Stay a while. Chapter 29. I told you no dessert.

Disclaimer: Do not own DBZ. ):

"I just don't understand what I did this time," Gohan grumbled as he popped the hood open of the hover car situated in the corner of the garage. After the little fiasco in the conference room earlier that day, he'd retreated to the small area Bulma had given him to tinker with devices before she'd set up his lab. The original idea had been to go to his lab, but that was still under repair after Lime's accident the few days before.

Mirai snickered as he made himself comfortable on one of the chairs scattered in the work area. "As if you weren't already used to her yelling at you," he supplied, tugging at the ends of his hair that now reached just past the top of his ears. When his mother had found out about the haircuts, she had insisted that Lime cut his exactly as it was when she'd done it seven years prior. Apparently it didn't matter that he'd just gotten a trim earlier that morning. At realizing the lack of response, he peered over to find his friend examining the wires built in. "If it makes you feel better, she mellows out a bit in a decade."

"Assuming I survive that long," Gohan grumbled. At the rate the frequency and intensity of her outbursts were increasing, he wasn't sure he'd make it past this month. "Anyway, make yourself useful and look over those blueprints on the table. Lime just added her notes and I figured I'd get your input while I can."

Mirai sprawled the sheets out over a table, examining the scribbles. "I don't know why you put up with it." He really didn't understand how Gohan could stand being pushed around by the brazen and loud-mouthed Videl Satan. "Just because you two got together in my time, it doesn't mean it has to happen here. I mean, look at Krillin and 18."

He bit back a snort at that. From the stories Mirai had told him about that timeline, he was definitely glad that 18 didn't stick to terrorizing the world (though Krillin could affectionately disagree). "She's kind of growing on me," Gohan admitted with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, now that she's no longer hounding me for answers, she's not that bad. Plus, you have to admit her…tenacity is a bit admirable."

Mirai snickered at that. "Growing on you, huh? Should I tell Lime and Chi Chi that's a green light for the wedding plans?" With a laugh, he barely dodged the wrench that came flying towards his face. "If it makes you feel any better, Erasa from my time says that the aggressiveness is just Videl's way of showing she cares. Apparently, Gohan had legitimate cause to fear for his life multiple times."

"That is definitely not making me feel any better," Gohan mumbled under his breath.

"Do you all really have to be here for this?" Sharpner grumbled as he looked up at the three girls. Being able to find only one pair of shears, Mirai had volunteered to get his hair cut first. Lime made quick work of the purple locks while the half-saiyan sat perfectly still. That had been unexciting to watch, but they'd known Mirai didn't have Sharpner's attachment. "I mean, Erasa is just cutting my hair." There was absolutely no need for Videl or Lime to stick around for that but both girls seemed to disagree as they made themselves comfortable on the nearby couch.

Taking a snip at the air with her pair of scissors, Erasa eyed her best friend warily. "I need you to be sure about this, Sharpner. Once I make the first cut, there is no going back."

"One favor says he cries," Lime offered as she leaned back against the couch.

Videl snorted. "Like I'd be stupid enough to take that bet." Sharpner's attachment to his hair was no secret to anyone.

"Fine, five hundred yen and a favor says he cries after the first cut," the redhead amended with a grin.

"Oh, come on, have a little more faith in Sharpie. He'll hold out at least until she's done then break down." She had no doubt that it would take a while for the moment to process in his mind. Holding her hand out to the redhead, she grinned. "Shake on it?"

"Thanks, Vi, I'm really feeling the confidence here," Sharpner cut in, glaring at the two girls sitting on the couch as they shook hands before turning to the blonde in front of him. "I'm good. I'm sure. Just get it over with."

While the two blondes got to work, Lime turned to the girl sitting next to her. "So, are you getting a haircut too?" One would have to be deaf not to have heard the girl's outburst earlier. It didn't take a genius to figure out the gist of what Gohan had said. When Videl seemed to hesitate, Lime nudged her lightly with her elbow. "Oh, come on. I have it on very good authority that Gohan would really, really like you with short hair. Something about becoming a blubbering, stuttering fool."

