Pre-note: Let me use this opportunity to express my gratitude to two parties. First, thanks to my female friend whom I consulted in the making of this story, although she isn't among us fanfiction writers and readers. Second, thanks to Power9987 for beta-reading it. Their input had been a godsend.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball / Dragonball Z / Dragonball GT.

Happy reading!

After the skirmish with Vanitas had been settled, things had finally returned to normal.

Much had changed, and one of the changes was unheard of in the original timeline where Older Goten came from. Despite having his hometown rechristened after his name, Hercule had spoken very little about the circumstances surrounding Vanitas's defeat. Whenever reporters asked him about this, he would always produce an enigmatic response by saying that he fought together with two nameless fighters, and that their whereabouts were unknown since then. He also would go on to state that the battle had been somewhat of an eye-opener for him. What this meant was for him to know and for the reporters to find out.

A possible explanation was that although recorded evidence showing Older Goten and Gohan's victory was absent, a multitude of people—too many of them—had been there to witness the event first-hand, preventing Hercule from fabricating a false story. True, this might sound too good to be true and so farfetched, especially considering how the future version of the man could be sometimes. Whether or not this was true was anyone's guess, but the fact remained: the wonder kids have won his respect. Per Videl's suggestion to respect her newfound friends' plea for privacy and anonymity, Hercule agreed not to speak of Son, Older Goten, and Gohan until their faces had been wiped away from public memory.

That was one thing.

Another thing that had changed since then was the presence of Son, the fusion persona who was brought to independent existence by means of a wish to the Eternal Dragon made by his constituents. He couldn't thank them enough, and for their kindness he had promised to always be a good big brother to both Goten and Trunks, especially the latter.

In addition to that, this particular boy seemed to have developed some kind of a crush on Videl, although whether the opposite was true remained to be seen. This was obvious from his reaction when said girl paid a visit to Capsule Corp on the day preceding Older Goten's return to his timeline; he was extremely shy only when talking with her, and the fact that Gohan would occasionally tease him about it just made it even worse for him.

As for Videl's purpose of visit, it came as a surprise to both Gohan and Goten. Having witnessed what the young warriors were capable of during their battle with Vanitas, she had come to ask to be trained in energy manipulation to reinforce her martial arts skills and protect order in her hometown, previously known as Orange Star City. Innocently yet mischievously persuaded by his twin brother Gohan, Son had no choice but to agree to train Videl, and that was what he had been doing for the past month.

Now, let's take a look at how they spend one particular March day.

It was a rather lazy evening at Mount Paozu. The temperature was borderline pleasant; it wasn't exactly high, but not low either, owing to the fact that the area had just transitioned from winter to spring. Although the trees were still shy to show off their foliage, snow had melted, and its melancholy, achromatic shade had been replaced by the virid green of grass.

On an extensive clearing somewhere in the depths of Mount Paozu forest, sitting on the turf just outside a white, newly-rebuilt capsule house was a boy around thirteen years of age. Seated on the turf, he was affectionately ruffling the hair of a kid on whose head his chin was rested. The younger boy, who seemed to be half as old as the former, didn't mind his skull being used as headrest; in fact, he loved it, and he wouldn't complain since he felt comfortable sitting on his brother's lap, safe in the protection of his tender embrace.

Brimming with excitement, their collective attention was focused on two other people standing a few metres in front of them, vis-à-vis with each other. One of them, a girl, had this expression that screamed anticipation, while the other put on a playful face, although upon closer observation it was evident that he could be more relaxed. In a glimpse, the two preteens seemed nothing short of ready to engage in a playful activity, except they weren't about to play.

"Okay… so," the boy began, "are you ready for your final training?"

The girl nodded resolutely. "Do you even have to ask, Son? I'm as ready as can be."

Approving of her eagerness, Son grinned in response. He then turned to the bystanders and called to one of them. "Hey, Goten! I need your help, little brother. Can you assist me?"

