The New Age Empire v2: Book 2

Saturday, December 24th

~Chapter 19: Yule Eve Ball~

"You are not to touch any of these decorations! Don't even go in there!" Bulma informed everyone in the main hall early Christmas Eve. "Not the kids, not the adults, NO ONE. I want everything to be perfect for our first royal function."

Jakina, feeling a little overwhelmed, rose her hand into the air. Bra hid her snickers behind her hand until her little sister was called on.

"Hai, Jackie-chan?"

"What if there's this horrendous fire and I left something very, very, *very* important in the ballroom?"

"Iie."

"What if someone is trapped in there?"

"Iie."

"Wait a minute, let me get this straight," A crease appeared between Bra's brows. "You'd rather let someone die than to let the room get out of order? If the palace burns down then the ballroom's gonna burn too!"

"We don't try to understand Kaasan's logic," Trunks said to her. "We just accept it."

She shrugged and grabbed Trunks' arm. "Whatever. Niichan? Are you gonna drive me to the mall?"

The look he gave her was just short of amusement. "Why would I do that? You have feet."

"KAASAN! Trunks is being really mean to me!" Bra wailed and began to cry on the spot. "Make him take me!" At the sight of a discreet wink, Pan and Jakina began to cry as well. Everyone in the hall covered their ears and most of them fled. Vegeta covered Bra and Jakina's mouths and glared at Pan. All three of them shut up instantly.

"You three are acting like spoiled brats." He told them sternly. "Trunks, your sisters both have last-minute fittings at that stupid boutique their dresses are coming from. Pan still needs to purchase one. You, Mia, and Magori can get them the hell out the house so the onna will stop freaking out and I will have to stay here, bored. Kakarotto should be back late this evening so stop by the dry cleaner's and pick up his uniform." He dug into a pocket and handed him a piece of paper. "This is a grocery list. We're all out of these things. Go get them."

"But this'll take us all day!" Trunks whined.

His father smirked. "That's why you're leaving now. The time is now eight twenty-five. Be back here no later than six o'clock. The ball is to start promptly at eight and you do not want to experience the wrath of Bulma if you walk in any time after that. I'm doing you a favor by getting you out of here. You should be grateful."

"Sure Papa," he sighed while running a hand through his hair. "Well, there goes my day." The king walked away towards the throne room and his study. Once again he was going use work to hide himself from his wife.

"I don't like this any more than you do," Mia said to him. "But you don't see me complaining."

"I don't wanna buy a dress!" Pan wailed. "How come I can't wear my new overalls?"

"It's a formal dance, baka." Bra rolled her eyes. "If you show up in pants Kaasan will probably kill you. You should see that thing she's forcing me to wear. It's so stiff I can barely sit down in it. Believe me, I've tried many times."

The very discontented group (except maybe Magori) headed off towards the parking garage and a very eventful day in Satan City.

***

"What about this one?" Jakina asked while holding up a yellow and white dress in Pan's size. She tilted her head slightly and frowned.

"Nope. Too white." It was placed back on the rack and the three girls moved on.

"What about this one?" Bra picked out a navy blue one with with white flowers.

"It has flowers on it."

"Yeah? So?"

"I don't want flowers on my clothes!"

"ARGH!" Bra screamed in frustration as she put it back on the rack. "Look Panny-chan, you're my best-friend but I'm this close," she held up to fingers to illustrate, "to strangling you."

"Here it is!" Pan gasped as she held up a deep red silk Chinese-style dress with tiny gold dragons on it. "Wait a minute..." She looked at the size. "It's too small! Bra! Jackie! Do you see a twelve anywhere?"

"Twelve, twelve," Bra muttered. "Seven, eight, eight, sixteen. Nope."

"The one I *do* like they don't have in my size!" She rapidly flipped through the dresses on the rack. "How about a fourteen? It's too big but it's better than nothin'."

"I have a ten. Can you squeeze into that?" Jakina handed it to her and pointed over to the fitting room.

"I'll try."

Mia, Trunks, and Magori made their way over to the girl's department to check on Pan. Saying the older two were annoyed was an understatement. Both Mia and Magori had decided on and purchased their clothes in less than ten minutes. Pan was taking close to half-an-hour.

"She still isn't done," Mia said with a sigh.

"It's okay now. She found something and is currently trying to squeeze into it because it's not in her size. Once she's finished we can move on to a shoe store." Bra wasn't exactly looking forward to that. Pan took forever in choosing footwear as well. Almost as long as clothes. All of them needed new dress shoes though so she wouldn't be the only one undecided. Pan emerged from the fitting room in less than a minute and posed for everyone.

