have killed all the animals in the vicinity, and that he had heard an animal make noises like that, but when he flipped it over it was dead."
Videl simply looked at him for a few moments, processing the information that he had just told her, before she shook her head. "You guys are insane," she finally muttered, shaking her head. "Man, I feel sorry for Krillin, having to put up with you assholes of Saiyans."
"Hey!" Gohan objected. "Not all of us are assholes! And didn't you just say that Goten and I are sweet?"
"At times you guys are assholes—you guys are, sometimes, just so blunt," Videl informed him, snickering. "It's hilarious at times, actually."
"Yeah, and you're not blunt?" Gohan shot back.
"…Touché," she admitted, grinning. "But you know you wouldn't have me any other way."
"Of course not," Gohan agreed with a light smirk. "It would be boring if you were different. I love you just the way you are."
Hearing those words made her heart flutter slightly; she knew that she'd never get tired of hearing him tell her that he loved her, even it if was something as offhanded as the way he'd just said it. "And I love you just the way you are, too, Gohan, Saiyan genetics and all," she said quietly in reply, truthfully.
He smiled down at her now, his slightly calloused and resting on her cheek as he bent his head down to kiss her forehead softly. "Thanks, Videl," he whispered gratefully, looking down into her amazing sapphire eyes. It meant a lot to him to hear her say that she loved him completely for who he was, that his Saiyan side didn't affect her at all in her decision for loving him. He squeezed her hand from under the table, knowing that she didn't like making a spectacle of themselves too much around their classmates.
Now, though, Videl didn't care. There were only about a half an hour until the school day ended, and it was Christmastime. As such, she reached up and kissed her boyfriend innocently, knowing that he wanted to do so before. She didn't care what the rest of the kids thought or saw at the moment, and wanted to enjoy the time she had with her boyfriend. He didn't hesitate to return the gentle kiss.
"Oh, you two are so cute," Erasa suddenly gushed, causing the black-haired couple to suddenly pull away in shock, turning towards their blonde friend. A light crimson blush was beginning to form on their cheeks at what she'd said—only Erasa would say something like that. She giggled at the two, while Sharpener snickered along with his girlfriend at their antics.
"Hey, lovebirds, you should join in on the song that everyone's singing now," Sharpener smirked.
"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…five golden rings! Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!" the class, including Erasa, all sang as Sharpener spoke. After she finished the verse, Erasa flicked Sharpener's nose slightly, shaking her head at him.
"Don't tease them so much," she chided him. "And sing this with me! On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…"
"Six geese a-layin'," Sharpener muttered, but Erasa grinned, finding it enough as she continued with the list of things that her true love gave to her.
"They're our friends—and Erasa's my best friend," Videl told Gohan with a light shrug after their light mortification had ended. "What're you gonna do?"
Gohan sighed, shaking his head as well. "Guess there's nothing to do," he admitted reluctantly, while the class had managed to reach "seven swans a-swimmin'." "But you really wanna come over to our house for Christmas?"
"Of course I do!" Videl smiled lightly. "And I can't wait for Bulma's party, either."
"Yeah, it's gonna be great," Gohan grinned. "Parties at Capsule Corp. are the best. We can all be ourselves there, and often there's storytelling and reminiscing between the original gang, and she puts on music and lets us play video games, and lots of other things. She tries to organize games, but they don't always work out in the end. But they're always fun, and there's gonna be plenty of food; Bunny's cooking is the best…well, next to Mom's. Nothing beats Mom's cooking."
"But aren't you guys having dinner at your respective homes before going there?" Videl asked, raising her eyebrow. "Why would there be so much food?"
"Videl, you do realize that there will be two—no, three full-blooded Saiyans there, since Tarble came, along with three half-Saiyans?" Gohan reminded her. "Bulma's learned from parties in the past that there can never be 'too much' food at a party when you're bringing my father there. When Saiyans are in attendance, there's never such a thing as 'too much' food."
Videl snickered at that. "True, I can't believe it slipped my mind," she said with a smirk. "It's crazy how you all eat so much and yet are so freaking muscular—it's just unreal."
"Well, that's one of the good things about Saiyan genetics," Gohan replied with his own smirk, making her laugh. "I can't wait until Christmas, it's going to be great with you around. I hope you'll like your present."
At that, Videl looked at him excitedly, blue eyes suddenly alight. "What'd you get for me?" she asked eagerly.
"You think I'm going to tell?" was Gohan's nearly incredulous reply. "No way, I haven't told anyone their Christmas gifts. You're all gonna find out Christmas morning."
"Oh, please give me just one little hint?" Videl asked, desperately wondering what she could have gotten for Christmas from her boyfriend. "I'll give you a hint as to what I got you!"
"Nice try, Videl," he grinned in reply. "I'm not giving anything away—it's a surprise."
Seeing that her boyfriend wouldn't be budged, Videl finally relented. "Fine," she said with a light eye-roll, while Gohan laughed at her reaction. However, she knew that the wait was going to be worth it. Even though she usually disliked surprises…
She always knew that Gohan's surprises were one of the few exceptions, and couldn't wait to see what he'd gotten her. She had no doubt that she'd love whatever he got her.
"Gohan, Videl, Gohan, Videl, wake up, wake up, wake up!" a chipper voice sounded, bouncing on the bed.
"Ugh…" Gohan unintelligibly muttered, not wanting to blink his eyes open. He lightly pulled the girl in his arms closer to him, burying his nose into her neck gently.
"Goten, sweetheart," Videl murmured, barely even awake, "give us five more minutes, OK?" She lifted her head for a moment to make eye-contact with her boyfriend's younger brother, before she placed it back on Gohan's muscular arm once more, using it as her "pillow".
"But it's Christmas!" the little boy replied dejectedly.
"And six in the morning, honey," Videl added with a yawn after a quick glance at the clock. "Why don't you go wake up your parents first? We'll get up after Mommy and Daddy do."