Hearing the sound of his name, the spiky-haired child sprang out of his brother's hold faster than the eyes could perceive. Goten was extremely enthusiastic about it and would be more than willing to help; he loved it so much whenever big brother Son or Gohan involved him in any of their training sessions. True, he was nowhere as strong as either of them, but by helping them he could learn lots of things and better himself.

In an almost galloping manner, Goten made his way toward Son and then leapt into his arms. The older boy immediately lifted him up and swung him around like an airplane, which he liked even though he was able to fly. "What are we gonna do, big brother? Howdcha want me to help?" asked Goten in a very excited tone of voice.

"Don't worry, you'll know soon enough," replied Son as he put his little brother down on the ground just beside the girl. He stole a glance at her and was glad to see she was smiling at Goten's presence. "There! Now, you know Videl is having her final flying lesson today, right?"

Goten nodded fervently. "Uh-huh! And if she passes, she can leave her huge plane at home whenever she comes here! Isn't that right, Videl?"

"Yup, you're right! You're a smart one, Goten," came Videl's reply, "Plus, I think flying is better than riding planes, because it's cheaper and more eco-friendly."

"What's eco-friendly?" asked Goten again, a look of confusion daubed on his face. Curious as he might be, he was still too young to understand such complicated terms.

"That means it doesn't pollute the environment. You don't want the air to be dirty, do you?"

"No way! The birdies won't like it, too. If planes are bad, you have to pass big brother's lesson so you don't have to pollute the air anymore!"

Just like Son and Gohan liked to do to him, Videl ruffled the tyke's hair. "Wow, this is not hair… it's mane. You're a lion, Goten... a mighty lion!" she said with a tone of voice that amused Goten to no end. She then knelt down and locked gazes with him. "Don't worry, little guy, I will pass the test. I promise." To show him that she really meant her words, she gently took hold of Goten's right hand and hooked her pinkie finger onto his.

That was all it took to gladden Goten even more. With a wide grin that threatened to split his face into two, he jumped in glee; there really was no telling when his vast reservoir of energy would run out, if it ever could. Videl then stood up again, and true to her words earlier, she assumed an anticipant expression to show that she was ready to tackle whatever Son was about to throw to her.

Seeing that his friend and brother were ready, Son once again took the spotlight. He would love to see them in interaction with each other, but it was already four thirty and the air was getting colder by the second. "Okay, so this is how it's gonna work," he said to Videl first, "You'll be assessed not only in speed, but also technique and elegance. What do you think?"

"Sounds good. I'll show you all those lessons in the past are not for nothing," replied Videl.

"Alright! And that's where I need your help, Goten," he turned to the child who responded with an eager nod, "When Videl is flying around, I want you to throw energy blasts at her, okay?"

Goten cocked his head to the left, trying to understand the rationale behind Son's method of training. "Huh? But what if she's hurt? I don't wanna hurt Videl, or you, or Gohan, or anyone."

"She won't be hurt as long as you keep your power low. That way you don't exhaust yourself too fast, too."

"Hmm… so why do you want me to hit her?"

"Well, it's simple. She's gonna have to dodge or swat your blasts, and if she manages to avoid getting hit for more than one minute, she passes. It's a great way to sharpen her reflex and also your accuracy! It's like hitting two birds with one stone. Sounds cool, huh?"

"What's a reflex, big brother? Use easy words, wouldcha?"

Son laughed and told Goten that he would know soon enough. He then asked Videl if she was ready. Of course it went without saying that she was, so Son instructed her to soar in the air and get prepared. Next, he asked Goten to slightly raise his energy in preparation for his onslaught; he needed him to concentrate and maintain the power level stable to keep his blasts from hurting Videl should any connected.

"You ready, little brother?" asked Son, to which he gained a firm nod as his reply. He then lifted his head to see his female friend hovering in the air, then shouted for her to hear, "Okay, Videl, the ground crew's ready! We're starting really soon!"

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let the show begin!" responded Videl.

