A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't updated for a while, but I have been super busy. I Still plan on finishing this story and I have been brainstorming a lot. A few things before I get back into it. Some have commented unfavorably in regards to Gohans' dark side. I totally get why some of you don't like it, even though I think it's cool. Someone pointed out that DBZ isn't like Naruto and Bleach which have the inner demon trope so this kind of transformation for Gohan doesn't make sense. Honestly, I wasn't trying to copy Bleach or Naruto, although they have certainly made their mark on me. I was actually trying to go for more of a YuYu Hakusho type thing. I will be resolving the dark side Gohan in, what I hope will be, a satisfactory way and if it still doesn't make sense… Well, I'll just wait for your reviews, which, good or bad, I appreciate the opportunity to improve.

That being said, this is a goofy chapter. Gohan's in a school play. Anyway, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or West side story.

Chapter 28: West City Storycide.

"From now on… Everything is going to be all right. I have a feeling."

"CUT!" Yelled a short man with red hair. He was getting tired of this. "Listen Kid…"

"My names Gohan." The half Saiyan told the director politely.

"Right, Gohan." The director rubbed the bridge of his nose. "First of all, you got the lines wrong. It's 'Everythins gonna be alright! I got a feelin!'

Gohan blinked confusedly. "But I thought that is what I said."

"Sheesh, this kid."

"Unless you mean these grammatical errors." Gohan looked at the script while scratching his head. "Was I supposed to read that verbatim? I thought those were just typos."

"No they aint typos!" Responded the director in a fury, causing Gohan to step back in surprise. This kid was clearly an amateur. I mean, what else would you expect with a school play. But even for middle school standards this was ridiculous. You see, the director, Mr. Red, had been the drama teacher at the school for years but he had always had aspirations of directing on the big screen. When his students came to him with the proposal to get the Gold fighter to star in the play, well, he figured that this would be his big break. But then he discovered that Gohan had no acting ability whatsoever. He looked at the kid and sighed. "Ok, Gohan, you gotta understand, Tony aint some namby pambi foo foo livin in fancy society. He's a rough and tumble punk from the streets of West City. He's not supposed to use proper grammar."

"Oh… Ok then, I guess that makes sense." Gohan nodded his understanding. "Can we do that again please? I'll get it right this time."

"Yes, Yes please do that again."

"From now on… Everythin's gonna, be alright… I got a, feelin'."

"CUUUTTT!"

"Wait, why? What'd I do wrong this time? I read it exactly how it was written."

"What'd you do wrong!? YOU'RE RUINING MY PLAY YOU LITTLE!"

"Director," A tall black man stepped up and tried to calm Mr. Red down. "Maybe I can try to explain it to him."

"Fine, Whatever! Have at it Mr. Black, I'm done with this amateur."

"Gohan," Mr. Black began. "You need to feel the emotion of the character. You need to convey the passion of Tony properly to your audience."

"But I'm reading the lines exactly how they're written." Gohan was beginning to wish he had never agreed to do this acting thing.

"Yes, you are, but that's not enough. Tony is a young street thug who has just met the love of his life. He would be dancing for joy. You need to show that and have it in your voice."

The Saiyan warrior sighed. "Ok, I'll try again."

"Good and remember, this time with passion. And, ACTION!"

Passion, like when I'm fighting? Alright then, here it goes. "FROM NOW ON… EVERYTHIN'S GONNA, BE ALRIGHT… I GOT A, FEELIN'!" The shouts of earths' hero shook the entire room. Stage lights were falling and the floorboards under Gohan started to crack. When he had finished that single line, the whole theatre room was wrecked. The other student actors, as well as Director Red and Mr. Black were crouching in terror and waited for the room to stop shaking. Finally, the director stood up shakily and said "R-right, let's just stop there for today. W-we'll work on it more tomorrow."

Break

One week ago.