"Har-har. Funny, Lime," she drawled, resting her head in her palm as she hunched forward. Gohan being attracted to her seemed to be the running joke of the week and it was starting to get old. "As if he needs any help with that."

Despite the snarky comment about the half-saiyan, Videl couldn't completely keep the tint of red from her cheeks. "Besides, Gohan is just being nice."

Lime scoffed at that. "Please, Gohan is always nice to everyone but you don't see him adapting an alter ego to save their arse or training them to become stronger or—"

"That's because no one else needs any of that. I'm sure he'd help them out too if they need it," Videl interjected, "Gohan's got a hero complex. He thinks he has to save everyone." When Lime stared at her not amused, Videl continued. "I don't want anyone saving me. I want to save myself. Clearly, Gohan and I can't work."

To the pair's surprise, it was Sharpner that spoke next. "Are you trying to convince us…or yourself?" He didn't see the glare directed his way as he continued keeping his eyes closed from the first snip Erasa made. "Seems to me that in his family's eyes, it's only a matter of time until you're Mrs. Gohan Son and popping out that kid."

"Whatever, Sharpner," Videl grumbled, hastily making her exit without another word to the three. Just what she needed—another shadow to be forced under. In their eyes, she was not the daughter of the World Champion. No, to them she was just Gohan's future daughter's mother.

"Poppa, what are you doing?" Pan asked, jumping into the back seat of the hover car. Gohan shut the hood to look at the little girl only to find cones stacked almost impossibly high in one of the child's fists. "I got ice creams!" Despite the wide grin plastered across her lips, he didn't miss the slight puffiness of the child's eyes.

"What'd you do, Pan?" he asked, rounding the front of the car to stand by one of the open doors. She scrunched her face together defiantly and he sighed. The past few days of knowing the girl pretty much made it clear that she was definitely both his and Videl's daughter. She could get herself in all sorts of trouble but somehow wiggle her way out with something gained. Apparently, in this case, it was ice cream.

"There you are," Lime exclaimed as she entered the garage, eyes fixed on the little girl. At spotting the ice cream, she shook her head in amusement. "Enjoy that while you can because you are in so much trouble when your mom gets a hold of you."

Gohan raised an eyebrow, immediately grabbing the child by her belt before she could try to run. "Hold it," he started and tugged her towards him. "What did you do to your mom?" When she clamped her mouth shut, Gohan turned towards his best friend. "What happened?"

"It was an accident!" Pan immediately blurted out when it seemed Lime was about to answer. "I didn't mean to!" With her father staring at her expectantly, Pan sniffled, blinking back tears that were starting to form. Gohan held his ground despite the insistent tugging at his heartstrings by the sight of the child. At this point, however, he knew better than to let those crocodile tears fool him. "Small Trunks, Uncle Goten, and I were playing tag and they were using energy blasts and they both threw one at me and I couldn't dodge both so I hit it and I didn't know momma was in the garden too and it hit her and-and-and-I didn't mean to." Full blown tears were streaming as she ended her story.

"In her defense, she mostly missed," Lime interjected with a careless shrug of her shoulder as her best friend looked torn about what to do. "No harm done." Her gaze turned towards the little girl wiping away her tears. "That's not why you're in trouble, though."

Tiny brows furrowed in confusion. "That's not? What'd I do?!"

Mirai snickered. "She probably ran away from the scene of the crime."

"But, sensei," Pan cried, glaring at him through unshed tears, "you were the one that said to run and hide until they're not mad anymore!"

"I did not!" Mirai protested hastily at the glare Gohan sent his way. "She probably meant Trunks!"

"And now she's pushing the blame to other people," Videl pointed out as she entered the room. She made a beeline for the two dark haired Saiyans. Gohan gaped at her, surprised at the lack of the girl's signature pig tails. Then again, the near-pixie cut she was currently sporting certainly left no allowance for the typical style. "Sound like someone you know?"

The question seemed to snap him out of the shock as he met blue eyes head on. "It was one time and it wasn't even really my fault," Gohan grumbled, almost completely unfazed by the glare directed his way. The nearly imperceptible quirk at the corner of her lips a telltale sign that she wasn't actually that mad at him. "I had nothing to do with any of it this time." Against his better judgment, he reached forward and brushed the tips of his fingers against the hair at the nape of her neck. "What happened to your hair?"