Pleased at Videl's eagerness, Son produced a soft smile. There were these other thoughts about the girl running in his mind right now, but he had to keep himself focused on the task at hand. "Great! On the count of three, then. One, two, and… three!"

"Da-da-da-da-da!"

With that rather childish cry, Goten unleashed a salvo of energy blasts at Videl's direction. The little boy really wasn't holding back; every second, the number of blasts coming out of his hand easily reached seven, each and every one of them travelling through the air in extraordinarily high speed. Even though harmless, those bright little spheres of energy did sting and might slightly singe one's skin as well.

However, Videl seemed to have little problem dealing with them. It looked like she was dancing in the air; effortlessly and gracefully she swerved here and there with fluid manoeuvres, evading every single blast that came her way. She didn't even need to deflect any of them. It wasn't to show that Goten was a bad marksman, but rather a testimony of how advanced Videl's sense of reflex really was. Of course, this could be attributed to the fact that she had been exposed to martial arts ever since she was little, and being trained by the strongest guy in the planet only fortified the validity of this argument.

One minute finally passed with no single blast connecting, which meant Videl had passed the test. However, Son wanted to take it to the next level just for the fun of it, so he blew three stable ghosts and commanded them to join in the fray. The introduction of those adorable little phantoms caused Videl to get distracted for an instant, but she soon regained her composure and continued doing well.

Evading the blasts and ghosts weren't the only thought in her mind, though. Every so often she found herself having subconsciously stolen a glance at Son, who stood by Goten trying to coach him to improve his energy manipulation skill. While dancing around the air, she started entertaining those thoughts about said boy.

As far as she could recall, Son had never failed to treat others with kindness, especially to those close to him. She knew it was true because she had seen how he interacted with Gohan, Goten, and his parents during the course of her flight training. He could be very shy at times, though, especially when it came down to conversation between them, but truth be told, she saw that as cute.

Shocked at her own thoughts, Videl shook her head. 'Okay, calm down. Son's cute, and I can spend the rest of the day to admire him. Just not now,' she said inwardly.

Son was also extremely strong, but it really shouldn't come as a surprise to those who knew him. After all, he was the one who had singlehandedly defeated Vanitas. His power was way off the chart; no, it was even off the wall the chart was tacked on. Despite this, he never once bragged about what he was capable of, and this humbleness was certainly a plus for her.

'Gee, why am I still thinking about this? C'mon, Videl, focus,' she continued scolding herself inwardly, 'I really need to concentrate on dodging those blasts and ghosts.'

And finally, the part that no single girl would miss: his physical features.

'Wha—hold on! Stop thinking about him! No, no, not now!'

His face had just the right balance between handsome and cute. His obsidian eyes, though sharp, seemed to always be radiating playfulness, although those very eyes also had the power to render her speechless and nervous whenever they locked gazes. And then it came, the thought about Son's body.

'No! Don't look at him… it's not the time!'

Sadly, even though the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak.

Try as she might, she couldn't help stealing yet another glance at him and admiring that perfect build of his. It so happened that the Son's sleeveless purple martial arts uniform revealed parts of his chest and upper arms… it was as though he was a living version of those sculptures depicting handsome-looking ancient gods! As she adored his well-developed muscles on his chest and arms, she could feel the blood rushing to her head, causing it to pound furiously and breaking her concentration. It was as though she was experiencing vertigo.

'What am I thinking? I've gotta snap out of it! I'm supposed to—'

"Peek-a-boo!"

"WAAHHH!"

Thanks to being deep in her thoughts about Son, Videl failed to notice that a ghost had made its way right in front of her, intercepting her in her path of flight. Surprised, she lost control of her energy and started losing elevation. Being a human, she didn't possess that toughness that Saiyans or halflings did; should she reach the ground before she could focus her energy to keep her airborne, the impact was bound to break several of her bones.

Unfortunately, she failed to regain control in time, and she was now only a few metres from the ground. Videl could only brace herself for the impact and the pain that was sure to accompany it…

"Oof! Gotcha!"