Ever since his superhero identity as the Gold fighter was revealed, Gohan had received a boost in his popularity. He couldn't go a single day at school without being bombarded with questions or request for autographs and photo ops. At first, it was a breath of fresh air that he didn't have to keep his powers a secret. He thought that all the excitement would just die down after a few days. He thought wrong. Not only did the fans get more rabid, but the requests got more outlandish. There were talks of Gohan being the official mascot for the school. There was even a giant mascot head made that looked like his super Saiyan form. But the worst of it, in his opinion, was when the students (mostly females) signed a petition to have Gohan cast as the lead in the school play. Gohan was an incredibly talented individual. He was a gifted scholar and a brilliant fighter. He was also no stranger to a song and dance routine (See DBZ Lord Slug). But one thing he was not, was an actor, as evidenced by his hammy performances as the Gold fighter. He tried to refuse, but then they hit below the belt. They brought his mother into it. They convinced Chichi by saying that this kind of thing looks great on college applications and he could greatly benefit from such a performance. They also subtly hinted that since Gohan was not part of any club, he could be expelled if he disagreed. They were bluffing of course, but the Son family didn't know that.

And so, Gohan was stuck playing Tony in West city side story. He could memorize the lines no problem, he could even sing decently. He just couldn't figure out why the director didn't like his performance. He needed to figure it out though, and soon because the play was in less than a month.

Fast forward to the present, Gohan was sitting at his desk, musing about his predicament. He went over the script over and over again, wondering what he was missing. He was so engrossed in this that he didn't notice a shadow creep into the room.

"…Tony goes to the dance, sees Maria and then GYAAAA!" Gohan jumped out of his seat as something ice cold touched the back of his neck. He spun around to see Zangya holding a bottle of water and smiling innocently. Gohan just glared at her.

"Sup rice ball? Watcha working on?" She asked and handed him the water.

Gohan sighed. "I'm trying to get ready for this play."

"Oh yeah, Chichi told me about that. How's it going?"

"Terrible." Gohan replied. "I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never acted before and now I'm supposed to play the lead and if I don't do well it could affect what college I go to." Or so the school staff had told him.

"Sounds rough. But I'm sure you're better off than you think. I mean, you're you after all. You can do anything you set your mind to." Zangya said sincerely trying to boost his confidence. Gohan gave her an appreciative smile. "So, what's this play about anyway?" She asked.

"It's about these two teenagers that fall in love even though they are from rival gangs." Gohan explained.

"Oh cool, you're doing Jomeo and Ruliet?"

"No."

"Tiger king 2?"

"No."

"Mocahontas?"

"No."

"…Nisekoi?"

"Nope. It's West city side story."

"Oh… Well, I think you guys should have done Nisekoi." Zangya folded her arms.

"Well, we're not and even if we were, it wouldn't matter. I would ruin that just like I'm going to ruin this one. I just can't relate to the character." He replied miserably.

"Hey now, come on…" Zangya didn't really know what to do. She had never seen Gohan this down on himself. "Like I said, I'm sure you're great. Here," she grabbed the script away from him. "Why don't I help you practice?" As Zangya said this Gohan lit up.

"Really!? You would do that!?" He asked excitedly.

"Heheh, of course, What are friends for?"

"Wow, thanks! But wait, do you have any experience acting?" Gohan questioned.

"Well…"

Flashback

Music played as an assortment of small blue children were dancing on a stage. Each one was dressed up as a different flower or some kind of a bug. It was apparently some sort of production about the eco system of Hera. "Okay Zangya, it's almost your turn. Are you ready?" The teacher asked of a 4 year old girl with fluffy hair and was dressed in a bee costume.

"Uhuh!" Little Zangya nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay then, off you go."

A few minutes later

Children were crying as Zangya held a little boy dressed as a flower by the petals.

"MWAHAHAHA! I am the great and powerful BEE! Ruler of the insects and enemy of the flower empire! None shall escape my wrath!" Zangyas' parents were trying their best to simply disappear while the rest of the audience was showing their displeasure that she ruined the play.

End flashback

"I have a little experience."

"Great! Let's practice then. You can be Maria, she's the female lead." Gohan helped Zangya find a scene that Tony and Maria had together.

"Ahem," Gohan cleared his throat. "Maria, Maria…" Gohan spoke in monotone.

Zangya just stared at him. "Why'd you say it like that?"

"Like what?" Gohan asked perplexed.

"Like a robot. Oh! Is your character a robot? Is Maria a robot? You should have said this was a robot love story, That's much more interesting." Zangya rambled on and Gohan blushed in embarrassment.

"They're supposed to be humans." He said quietly.

