Author's note:

Again, I just want to say thank you for all the feedback! I really appreciate it.

As I was writing this chapter, I realized something—because it's in peacetime, there are virtually endless possibilities for events to occur in the DBZ world that would be considered "normal," like going to the zoo, or going shopping, or maybe even a fight with a new bad guy. I've already taken care of four little vignettes, but I was thinking that maybe you guys could leave suggestions in the reviews section for other chapters. There are way too many things for me to cover on my own, and I think it would be fun to see what the community thinks of. I, of course, would credit you for your suggestion in the chapter, and will PM you if your suggestion is chosen. Examples could include anything really, but I'd like to keep the ages the same as they are (Goten is 7, Gohan is 16, etc). Anyway, if you've got an idea for what you think another chapter should be, drop me a line in the reviews and I'll take it under advisement. Just one more thing: I may choose two or more suggestions to explore in one chapter, and I might add in some of my own flavor. Just keep that in mind when you suggest. Or alternatively, if you think this is a terrible idea—leave that too and I'll just continue as it has been.

Enjoy!

Update Note (3/5):

As per request I changed Gohan's age to be sixteen rather than eighteen. I never read the original Japanese comics. But in any case I had always felt that 18 was a little too old for him to be in the series, so I think that this works nicely. However, 16 kinda seems a little young also. I'm not sure, but I'm thinking about doing a birthday chapter sometime soon—someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like the Cell saga and Buu saga took place around the same time of year (early spring), and just before Gohan fought Cell he had a birthday. I kinda like 17 as an age for Gohan. Thoughts? Anyway, please feel free to give feedback, and thanks for the great suggestions so far! I also made Goku able to read.

Update Note (3/10)

Hey guys just wanted to say that it might be awhile before I am able to update the next chapter. There is only one more week left for me in school before spring break and I've got an inconceivable amount of work to do. I have started the next chapter, but I can't promise that it will be up much before the 19th. In addition to school I have a huge event over this coming weekend that I need to go to. In any case, I apologize for the inconvenience, but after this week, I'll try to get back on the biweekly updating. P.S. thanks for the great suggestions, they're really awesome!

Peace out.

Chapter Four: Amends Are Made

Gohan awoke from a sleepless night at around ten o'clock in the morning. He was grateful that his mother hadn't woken him, nor that his brother had come bounding into his room to roust him—he'd needed the rest. Even as he thought of the two, he felt another twang of guilt as he recalled their faces when he had returned home, and the subsequent apologizing that he did to them. He turned over and buried his head in his pillow as he sighed—he'd have to be on his best behavior around his mom, and maybe he'd treat his brother to ice cream or something. It had seemed like Goten had forgiven Gohan the night before, but Gohan still felt like he owed his brother a little more.

Gohan lay in bed for a few minutes longer, trying to hear if his family was in the kitchen or maybe if Goten and dad were out on the lawn, or maybe if his mother was on her way up to wake him. After not being able to observe any of the above, and not being able to sense the ki of any of his family members, he concluded that they were all either still asleep, or otherwise resting.

Deciding that he needed to get up and get on with patching his life back together, Gohan threw off his sheets and clicked on the TV as he walked over to his dresser in a t-shirt and his famous teddy bear boxers.

"Do you have anything to say about these villains, Miss Videl?" a reporter said, pointing a microphone to a sour-faced Videl somewhere downtown, "Anything to say to your fans? Where was Saiyaman today? He usually accompanies you doesn't he?"

Gohan froze in the middle of pulling on his jeans as he felt his heart start pumping quickly.

"Saiyaman? Never even heard of the guy," Videl snorted, turning her face away from the camera as she put her hands on her hips disapprovingly. The reporter looked slightly taken aback by her abrupt response.

"Uh, ok, then, uh, well thank you, Miss Videl—the city is always in your debt for your services to our citizens. This is channel eight reporting live from downtown—"

Gohan clicked off the screen before the reporter could finish his sentence, looking rather green as he continued getting dressed. He would have to go and talk to her today, but what was he going to say? His father had been so vague last night. What did he mean by "listen to your heart"? At the moment, that seemed to make sense—at the rate his was pumping, he would have been surprised if everyone in the house couldn't hear is heart. But in all seriousness, how was he supposed to approach Videl? More importantly, how would she respond?