Videl scrunched her face at him. "Your daughter happened. That little game of theirs ended with scorching my hair." This tendency of getting into all sorts of mischievousness had to come from Gohan's side. His younger brother, the accomplice to earlier shenanigans, was proof enough of that. "Don't you dare laugh, Gohan Son!" Any former control the half-saiyan had over his laughter flew out the window at her warning. It wasn't one of his awkward "I'll-laugh-because-I-need-to-be-polite-or-I-feel-uncomfortable" laughs but a full-blown head-thrown-back-gasping-for-air laugh.

His laughter was cut short when the heel of her foot came down hard on his toes. If her target had been anyone else, he had no doubt that the bones in the poor unfortunate soul's toes would have been crushed under the force. At that point, Videl knew better than to try a head-on attack. Gohan could see her fist coming before she even thought of it. "Oh, come on, it's at least a little funny," he maintained with a shrug of his shoulders.

Her retort was cut short by tiny hands gripping the ends of her shirt. "I'm sorry, momma."

Videl cringed. If there was anything the girl was learning in this timeline, it was how to bend a person to her will with that look. It wasn't fair! Fortunately, it was no longer as effective as it was when the child first showed up. "It's okay, Pan, but that doesn't change that you ran away first and because of that, no dessert tonight." Not that the child needed any more sugar. She pursed her lips at the sight of red-rimmed, tear-filled eyes. "Not going to work."

Mirai snickered and leaned towards the red head. "Taking away food. She catches on quick," he murmured, only to receive a laugh and nod of agreement in return.

"Speaking of food, isn't it almost dinner time?" Lime exclaimed, gripping Mirai's elbow. "We should probably get going." She'd been around Saiyan children (and not-quite-children) enough times when they were denied food and it never turned out pretty.

Gohan picked up a rag slung over the car door. "You guys go ahead. I'll clean up then head over to the dining hall." As much of a slob as Bulma could be in her lab, she was never too happy when Gohan followed her example in a work station thanks to more than a few stubbed toes and unfortunate trips. He had free reign in his lab, but that was about it.

"I'll give you a hand," Videl quickly stated, pointedly ignoring Lime's smug grin. As if she really needed a reminder of that conversation.

"Do I even want to know what that was about?" Gohan mused aloud, biting back a smile, as she seemed to stiffen just a bit. Clearly he was missing something there. When she gave no answer, he shook his head and got down on his haunches. "I've got the car if you could gather the tools and put them away."

It didn't take long for them to clean the area up. Once they were done, he held a damp rag out to her, nodding towards the grease stains on her hands. "I know we're going to wash our hands at the hall but it gets everywhere if you don't get rid of most of it right away," he explained with a shrug. He had enough random grease stains on clothes and ghost pains from frying pans to remember that. "So, I know you didn't stay back just to help. What's on your mind?"

She took the rag wordlessly, making sure to get the worst of the smudges before handing it back. "If you can fly, why were you working on that car?" she asked, running her hand through the shortened strands. The new haircut would take some getting used to. At his raised eyebrow, she grimaced. Okay, so no stalling allowed. With a sigh, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned to him. "Why does it seem like everyone here knows that you kissed me and that somehow means we are destined for each other?"

"Everyone?" he repeated incredulously. "How did the class find out?" As far as he knew, the other teenagers had been none the wiser about everything that seemed to be revealed about him. Bulma may have or have not tasked their mentors to keep those guys as distracted as possible.

Videl rolled her eyes. "Not the class. I don't even think I've really seen or talked to any of them more than in passing lately." The compound was definitely big enough to be able to avoid people without even intending to. There was also the fact that Bulma gave everyone access to the lab and her scientists. Even the supposedly mindless jocks knew better than to waste that sort of opportunity. "I meant your family."

Gohan blinked. "Does it really bother you that much?" He knew Videl wasn't used to the kind of teasing his extended family tended to dish out, but he didn't think it made her that uncomfortable.