"Oh…" Zangya was a little disappointed. "Well, then you should say it like a human."

"But Zangya that's the problem. Every time I say a line, it just feels unnatural. I don't know how I'm supposed to do it."

"Hmmm." She put her finger to her mouth and read the script. "So, Tony is in love with Maria?" Gohan nodded. "Then, what if… You pretended that you were talking to your girlfriend?" Zangya thought out loud.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Gohan said, feeling rather bewildered.

"Yeah, that's why it's called acting. I mean, I'm obviously not a bee, bent on destruction, right?"

"A bee?" He asked, now thoroughly confused.

"Never mind that." She said quickly. "When you talk to 'Maria' just pretend that it's a girl you really care about. Someone that you enjoy being around."

"Okay, I'll give it a try. Ahem," he cleared his throat for another try. This time as he said his lines though, he tried to imagine that he wasn't talking to Maria. Instead, he thought of another girl. A girl he always was excited to see and who he truly cared deeply for. This was made easy for him as the girl in his mind was right in front of him. The lines came far more naturally. He was no longer monotone, but full of excitement. He and Zangya finished the scene and to his surprise, Zangya started clapping.

"Wow, well done Gohan. That was way better than the first try."

"Really? You mean it Zangya?" Gohan felt relief that he was actually improving, but also, a little excitement. He wanted to keep going. "Let's do the next scene then!"

"You got it rice ball." Zangya grinned at him, glad that he was no longer so downcast.

The pair went through a few more scenes with equal success. Each line came more smoothly and Gohan could feel his confidence increase. The fact that Zangya was actually a born thespian and somehow spoke perfect spanish made the whole thing not just easy, but almost fun for the young demi-saiyan. The fun came to a screeching halt however when they came to the next scene. Gohan had completely forgotten that there was, DUN DUN DUN! A kissing scene!

The 12 year old's cheeks became bright red as he thought of this. Of course, Zangya noticed this and became worried about her young friend. "Hey, Gohan, you're getting a little red. Are you feeling ok?"

Trying to get past his embarrassment, he answered her. "Y-yeah, I'm ok. It's just… w-well, there's a kissing scene next…" This wasn't what Zangya expected. She flipped through the script and went red. Granted, it wasn't like it was a makeout scene, just a quick, chaste kiss. More like a peck in fact. But Gohan didn't know how to go forward. This was incredibly awkward for him. He knew that there was a kiss scene but he hadn't really thought about it. Now things were just getting more and more awkward as they stood silently.

Zangya had spent the awkward silence in deep thought. On the one hand, despite being rather experienced in other parts of her life (mainly combat) she was rather inexperienced when it came to such things as kissing. In fact she had never kissed anyone. She didn't want her first kiss to be a fake one while practicing for a play. On the other hand, Gohan had done so much for her. She was older than him and needed to be mature about this. It's only a little kiss, right? And it is Gohan after all. Wait not that I want to kiss him. But still. It's just practice right? This is just to help Gohan.

"Listen, you've helped me a lot so why don't we just sto…"

"We can keep going."

"What?" Said a shocked Gohan.

"Let's do the scene." Zangya said with conviction. "After all, it's only a k-kiss."

"Heheh, Yeah, I guess you're right." Gohan felt silly. Of course Zangya wouldn't think this was a big deal. Of course, this was his first kiss, and he didn't want to feel like he was forcing it on her. He wanted her to want it… I mean not want me to kiss her, but if she wanted a kiss that I was going to give her I'd rather her want it because she wanted it not because we were practicing for a play.

"Hem." Zangya brought his attention back to the situation. "Shall we begin then?" She asked nervously.

"Uh, sure… so how should this happen." Gohan asked, unaware of Zangyas own lack of knowledge.

"Well, I think we should…" She walked toward him nervously. "Y-you put your arms around me like this." She put his arms around her back. When did he get so tall? She thought with a blush. Zangya wasn't big, but she was surprised to find that Gohan was, in fact, now taller than her.

"Like this?" Gohans' face was now burning as he tightened his hold on Zangya, bringing her body closer to his own.

"Uh-huh." She nodded, now looking up into his big onyx eyes. Eyes so full of warmth and kindness, but also filled with passion and intensity. She pulled herself in closer. "A little closer is ok too."