Gohan knocked all of these questions around his clouded head as he headed downstairs into the kitchen. Speaking of clouded, the weather outside looked miserable as Gohan got himself some orange juice from the fridge and poured a glass for himself. It was all misty and foggy, yet the sun seemed to occasionally pierce through—very unusual weather for them, it was as though the sun couldn't decide whether or not it was going to come out that day or not.

As Gohan sat at the table his thoughts returned to where his family could be. The only time his brother wasn't up at the crack of dawn was when he was sick, his mother was usually up at the same time to give him breakfast, and his dad usually got up with the sun to train. He was almost always the only one who slept past eight in the morning, and even then, someone usually rousted him. He couldn't imagine that they'd all still be asleep; maybe they'd all gone shopping or something? Gohan didn't know as he checked for their spirits nearby, and after feeling nothing at all, had to assume that they had all gone somewhere far away.

"They could have at least left me a note or something," Gohan thought to himself dully as he got up and poured some cereal and took it back to his room. He couldn't be too mad though, he kinda deserved whatever they wanted to do to him after the way he had acted.

"Don't you think we should have left something for Gohan, like a note or something?" Chichi asked Goku, sounding slightly concerned. Chichi was sitting on Goku's lap on the Nimbus cloud zooming towards Bulma's—Goten had gone on ahead to meet up with Trunks.

"He's fine, honey," Goku replied for what seemed like the hundredth time since they'd left home, "he's a big boy now—I'm sure he can figure out how to make his own breakfast."

"But maybe I should call him, just to let him know where we are," Chichi responded, anxiously, "I mean, what if something happens?"

"Chichi," Goku said, holding his wife's hands and speaking soothingly, "don't worry, he'll follow us shortly. Besides, hasn't he proven that he can handle himself?"

"I don't know…" Chichi said uneasily as her husband's hands massaged hers,

"C'mon babe," Goku said, still soothingly but with a hint of exasperation, "what are you worried about? He's sixteen, he's not your little baby anymore.?

"Ok I guess you're right," Chichi conceded, feeling a twinge of sadness at Goku's frankness. She just didn't want to believe that her baby boy was a man now.

See, the thing was that Goku wasn't telling his wife 100% of the story. He actually hadn't told Gohan last night where they were going to be—he felt that it was important for his son to figure out his problem with Videl completely on his own without any distractions from the family. If Goku and everyone had been there, he felt that Gohan would get nervous, and think about what he did to them last night rather than what was important—dealing with Videl. He didn't know how he knew exactly, but Goku somehow felt like the two of them were meant to be together. It was just the way that they complemented each other's personalities—Gohan was shy and quiet, Videl was outgoing and had a powerful personality. It was this opposition that brought them together, and in Goku's mind, it was this counteracting nature that would bind them together. Still, he had broken the number one rule of the Son household—no lying. If and when Chichi found out about this, he was sure that he'd meet her fury. Goku shivered at the thought, which his wife felt.

"Are you cold, baby?" Chichi asked, turning her head to look at her husband who looked pale after thinking about the possible consequences of his lie, "should we go down?"

"N-no!" Goku said hurriedly, "I'm just, uh, excited! Yeah, that's it! I'm excited to see Bulma and the gang!"

"Is everything ok?" Chichi asked, looking slightly suspicious as Goku broke into a wild grin and scratched his head, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"No!" Goku said, putting his hands up, "nothing at all! Hey look! We're here!"

They descended rapidly to Bulma's giant house, and after ringing the bell, were granted entrance.

"Hey Videl! Uh, so, I was wondering, if, uh," Gohan said to himself as he flew threw the foggy air, trying to figure out what he was going to say to Videl when he saw her, "I just wanted to talk about, uh, yesterday and I, um…"

Gohan put his head in his hands as he trailed off. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to say to Videl. Should he apologize? But then he could sound like he was begging her, which Gohan knew that she wouldn't appreciate. Should he ignore it and pretend that the day before hadn't happened? No, he couldn't do that—bad idea. Gohan was stumped as he continued his flight threw the clouds, feeling his face get wet as water vapor condensed on his skin. What was he supposed to do?