"So, what do you think?" she asked. It did look nice, not too tight after all. She darted back into the dressing room to change back into her regular clothes and there was a collective sigh of relief.

"Bra, do you have, well, a bra to wear?" Mia snickered a little as she said it but she was serious.

"Nope. Kaasan never took me shopping. You know she's obsessed with her projects."

"You guys are just going to have to go ahead." She handed her bag to Trunks and took a large sum of money from his wallet. "We have a mission."

"Why can't I just wear a undershirt?"

"Because you can't now come on!" Mia dragged her off to the lingerie department and everyone else left the store.

"She was my aide," Pan sighed. "Now who am I going to get to help me?"

"Ahem," the smaller dark-haired girl cleared her throat. "Are you ignoring what I did? I found your dress!"

"Of course not, Jackie-chan. You're my friend too."

"Pan-chan, *please* for the love of Kami pick out a pair of shoes within ten minutes." Trunks pleaded with her. "I'm tired and I want to go home."

"We still have to go to the grocery store and Mia can drive now remember?" Pan jumped up onto his back and grabbed him around the neck. "C'mon, Trunks-chan. Don't be that way. I hardly ever see you anymore because you're always workin'."

"I'm trying to escape the madness that is my home," he grinned slightly. "And the madness of the media. I wonder why they aren't stalking us right now."

"It's after nine. Most reporters aren't really awake now and besides, we didn't tell anyone or attract any unnecessary attention."

"It's also Christmas Eve," Magori observed. "There are so many people around."

The Satan City Mall had three floors and over two-hundred different stores though a lot of them were identical in what they sold. The store they had just left was a department store and now it was off to one of the twelve different shoe places. Knowing Bulma's reaction it would have to be an expensive, quality one.

"That dress was pretty long, Pan-chan. You're going to need heels on your shoes." Trunks stopped by the window of the first shoe store. "Can you even walk in heels?"

"I have no idea. I never wore them before."

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair once again. "Come on then. I'll try to help you but if you haven't noticed I'm not a girl."

The Shoe Source was packed with last-minute shoppers and their small group had to fight their way to the girl's three section. Trunks sat down on a bench to wait and Magori just looked around at everyone with a look of wonder on his face.

"Are all these people here to buy Christmas presents?" he asked Trunks.

"Most of them. Some people wait until the Christmas Eve sales because they're cheap." He grinned. "I bought my presents last week."

"These are nice, Pan-chan," Jakina held up a pair of black semi-dressy shoes with a two-inch clunky heel. Trunks immediately shook his head.

"Those are too casual. Get something with a slimmer heel on it."

"But I can walk in these!" Her eyes narrowed and she pointed at him accusingly. "You just want to see me fall on my face."

"While that would be extremely amusing, I don't want that. I'm trying to save you from being yelled at by Kaasan and ChiChi."

"I'm getting them and you are going to pay for them." She said firmly. "Or I will throw a temper tantrum in front of all of these people."

"Fine, Pan-chan." Trunks could feel a headache coming on. "I'm going to get my shoes and Magori's and I'll meet you two at the cash register. Don't buy anything besides shoes."

"You're rich. Does it matter?"

"I mean it!"

"Fine, geez. You get crabby without Goten-ojichan around." Her commented made Trunks blink in surprise.

"I do?"

"You do," Jakina nodded. "I never really thought about it before now though."

With a frown on his face, Trunks wandered off to the men's section with Magori in tow.

***

"This is extremely embarrasing!" Bra blushed. "Can't you just let me figure it out?"

"Only five more minutes," Mia muttered. "Just think of me as your big sister."

"This still would be embarrasing."

Mia smiled suddenly at a funny memory and decided to share it with Bra. "When I was twelve Kaasan took me to the store to buy bras. You know how she acts, though, so a lot of bad stuff happened."

Bra's face lit up and she was successfully distracted from what was going on in the fitting room. "What happened?"

"Well first no one couldn't decide on the right size. Kaasan kept claiming it was twenty-eight and the saleslady kept arguing thirty. I agreed with the saleslady since the twenty-eight was too tight but you know you can't tell Kaasan anything. It was fifteen long minutes of arguing over underwear with bras flying all over the place and it just about came to blows when I took Kaasan's credit card, bought my bras, and left the store. Ten minutes later they realized I was gone and that their argument was stupid. By that time I was halfway home. Hard to believe that was only four years ago."