She twisted her fingers together uncertainly, contemplating her words. "Yes, no, I don't know." Blowing out a gust of air, Videl threw her hands in the air in frustration. With Gohan waiting patiently for her reply, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's just…I thought…never mind, it's nothing. Just some stupid—" She cut off her sentence and shook her head. "We should get to the dining hall."

"No, no," Gohan called, easily catching her hand in his as she tried to walk away. He gently tugged her towards him. "It's clearly not nothing or stupid if it's bothering you this much. What's going on?"

"I just thought that this time would be different," she admitted with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I mean, your whole family knows my dad didn't beat Cell. To them, I'm not the daughter of the World Savior."

Gohan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at her statement. "Okay, I'm not following. I thought that was a good thing?" As far as he knew, Videl had spent years trying to show the world that she was more than the world champion's daughter.

Videl scoffed, keeping her gaze fixed on a point above his shoulder. Of course he wouldn't understand. "Yeah, out of one shadow and into another," she grumbled under her breath. When Gohan didn't say anything, she pulled her hand out of his grasp and hugged her arms around her. "To them I'm not the daughter of the world savior. No, to them I'm the future mother of your future child. They wouldn't have even given me a second glance if it weren't for Pan showing up."

"That's not true and you know it," Gohan said, sitting on the edge of the table. He pulled her towards him and was surprised to find no resistance. "You're your own person, Videl. They can all see that. Krillin and the others are just focusing on Pan because it's the easiest thing to rib on me for." After realizing that beating the tar out of Gohan in a spar was not even remotely possible for some of the Z fighters, they'd taken to the next best thing and that meant embarrassing the teen as often as possible. He gently cupped her cheek with one hand, tilting her face up so she would look at him. "They know you're more than Hercule Satan's daughter or our timeline's counterpart of Pan's mother. They've only just met you. Give them time and they'll find other things to make fun of you for." His attempt at humor was rewarded with a fleeting smile.

"Like I said, it's just me being stupid," she mumbled, dropping her gaze from his. As much as she wanted to believe him and knew that she should believe him, it was going to take a little longer for her to wrap her mind around. "I'll get over it."

He pursed his lips at her blatant attempt at brushing off the subject, clearly unconvinced that this was the last time the issue would surface. Still, he learned better than to push Videl so he let it slide with a noncommittal nod. They stood together in silence, giving the half-saiyan time to finally really take in his friend's new appearance. When she'd asked earlier if he suggested the haircut because he preferred short hair on girls, he'd quickly shot down that possibility but after finally being able to see her face clearer, he had to ask himself why he hadn't agreed. Videl had been pretty before. Now that he could clearly see the sharpness of her features, the gentle curve of her neck, the smoothness of her skin, the way her blush gradually colored her cheeks… "Beautiful," he murmured under his breath, brushing the pad of his thumb along her jaw.

"What," she finally asked, attempting (and failing) to ignore the heat creeping up her neck and cheeks at noticing his unwavering stare. Clearly, Lime had been wrong. Gohan was not some blubbering mess. If anything, she was probably more flustered about the whole thing than he was.

Clearing his throat, Gohan offered a small smile as he brushed his knuckles lightly against the ends of the dark strands. "It suits you," he stated, allowing his hand to drop to his side again. "The haircut, I mean."

"Thanks." She could feel her cheeks get warmer. The way he looked at her and the way he spoke had her stomach fluttering and heart pounding. When did the aloof Gohan turn into this smooth operator? Okay, not quite smooth operator, but certainly a guy that had her turning ten shades of red more than anyone ever could. This was just not a situation she was familiar enough with. "Erasa and Lime really know what they're doing with a pair of scissors. You should see Sharpner's hair. He was still crying about it, but it definitely looked better than before."

Gohan barely bit back a snort. Leave it to Videl Satan to brush off a compliment. "I say something nice about you, compliment you, and you start talking about another guy. Way to shoot a guy down, Vi."

Videl rolled her eyes, thankful for the turn of the conversation to familiar territory. This teasing banter was something she knew how to deal with, especially with this particular boy. "Whatever, Gohan. It's not like you even actually like me like that." Despite all the ragging their friends gave them, Videl knew better. Gohan was a nice guy. He was probably just tolerating her and being friendly because that was his nature. She was quick to turn away before he had a chance to reply. "Anyway, we should get to the dining hall before Pan manages to sneak in some dessert."