His situation was looking bleaker than the surrounding sky as he approached Satan City. Where was he even gonna find Videl anyway? He could check her house, but since it was going on eleven o'clock, he doubted she'd be there. Even if she was, she'd never let him in. What's more, he couldn't sense her spirit—she was obviously concealing it so that he couldn't do precisely what he was trying to do. As he flew over the city however, he noticed a ruckus below him. It appeared as though there was a standoff going on between the police and some perps.

He transformed into his costume as he descended down to the scene—several police cars were collected on one side of the street and the captain of the squad was directing a megaphone at a restaurant on the opposite side.

"Put the weapon down!" he said into his megaphone, "we just want to talk!"

"Yeah right!" came a voice from inside the restaurant on the other side, "give us the money first, then we'll talk!"

"We have already sent for your request, now leave the building slowly, and we'll let you go! Just leave the civilians alone!"

"Oh please! Do you think we're that stupid?" the voice came with laughter.

Gohan landed next to the officer as he turned around to face him.

"Saiyaman! Thank goodness you're here!" the cop said, sounding relieved, "there are about five crooks in there holding up the restaurant, they're got automatic weapons and they're asking for a million zeni! We've tried to negotiate with them but they're not budging. What's more, they've got about twenty people held hostage in there. You've got to help us!"

"Hmm, I see," Gohan replied, as he gazed lazily off into the distance, not really paying attention to what the officer was saying. Where was Videl anyway? She should have been here by now…

"We called Videl already," the officer continued, apparently reading Gohan's mind, "she was busy helping out another section downtown so it'll take some time for her to get here."

"Uh, yeah, right, that's ok I can handle this," Gohan said, blushing underneath his sunglasses at the mention of Videl's name.

Gohan stepped out into the street as the police captain took up his megaphone again.

"Attention! We are sending in a hostage negotiator! He is unarmed!" He said, motioning for Gohan to put his hands in the air, which he did.

Gohan walked slowly across the street, his hands in the air, still not really paying attention to what he was doing. What would happen if Videl showed up? What was he going to say? Should he let her take care of the bad guys? Or should he act brave and maybe win her back?

"Hey!" came a gruff voice from inside the restaurant, "don't come any closer or I'll shoot!"

Gohan didn't hear him as he continued his saunter inside.

"I-I mean it! Not a step closer!"

"What if she starts crying again in the middle of the street?" Gohan thought to himself as he took another step into the restaurant, "Aw man, I hope she doesn't, it'll ruin her reputation as a—"

Bang!

A shot rang out from the middle of the building as several people screamed at the sound. The round hit Gohan squarely in the shoulder but ricocheted off of him and shattered the window behind him, throwing sharp shards of glass all over the room.

"Huh?" Gohan said, confused, looking up from his feet as he felt what he could only describe as a little breeze hitting his shoulder, "Oh yeah! You're holding up the restaurant, right?"

"W-what?" the shooter said, looking horrified, "that was a direct hit! You should be on the floor! Why you!"

He fired off a series of rounds at Gohan, who this time was prepared, and who effortlessly caught all of them and let them drop from his hand, the rounds clanging on the floor.

"I don't want to fight you," Gohan began as two men stepped out in front with automatic rifles, "just let the hostages go and we'll talk."

"Yeah, well we do!" one of the two said as he started to pull the trigger.

Gohan leapt into action, moving in front of one of the perps and bending the barrel so that it wouldn't fire. Seeing this, the other one of the two paniced, and only managed to get off about two shots into the ceiling before Gohan knocked the weapon out of the crook's hands.

"Who are you?" the first said, looking as though he was about to be sick.

Gohan smirked as he prepared to announce his identity to the crooks—easily his favorite part of being a superhero.

"Protector of truth!" he said as he started a series of obscene poses, "Light in the darkness! Enemy of evil, savior of the innocent! I am—"

"A total loser is what you are," came a pained voice from behind him.