Goten's dark eyes brightened, a smile lighting his cherubic face. "Oh, right! I have to wake them up!" With that, he bounded out of the room, set on the quest of waking up his parents.
"Thanks for grabbing us a couple more minutes of rest," Gohan mumbled from behind her, burying his nose into her hair now as he breathed in her scent.
"No problem," she returned with a small smile, turning around so that she could see him. Taking in his appearance—eyes still half-lidded, spiky black hair mussed from his sleep, but a gentle smile on his face—she couldn't resist gently kissing his nose in a lightly teasing manner. This caused his smile to grow the slightest bit bigger as he moved his own lips down to meet hers in a gentle, chaste kiss.
After a few moments, they pulled away, Videl's blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Now, remember, Gohan, don't get carried away," she lightly teased. "Or else my dad will do terrible things to you."
Gohan couldn't resist a chuckle at that. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on anything," he returned with a smirk.
It had taken a little time to convince Mr. Satan that absolutely nothing would "go on" between his daughter and her boyfriend, but eventually, she was permitted to stay at the Sons for Christmas. She'd eagerly packed everything for Bulma's Christmas party and some extra clothes to wear just in case, said goodbye to her father, and then flew home with Gohan, who had been her "escort" that evening to his house.
When she reached his home, Chi-Chi had eagerly begun to speak to the girl after Goten nearly tackled her with a bone-crushing hug. After the raven-haired mother had managed to make sure that her hyperactive son wouldn't accidentally kill the young woman, she'd begun to have to quality "girl talk" with Videl (it was later revealed to Gohan that she was still asking Videl about the wedding, and continued with the fact that she wanted grandbabies).
Videl had then mostly helped Chi-Chi get the things prepared for the dinner that she was going to make for Christmas; her eyes had widened almost comically at how much food the older woman had gotten, but then she remembered that there were three males with Saiyan blood to feed at one table, and decided that it was reasonable.
After the ladies had finished with the preparations of the food, everyone decided to go outside and play in the snow for a bit—it had begun to snow right before Videl had arrived with Gohan, meaning that they had all been cooped up inside of the house for a little while until the snow stopped falling. There was about two feet of snow—an adequate amount that was actually able to be played in. Goku had gone outside with his sons, along with Videl, while Chi-Chi had opted to stay inside, making hot chocolate for them to have once they came back in.
Snowmen were built, snow angels had been made, and, obviously, snowball fights had ensued. They had all ganged up on Goku for the snowball fight, much to the amusement of the warrior. The times when Goku forgot that Videl was only human, though, and threw a snowball at frightening speed and velocity towards her, Gohan would always intervene, either taking the blow for her or pushing her quickly out of the way so that she wouldn't be harmed. The snowball fight had eventually escalated so much that they had to build snow forts to protect the snowballs that they would keep as ammunition, and had even begun to strategize ways to trap their opponent (opponents, in Goku's case).
Three hours of pure fun in the snow (with only a break after the first hour for dinner) passed until everyone decided that it was time to head back inside the house. After they changed into warm, dry clothes, Chi-Chi had given them all hot chocolate to drink, and they all had decided to watch a movie together while they sipped the warm drinks and ate a batch of cookies that Chi-Chi had also made for them. Once the movie was done, Chi-Chi had encouraged Goten to go to bed so that Santa would be able to stop by their house that night, and this thought prompted the little boy to get ready for bed as quickly as he possibly could, right after he gave his mother the slightly sloppily wrapped presents that he had made for everyone so that she could put them under the tree.
Once Goten was asleep, Goku, Chi-Chi, Gohan, and Videl had all played Monopoly (Videl was the best at that game. It was no wonder that she managed to win—twice). They managed to finish their second game around midnight, which was when Chi-Chi declared that it was time for lights out. She placed the presents under the tree (everyone had given their presents to Chi-Chi, because they knew that she wouldn't try to take a peek at them and would wait until Christmas morning). Everyone had then gotten ready for bed after saying their good-nights to the others. Obviously, Videl had stood in Gohan's room, since there really wasn't much room anywhere else for her to stay.
Now, Gohan continued to look at his girlfriend—her sapphire eyes that were only half-lidded, still drowsy, and her short black hair that was still slightly messy from sleep. "You're so beautiful," he couldn't help but say, caressing her cheek with his free hand, his other arm still being used as her pillow of sorts.
"You don't look too bad yourself, handsome," Videl said in reply, smirking at him. She kissed his lips once more, another chaste kiss; before it could even begin to evolve into a deeper kiss, a young boy's shouting suddenly stopped them as Goten suddenly ran into the room and began to jump on the bed once more.
"Come on, wake up, wake up! I got Mommy and Daddy up, come on, come on, Santa came, Santa came!" Goten eagerly told them. "Mommy says that we aren't opening presents before everyone's downstairs and after we all eat breakfast, so get up, get up!"
"OK, squirt, we're coming," Gohan finally agreed, beginning to sit up, prompting Videl to take her head off of his arm as she sat up as well. Satisfied with the results that he was gaining, Goten laughed happily, and dashed out of the room.
Eventually, the two teenagers managed to get out of bed, not changing out of their pajamas (Videl simply slipped on her bra under her nightgown, disappearing into the bathroom for a moment to do so). The pair then walked towards the kitchen, where laughter was heard, the happiness almost tangible in the cozy little household.
After breakfast was finished, all five of them went over to the cozy little living room, Goten nearly having to be restrained by his father in his eagerness to open the presents. He'd been told by his mother not to open the presents until she said so, but there were so many gifts, and it was hard for the little boy to not instantly dash for the ones that had his name on them.
Eventually, Videl and the Sons were all situated, and Chi-Chi gave the OK to start handing out presents and opening them. Almost the instant that she gave permission, Goten flew to the bottom of the tree and dived for one of the larger presents that had its name on it, much to the others' amusement.