Gohan stared at the beautiful crystal-clear pools of blue. Her eyes sparkled back at him like brilliant sapphires. "And then I just… Kiss you?" He asked nervously. Zangya nodded as she closed her eyes and started inching her lips closer to the younger man. Gohan closed his eyes as well and time almost froze as the two lips were about to become one.

"What are you doing?"

The pair jumped away from each other, red with embarrassment at the predicament Piccolo found them in. They both stammered incoherently to try and explain what led up to that.

"We were just nothing. Nothing at all."

"Play, important, scene Tony and Maria."

"Uh-huh." Piccolo said unconvinced. "Well, you guys were late for training so I figured you might have started without me. Turns out you were just slacking off with some romance nonsense."

Gohan turned red at this, but Zangya wasn't going to take this lying down. She cracked her knuckles and her aura flared. "Oh, I'll show you just how much we've been slacking off." Her anger had nothing to do with the fact that her potential first Kiss with Gohan was interrupted. Not at all.

Break

"Oh Tony," the girl playing Maria swooned. "You're so manly and cool."

"Wait, that's not the line. Is it?" Gohan said while trying to find a copy of the script.

"I don't care! Kiss me you fool!" The girl practically threw herself at Gohan who, despite his super strength, was having a hard time keeping her at bay.

"CUT, CUT, CUT!" The director yelled. How am I ever gonna make it big when I have to deal with these amateurs and their hormones!? "As soon as the kid fixed his acting now we have this to deal with. That wasn't even the kissing scene! Maria just met the guy!"

"Director Red, I'll take her place!" A girl yelled excitedly from stage right.

"Oh no you don't you blue haired bimbo! I'm the official understudy! If anyone is going to Kiss Gohan it's gonna be me!"

"In your dreams!" A cat fight then broke out which quickly grew to include every female who was a part of the production.

"Mr. Black, stop them! They're ruining the set!" Cried Mr. Red.

"I don't think I can sir. You know how vicious these girls can be."

"Oh, good heavens above, what else could go wrong?"

As if in answer to his question, the doors exploded off the hinges and a big buff blue man walked in. "THERE YOU ARE YOU LITTLE RAT!" The man yelled in a fury.

Gohan saw Turk and just smiled while waving. "Oh hey Mr. Turk! What are you doing here?"

In the blink of an eye Turk closed the distance between them and grabbed Gohan by the front of his shirt. "How dare… How dare you do this to my sister!?"

Gohan blinked in confusion. "What?"

"First you seduce her with your muscles and gold hair. But as if that wasn't bad enough, You just leave her and come to your little harem where girls are literally fighting over you!" The Hera male was nearly apoplectic with rage.

Gohan put his hands up and tried to explain. "Listen Turk, let me explain…"

"Why couldn't you have just chosen one of them!?" He gestured to the girls who had stopped fighting to see the drama unfold. "Why couldn't you just stick to your own kind!? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!?"

Gohan, along with everyone else in the room were silent as Turk seethed. But soon the silence was broken.

Clap, clap, clap CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP "BRAVO! BRAVO!" Mr. Red shouted. He hopped on the stage and hugged Turk, which surprised him enough to make him drop Gohan. "Such passion! Such raw talent! I have never seen an actor of such caliber as yourself. You were born to play this part!"

Turk stared down at the man in confusion. "Play?"

"Yes! The part of Bernardo, the female leads overprotective brother! You are perfect for it!" Replied Red.

"Wait, you mean this is…" He looked around and saw the props and the costumes. "This is a play?"

"Well, yeah, what did you think it was?" Gohan asked good naturedly. Suddenly Turk felt very foolish.

"Ahem." He tried to compose himself. "So, about this part."

Break

Finally, the night of the play had arrived. Now, normally, a junior high play would just have the parents in attendance. However, opening night had come to be greeted by, not just a full house, but an overflowing house. In addition to the massive attendance, due to the fact that the Gold fighter and his alien friend were starring in this production, plans had been made to broadcast the show to ZTV. All the young aspiring actors were excited and nervous. Gohan, who was just nervous, was pacing back and forth trying to make sure he didn't forget any of his lines.

"Hey kid." Turk called to get his attention. "Are you sure my guy doesn't kill your guy? I mean, I think that's a more likely outcome than the other way around."