By the end of her story Mia had decided on a size and left to have Bra change. It took them very little time to pick out some and track down everyone else's kis and rejoin the group. Trunks, looking almost exactly like his father, was slowly massaging his temples because Pan had decided that she didn't want those shoes after all. The time was now nine forty-five.

"Bra, Jackie just go get your dresses from the boutique and I'll meet you down there with Pan. If I haven't killed her by then."

"Oh ha, ha," the little girl said sarcastically. "Very amusing, Trunks. You know I can kick your ass any day of the week."

"Pan, language." Mia repremanded.

"Gomen, Mia-obasan."

"Can we get something to eat before we leave here?" Magori asked. "I'm a little hungry."

As if on cue, Pan's stomach let out a loud rumble. She blushed slightly and continued to look among the shelves. "I guess I'm hungry too."

"You have that infamous Son stomach. I'm surprised that the people in Britain didn't hear that."

"Papa's stomach doesn't do this."

"Your papa's an odd person."

Soon (if you can call fifteen minutes soon) they were all once again making their way down the mall, this time towards the food court. Each person in the group had a bag but Pan, Mia, and Bra all had two each. Once among the crowds of hungry shoppers, they split up for seperate restaurants.

"Someone is going to have to secure a table and guard our stuff. I don't know about you guys but I can't carry a tray *and* two bags." Pan told the other kids. All exchanged glances and then pointed at Bra.

"Go ahead Bra-chan," Magori smiled. "Find us a large table and we'll be back soon."

"I can't believe you of all people would do this to me," she pouted while taking their stuff. "I thought you were the nice one, Magori."

"Looks can be deceiving Bra so just go on over there and sit down." Bra stuck her tongue out at them and did so. She watched hungrily as people came and went with their meals. Bra was so into watching for any signs of her friends and family that she was started when someone sat down across from her.

"Not you again," she groaned. It was the same boy from the hallway five days ago. He blinked at her with brown eyes that were magnified at least three times their actual size by the lenses of his glasses. She drummed her fingers on the table idly and waited for him to speak.

"Bra-hime I come to you with a problem." She remained silent for a short time until she realized that he wasn't going to say anything else.

"And I'm supposed to be able to help you how?"

"I want you to teach me to be like you are. Confident, popular, and most of all good enoguh to look at."

"Uh," she was at a loss for words, "Uh..."

With eyes wet with tears he leaned across the table to grasp her hands in his. "I'm begging you Bra-hime! Please help me!"

"Does my little sister have a boyfriend?" Trunks asked with a huge smile on his face. Bra groaned a second time and pulled her hands from the boy's.

"It's not like that, Trunks. This is, er, er..."

"Yonai, Taisho Yonai."

"This is Taisho. He needs my help and I'm bound by section three, article five to assist him in any way that I feel necessary."

"What section? Where the hell is that written down?"

"It's not written yet, retard. It's on the computer though. I suggested to Papa that he rewrite his laws and Jackie-chan suggested that he change his government."

"Are you sure you can say this with me around?" Taisho asked with a panicked expression on his face.

"You'll probably read it anyway so it doesn't matter." She motioned him to follow her away from the noise of the crowds and spoke quietly to him.

"I can help you but it's going to be hard work."

"I can do it!" He said confidentally. "I'm good at hard work."

Nodding she continued. "First you need a formal black suit. It's for tonight."

"What's going on tonight?"

"The first annual Yule Eve Ball. My kaasan came up with the idea." She smiled slightly. "My papa opposed it. He's not very social. We're here at the mall because my neechan and I have to get our dresses and a whole lot of other stuff. If you come over to my house around six-thirty with your clothes I can help you out."

"I can come over to *your* house?" His voice rose an note with each word until it was at a high-pitched squeak. "Your *huge* house?"

"Of course you can! Just tell whoever answers the intercom at the gates that you're my guest. Hopefully papa won't be the one to answer you."

"Domo arigatou, Bra-hime!" He hugged her in his excitement. "You're a better person than I ever imagined!"

"Aw, geez." She blushed. "I'm not that great."

After a few minutes more of talking she got her meal and made her way back to the table. As she took her seat everyone was grinning at her. Trunks obviously said something about Taisho.

"Nothing happened, okay? He's not my boyfriend. I don't even have a boyfriend!"