After the little boy quickly handed everyone else a present with their name on it and was a considerably large size as well (as was customary and polite, his mother had taught him), he couldn't wait any longer to open his large present from Santa, and tore into the wrapping. Everyone else opened their gifts at the same time, and the only sound that was heard for a few moments was the tearing of wrapping paper.
"Yes!" Goten exclaimed happily as he looked at the present that he'd gotten, eyes wide with awe and pure joy as he looked at what was inside. "Santa got me just what I wanted!" Happily, he showed the large red firetruck that he'd gotten for a gift, complete with a set of little people to put inside of the firetruck as well, along with a remote to control it. "Santa's the best!"
"He sure is," Chi-Chi agreed with a slight smile, glad that her little boy was happy with the gift. As she spoke, she finished unwrapping the gift from Videl (and Mr. Satan), and her eyes just about lit up as she saw what was inside. "Oh, Videl, honey, this is just perfect."
Videl laughed upon seeing Chi-Chi's reaction to the gift—the raven-haired woman was eagerly inspecting the beautiful set of new kitchenware that she'd been given, eyes bright. Videl had heard in tiny little snippets of their conversations that Chi-Chi had wanted new kitchenware for a while now, and decided that it would be a good Christmas present for the woman.
"I'm glad you like it, Chi," Videl replied, smiling. The more often she'd come over to Gohan's house, the more comfortable she'd gotten with his family, almost as if they were her own family as well. Chi-Chi was like the aunt that she'd never had at times, or an older sister in a way—Videl enjoyed the feeling.
"Hey, thanks a lot, Gohan!" Goku exclaimed as he opened his present from his oldest son, noticing that he'd been given a new set of gi's (Dende only knew how many of those things he went through) that seemed to be made of a more durable material. Also, he'd been given specially designed weighted wristbands and a weighted top—with a click of a button, he was able to change the weight of it to whatever he wished. Of course, Gohan had asked Bulma to design the specifics, but he'd actually managed to do some of the designing himself, which made him proud.
"Glad you like it, Dad," he said, as he opened his present from Goten—a homemade picture frame. The picture frame was scattered with tiny replicas of the Dragon Balls, all seven of them, and various other items that held meaning to the Son family. Somehow, Goten had managed to craft Shenron—a little sloppily, but he still had managed to make the dragon, along with a belt in a corner. Gohan saw that he'd made Piccolo's turban and cape as well, in another corner. There were a few fish scattered across the frame, along with some beautiful blue birds. Gohan had to say that he was very impressed with what Goten had done.
"Did you make this by yourself, Goten?" he asked, turning towards his little brother, who had been rapidly opening his next present, this one from his father. At the sound of his name, the little boy turned to Gohan, and he grinned.
"Mostly," he replied. "I mean, I got some help from Auntie Bulma and Trunks, but I did lots of it myself. Do ya like it?"
"Are you kidding? It's perfect, kid," Gohan smiled, causing Goten to grin brightly, running up to his big brother to give him a warm embrace, while the young man smiled as he returned the little boy's hug.
After that, the opening of presents happened quickly, with everyone thanking whoever had given them the gift when they opened it. Chi-Chi was thoroughly pleased with the picture frame that Goten had made her as well—it was individual from Gohan's, causing her to smile as she gave her baby a hug of appreciation. Goten was extremely excited when his father had given him a toy robot that he'd wanted, and instantly began playing with the remote-controlled device. Gohan laughed at what he had received from his mother, but was grateful all the same—a series of books on the history of Martial Arts. Of course, she would manage to bring reading into a gift. Goku smiled at the gift that his wife had gotten for him—she'd gotten him a huge box full of his favorite assorted sweets, which included both some of her cooking and a few store-bought items. She'd also made him a scrapbook, holding pictures of their family, all the way back from their wedding to recent ones as well, with her own heartfelt captions on many of them, causing the Saiyan to smile at his wife and give her a kiss while both of their sons pointedly turned away, Goten making a gagging noise. Videl thanked Goku and Chi-Chi for the pretty bracelet that they'd gotten for her—each differently colored bead represented a different character trait.
Soon, Gohan reached the gift that Videl had gotten him; he smiled as he saw the nametag on the box, which stated that it was from his girlfriend and to him. He looked at Videl, to see that she, coincidentally, was now holding the gift that he'd gotten her, and she was smiling at him.
"So, who's gonna open theirs first?" he asked, lightly playing with the intricately tied bow on his large gift box. The gift wrapping was a bright sky blue with dark blue stripes, and the ribbon was a vibrant turquoise. Two boxes were placed there—one considerably smaller than the other. And was he hallucinating, or was there a delicious smell emanating from the slightly smaller box?
"You should open yours first," Videl told him with a grin. "I wanna see your reaction to the gift I got you."
"All right," Gohan complied, honestly wondering what she could've gotten him. He opened it, and found that there were a few dozen chocolate-peanut-butter-chunk cookies inside of a bag, a good two dozen. He broke out into a grin—these cookies were honestly his favorite sweet, and he looked up to see Videl looking at him expectantly.
"Did you make these, Videl?" he asked curiously, pulling out the bag of cookies from the opened box, pulling one of the delicious sweets out to taste it.
"Yep, all by myself," she responded. "I mean, sure, your mom gave me the recipe and everything, and supervised it, but I officially did everything by myself. How do they taste?"
By this time, Gohan had already finished his first large cookie, and was currently lightly licking the crumbs off of his fingers, looking at Videl as she spoke, seeming slightly sheepish. Videl couldn't help but laugh, having already gotten her answer from her boyfriend.
"I've got to hide these for now," Gohan told her, placing the bag full of cookies to the side with considerable internal struggle. "But those areamazing, Videl. You made them last night?"
"Yep, and that's why they're still perfectly fresh. Go on, open your other gift!"