Gohan froze in mid-pose, as he felt himself start to sweat. It was Videl. She had arrived. Meanwhile the crooks just looked confused.

"Why, hello there, Madame," Gohan said nervously, unsure whether or not to play dumb.

"Don't give me that "Madame" crap, you jerk!" Videl said angrily as she turned around and stormed down the street.

"Videl! Wait! Uh, just gimmie a second to finish this up!" Gohan said as he started to round up and tie the criminals at light speed, "I need to talk! C'mon wait!"

Videl didn't respond as she continued to march down the street, her hands in fists at her side. She was so angry with him still. How dare he show his face in her city after showing her up in public?

"They're all tied up in there, officer," Gohan said hurriedly to the captain as he rushed after Videl, running, "my work here is done, goodbye!"

"Uh, ok, then, thank you, I guess," the officer said, bemused as he watched Gohan run away down the street.

Gohan raced down the street after Videl, who was now running at top speed and had ducked down an alleyway. She certainly had gotten faster, but he could still catch her no problem.

"Please, Videl, Wait!" Gohan called, as he got closer to her, "Please, hear me out!"

Still she didn't respond, she only upped her pace as she emerged from the alleyway into the very same park that she had confronted Gohan in just a few days ago. Now it seemed like several lifetimes ago. She didn't stop, and she didn't look back, she just kept on running, until she ran into something hard.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed as she bounced off of this thing in her way and landed on her rear end, "watch where you're going buster, do you know who I am? I'm Videl Satan and I've got somewhere to be—"

She stopped talking as she looked up from the ground to see that it was Gohan whom she'd run into. She rubbed her head as she scowled at him. Though he was still wearing his blacked out sunglasses, she could tell that he was looking at her with huge puppy dog eyes. She recoiled as he extended a hand to her, offering to help her up. She slapped it away as she got up on her own and turned her back on him and started walking in the other direction, her hands crossed across her chest.

"Videl, please stop," Gohan begged starting to sound desperate, as he started to walk after her, "Listen I'm sorry about yesterday, I don't know what happened, honest, I really do like you as more than a friend—"

Videl continued walking as she flipped off Gohan. She wasn't listening. Just as Gohan was about to give up hope, he felt a switch go off in his head—not dissimilar from what happened when he went Super Saiyan 2 against Cell. At this, Gohan suddenly realized exactly what he had to do. He knew what his father had been talking about. He knew what he had to say—how to listen to his heart.

"Videl," Gohan said seriously, catching up to her and walking beside her now, "listen to me. You were the first girl my age that I had ever met before, and when I first met you, I was so afraid that you would judge me for being different than normal people, what with knowing how to fly and everything. I liked you from the minute I first saw you, but I didn't want you to think I was some freak. That was why I concealed my identity and was so shy all the time. When you found out about who I was, and that it was I who had been saving the city, I knew it was all over for me—I'd have to go back home to being homeschooled and I'd live a life in the mountains forever. But instead of turning me away, you embraced my differences, and made me feel normal even though I'm not. You wanted to learn how to be like me, you wanted to learn more about me. You wanted to become a part of my life."

Videl stopped walking, her arms crossed as Gohan stopped walking a few feet behind her.

"You stuck with me through the whole ordeal with Majin Buu, even though it put your life, and the life of your family and friends in danger, and you never once stopped believing that I was alive once everyone else had given up hope. You waited for me to come back, you fought alongside me. We've been though so much already; I've completely forgotten what my life was like without you. When you left yesterday, all I could think about was how I had screwed up something special, and how I had let you down after you had believed in me, in us, in our relationship. I was angry, and I took it out on my family—I didn't even know what I was doing anymore. But then I realized that it was because I missed you, because I needed you."

Gohan stopped for a second as he searched himself for words that could put into meaning the feeling he was feeling, deep within his being—something that was beating. It was like, well, he couldn't really describe it. Was it anxiety? No, that wasn't it, he was completely confident in his speech right now. Excitement? Closer, but still, not quite. What about fear? No, it definitely couldn't be fear—he knew fear from his encounters over the years with various villains, and this most certainly wasn't it. It almost felt like he had an ocean inside his spirit—constantly rocking back and forth, endless and vast. Sometimes it churned, sometimes it was calm, sometimes waves rose high into the air, and sometimes it was smooth as glass. Yet it was always there—always moving, always constant. He couldn't place it, but as he took another step towards the girl in front of him, and as he gazed into her black hair that shone in the sun breaking out of the foggy clouds. He knew.