"Should we really do this?" Sharpner asked uncertainly as the quartet settled at their table in the dining hall. Most of the students were done with dinner and heading back to the dorm by then and the last stragglers were finishing up so they were free to talk. "I mean, this is Gohan and Videl we're talking about."

"Yeah, Gohan and Videl which means they need a good, hard shove in the right direction." Erasa stated with a decisive nod.

"Gohan's too nice and humble of a guy to even make the first move." Lime added as she crossed her arms. "Not to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure he hasn't realized his feelings for her."

"Nah, Gohan kissed her. He's pretty aware of his attraction to the girl," Mirai interjected as he threw a grape (or a handful) into his mouth. "It's just how attracted he is to her that I don't think he realizes." After all, while Gohan was as book smart as anyone could be, he was still Goku's son and the naiveté or obliviousness seemed to be fairly hereditary.

"Videl's too unconfident and unsure to act on her feelings that she's still denying." Erasa scrunched her nose in frustration. Anyone with eyes could see the way the two interacted with each other. As much as the champ's daughter did not want to admit it, she was smitten with the mountain boy.

"If we don't do this, they might not ever work out!" Lime concluded with an aggravated sigh. While she'd been wary of Videl at the start, Lime had to admit that the girl had a stubborn charm about her that made it near impossible to keep her at an arm's length and maybe that was exactly what her best friend needed.

"If we do this, they'd probably kill us so count me out." Sharpner interjected, making a cross motion with his forearms. "I happen to like living in this world. I don't even want to imagine the kind of payback either one of those two will deal."

"Gohan won't hit anyone unless it's a life or death situation or a spar so Erasa and I are safe since we don't fight. Mirai regularly gets his arse kicked by Gohan so that's no change for him."

"That is not true!" Mirai huffed indignantly but was brushed off by the two girls.

"And Videl is pretty much all bite and no bark when threatening me," Erasa grinned, "I'm sure it's the same case with Lime." After the slightly rocky start, Erasa was sure the two could be best of friends. "And she's stubborn but she knows she doesn't stand a chance against Mirai. She'll probably leave him for Gohan."

"I don't see any reasoning that saves my arse from either of them."

"Oh, come on, Sharpie. Don't be such a chicken. It'll be fun. They'll thank us for this at their wedding," Erasa pointed out with an excited clap. Oh, she could picture it now. A wedding fit for a princess. It couldn't be any less!

"Chicken? Are you kidding me? You did not feel the madness this morning. He'd squash me like a bug!" Sharpner shuddered at the thought. If that was the amount of power those guys held while sparring, he wasn't sure he wanted to be on the planet when they really went all out. "Don't even get me started on Videl. At least Gohan knows restraint." It didn't matter that he was further along his training with Mirai than Videl was with Gohan. She'd never been able to accurately gauge just how powerful she was and he didn't want to risk her wrath now that she was starting on using ki.

Lime sighed. "Okay, fine, what if we make sure they never find out it's us?" She grinned at the confused looks they shot at her. "Clearly, we just have to make sure all the clues point to someone else…like say, a grandchild obsessed mother and equally conniving godmother?"

"You realize that we'd be in trouble if we use them as our fall guys, right?" Mirai deadpanned as he stared at the girl. After all these years, she should know better than to try to pull a fast one on them.

"Oh, please, you know how much Chi Chi wants grandchildren. Pan showing up just increased that a ten fold," Lime threw back with a roll of her eyes. It was slightly frightening how the Son matriarch all but obsessed about the thought. "In fact, I'm pretty sure we could get Bulma and Chi Chi in on this. They probably already had a plan since Bulma asked Videl for a favor." When no one seemed to object, she grinned. "Great. That's settled. I'll talk to Bulma tonight."

"Perfect timing," Erasa giggled, noting that the conversation wrapped up just as two dark haired teens walked into the dining hall just as the last of the other students left.

"PAN! I told you no dessert!"

"But just one ice cream cone!"

"With ten scoops! No, hand that over to Gohan."