Wondering what else she could have gotten him that was better than food, he tore off the wrapping paper from that she'd given him, over the happy squeals of Goten as he received another toy that he'd wanted from his mother. He removed the lid, and saw a rather nice-looking black jacket inside of the box. He pulled it out of the box to examine it—it was made from a nice material, one that wouldn't constrict him too much, he could tell, and it felt cool to the touch. It was rather plain, except for a few stripes of white and blue for design here and there—he liked the fact that it wasn't too flashy.
"Is it your size? Is it OK?" Videl asked, biting her lip lightly. She hadn't been too sure about the item of clothing that she'd gotten him. When she'd first laid eyes on it, for some reason, she'd thought of Gohan—now, though, she was slightly second-guessing her impulses.
"It's great, Videl, thanks," Gohan replied truthfully, causing Videl to sigh a bit in relief. It was then that Gohan noticed a small glint of something shiny in the corner of the box, and, curiously, he reached for it to inspect it. His eyes widened slightly at what he pulled out form the corner of the box.
Gohan examined the beautiful pin that was currently in his large hands. It was small—only about two or three inches tall—but it was absolutely beautiful. The pin's profile was shaped like a bird of prey, based on the hooked beak and lightly curved talons. It was colored a shining golden—it was probably made out of gold, now that he thought about it. Two lovely turquoise gems were the sharp eyes of the bird, whose head was slightly turned so that you were able to see the other sparkling gem. The of the bird were poised as if it was landing, descending on its prey, and were lightly detailed with feather-like designs that were so small and thin that they didn't take away from the whole picture.
It was beautiful.
"Wow, Videl," Gohan breathed out, looking at the beautiful bird. "How'd you…"
"Well, I saw that pin somewhere," Videl replied with a smile, "and I instantly thought of you. I remember how you said you liked birds, and…well, I felt that it was perfect for you. And I added the eyes myself—I found some gems that were the exact same shade as your eyes when you turn Super Saiyan, so…yeah. You like it?"
"It's…I love it," Gohan replied, grinning as he put the beautiful pin down—he would wear it later, when they went to Bulma's party. "Thanks, Videl."
"You're welcome, Gohan," Videl returned, hugging her boyfriend quickly, glad that he'd liked her presents. She pulled back, and grabbed the considerably smaller gift that he'd gotten her. "I can open yours now, right?"
Gohan nodded, smirking lightly. "Sure."
Eagerly, Videl tore past the red bow and the green wrapping paper, to reveal a small, delicate leather box. She glanced at Gohan cautiously, before she opened the box.
She couldn't keep in the gasp that escaped from her being.
Lying in a bed of dark, pretty velvet was the most beautiful necklace she'd ever seen, accompanied by a pair of matching, beautiful earrings. The metal of the necklace was a pretty, delicate chain of silver, fitting her like a choker. As it neared the front, diamonds began to drape from the necklace, forming a light triangular shape. Beautiful sapphires were also on the lovely necklace, strategically placed to stand out among the diamonds, with the largest gem on the necklace, the focal point of the piece of jewelry, a lovely sapphire as well. The earrings perfectly matched the necklace—like the other piece of jewelry, the earrings had a sort of slightly floral design, like wisteria. Sapphires drooped lightly from a few prettily-shaped diamonds, on silver hooks. They were delicate, but they didn't seem that they would get in the way of anything, that they would hinder her in any way. The earrings weren't simply platinum studs, the necklace not a simple chain. In fact, the jewelry was slightly girly.
And Videl loved it.
"Oh, Gohan…they're beautiful," Videl couldn't help but breathe out, honestly taken away by the beauty of the jewelry that he'd gotten her.
"Those sapphires match your eyes," Gohan told her, smiling gently.
"I wanna put this on, right now, and I'm keeping it on for the whole day," Videl announced, instantly taking the earrings and placing them into the piercings that were in her ears. She rarely wore earrings, but the holes from when she did get her ears pierced had never gone away, because she did wear earrings occasionally.
After she placed the earrings in her ears, Gohan gently reached for the necklace. She turned around without a word, and she soon felt the cool metal from the beautiful necklace touch her skin. She also felt Gohan's warm fingers, so gentle, as they clasped the necklace shut. She turned around, smiling, gently fingering the sapphires.
"It's perfect, Gohan," she told him with a smile, unable to stop admiring the beauty of the jewelry. It felt pleasantly cool against her skin—the earrings felt cold against her cheeks, the necklace cool against what little skin was exposed on her collarbone. She threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly, as he returned her embrace gently. After the embrace was over, she gave him a quick, thankful kiss on the lips. "Thank you so much."
"I'm glad you like it," Gohan told her with a slightly relieved smile on his face. The moment he'd laid eyes on that jewelry, he'd instantly thought of her—the sapphires had reminded him of her eyes. With Bulma's help, he'd managed to get it for her, and was glad that she enjoyed her gift.
Suddenly, from behind them, Chi-Chi let out a gasp. The two turned, to see that her eyes were filling up with tears as she looked at a small pillow of leather—a beautiful necklace of pearls was on the pillow, along with a bracelet and two small, pearl studs for earrings. Some of the pearls were smaller than the others, and not all of them were perfectly shaped, but it seemed that she didn't care about that as she brought her eyes up to her husband, who was looking at her with slight anxiety.
"…Goku?" she whispered, holding up the pearl necklace. "Did you…did you get this for me?"
"Well…yeah," Goku replied, rubbing the back of his head—he wasn't sure why she looked like she was going to cry, and he was wondering if it was because the pearls weren't perfect, or exactly the same. "I mean, I wasn't able to buy it, of course, so I had to go diving for the pearls myself, but Bulma knows this jeweler who can make jewelry out of whatever you bring h—"
"You got these pearls yourself?" Chi-Chi repeated, her eyes filling up even more with tears as she brought a hand to her heart. She began to lightly finger each of the pearls—no two were exactly alike, but mostly, they were the same. When they were completely different, it was a beautiful, unique twist.