"I guess," he said, as Videl turned around so that she was looking directly into his eyes through the glasses, though he was looking out past her, "what I guess I'm trying to say is that, is that, I-I love you. I can't think of any other way to put it, really. Maybe yesterday I didn't do a great job of showing it, but—"

Gohan was cut short from from his speech by an unusual sensation that he felt on his face around his mouth. It was like lightning was crackling all around his skin, and it was making his hair stand up on end, and his cheeks turn red. Videl's face was suddenly very close to his—the top of her head was completely obscuring his field of view as he gazed out into the park. It was strange really because even though he had never felt anything like it before, it was a sensation that was incredibly pleasing. It was as though time had paused and he and Videl were the only things still moving.

Suddenly he felt arms wrap around his chest as he felt warmth wash over his whole body. He felt like he was floating, until he realized that he was floating, and he and Videl had started drifting lazily up into the sky, which had cleared into an unforgettable blue, with warm sunshine bathing the two of them. Or was there just one of them? It was impossible to tell really. Gohan still didn't really understand what he was doing, and he didn't know where he was going; yet this didn't bother him. He didn't need to know and frankly, he didn't particularly want to know. All that mattered was the two of them right there, right then as they lethargically lazed listlessly along, intertwined in each other's arms.

"Hey daddy," Goten said as he munched on an apple, "where's Gohan?"

"Uh," Goku replied, with his fork halfway to his overstuffed mouth, warily eying his wife who was sitting next to them, "he'll be here any time now."

Goku and his family had arrived at Bulma's place a few hours ago, and after packing some food, had headed out into the country for a picnic. The Sons were currently sitting at a table with Vegeta and Bulma and Trunks as well.

"You said that two and a half hours ago, Goku," Chichi said sounding more than a little peeved, "I'm starting to get the feeling like you never told him where we were going to be."

"N-No!" Goku said, starting to panic a little bit. Maybe he should raise his energy to let Gohan know where they are—it should have been long enough for them to work things out.

"Goku," Chichi said sternly, trying to control her anger, "you know what the rule is on lying. Remind your father, Goten."

"We're never ever supposed to lie!" Goten piped up from across the table

. "B-but I'm not lying!" Goku replied meekly, trying to cover his tracks as he put his hands up in front of his face, "I told Gohan last night that we were going to hang out with Bulma and the gang, "Maybe he's uh, maybe he's still sleeping?"

"Still sleeping? It's two thirty! And if you told him, then why isn't he here yet!" Chichi roared, getting up and putting her hands on her hips. If Goku hadn't known better, he'd have said that she was about to go super saiyan, "Goku, you're not setting a good example for you boy!"

"My, my Kakarrot," Vegeta said with a self-satisfied smirk, "having a little trouble controlling your woman?"

"Kakarrot?" Goten inquired, "what's a Kakarrot? Is that a vegetable? I hate vegetables!"

"No, dummy," Trunks said exasperatedly, "It's your dad's Saiyan name."

"Oh, I see. Do I have a Saiyan name too?"

"No, you're from earth."

Meanwhile Chichi was looking fiercer by the minute as she leaned across the table to stare down her husband.

"N-no, I'm not!" Goku whimpered as he sank lower into his seat. Out of all the enemies he'd ever had to fight, his wife was by far the scariest.

"Where is my son?" Chichi demanded, staring her husband directly in the face as Goten and Trunks got up and resumed their playing, not wanting to get involved in grown-ups' business, "you'd better tell me right now!"

"He's here!" Goku shouted as he saw Gohan and Videl descend from the sky behind his wife. It was lucky Chichi had gotten so angry or else they might not have been able to find them.

"Stop lying Goku!" Chichi thundered, reaching for something to hit her husband with, "How stupid do you think I am?"