Gohan laughed nervously. "Sorry Turk, I didn't write it, we have to do it the way we rehearsed."

Turk folded his arms and grumbled.

Meanwhile, Chichi, Zangya, Esmerelda and Goten, all dressed in fancy clothes, were sitting in the front row waiting to see Gohan and Turk in action. "You know," Chichi started casually. "I loved this movie growing up. The singing, the dancing, and the story is just amazing."

"Turk better not have to kiss anyone. He plays a guy named Bernardo, right?"

Zangya blanched at the word kiss

"You know, I don't remember if he actually kisses anyone or not." Chichi responded as Zangya sank a little lower in her seat. Esmerelda looked nervous and sat on the edge of her seat.

"Oh, the curtains opening. Sshh."

*Snap, snap, snap* a group of kids were walking across the stage and snapping. The play went ok, for the first five minutes, but then Bernardo appeared.

"MWAHAHAHA!" Turk landed on the stage with a crash. "COWER FOOLISH JETS AND DISPAIR! IT IS I, BERNARDO OF THE PLANET PUERTO RICO!"

"Well, this is… different." Chichi sweat dropped.

"I think he's doing quite well." Zangya whispered.

"Ooh, I've always wanted to date an actor, he's so hunky." Esmerelda gushed.

Despite his over the top first appearance, Turk did actually do a good job. Until the dance scene.

Gohan was doing his best to follow the script while trying to keep the girls from stealing a kiss. In fact, Chichi gave some help on this matter.

"HEY YOU HUSSY! STICK TO THE SCRIPT! KEEP YOUR MITTS OFF MY BOY!"

"Hey lady you can't call my daughter a hussy!" Cried another audience member.

"OH YEAH! WHO SAID THAT!" Chichi turned her demonic stare on the audience. Nobody was brave enough to challenge her. "That's what I thought."

"Hey, Bernardo." One of the other actors said to Turk. "That filthy Jet is dancing with your sister."

Dancing with my sister.

Dancing with MY sister?

DANCING WITH MY SISTER!?

"I'LL RIP HIS HEAD OFF!"

Turk lunged at Gohan, who threw the girl aside and blocked the oncoming blow. Through gritted teeth he ground out. "Turk What are you doing? This isn't how the script goes." Unfortunately, Turk had snapped. He was what they call a 'method actor' and he got way too into his part. Of course, that wasn't helped by the fact that he was a siscon in real life and didn't much care for Gohan who he deemed a threat.

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY SISTER YOU RAT!?"

Gohan ducked a haymaker and spun around to his attacker's backside. "Cut it out!"

But of course, he did not cut it out. Turk spun around and rushed at his target, aiming a right straight at Gohans' head. The audience screamed and closed their eyes. They could feel the shockwave wash over them as the blow impacted. They opened their eyes to see that The Gold fighter had caught the fist and they erupted into cheers. "YEAH! GET HiM KID!" "This is better than the original!"

Gohan, narrowed his eyes at Turk. "Alright, you want a fight? I'll give you a fight." Sweeping his legs out from under him, he then swung his opponent up and crashing through the ceiling. Gohan followed through the massive hole that he had made in pursuit. He looked around to find Turk breathing hard. "Now that you've had some fresh air will you calm down?"

Turk looked at the kid and smiled. "Maybe I did go a little overboard in there."

Gohan laughed. "I'll say you did. Let's go back and finish this thing."

Turk cracked his knuckles. "Oh, we're gonna finish this alright."

"Oh, come on!" Gohan exclaimed in frustration.

"Sorry kid, but this," he gestured between him and Gohan. "This has been a long time coming. Let's see who's top dog!" And with that, he charged once again at Gohan. The smaller warrior easily dodged all of the blows that Turk was trying to pour on, all the time trying to create space between him and the bigger man. But Turk was relentless. He refused to let Gohan get away from him. Gohan had no choice but to respond in kind. "Alright you asked for it. HRAA!" He landed a powerful kick to Turks stomach, causing him to keel over in pain, dropping a few feet toward the ground.