"Well…yeah. I'm sorry I wasn't able to buy th—" Whatever else Goku was going to say was suddenly cut off as Chi-Chi threw herself into his arms, letting out a scream of joy. He caught her on instinct the moment that she landed on him—the force with which she collided with him nearly knocked both of them down, along with the chair that he'd been sitting on
"It's perfect, Goku!" she told him earnestly, sobbing with happiness and pure joy. "Oh my goodness, you personally dove for the pearls, you got them yourself! Goku, it's absolutely wonderful! I love you so much!"
Goku couldn't help but chuckle lightly at his wife's reaction. He didn't think that diving for the pearls was a big deal, but obviously, it meant a lot to Chi-Chi. He smiled down at her, gently. "I'm glad that you like your gift, Chi," he told her softly. "I love you, too."
Chi-Chi pulled away from their embrace, one of the brightest smiles that he'd ever seen on her face, tears still running down her cheeks in elation. She then kissed him deeply, and the Saiyan returned the kiss with just as much emotion.
"EW!" Goten shrieked, running away from his parents, clutching one of his many toys to his chest as he backed away from the couple. "That kissy-kissy stuff is so gross!"
Gohan, too, pointedly looked away, not wanting to see his parents in a make-out fest. Goten even went so far as to grab his big brother's hand and use it to shield his eyes—Gohan had a light blush on his cheeks as he used his free hand to lightly block his view of his kissing parents. The sight brought a smirk to Videl's lips as she laughed at the reactions of the boys.
"It's not funny, Videl, it's gross," Goten piped up petulantly as he pouted up at the young woman, peeking up at her through Gohan's fingers as he separated them a bit to make eye contact. "It's even worse than when you and Gohan do kissy-kissy stuff."
Her eyes widened almost comically at that comment, and Gohan sent a curious look down at his little brother.
"You've seen us do…'kissy-kissy stuff'?" he inquired, and Goten let out an "eep!" as he quickly tried to hide behind his big brother's hand once more. Gohan sent a serious look towards his little brother. "Goten…"
"It was Trunks' idea!" Goten blurted out. "He thought that it'd be funny to spy on you guys so we did and he had a video camera and got pictures too and it was all Trunks' fault please don't get mad at me!" With that sentence done, he quickly tried to hide behind his elder brother's big hand once again, covering his face.
Videl and Gohan shared a slightly amused look between themselves. "Looks like I'll have to have a little talk with Trunks…" Gohan trailed off.
"Please don't tell him that I told you anything," Goten pleaded, clutching one of Gohan's fingers as he looked up at the teenaged demi-Saiyan. "Please?"
"Sure, I won't tell," Gohan agreed easily, causing Goten to break out into a bright grin, still holding onto his big brother's hand, gripping onto one of the young man's longer fingers with his tiny hands. He looked at his parents, and was relieved to find that they'd finally finished their gross kissing—even so, his mother was seated in his father's lap. Goku had placed the necklace of pearls on Chi-Chi per her request, and she was currently marveling over them once again, unable to stop herself from throwing her arms around her husband once more in pure happiness.
"Heh, makes me wish that I'd gotten the diamonds and sapphires myself," Gohan chuckled. "Sorry about that."
"No, it's fine," Videl reassured him honestly. "I truly, truly appreciate the jewelry that you got me—it's beautiful." Once again, she lightly touched the earrings that brushed her cheeks, the necklace that rested upon her collarbone, smiling. "And the best part is that it matches perfectly with what I'm going to wear tonight for the party."
"Yuck!" Goten exclaimed suddenly, tugging Gohan's hand once again lightly as he covered his eyes with the large appendage. "Mommy and Daddy are doing the kissy-kissy stuff again!"
Videl laughed, while Gohan lightly blushed once more, deciding not to look as his parents once again engaged in kissing. Videl sent him a sly smirk in return. "You know, you act as if we aren't just like them sometimes," she teased lightly, leaning in close to him, causing his cheeks to darken the slightest bit more.
"They are my parents. That's different," Gohan muttered, while Goten cautiously peeked out from his and, to hide behind it again when he saw that their parents hadn't parted.
The blue-eyed girl grinned at her boyfriend. "Of course," she agreed, deciding to drop the subject for now, unable to stop herself from kissing one of Gohan's lightly crimson cheeks teasingly. Oh, if this was how he acted when he saw his parents kissing, she couldn't wait to see the way he acted when there was mistletoe lying around…
Videl was extremely glad that she'd been able to go to the Christmas party at Capsule Corporation—she had no doubt that, if she'd gone to the "fancy" party with her father, that she'd be bored out of her mind. However, with Gohan and the rest of their little group of misfits, there was never, ever a boring moment.
At the moment, however, she was standing off on the side, taking a much-needed break from all the dancing that she had done, glad that she hadn't chosen high heels to wear. She'd danced with many of the men—with Gohan (obviously, he was the one who she mostly had danced with), Goku (he was a surprisingly good dancer), Krillin Yamcha, Tarble (and he was such a gentleman, too; it was hard to believe that he and Vegeta were related), and even little Goten. She'd also danced with Bulma and Chi-Chi a bit, and even with Marron once, for the livelier songs. There were only a few people on the dance floor; currently, only Chi-Chi and Goku danced together to a slow song—the black-haired woman was wearing the pearls that he'd gotten her, which complimented her pretty rose/peach-colored dress perfectly. The only other couples on the dance floor were Krillin and Eighteen, and Tarble and Gure.
"Having fun?" a familiar voice inquired from next to her, and she turned to grin at her boyfriend, taking a sip of punch. Appreciatively, she looked him over, knowing that, if Erasa was here, that the blonde would be having a ball game with what Gohan was currently wearing; it was only female instinct, after all. That boy sure knew how to clean up nicely when he wanted to.