"No Chichi I swear! I'm not lying he's right behind you!" Goku said, covering his head as he braced for the impact of whatever hard object his wife might find.

"Hi mom!" Gohan said happily, wearing a humongous grin from behind his mom, who was in the process of swinging a giant stick at her husband's face.

"Gohan?" Chichi said as she comically halted her swinging of the stick, "when did you get here?"

"Just now, dad wasn't lying."

"He wasn't?"

"Nope. I just had to go handle some business in the city. Sorry I didn't tell you"

"Well then," she said, blushing at her miscalculation, "I guess I owe you an apology then, sweetheart," she said to Goku who stood up from the floor, overjoyed at seeing his son.

"Nah," he said nonchalantly, "don't worry about it."

Gohan looked at his father, still smiling, who looked back, returning a look of equal happiness. Nothing really needed to be said, but Gohan did point to his chest, and mouthed the word heart, at which Goku just beamed larger. He knew that Gohan had what it took, and as he looked at him with his arm around Videl, he knew that they'd be together forever.

"Hi Gohan!" Goten cried, running over to his brother with Trunks right behind him, "Hi Videl!"

"Hey kiddo," Gohan replied, "hey Trunks."

"Hi there!" Videl said, bending down so that she was on a level with Goten, "how's it going sport?"

"I'm good! Hey and is everything ok with you and my brother now? 'Cuz he was actin' all super grumpy when you were fighting, and he was scary and stuff."

"Yeah," she said as she stood up and pecked Gohan on the lips, who giggled, "everything's fine now."

"EW! Gross! Yuck!" Goten exclaimed, putting his hands up in front of him as he took a step back, with his tongue sticking out, "C'mon Trunks let's go, this is getting weird!"

"Jeez, Goten," Trunks said sarcastically, though he also looked mildly disgusted, "it's just a kiss, get over it."

"Yeah but it's gross!"

"You know one day you'll be married and you'll have to kiss your wife all the time."

"EW! Trunks don't say that!"

"Kissy-kissy!" Trunks said, making snogging sounds as they raced away.

"TRUNKS!" Goten roared as he tackled his friend.

Gohan blushed slightly at this but Videl just giggled at the sight of the two of them speeding off into the distance.

"You're brother is really cute!" Videl said as she walked with Gohan over to the table where Goku was still stuffing his face, "he's so innocent."

"Yeah, he sure is," Gohan said, taking a giant bite out of a roll, "he's just a kid though so it's ok."

"So glad you could join us Videl," Chichi said kindly, offering her some food, "It's such a nice day out!"

"Thanks Mrs. Chichi," Videl said, returning a smile, "Sorry I kind of invited myself."

"Fssdfno waysfs!" Goku sputtered from the other side of the table, his cheeks bulging with food.

"Dad! Please!" Gohan said, embarrassed, "Don't talk with your mouth full!"

"We're glad to have you," Goku repeated after taking an enormous swallow.

The six of them ate for a good while longer, laughing and sharing stories as the food supply slowly diminished as the afternoon wore on.

"You know," Goku said at one point, recounting yet another embarrassing story about his oldest son as he laughed with everyone, except Vegeta of course, "Gohan was the biggest crybaby when he was little."

Gohan felt himself go red as everyone at the table agreed, and Videl giggled amusedly, looking at the depressed Gohan.

"Hey Gohan!" came Goten's voice from a distance, "Wanna come and play energy-blast-baseball?"

"Yeah that sounds fun!" Gohan replied, getting up immediately so that the embarrassment could end. He'd sat through an entire afternoon of teasing already. But he didn't really mind. He didn't feel any of the anger or resentment that he had before, Videl was there, and it was all in good fun, so it was ok. But he was happy to get away for a while

"I'll come too!" Videl called, getting up and chasing after Gohan. She too had enjoyed the stories but also needed to get away.

All of them played for a while—Gohan and Videl versus Goten and Trunks. The rules were simple: the pitcher would charge a blast and throw it at the batter, who would try to knock it out as far as he could. Then, one of the fielders would chase after it at top speed, if he or she managed to hit it before it hit the ground, then the batter was out, if not, then the batter scored a run.