"Awh, come on, Videl. Look at her. Just let her have the-Pan, give me that cone." Looking utterly put out, the four year old complied before running after her uncle and his partner-in-crime.

Erasa snickered as her best friend took the empty seat next to her with an aggravated sigh. "Honestly, that stubbornness must be from his side," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. At seeing Erasa's amused expression, she grimaced. "What?"

"I don't know. I mean, that had you written all over it," the blonde replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I seem to remember a stubborn ten-almost-eleven year old adamant to find that Delivery Boy from the Cell Games that she drove her father and everyone around her crazy."

The rice Gohan was stuffing in his face all but sprayed over the table as the teen hurriedly thumped his chest. That was definitely the last thing he expected to hear. "You gotta chew sometimes, man," Sharpner advised with a roll of his eyes as he scooted over a cup of water.

"Never mind him, he's fine," Lime interjected as she turned to a concerned Erasa. This was not the time to get distracted. "Do go on about the delivery boy," she quipped, leaning towards the two girls curiously. This was definitely the first time she was hearing about any of this and her interest was piqued. That and this was probably exactly the kind of dirt that could be useful in persuading Bulma and Chi Chi to help with their plans. How cute would that be if it turned out Videl had a crush on Gohan before she even knew him?

"Well, I mean, why do you think her dad has that rule that she can only date a boy that can beat him in a fight?" Erasa snickered as her best friend's face immediately flared up. "Mr. Satan was at his wit's ends. She just wouldn't stop asking about him and he just wasn't ready to lose his baby girl to some kid so he made that rule. Of course, she insisted that she just wanted to fight him but we all knew better. Our I-can-do-it-myself-I-don't-need-help-I-am-tough-girl Videl Satan was smitten with the Delivery Boy."

"Erasa!" Videl all but screeched, cheeks flaming red in embarrassment. She dared not look at the dark-haired teen sitting next to her still stuffing his face, albeit at a considerably slower pace than normal. "I can't believe you're actually bringing that up!"

"Oh, come on, Videl. It was adorable!" She gushed before turning to the others whose attention was clearly focused on her now. "She got the footage from the broadcast and had shots of him blown up and printed and they were all over her walls! Mr. Satan nearly had an aneurysm when he saw it. He was basically her obsession but hey, that's our Videl for you."

"Was he now…" Lime encouraged, barely managing to contain her peels of laughter at the obvious discomfort of the two crime fighters.

"Those were dark times," Sharpner supplied, shaking his head as if to push away unwanted memories. "Every damn day searching for clues." It would have been easier to move a mountain than dissuade Videl on her quest to find the mystery boy.

"I don't know how many times we watched the recorded footage of the Cell Games."

"Or how many times we had to listen to Mr. Satan recount the events…"

"She even carried around this little notebook all the with all her notes. Gosh, she was thorough."

"Shut up, you two! It was just a stupid crush on a stupid boy and you guys promised to never bring it up ever again!" Videl could feel her cheeks burning as she placed her hands over her face. There was definitely no need to ever bring up her stupidity as a child. Ever. "I need new friends." If the ground could open up and swallow her whole, then that was definitely the time.

Finally unable to contain their laughter, Mirai and Lime leaned against each other for support. Oh, this was absolutely golden. "Better not let his mum hear you call her son stupid, Videl," Lime managed between giggles. "Chi Chi has spent Gohan's life trying to make her boy as smart as possible. She'd take offense to that."

The two blondes froze, staring at their friends with wide eyes and slack jaws. "Wha-wait-what did…" Erasa spluttered as the source of her friends' discomfort and amusement finally seemed to dawn on her. "Gohan was the Delivery Boy?!" she barely stopped herself from screeching and was glad the rest of the class was gone by then. "Sharpner, pi—"

"We've been over this, Erasa."

"But he's the—oh. Oh." She gave her best friend a sheepish smile at realizing what she had indirectly revealed. Well, that certainly explained why Videl wanted to keep that little secret all hush-hush. "Heh. Small world."

Keeping her gaze averted from everyone, Videl cleared her throat and stood. "Right. Uhm, I'm going to go away now…far, far away," she mumbled before hurriedly making her way out of the dining hall. This was so not her day.

