"I can't believe you're here," Gohan breathed, his forehead pressed against Lindsey's, staring into her eyes.
"Me either," she answered. Her eyes closed as tears slid down her cheeks.
"Why are you crying again?" he asked softly, pulling slightly away from her and wiping the tears away.
"Because I'm so happy to see you," she sniffled. She gave a watery laugh and smiled at him. "I've missed you so."
Gohan swallowed hard as if he was resisting the urge to cry, too. "I missed you more."
Lindsey took a deep breath and slicked her red curls out of her face. "Gohan, I have to talk to you." She took his hands and pulled him to sit next to her on the bed. "I don't even know where to start."
He didn't say anything and waited patiently for her to continue.
"I have lied to you so much," she began. "I just didn't know how to handle it. I've dealt with a lot in my life, Gohan. My dad dying, the stupid stunts I've pulled, the problems with the Johnsons all these years, the battles with Kamahina and Radmis and Sigourney… but this was hands-down the single worst experience of my life."
"Lindsey, you don't have to-"
"Yes, I do," she interrupted. "I have to make you understand."
"Understand what?"
"Why I did what I did. I was trying to escape. When I was asleep, all I did was relive the whole thing over and over. And when I was awake, I was too tired and hurt to deal with it. I started drinking just so I could sleep. That's all I wanted. But then I was hung over. So I went to Kolya to ask him what I should do. And he… that's when he gave me the weed."
"Were you really using it every day?" he asked softly.
"Yeah," she sighed, staring at her hands. "First thing when I got up in the morning and at night when I would soak in the bath."
"But," Gohan stammered, "I was usually right here!"
She nodded. "I know."
"Goes to show you how much I know," he muttered. "I thought you were burning incense in there."
Lindsey snorted. "Yeah… incense."
Gohan shook his head and stared at the floor for a minute. "So why the cocaine, then?"
She shook her head and shrugged. "Because it was there," she answered. "And once I'd tried it, it was all I wanted. It made me energetic, confident, friendly, talkative… It… made me feel normal again."
"God, Lins," Gohan sighed.
"Gohan, I have been an incredibly selfish person. I've lied to you, done things behind your back… I… I don't like that person. I don't want to be that person anymore. I'm not gonna be that person anymore. I've been mean, selfish, vain, bitchy, two-faced, self-centered… take your pick."
"All of the above?" Gohan said light-heartedly.
Lindsey tipped her head to the side, "Yeah, pretty much." She looked up at him and fixed her eyes on his. "I am not that person anymore Gohan. I promise you that."
He nodded. "Okay."
She took his face in her hands. "I mean it, Gohan. I will never keep a secret from you again. I will never go behind your back again. I love you more than life itself. I just want to go back to Japan and start over with you."
He blinked. "You want to leave here?"
She nodded. "I don't like the way this place makes me anymore. It's not who I am now. I just want to marry you and go back to Japan… maybe find a little house out in the country…"
Gohan suddenly threw his arms around her, pulling her close. "I have waited so long for you to say that."
She blinked and leaned back away from him. "What?"
"I was hoping you'd want to go home with me," he smiled. "But I wasn't going to say anything. I was going to stay here if that's what you wanted."
"No," she said harshly. "I want to get out of here."
"When do you want to leave?" he asked.
"I'd like to spend the holidays here," she admitted. "Just to spend a little more time with everyone. That way we can make plans and say a proper goodbye before we go."
"Yelena's going to be livid if she's done all this wedding planning and we don't go through with it. You know that, right?" Gohan asked.
"Well, we could do it here before we leave," she said. "Maybe then go on a honeymoon and go back to Japan after that."
Gohan blinked, rolling her words over in his head. "That actually sounds like a great idea."
She smiled.
"So when do you want to do it?" he asked.
Lindsey licked her lips, butterflies tearing up her stomach. "Well," she started. She stood and pulled Gohan to his feet. Still holding his hands, she sunk to one knee and asked, "Gohan, will you marry me on New Year's Eve?"
He grinned widely, his eyes dancing with excitement. "YES!" He yanked her into his arms and kissed her again.
"You forgive me?" she asked.
"I already did a long time ago," he smiled, kissing her over and over.
"We should tell Yelena," Lindsey said.
"Are you kidding?" Gohan laughed. "We should tell everyone! Come on!" He grabbed her hand and ran for the door.
Giddy and silly as a couple of kids, they ran hand and hand down the hallway, Lindsey still barefoot, laughing and tripping, stopping to kiss over and over. They came upon Kolya on the next floor and he ran between them, breaking their hands apart yelling, "RED ROVER!"
Lindsey and Gohan laughed and she yelled at Kolya, "We're getting married!"
He blinked at them as they joined hands again and ran off along the hall.
"I knew that," he mumbled to himself, completely confused.