Currently, he was donning a set of black slacks, which were perfectly ironed, which gave him a neat look. He was also wearing a short-sleeved white dress shirt—the fabric seemed to barely be able to contain his bulging muscles, but he looked comfortable enough in it. Maybe it was the cut of it or something—able to define the muscles while leaving the wearer perfectly comfortable. Whatever it was, she liked it. He'd been wearing the jacket that she'd given him for a Christmas gift earlier, but soon, he had gotten a bit warm, and had taken it off. Videl didn't mind in the lease, appreciating what she could see of his muscular arms. What pleased her the most, though, was that he was wearing the golden pin that she'd given him on his white dress shirt, right over his heart. She couldn't contain her smile when she'd seen him put it on before they left.
"Yeah, I'm having fun. Just taking a momentary break," Videl grinned in reply, once again fingering the jewelry that he'd given her absentmindedly, touching the gems on her necklace. While she did so, Gohan looked at her attire, smiling a bit as well. When she wanted to, Videl really could look very, very nice and feminine. She was actually wearing a dress.
Yes. The Videl Satan was wearing a dress. Not a fancy-schmancy dress, mind you, but was still wearing a dress. It was a sight that was extremely rare.
Just like she'd said, the dress was a dark blue, able to match the sapphires from the jewelry that he'd gotten her. The fabric seemed to be made of silk, lightly shimmery, and soft to the touch. The dress was sleeveless—she'd worn an ivory bolero over it to cover her shoulders before, when it had been cold, but like her boyfriend, she had taken it off not too long ago. The fabric seemed to flow over her body, clinging slightly in just the right spots, lightly exposing her feminine figure a bit, but not too much. The dress stopped at a slight length above her knees, exposing some of her slender, perfectly shaped legs. She donned a pair of heels as well, but they were barely anything—only a little more than an inch high, and were silver. Around the bottom hem of her dress, there was some small silver filigree that shimmered in the light; the same silver filigree went around her ribcage as well. The only makeup that she'd applied was a little bit of lip gloss, and Gohan had to admit that she looked extremely beautiful that night. Not that she wasn't pretty all the time, but…she looked nice in a dress. It had also been her mother's, which was probably why she didn't mind it as much as she would normally mind wearing a dress.
"Oh, come on, Vegeta, dance with me!" Bulma slightly complained. Hearing this, the two teens turned, to see that the blue-haired heiress was tugging on the Saiyan prince's arm, trying to get him to walk over to the dance floor with her.
Vegeta, however, stood motionless, almost as if she wasn't affecting him at all. His arms were crossed against his chest, the ever-present scowl on his face as he turned away from his wife, with considerable effort. Bulma was wearing a red dress that perfectly enhanced all of her feminine assets, only falling halfway down her thighs, the top just low enough to give a tantalizing amount of cleavage. Any man who saw her and was single (and even those who weren't single) would be salivating at the sight of her.
"No, woman," he gruffly ground out behind his clenched teeth. "I will not be doing any dancing." He was wearing a pair of slacks as well and a dark blue dress shirt, and when Videl squinted, she noticed a small silver pin on the left side of his chest. She wasn't able to make out what, exactly, it was, but it must have held some importance if he was wearing it.
Bulma pouted. "Oh, please, Vegeta? This is a great song!"
"No," Vegeta repeated, remaining stiff as a board, glaring at his wife.
Bulma let out an annoyed and disappointed "Hmph", shooting him a returning glare, before she walked away from her husband, giving up on trying to get him to dance with her. Not when she was even ten paces away from the surly Saiyan, there was the sound of loud, drunken laughter, before a certain old man staggered in front of Bulma, grinning lecherously. Roshi laughed gleefully as he threw his now-empty beer bottle in the general direction of the trash can, missing horribly.
"Heheh!" he chortled, appreciatively looking Bulma up and down, while the blue-haired woman hissed in a breath, trying to keep herself under control. "I'd love to dance with you, Bulma!" Roshi continued, his nose beginning to bleed at the feast that his eyes were getting. They were currently trained on her prominent chest, and she forced herself to slowly count to ten before she completely lost it. Roshi was particularly daring tonight, and even attempted a touch at her chest.
He never even got close.
Right as his hand began to move, his lecherous grin spreading across his wrinkled features, he was sent flying back from a fierce punch. He crashed into the wall, while a pissed-off Vegeta stood in front of his wife, his teeth bared in a light snarl. His eyes glinted dangerously, while Bulma opened her eyes in surprise, hearing the low growl that was coming from her husband in his anger.
"If that disgusting old letch…ever tries that again…" The eldest prince was absolutely furious at the moment, struggling to not incinerate the old man on the spot. He knew that Kakarot had a soft spot for this certain man, who had apparently been his master—so if he killed him, things wouldn't turn out well. Not that he minded fighting his rival—on the contrary, he greatly enjoyed beating the ever-loving crap out of the third-class dog. No, the only reason why he wasn't killing the man was because the woman had threatened him. Behave, or else he wouldn't have access to his previous Gravity Room for an entire year, and be forced to sleep on the couch.
He did not like sleeping on the couch.
"Hey, thanks for taking care of him for me, hun," Bulma said with a light smile. "But he's gonna try again, I know—that old man never gives up. But just…don't kill him. Even though I would absolutely love to do so, right after gelding him." With that, she flipped off the moaning old man on the wall, giving him the one-fingered salute. This action from his fiery wife caused Vegeta to lightly smirk at his woman, some of his anger calming down.
"Are you going to dance with me, sweetheart?" Bulma asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him. This caused him to growl lightly at her, before he turned away, not even giving her an answer. She fell back into a light pout, once again glaring at him lightly with her blue eyes, before someone else came up to her.