With his bowls empty and thus no distraction from the awkward turn of conversation, Gohan rubbed the back of his neck and stood. "Right and I should go find Pan," he stated as he made a fairly quick escape. He knew those four well enough at this point. Staying would be torture for him.

Once the two crime fighters were gone, Lime grinned at the remaining three. "Well, if we weren't convinced this had to happen before, I'm sure we all are now."

"Momma!" Pan called out as she made a dash for the workstation Videl sat at. "Want to train with us?" Her tiny arms wrapped around her mother's shoulders when she all but tackled the unsuspecting girl. "Poppa said he'll teach me how to blow things up!"

Taking a deep breath, she managed a tight smile as she turned to the teenager trailing after the girl. "Teach a four year old to blow things up," Videl droned, clearly not amused. "Really, Gohan?"

He shrugged unapologetically. "It's gonna happen. Might as well make sure she'll be safe." The child's curious nature left no doubt in his mind that she would be attempting more complicated energy blasts sooner or later. With Videl's tenacity running through the same veins, it would only be a matter of time before she tried it on her own if no one taught her first. "You want to try too?"

She stared at him, frozen in disbelief for a few seconds, and then stood resignedly from her seat. "Lead the way," she gestured forward, smiling as the little girl squealed in delight and pulled her along. Gohan had a point and as they said: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Once they exited the building, Videl yelped in surprise as Gohan easily scooped her up into his arms. "A little warning would be nice," she grumbled, glaring at his unabashed smile as she crossed her arms over her chest.

At her muted response (well, considerably muted), Gohan raised an eyebrow. "What? Not afraid I'll drop you?" He asked, noting that she was no longer clinging to him for dear life.

Videl stuck her tongue out at him. "Drop me and I'm fairly sure your mother will kill you herself," she pointed out. Chi Chi had taken every opportunity she had to remind the girl to tell her if her son needed any sort of straightening out.

Gohan shuddered at remembering the last conversation he had with his mother. "Yeah, because as far as she's concerned, you're already her daughter-in-law," he grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Can't let anything happen to you until she has at least one grandchild to keep."

The implication of the statement had both teenagers turning a beet red. "Shut up," she grumbled, scrunching her face in distaste. Despite the constant jokes, it wasn't any less embarrassing than when they first started.

"Hey, you're the one that brought her up first."

The rest of the flight was silent. Gohan gave the two girls a few minutes to get acquainted with their new surroundings before calling them over. "Okay, I don't think I can use the same technique to teach both of you," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck. Looking between the two, he ruffled Pan's hair and turned to Videl. "I'll get Pan started while you practice controlling your ki. The more familiar you are with it, the easier everything else will be. It should eventually be as natural to you as breathing one day." When she immediately followed instructions, Gohan gaped at her in disbelief. "What, that's it? No arguments?"

Glaring, Videl pointedly turned away from him. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching Pan?" she asked, deciding to ignore his last statements. "I'm trying to concentrate." If there was one thing she learned in the past few days, it was that life was easier if one listened to Gohan Son when it came to this ki business.

With an amused smile, Gohan focused his attention on the little girl staring at him expectantly. "Okay, has Trunks thought you any of this yet?" he asked, producing a small ball of ki in his palms. At the girl's nod, he shot the energy at a nearby boulder. "What about that?" When she nodded again, he pursed his lips. "So there's not really much for me to teach you. He's got the basics. We just need to work on your control." Blowing up a boulder was one thing, but actually being able to use the balls of ki as an attack took work. "We'll start off easy. Do you remember that game we played with the rocks the other day? This time you're going to use your ki." Just as Pan started gathering her energy, Gohan raised a hand to stop her. "And this time, no aiming for Videl."

With an unabashed grin, Pan shot the first ball of ki directly at him. Easily dodging the attack, Gohan cringed as the boulder twice his size exploded. "Okay, maybe a little less power," he suggested, blasting the rock that flew towards Videl into ashes.

"I didn't mean that!"