They reached Yelena's door and Lindsey slapped it repeatedly, shouting, "Yelena! Open up! Yelena!"
There was no answer.
Lindsey pounded harder on the door. "YELENA!"
Finally the door creaked open and Yelena stuck her head out. She was wearing a long blonde wig, and was shielding her body behind the door. "What?" she hissed.
Gohan blinked at her and Lindsey laughed out loud.
"I'm busy!" Yelena scolded.
"We're getting married!" Lindsey proclaimed.
"No shit," Yelena growled.
"On New Year's Eve!" Lindsey added.
"THIS New Year's Eve?" Yelena gasped, her eyes wide. "I cannot plan you wedding in that time!"
"Sure you can," Gohan smiled.
"We have faith in you," Lindsey said.
Forgetting herself for a moment, Yelena let the door to her room fall open further, revealing the black leather corset and thigh-high stockings she wore, a riding crop dangling from her wrist.
"YELENA!" Yorgi roared from inside the bedroom.
Lindsey gasped, "You ARE busy."
Yelena grabbed the door and pushed it in front of herself again, leaning over to look at them. "We talk about this later."
"You've got chocolate sauce on your boobs, by the way," Lindsey giggled.
Yelena slammed the door in their faces.
Gohan's entire face was bright red. Lindsey fell back against the door, laughing loudly.
"Wow," Gohan snickered. "Just… wow."
"Maybe I oughta wear something like that for you," Lindsey purred, leaning against his chest.
"I could do without the whip, though," he laughed, kissing her again.
"Let's go tell Catie and Trunks," Lindsey grinned.
Gohan slapped a hand to his forehead. "I forgot! I'm supposed to be meeting them outside! We were going sledding!"
Lindsey glanced around. "But it's after dark!"
"So?"
Lindsey shrugged. "Okay. Let's go!"
"Wheeeeeeee!" Catie screamed as she slid down the long, steep hill on her metal saucer. She began to spin towards the bottom, finally coming to a stop.
"My turn!" Seventeen yelled, holding his sled in front of his chest, taking a run at the hill and diving forward, speeding down the hill face-first. He lost control about two-thirds of the way down and was dumped from the sled and rolled to the bottom. He laid flat in the snow, laughing loudly. "This is so much fun!"
"I'm coming to save you!" Leelee shouted, sitting on her sled and taking off.
"Trunks!" Gohan called, crunching through the snow to his best friend.
"There you are!" Trunks grinned. "We were wondering when you'd…" His voice trailed off. "Lindsey!"
She smiled widely at him. "Hi, Trunks!"
Even though the sun had set a couple hours before, it was still incredibly light outside. The full moon reflected off the snow, giving the world a beautifully black-and-white tone. Trunks' nose and cheeks were pink from the cold and his breath hung in the air.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm done training," she answered. "And guess what?"
"What?"
"We're getting married!" she exclaimed, hanging on Gohan's arm.
Trunks laughed. "We kind'a knew that already."
"Lindsey!" Catie gasped as she reached the top of the hill. She ran forward and hugged her friend. "Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!"
"We're getting married!" Lindsey repeated. She couldn't help it. The words sounded sweet and she loved saying it.
"Yeah, I know!" Catie giggled.
"No, I mean, soon!" Lindsey went on. "New Year's Eve!"
"Oh my gosh!" Catie cried, hugging her friend again.
Lindsey grabbed both of Catie's hands, her eyes dancing. "Will you be my maid of honor?"
Catie blinked repeatedly. "Wha… Yes! Of course I will!"
Lindsey squealed and hugged Catie for the third time in two minutes.
"Congrats, man," Trunks said, shaking hands with Gohan.
"You'll be my best man, won't you?" Gohan asked.
"Well sure!" Trunks laughed. "I'm honored!"
Catie grabbed Gohan in a big hug. "I'm so happy for you guys!"
Trunks smiled at Lindsey. "I'd give ya a hug, but…"
She didn't let him finish. She threw herself into his arms, squeezing him tightly.
"Where's Leelee and Seventeen?" Gohan asked, looking around.
Trunks broke away from Lindsey and looked down the hill. "There they are."
Leelee was laying on Seventeen's chest in the snow.
"Quit sucking his face off!" Catie shouted.
Leelee raised a gloved hand and flipped off her friend.
"Let's break 'em up," Lindsey said quietly to Catie, grabbing a sled.
"Look out below!" Catie yelled, throwing a sled under her as she took off down the hill, Lindsey right behind her.
Trunks and Gohan nearly fell over laughing as Leelee and Seventeen scrambled to get out of the way of Catie's and Lindsey's sleds.
"Bunch of rookies," came Xander's deep voice.
Gohan and Trunks turned to see Xander and Kolya setting a keg down in the snow. Xander stood up straight, pulling his heavy fur-lined coat tighter.