"Wow that was fun!" Trunks said happily after he and Goten managed to just barely beat Gohan and Videl after an hour or so of playing.

"Yeah sure was!" Goten replied, also beaming, "But I'm all sweaty now, I think I'll go jump in the lake."

"Great idea!" Gohan responded as all four of them ran towards a lake not too far away.

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Goten shouted as he threw off all his clothes as he ran towards the lake.

"Jeez! Goten!" Gohan cried, horrified, as his bare naked brother halted in mid-jump "put some boxers on at least man! There's a girl here!"

Videl blushed as she tried to avert her eyes.

"Huh?" Goten asked sounding confused as he looked around, "Why should I? How am I gonna get clean if I have clothes on?"

"Because there's a girl here!"

"Why does that matter?"

"Because she's a girl and it's not proper for guys to be naked around girls!"

"Why's that?"

"Because, she's a girl!"

"So?"

"So you should put some clothes on!"

"Why?"

"Ugh, you know what, you see, she's a girl and, you know what—Goten just put some boxers on, I'll explain later!" Gohan said, half frustrated half amused as he heard Videl laughing behind him.

"Well, ok I guess," Goten said as he got back on land and pulled on some underwear. Trunks, who had been in the process of removing his clothes, just laughed at Goten

"Man, you're such a toddler dude," He said as he splashed into the water.

"Why?" Goten responded, starting to get irritated, "I never wear clothes when I swim or bathe, why should it be any different just because there's a girl here?"

"Dude, that's not my problem," Trunks said, backing away from Goten, "Ask your dad or something." Truth be told, Trunks liked to talk a big game in front of Goten, but in reality, he didn't really know why it was a big deal for men and women not to bathe together. But he couldn't let Goten know that.

The four of them splashed around for a while together—Videl had borrowed Bulma's bathing suit. She couldn't help but laugh at Gohan, since he was wearing the famous teddy bear underwear that Angela had thought was such a big deal. She didn't really think that it was that important, but it was fun to tease him about it.

By the time all of them had gotten out, the sun had sunk low into the sky. None of them had a watch, but they had to guess that it was around quarter to seven. They all lied down in the grass in a sunny portion of the mountain, Videl lying close to Gohan, and Goten and Trunks playing a word game on their other side. It was so peaceful.

After a while Goten and Trunks got bored of just sitting and doing nothing so they got up and resumed whatever game they had been playing. Gohan and Videl meanwhile walked over to a nearby tree and sat down in the shade and just watched the sun set. They could hear the distant sounds of Goku and Vegeta sparring, and Goten and Trunks running around. Eventually Gohan felt himself dozing off to sleep, Videl snuggled close to his chest.

"Goten! Gohan! Trunks! C'mon back! Time to go home!" Came Chichi's voice from not far away. Gohan opened one eye and saw Goten and Trunks rushing towards the voice. Videl was still sleeping quietly in his lap so he didn't get up.

"Gohan! Where are you we're going home!" Chichi said again, from closer this time. As she came into view, Gohan put a finger over his lips and pointed to Videl—Chichi saw them together and smiled and walked away again.

"Did you have fun today, Goten?" Goku asked, picking up his exhausted son and putting him on his shoulders, "you must be so tired! You were playing with Trunks all day long!"

"Yeah," Goten said, putting his head on his father's and yawning, "I am pretty tired."

"Ok well we'll go home then. Where's your brother?" he inquired as he, his son, and his wife mounted the flying Nimbus. Vegeta and his family had already flown off.

"He's over there," Goten said, yawning again as he vaguely gestured to his right, towards the rapidly vanishing sun. It was already seven fifteen, "he's sitting with Videl I think."

"Ah, I see," Goku said, smiling to his wife who smiled right back. Goten yawned again.

"Hey daddy?" Goten said quietly.

"Mmm?"

"Why can't boys take baths with girls?"

Goku was moderately surprised by this question.

"We'll talk about it later, son," he said airily as he felt another yawn come from his youngest.

"Mkay," Goten said without objection. He was so tired, and as the Son family flew off into the distance, he felt himself collapse into sleep onto his father's shoulder.