*cough* Turk was clutching his gut. "That's what I'm talkin' about." He let go of his stomach and charged again. This time, Gohan didn't dodge his onslaught. Instead, he blocked every one of his punches, swatting them away and then landing a hook to the face causing Turk to spin wildly to the ground. Turk refused to give up as he just bounced right back up and charged Gohan once again. "I gotta hand it to him. He sure is tenacious.

Apparently, the crowd, who had filtered out of the theatre to see the show, agreed and approved. Many were even starting to cheer for Turk. Whether they thought it was a part of the actual play was unclear, but they loved it. It wasn't at all like the dull musical that they expected. This fight alone made it well worth the price of admission.

Gohan kept up his pattern of blocking and then striking Turk down, but the Hera warrior refused to submit. Guess a knockout's the only option then. Gohan mused as he was blocking the punches. He slipped in past his opponents guard, delivered a series of devastating blows to his torso and round house kicked him away. Turk flew a short distance, but was able to right himself quickly. "Alright! Now you're finally getting serious!" Unfortunately, as soon as he said this, Gohan appeared in front of him and delivered an uppercut to his jaw. The world went black for Turk and he fell to the ground surrounded by a silent crowd.

The audience held their breath as Gohan landed next to the downed alien. Zangya sprang out and yelled "ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX!" Now the crowd was counting with her "SEVEN! EIGHT! NINE TEN!" Cheers erupted from the crowd loud enough to wake the unconscious Turk. Too bad for him he woke up to the sight of his sister wearing a nice evening gown, raising Gohans hand and yelling "THE WINNER!" Turk Got up shakily and the wild cheers of the crowd died down so they could see what the loser would do. Zangya let go of Gohans hand and the two men stared each other down.

Turk broke first. "Heh," he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Thanks for the fight kid. Maybe next time I'll actually be able to make you try."

Gohan was slightly stunned. "How did you know I was holding back?"

"C'mon, I've seen you train. No way could I keep up with you if you actually went all out. You didn't even transform. This still doesn't mean I'm approving of you and my sister, but…" He held out his hand to the younger warrior. Gohan eyed it cautiously and extended his own. Suddenly, he was yanked from his feet and hoisted onto Turks shoulder. The display of sportsmanship elicited another thunderous roar of applause from the crowd, who had all but forgotten that they had come to see a play. This was way better. Well, almost everyone forgot. Chichi wasn't mad per se. She was more surprised that she was surprised by this turn of events. What else could she expect from Gokus' son.

Of course, Gohan wasn't the only winner that night. "Mr. Black?"

"Yes Mr. Red?"

"I know what our future holds and it aint musicals. Action movies are where it's at! Let's try and sign the blue guy on for a picture contract!"

Break

"Well, while I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to see my baby finish his first play, I am glad that you two have made your peace." Chichi said after the group had made it back to the Son house. "Honestly though, it would have been nice if we could have had a night of culture instead of a slugfest."

"I'm sorry mom. I really was trying." Gohan apologized.

"I'm sorry too Mrs. Son. I just got carried away." Turk said meekly.

"Well, there's always next time I suppose. And I guess I have to forgive you considering it's your birthday!" Chichi said the last part slyly.

"Oh my gosh! I how could I have forgotten about my birthday?" Gohan smacked his head and started to laugh.

"Yeah, even I'm not that dumb." Turk remarked, earning him a smack to the back of the head, courtesy of Zangya.

"Well, luckily we didn't forget." Zangya went into the kitchen and retrieved a giant cake that said 'Happy 13th birthday' "I hope you like it. I made it myself." Zangya proclaimed with pride.

"It looks amazing Zangya!" Gohan said.

"Yeah, it does. Do you do weddings?" Esmerelda asked.

"How come you never made me a cake?" Turk whined. Then got another smack.

"Alright, now make a wish and blow out the candles." She said ignoring Turks complaints.

Gohan closed his eyes and blew out his candles. The group sang happy birthday, and everyone enjoyed the delicious cake.

"So, I've got a question." Turk said between mouthfuls. "Are you really 13, or was that just a typo?" He asked, referring to the cake.

"Are you questioning my cakes authority!?" Zangya pulled out her spoon.

Turk cowered at the sight of the weapon. "Nonono!"

"I didn't think so." Zanga sheathed her spoon.

Turk breathed a sigh of relief. "It's just, I mean Look at him. He's barely a teenager and he still brought down the entire empire. And you," He gestured to his sister. "You're not even 17 and you're still one of the strongest fighters in the galaxy."