… but it never came.

At the last second, Son managed to catch her, sparing her from broken bones and possible blunt force trauma. Out of reflex, he cradled her in his arms, a gesture that succeeded in shocking both of them.

After several seconds of calm, Son carefully helped Videl get back on her feet. At this point, both of them were blushing furiously; neither one of them had the guts to look at the other in the eyes although they were standing side by side. They had something to say, but every time they would just choke on their words and refrained to speak, prolonging the already awkward silence.

Only after yet another ten-second period did Son finally break the wordlessness and spoke. "Um… uh, Videl… are you okay?"

Videl replied that she was okay and thanked him, her hands behind her back and her gaze fixed on the ground below her. "So, Son… did I pass?"

Son was so embarrassed he found it hard to compose a proper sentence. "Eh… um, yeah, you passed. You, uh… stayed airborne for more than a minute, so…"

The boy might be nervous, but Videl was probably as nervous as him, if not even more. Heck, one moment she was thinking about how perfect his body was, and the next second she found herself safe in the protection of his arms! Her face must be burning right now! Oh, how she wanted to just go all-out and give Son a tender hug right now to show her gratitude… but she figured killing herself would be much, much easier.

Now there was this one boy named Gohan who had been watching from the sidelines. Noticing the extremely sentimental state his twin brother and Videl were currently in, his eyes widened, his lips gradually parted into a grin, and there was this drive from within that urged him to get closer and watch how things would play out. He had spent the last month teasing Son about his strange behaviour whenever Videl was around, and he was sure he wouldn't give this opportunity a miss.

However, before he could even get up, the hollering sound of a familiar voice caught his—as well as the other three's—attention.

"Son Gohan! Son Gokan! Son Goten! I need to talk to you three this instant!"

It was the fearsome voice of Chichi. From the way she sounded, it looked like she had her trusted weapon, the dreaded Frying Pan of Apocalypse. And no, the Son matron didn't make a single mistake in her earlier sentence; there really was someone named Son Gokan present in their midst.

Chichi wanted Son to live a normal life and had made plans to enrol him in school along with Gohan starting next academic year, so they had to come up with a name for him to use in public. It would be peculiar if he was to be known as Son Son, now, would it? Other than sounding ridiculous, that name wouldn't have any meaning at all and would be no different than pure gibberish.

And so, during their brainstorming session, Chichi came up with an idea. Since Son had been the result of Fusion performed by her present and future sons, why not christen him in such a way that his presence was representative of Older Goten's being with them? Everybody agreed, and the mother named him Gotan, which was the name adopted by Older Goten during Dr. Goodguy's stay in Capsule Corp in order to avoid being confused with his little self.

However, Gohan politely objected. According to him, Gotan was just a placeholder that didn't have any meaning, and it would be the same as not giving him a name at all. Chichi perceived her son's opinion as valid, but stated that he had to suggest something if he wanted his argument to count. Blessed with a critical mentality, Gohan had anticipated this, and he came up with an original name. An elaborate explanation regarding time and space, as well as how the name illustrated the connection between their world and Older Goten's, was all he needed to have his proposal accepted by everyone present.

That was how Son ended up being known as Gokan, although those close to him—Videl and the Brief household included—would continue to refer to him by the name they had grown accustomed to.

Knowing that his mother could explode into a rage that would cause even a Super Saiyan to fall to his knees, Son apologised to Videl and excused himself in a very sheepish manner. As he walked toward the front porch of the house where Chichi had been waiting, he was joined by Goten and then Gohan, their expression as apprehensive as his own.

Chichi didn't waste any time. As soon as her three sons were gathered near her, she began her verbal blitzkrieg. "Alright. I thought I've made it clear that no energy blasts or explosive ghosts are allowed within twenty five metres from the house!" she rambled faster than a Gatling gun's rate of fire, "Now what excuse do you have to offer, hmm, young men? You'd better have a good answer!"