"Milady?" Tarble said politely as he came up to his sister-in-law. He, too, was dressed like his brother, except he wore a white dress shirt instead of a dark blue one. He even had the same pin that Vegeta had on his chest, the shape that Videl was unable to make out. As Tarble walked up to his brother and the man's wife, he bowed lightly to the blue-haired woman. He extended one hand, his tail wrapping around his waist.
"I would be honored to dance with you," he told her, looking up at her with a smile. Bulma couldn't help but smile as well at his actions.
"That's so sweet of you," she said earnestly. "But…I thought you were dancing with Gure."
Tarble grinned, turning around for a brief moment before he returned his dark gaze to the blue-haired woman. "My wife is entertaining the children now," he told her, causing Bulma to look where he had been moments before. She couldn't help but grin at what she saw: Trunks, Goten, and Marron were all sitting down in a corner of the room, staring at Gure with wide eyes as the tiny alien smiled as she told them tales of the planet that she came from.
"They become easily enraptured when she tells them stories of our home planet," Tarble mused, "and she loves children." He smiled faintly, before he turned to Bulma right as another song picked up. "So, may I have this dance, milady?"
Bulma smiled at him, taking his hand. "Of course, Tarble," she replied, while shooting her husband a slightly dirty look. "I wish that certain people had manners like you." Tarble knew what she was saying, but decided to keep his mouth shut about that, as he led her to the dance floor, while Vegeta simply rolled his eyes at his woman's previous glare.
"Do things like that normally happen between those two?" Videl asked Gohan after the whole scene was over. "Bulma and Vegeta?"
Gohan sighed. "Yep, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Roshi almost always tries to give at least one woman a feel, and it's usually Bulma, causing Vegeta to get rather pissed off. But Vegeta doesn't like to dance—but I have no doubt that Bulma will be able to get him to dance a least once tonight," he added with a slightly conspiring smirk at his girlfriend.
A grin crossed the black-haired girl's face at the thought of the taciturn man actually being goaded into dancing. "Now, that'll be something to see," she told him with a smirk.
"It sure is," Gohan agreed, absentmindedly pouring himself some punch as well—Bulma, never one to do things "average", had the red punch mixed with something bubbly, so it was like a soda and a fruit punch at the same time. Gohan guessed it was either Sprite or sparkling water—whatever it was, it tasted great, and he guzzled it down, being careful not to spill any on his white shirt.
"Hey, what's the meaning of the pin that both Vegeta and Tarble are wearing?" Videl asked curiously, once again seeing the silver pin flash on Tarble's shirt as he danced with Bulma on the floor.
Gohan smiled. "It's the crest of the Saiyan royal house," he replied. "It's called the house of Vegeta, because the firstborn son of the king was always named that. It's their crest—it means a lot to Vegeta, I know that. Bulma made it for him a couple of years ago, and I'm sure that she made one of them recently for Tarble, and that it was his Christmas gift."
"Oh," Videl said, watching as Vegeta leaned against a pole, his own pin flashing a bit in the light from the disco ball.
Sudden, loud laughter sounded very close to Videl, and she turned her head to see that the old pervert, Master Roshi, had been able to stand up, and was running full speed ahead towards her. His face was red from all the drinking that he'd done, and he was sweating a bit from all the beer that he'd managed to chug down. His eyes widened behind his shades as he currently took in the eye-full that was Videl.
His eyes behind his shades widened, staring intently at her rather feminine figure. Sure, she may not be as voluptuous as Bulma…but, damn, Videl was still a smoking' hot babe. He gave her a large grin, full of missing teeth, his nose beginning to bleed once more.
"Heheh, you should wear dresses more often, Videl," Roshi said drunkenly, unable to take his eyes off of her chest. "They greatly enhance those girls of yours."
That comment caused Videl's face to suddenly flush red in anger, as she sputtered indignantly, unable to form a coherent reply at the audacity of the old man. Her tiny fists clenched at her sides fiercely, her blue eyes igniting with fire, while Roshi enjoyed the show. The flush on her cheeks, the fire within her eyes, made her only even more appealing.
"You look really nice when you get all angry like that," the old man chortled, licking his lips as he drooled, trying to stem the sudden gush of blood that was coming from his nose. He never learned his lesson.
Videl felt a sudden breeze, and she was suddenly facing the back of Gohan, who had appeared in front of her, quick as lightning. She heard a light growling sound emanating from his throat, and she looked at his face from around one of his muscular arms to see that his teeth were also bared in the slightest of snarls, that his onyx eyes were struggling to contain their anger.
"I'm sure Videl would greatly appreciate it, Master Roshi," Gohan began, his voice cool and calm—Videl knew better, and was able to hear the struggle that he had with not shouting at the old man, "if you would not refer to her in that way. And I would appreciate it, too."
"Aw, come on, Gohan, don't be such a spoilsport!" Roshi guffawed, throwing his hand in a general direction, nearly stumbling on the spot—he was extremely drunk. "I'm sure she doesn't mind!"
"Ex-cuse me?" Videl hissed out from behind Gohan, her hands on her hips. "I do mind, in fact. Greatly. Go and wait under the mistletoe for a desperate woman to come and kiss you—I am not one of those desperate women."
"Uh…you are standing under mistletoe, sweetheart," Roshi grinned lecherously, once again licking his lips. Videl and Gohan both looked up, to see that the fact was indeed true—there was the tiniest clump of mistletoe hanging over them. "So pucker up! Trust me, I am still a very good kisser, the ladies still scream when I do it."
"They obviously are screaming in pure horror and disgust," Videl snipped in reply. "In case you haven't noticed, Gohan's here, too. I think the mistletoe rules are that you kiss the person closest in age to you, if more than one person is under the mistletoe at the same time." Of course, she wasn't sure such a rule existed, but she simply wanted to antagonize the old man.