Gohan and Chichi both spit out their cake at the mention of Zangyas age. ""WHAT!""

The others at the table were confused at their antics. "What what?" Zangya asked not sure what the issue was.

"Zangya your 17!?" Chichi exclaimed.

"Well, 16 but…"

"I thought you were sealed away hundreds of years ago!?" Gohan joined in. "How can you be only 16?"

"That's true, but I didn't age while I was sealed. I was pretty young when I joined Bojacks gang after all." At the bewildered faces on Chichi and Gohan's faces, she added. "Wait, how old do I look?" She narrowed her eyes at Gohan. "Ummm… COMING MOM!" He got up from the table and ran away.

"GOHAN YOUR MOM IS RIGHT HERE!" Zangya yelled. "GET BACK HERE! HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I LOOK!" She got up and chased after him. Chichi also got up in a rush.

"Where are you going Mrs. Son?" Esmerelda asked politely.

"I can't believe she's been with us all this time and I haven't even taken care of that yet!" Chichi Ran to the phone.

"Taken care of what?" Turk asked slightly worried.

"Taken care of what? ZANGYAS SCHOOLING OF COURSE!" Chichi yelled.

Break

"I can't believe you thought I was thirty." Zangya pouted as she and Gohan were sitting on the roof. "I mean, Look at me!"

"Well," Gohan started to try and explain himself. "First of all, I said late twenties. And can you blame me? After all the stories you've told me hardly seem like they come from the life of a teenager."

"Coming from the guy who's defended his planet from, what? 5 invasions? Not to mention saved the earth as many times. All before he turned 13."

"Fair point. But you know, Mom's going to try and make you go to school now." Gohan said with a smile, while leaning back and staring at the night sky. Zangya leaned back as well while grumbling about being treated like a child. Then the two teens were silent for a while.

"Gohan?" Zangya asked.

"Yeah?"

"What did you wish for?"

Gohan turned to look at her and smiled. "A bakery."

"You better not have!" Zangya certainly didn't want to have to compete with a rival bakery.

"HAHAHAHA!" Gohan let out a long and loud laugh and Zangya joined in. When the two stopped, Zangya asked her question again. "Seriously though, what was your wish?"

Gohan Sighed. It wasn't so much a wish as it was a promise to himself. Every year he would renew that promise. To keep his loved ones safe. This year was no different.

"I just want to keep you safe." He finally said.

"You wished to keep me safe?" Zangya asked while sitting up.

"Well, yes, but not just you, all the people I love. Mom, Goten, Piccolo and Yeah, that includes you." There was no embarrassment or blushing when he said this. Just a statement of fact. Zangya eyed him with something akin to awe. Gohan never ceased to amaze her with how selfless he really was. And how much he made her care for him.

She scooted closer to him. "You know, I still haven't given you your birthday present." She said casually.

"I thought the Cake was my present. You didn't have to get me anything else." Gohan said.

"Do you want it or not rice ball?"

"What is it?"

"Close your eyes. It's a surprise."

Gohan complied and shut his eyes tight. "This better not be a trick." He warned. "I still remember that time with the…" He stopped mid-sentence as he felt a pair of lips press against his cheek.

"Happy birthday Gohan." When he opened his eyes, she was gone. His hand went up to the cheek that Zangya had Kissed. It was still warm. The scent of strawberries still hung lightly in the air. A huge smile broke out on Gohans face. "Best. Birthday. Ever."

End Chapter.

A/N:

Woah, Zangya is only 16? WHAT!

Well, if you remember in chapter 19, she joined Bojacks gang when she was about 10 and she was 12 when they found their people had been wiped out. The main reason I made her younger is so that the Gyoza pairing would be less awkward and weird. (Yes, I call Gohan and Zangya Gyoza. Don't hate.) Also, Zangya in a School uniform sounds adorable. Just Saiyan.

Fun fact: In the DBZ episode where the great saiyaman accidentally ruins a movie being made about him, there are two members of the film crew that look an awful lot like staff officer Black and commander Red of the Red Ribbon army, so I decided include them in here as theater folk.

Finally, Next chapter is going to center around Broly. Yay Brolysode!