"I didn't do anything, mom," Gohan stated the plain fact.

"And those ghosts weren't explosive…" said Son.

"And the blasts were weak!" Goten too joined.

Before they could speak another word, the trio were silenced by a blow to the head, each of them getting one. Each strike gave rise to a loud metallic, slightly melodic clang that was somewhat pleasing to the ears; whether it was due to the Frying Pan's durability or the toughness of Saiyan skulls was anyone's guess. The former had higher possibility to be true, though, since it had seen hundreds of strikes ever since it left the store several years ago. In any case, the blows were certain to leave a mark on their scalp.

"Those aren't good answers!" said Chichi again, "Son, you know better than anyone else that your ghosts can be very naughty and have the tendency to mess things up. Goten, I don't care about weak or strong, energy blasts are energy blasts!"

Still firmly believing he had done anything wrong, Gohan protested. "But what about me, mom? I was just watching, that's all…"

"What about you, Gohan? So you want to know?" the mother glared at Gohan, "Well, let me tell you this. You could've stopped them or suggested that they train somewhere else! I don't want our house to get levelled again just because my sons can't adhere to very simple rules!"

Hearing the reply, Gohan stooped his head in defeat. He knew his mother was correct. He could have brought Son, Goten, and Videl to the woods and let them train to their hearts' content. Then again, once even just one of them got scolded by Chichi, all hopes of escaping her wrath were pretty much dashed; she would stop at nothing to avoid exhibiting apparent preferential treatment, and as such would scold each and every one of them over the most trivial matters.

However, Chichi's rage gradually subsided and she returned to her kind, motherly self. After she was sure her sons got the message she was trying to convey, she gave each of them a tender hug and apologised for hitting them with her trusted armament. "I'm sorry, my boys. I just don't want anything bad happen to you. Those rules are there to keep us safe…"

Being the oldest child, Gohan understood very well the good intentions behind Chichi's outburst. No one could blame her, really; back when Gohan was still a little kid, he had been in all kinds of extremely dangerous situations, and that wasn't accounting for the fact that he had been the family's only child back then. He could still remember how—after getting back from Namek with Older Goten and Trunks—she welcomed him with a stream of tears for having caught wind about his demise, which had led her into mistakenly believing that she wouldn't get to see him ever again. The joy radiating from her upon learning that she had been wrong was unmistakeable.

After all, a loving mother would do anything in her power not to let any of her family members run into distress, correct? That was why she came up with strict rules that sometimes could seem to be too much even for the Gohan himself—that was saying something because he was the most passive of the three boys—but as she said, it was all for everyone's well-being. Although Chichi could be quite scary whenever someone broke the rules, Goku and the children still loved her like nobody else because she was just that: a loving wife and mother.

Videl, who had been watching from the distance, sighed softly at the sight and produced a weak smile. She couldn't help but think about how lucky the brothers were to be blessed with such a caring parent, but seeing it also reminded her of the happy times she had spent with her mother in the past, hence her bittersweet response. It had been a long time since she last experienced the warmth of a mother's love, and to tell the truth, she missed it really bad.

She could feel her eyes getting wet, and it really wasn't the best place or time to cry. Fortunately for her, Chichi summoned her; she blinked a few times to contain her tears and mask her sadness before walking toward the house. Now having assumed her place just a few steps beside Son—whether subconsciously or deliberately, it was much to Gohan's silent amusement—she politely greeted the Son matron and asked how she could be of help.

"Well, it's getting late, so I was thinking if you'd stay for a while and have dinner with us," said Chichi. She had no qualms over inviting someone she knew she could trust for dinner, and thanks to her interaction with her sons lately, Videl had fallen under that category.

The girl, however, was taken by surprise. It was true that she had been training and playing with the three Son boys for the past month, but this was the first time her host invited her for dinner. She didn't want her presence to burden Chichi by adding more work to do. "Thanks, ma'am… I appreciate the offer, but I really think I should go home now," she said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, young lady. I'm sure one extra soul won't hurt. I can't just let you starve in your way back home, can I?" Chichi smiled in reply, "Besides, I'm sure no one would mind. Right, boys?"