"Huh?" Trunks asked.
"You can't drunken sled without a keg," Xander answered.
"Whoo! Drunken sledding!" Sabriena screamed, trying to run through the deep snow.
"We're not drinking," Trunks said.
"Then you're REALLY not doing it right," Sabriena said. She had a long purple sled tucked under her left arm and a bag of cheap plastic red cups in her right hand. "Me first! Me first!"
Trunks and Gohan blinked at each other.
A couple minutes later, Sabriena sat on the sled, a red cup raised high above her head, full to the top with beer.
"What's the point exactly?" Gohan asked as Lindsey and Catie returned to the top of the hill, followed closely by Seventeen and Leelee.
"However much beer is left in your cup at the bottom of the hill, you have to drink," Xander answered. He turned and leaned down to Sabriena. "Ready?"
Sabriena nodded and Xander gave her a shove. She flew down the hill, holding the cup in the air, screaming, "EEEEEEEEE!" the whole way down.
Kolya filled a cup and snatched Catie's sled. He shouted something in Russian as he took off down the hill, spinning in circles intentionally.
"Oh god, not drunken sledding," Lindsey giggled.
Xander's head snapped around at the sound of her voice. "Hey."
"Howdy," she answered.
"I didn't know you were back," he said.
"Just got in," she smiled.
"Lins, should you be around this stuff?" Trunks asked.
She nodded. "I'm okay. I don't want it."
"Your turn!" Catie cried, shoving a filled cup into Trunks' hand and pushing him towards the hill.
"I am so gonna regret this," Trunks muttered as he sat on a sled.
"You're next," Lindsey teased, giving Gohan a playful shove towards the keg.
"Me? No," Gohan answered.
"Oh come on, let's have a little fun tonight," Lindsey grinned.
Gohan drew a long breath through his nose and huffed. "Oh, alright, I'll try it just once."
"I didn't spill it!" came Trunks' voice from the bottom of the hill.
"DRINK IT!" Xander bellowed back.
"Oh god," Gohan whined as Leelee handed him a full cup and a sled. He sat on the sled and held the cup in the air.
Xander leaned over, grabbing the back of Gohan's saucer, simultaneously giving it a shove and a spin. The world was a spinning mass of white as Gohan pelted down the hill. He came to a stop, the world still spinning around him. He looked at his cup, which was about half-full. He swallowed it down, got uncertainly to his feet, and began the long walk back up the hill.
"Lindsey, what are you doing?" Gohan asked in a stern tone as he watched his fiancée sitting on a sled, a red cup held high above her head.
"It's soda!" she cried. "Come taste it!"
He walked to her, leaned over and sipped from the cup she held above her head. It was Mountain Dew. He laughed. "Okay, okay, my bad."
"I may not be able to get drunk," she grinned, "but I can get a helluva sugar high."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Gohan muttered and gave her sled an unexpected shove with his boot.
"AAAAGGGGHHHHH!" she half-screamed, half-laughed.
"Race you," Seventeen challenged Trunks.
Trunks smirked and, with a slight slur in his voice said, "You're onnn."
Trunks and Seventeen took off down the hill side-by-side, each with a cup held above their heads, reaching over with their free arms, trying to knock the other off his sled.
"Now this is how you do it," Kolya growled, flopping a large black inner tube on the ground. He sat down, holding his beer and called for Sabriena. She ran over, cup in hand and sat on his lap.
Xander laughed and gave them a shove, not paying attention to Trunks and Seventeen, who were squaring off at the bottom of the hill.
"You did not beat me!" Seventeen was shouting.
"I did so!" Trunks retorted.
"Watch out!" Sabriena screamed.
It was too late. Before anyone could react, the inner tube took Trunks out at the knees, who knocked Seventeen over, all four of them immediately becoming a tangle of arms, legs, snow and beer-soaked clothing.
Catie and Leelee nearly died laughing as Lindsey returned to the top of the hill. Gohan was watching them, concerned.
Sabriena jumped up, slicking back pieces of beer-drenched hair out of her face. "You morons!" she screamed and began to slap at Trunks, Seventeen, and Kolya – all of whom laughed at her, which infuriated her more. She tilted her head back, allowing the last couple drops to fall on her tongue and she muttered, "What a waste of good beer."
"Beer fairy to the rescue!" Xander shouted, stepping onto the purple sled, a beer in each hand, and pushed off, riding the sled like a snowboard.
"Beer fairy?" Gohan blinked as he filled his cup again. "Now I have officially heard everything." He shot Lindsey a smile as he sat on his sled and she winked back at him.
"Praise the booze gods!" Sabriena exclaimed as Xander reached the bottom and handed her a cup. She downed it in one and shouted, "ALL HAIL THE BEER FAIRY!"
Gohan shook his head as he started down the hill again, the full cup raised above his head.