"But…come on, girl, you're sexy!" Roshi complained. "Trust me, the kiss'll be worth your while. And," he continued with a wink, "I'll give you even more than that if you let me catch a little look at your—"
"Master Roshi," Gohan growled out lightly, glaring at the old man, while Videl silently fumed from behind him, forcing herself not to claw the old pervert's eyes out for his comment. "I'm beginning to lose my patience." His lips were curled into a slightly fiercer snarl than the one he'd worn before, his power level slightly spiking in his anger, his own fists clenching together, his fingernails digging into his palms.
It was at that moment that, suddenly, the old turtle hermit realized that he was antagonizing one of the strongest people in the entire universe—probably the second- or third-strongest to grace any planet at the moment. He was able to notice that Gohan's eyes flashed turquoise for the briefest of seconds, causing him to back up in fear, not wanting to die at the moment. To save his life, he quickly dashed away, wondering why no one would ever give an old man what he just wanted.
"All right, down, boy," Videl joked, placing her hand on Gohan's arm. His growls had ceased once Roshi had left his sight, and he closed his eyes to regain control of himself, taking a few deep breaths. Videl's touch certainly helped him out, and he opened his eyes to look into her blue ones, which were mischievous.
"You know, Gohan…there is mistletoe over us," she smirked. "And, since that whole skirmish has been taken care of…"
Gohan wore a surprisingly devilish grin on his face, almost forgetting about the incident with Roshi. "Well, I suppose that we'll have to follow the Christmas tradition of mistletoe," he said with a slight shrug, causing her to laugh at him, before their lips met.
A few moments after they began kissing, lightly deepening it, they heard two wolf-whistles from around them. They pulled away for a few moments, and saw that the culprits had been Krillin and Yamcha, both of the men wearing smirks on their faces, while Eighteen simply rolled her eyes at her husband's action.
"Hey, don't mind us!" Krillin snickered.
"Continue with what you were doing, by all means!" Yamcha added. "Don't let us get in the way!"
Both of the teenagers turned a bit red, causing the two human men to snicker some more at their embarrassment. "Hah, young love," Krillin said, nudging his friend a bit with his elbow, speaking loud enough for Videl and Gohan to still hear. "Isn't it adorable?"
Yamcha grinned a bit, but his eyes weren't completely in it, as he remembered his first love. "Yeah…it sure is." He quickly cleared his head of these thoughts—he had accepted it a while ago, that he and Bulma were over, but still…at times, it was hard for him not to regret that they wouldn't be together any longer, as he looked back on some of the memories that they'd shared. But he wouldn't get into the way of her happiness, and he was sure that he would, eventually, meet the right girl.
"Well, Videl," Gohan said, not wanting to hear any more of the conversation, lest it turn into something utterly mortifying, "do you want to have another dance with me?"
Videl smiled at him. "Of course," she agreed, taking his outstretched hand. He grinned in return as he brought her to the dance floor, placing his free hand at her waist while she placed her hand on his shoulder, their linked hands staying together, before they began to dance.
The girl looked around at the others—it seemed that everyone was on the dance floor now. Krillin suddenly seemed to want to dance with his wife, and, once he'd had his fun teasing the teens, he'd asked his wife to dance, to which she agreed. Tarble and Gure were both dancing as well, smiles on their faces. Goku was still dancing with Chi-Chi, and they were talking quietly to each other as they danced to the slow song. Videl grinned when she saw another couple on the dance floor—Bulma had managed to rope her surly Saiyan prince into a dance with her. While Vegeta looked like he wanted to do anything but dance, he was nevertheless dancing with his wife, while she wore a contented smile on her face and rested her head against his shoulder—they weren't doing any elaborate dancing, simply moving a bit from side to side. Trunks and Goten were playing around with each other, chasing each other under the tables and making sure that they didn't break anything, while little Marron danced with Yamcha, giggling as he spun her around lightly while he smiled as well.
Videl let out a contented sigh, resting her head against Gohan's chest. She felt his arm wrap around her waist more securely, causing her gentle smile to widen a bit more.
"Merry Christmas, Videl," Gohan told her with his own grin, and she looked up at him, happier than she had been in a long time. Ever since Gohan had come into her life, ever since they had begun dating, she felt so much lighter, so much happier, than she had ever felt before in her life. When her mother had died, it seemed that life suddenly became the slightest bit less fun, less bright. Gohan's appearance in it, however, brought her back to the way that she was when her mother was still alive. It made her happy.
"Merry Christmas, Gohan," Videl told him in reply, moving her hand that was on his shoulder to gently wrap around his thick, muscular neck. Neither of the teens could resist leaning in for another gentle kiss. Surrounded by all these people, feeling her boyfriend's lips on her own, feeling the coolness of the jewelry that Gohan had given her lightly on her cheeks and her collarbone, Videl sure of one thing.
This had been, by far, the best Christmas ever.
Oh, I just love Christmastime :D the Christmas spirit is still in the air! It doesn't go away until February starts for me. Hell, we still have our Christmas tree up X3 kinda been too lazy to take it down… :D
Anyways, like I promised, there's a WHOLE list of stuff down here for you guys, some of it important, some of it not so much. Please bear with me at the moment :D
1) I put a poll up on my profile, guys! :D not sure how many of you have seen it, but it just about asks a really long question. The basic question is this: what DBZ story would you like to see from me next? Of course, I wrote more in the question, and there's a lot of choices to choose from—you can pick up to 3 of them. It'd be great if you could check it out, everyone's opinion counts :D and, if you have an idea for a story, you can PM it to me, or, if you're a Guest, say the idea through a review, if you want :)
2) I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER IS SO LATE! D: I WANTED to get it out earlier, but finals week was last week, guys, I had to study my tushy off X( let's hope I did well :D
3) Thank you ALL for the continued support of this story through your reviews! Honestly, those things just make my day, I love hearing what you guys have to say. You have no idea how much it means to me :D
On that note, hope you enjoyed the chapter! X3 thanks for reading, and please review! :D