The youngest child nodded in excitement. Although he firmly believed nothing would beat the excitement of having Trunks over, the presence of a friend in the house never failed to entertain him. Besides, despite the unfortunate yet adorable scuffle when they first met at Capsule Corp, Videl had been very kind toward him, and he liked her presence. As such, he tried his best to persuade her to stay and spend the evening together.

Neither did Gohan mind Videl's presence. When he turned to Son, though, he was treated an amusing sight; said boy latter looked like as though he was nailed to the ground, speechless and blushing slightly. With an array of thoughts running amok in his head, he was too embarrassed to either smile or frown, and this amused Gohan to no end.

Wanting to seize the opportunity to embarrass his younger twin, Gohan spoke up. "That's right, Videl, I think you should stay for dinner. I think I know a certain someone who's more than happy to have you here. Isn't that right… Son?"

The boy in question kept his silence, but he soon learned that it wasn't a good idea. Seeing how Son was acting as well as how Videl reacted to Gohan's words, Chichi put two and two together and finally came to a conclusion. "Whaaat? Son, is what I'm thinking right?"

Now forced to abandon his resolve to be silent, Son asked back. "H-huh? What's right, mom?"

"You… and Videl… are you two—"

"WAAAH! No! No! I don't know what you're talking about!" the boy cried as he burst into a paroxysm of panic. By now his heart was thumping furiously, and he could feel as though steam was coming out of every opening on his face. "C-c'mon! Let's get inside! It's getting cold, yeah… I'm gonna take a bath! No one gets in before me!"

And so Son made his awkward entrance into the house, leaving behind four people on the front porch. Laughing heartily, Gohan too retreated inside—it was very unlike him to be mischievous like that, but that was what you got after spending so much time with his even more mischievous brother from the future. Goten, who was following closely behind, was still too young to understand what the entire affair was all about, but he just knew something very interesting was currently brewing.

Chichi smiled softly at her sons' antics. "Son and Gohan… they remind me of the times when the Goten from the future was here," she said. She then turned to Videl and invited her to come inside and insisted that she stayed. "The boys are perfectly fine with the idea, and Goku wouldn't mind, too. I'm sure of it. It's always nice to share our blessings with other people, so come on in… don't be shy."

Videl was left with no other choice. She knew rejecting an offer which was made out of goodwill was very rude, so she nodded in agreement and followed Chichi inside. The mother, glad that they would be having a dinner with six people, took her guest to the living room, called her sons to keep her company, and proceeded to the kitchen to prepare the feast. With uncertain feelings, Videl did as told and waited for Gohan and Goten.

What else would happen inside the walls of the Son residence this evening, no one could predict. Videl could only sigh; true, she was glad she got the chance to spend more time with Son before going home—and she hoped he felt exactly the same way—but she also was afraid she would mess up by doing anything stupid for his family members to see.

However, she was quick to shrug aside her fears of the unknown. 'Calm down, calm down…' she thought repeatedly while regulating her breath, 'That's it. It's just a dinner with Son and his family. Nothing bad is gonna happen. There we go…'

Whether either Videl or Son would do something stupid or Gohan would cause them to, it was anyone's guess. In any case, one thing was certain: it looked like flowers weren't the only ones blooming this spring.

Post-note: In Japanese, "time" and "space" is "jikan" and "kūkan", respectively. The "-kan" shared by both words is represented by the same character, 間, which per se can mean "interval", "in-between", or "void". As such, the name Gokan, 悟間, has a personal meaning of "knowledge of the void (of time and space)" to the Son family, referring to the interdimensional abyss separating their world from Older Goten's.

Also, the idea of Videl marvelling at Son's qualities was inspired by Power9987's story. Credit goes to him for that.