"It was an accident. It's fine, but that's exactly the kind of thing we need to work on." Gohan called the child closer to him as he produced a ball of ki in his palm, the size constantly changing. "Focus on this. Do you feel the difference in ki inside the ball? Using ki to attack isn't just about unleashing large amounts of energy. It's about control." Giving the child a few seconds to process the information, Gohan allowed the ball of ki to shrink and dim. "Now, I want you to match what I do, okay?"

A few explosions later, Pan jumped up and rubbed her face as Gohan nearly fell back in laughter. Soot covered the child from her own energy exploding in her face. "Poppa," she scolded, managing an eerily accurate imitation of Videl's glare.

"Sorry, sorry," he managed between snickers as he reached forward and gently wiped the worst of the smudges from the child's face. "You're getting the hang of it, Pan. You just need some practice." Rubbing the worst of the soot off, he pulled the child back up to her feet. "Now, it's Videl's turn. Are you going to stick around or do you want me to take you back to Capsule Corp?"

Pan glanced at the girl sitting a few feet away before looking up at the teen in front of her. "Are you going to do fun things?" she asked curiously.

"She wants to learn how to fly."

She scrunched her nose together in distaste. "No, thanks," she said before shooting up into the air. "I can get back on my own!"

"PA—" Gohan trailed off mid-yell and shook his head in defeat. Yep, that one was definitely Videl's daughter. He was sure of it. Head strong, stubborn, and insisting on doing anything and everything herself. Dusting off the grass sticking to his pants, Gohan walked over to where Videl was holding a small ball of light between her palms. "Looks like you're getting the hang of it."

She grunted noncommittally, blue eyes focused intently on the orb. "How much longer until I can fly?" she asked, letting the light dissipate slowly from between her palms before looking up at him.

Gohan grinned at the amount of control she seemed to have gained in the past few days. "Get up," he instructed, holding a hand out to her. Videl eyed him momentarily then allowed him to pull her up to her feet. "What you need to do is take your ki like you've been doing and push out from under you." As he spoke, he slowly rose into the air. "See?"

At his demonstration, Videl pursed her lips and looked down at her feet. Okay, she could do this. A four year old could do it. She should be able to-she took a deep breath to focus her thoughts. No, it wasn't the time to be comparing herself to anyone. Closing her eyes, she thought of her ki and pushing it under her as Gohan said. When it felt as though nothing was happening, she opened her eyes to tell him only to find Gohan tilting his head back and smiling at her.

"What are you working on, Pan?" Lime asked as she took a seat next to the four year old. It was rare to see her without either of her parents or one of the boys. "Where are your momma and poppa?"

She grinned, immediately holding up the paper she had been crouched over for the past hour. "I'm making a birthday present for poppa!" If Lime didn't know the girl's father, she would have never believed the child was responsible for the sketch. "See, there is poppa and momma and me!" The likeness of the subjects to Pan and the teenage counterparts of her parents were unmistakable. "Poppa took momma training again but it was boring so I came back."

"That drawing is very beautiful, Panny," Bulma cooed as she sat next to the little girl. "I know you're busy, but do you think you could help me and your Grandma Chi Chi with something? We want to surprise your poppa for his birthday."

The thought of a surprise clearly excited the child as she eagerly turned her attention to the blue-haired scientist. "What is it? What is it?"

With a grin, Bulma gestured for the girl to come closer and whispered the plan conspiringly into her ears. "This is what I need you to do…"

Hey, guys. I'm really sorry it's taken me ages to update. It's a year to the date since my last one and while I'm not super happy with this chapter, I figured hey what the hell, right? I thought my new job would give me a lot of time to write, but that didn't happen. Not to mention the fact that life has just been really hectic lately, especially with trying to figure out what I want to do now. When I was in undergrad, I had a purpose. Now, not so much. Ha. Sorry I'm getting a little (or a lot) whiny.

I just want to say thank you to those of you that PMed me or messaged me on tumblr about continuing this story. I'm sorry I didn't really reply to you guys but it definitely kept this story somewhere near the forefront of my priorities. So, again, thanks guys and I hope it's not as long a wait for the next one. This chapter wasn't my best work and I apologize, but I'm kind of at a point where I want to get through this story so I can get it fully fleshed out and then rewrite it.

- Skye