Even though they all nodded, no one believed a word that came out of her mouth. Sighing to herself she remained silent and miraculously they let it lie.

***

"That's crooked!" Bulma shouted to ChiChi and Videl who were attempting to hand a banner over the doorway to the ballroom. "Tilt it up a little on the right."

"Bulma, the caterers are on the phone now to confirm. You want them in the kitchen at no later than six?" Gohan asked her. He had taken the entire day off to help out since there was a shortage of people. Vegeta was in his study doing Kami knows what and the other three saiya-jin were still in space. No one had heard from them in over a week. Bulma was sort of worried because Goten tended to call very frequently but the ball was preoccupying her mind. By four o'clock things were finally beginning to come together. The floor was shining brightly, the thrones had been moved into the ballroom, the banner was straight, and the merry green and red decorations were everywhere. Bulma shooed everyone from the room (so that the floors wouldn't get scuffed) and collapsed into a chair in the main hall.

"What else do we need to do?" ChiChi asked her.

"I need to find Vegeta and make him take a shower. If I wait it'll be five before he does anything. If the kids get back and I'm not down here tell them to get dressed and meet me in the family room."

"What do you want Goku to do when he gets back?"

"Can he greet people at the door and check their coats? Son-kun is the best at dealing with people. Gohan call the quartet and confirm. If something comes up make sure you have the stereo and lots of CDs in there. I want this to be formal but it probably won't end up that way."

"We're back!" Bra called out loudly as she opened the door. After several trips everything was piled in the main hall. While Magori, Mia, and Pan began to carry the food into the kitchen Bra approached her mother with one of her bags.

"Look at what I have, Kaasan." She said with a slightly smile.

Bulma, beyond busy, sort of glanced over at her and continued to attempt to draw a floor plan. "Can it wait, Bra-chan?"

"Sure it can," she sighed, already set on finding her father instead. Besides the fact that she wanted to tell at least one of her parents, the laws really did need going over. Quickly retrieving her other bag and her dress she went upstairs to lay them out on her bed for the ball that night. It would be best to stay out of her mother's way.

***

"If you change this around it'll be clearer. 'All citizens have the right to believe what they want to believe, say what they feel, and do whatever it is that makes them happy. No one can take away that right without legal consequences.' " Bra typed that in and turned to her father.

"It'll have to be changed slightly. If stealing from someone else makes them happy then they can't do that." Vegeta frowned. "How about this: You have the right to freedom of speech, freedom from oppression, freedom of the press, fredom of assembly, freedom of choice, and freedom of ownership as long as it doesn't interfere with someone else's rights."

"Freedom of choice? Up until now everything we came up with was like the United States' first amendment. But what's 'freedom of choice'?"

"It's the freedom to make your own decisions in matters that concern you. Unless you make a decision that's potentially harmful to you, the authorities and your parents will not be able to interfere." He sighed as he typed it up. "I wish it had been that way on Vegeta-sei."

The grandfather clock in the corner chimed five times. Bra walked to the door so that she would be able to get dressed.

"I'm glad you took time to do this with me," she smiled at him. "Kaasan's so busy and everything. I love you, Papa."

Vegeta merely nodded and turned back to the computer but Bra could see the reflection of his smile on the screen. Ten minutes later Jakina, already dressed, ventured into her father's study where he was muttering over another law. Taking the vacated seat next to him, she waited for her father to say something.

"Do you want to work on the government? I have a list of people who I think are perfect for your advisors."

"Sure," he said, smiling slightly. "Why not?"

"Goku-san should be sort of like a vice-king. Since you've known him for a while you probably know what to expect from him. I know he's going to be the leader of your army anyway so it should work out well. Didn't he also make himself the Secretary of Public Safety?"

"This is not a democracy, Jackie-chan. He would be appropriately titled Minister of Public Safety. Even though some of these laws and some of the government structure is based on democracy I am a king, not a president."

"I see. Minister of Public Safety then. Who will be your other ministers? I think they should be from other countries."

"Then they would be called ambassadors, not ministers. Since a minister would be one of my most trusted advisors then they should be people I know personally."

"How about Gohan-san and ChiChi-san?"

"Well now we have a Minister of Science but Kakarotto's insane mate can't do anything."

Jakina grinned as she thought of a great position for ChiChi. "How about Minister of Education?"

Vegeta remembered all of those times ChiChi used to freak out when Gohan didn't study and smiled. "Perfect."

***

"This is my younger sister, Jakina, my eldest brother, Trunks, and my best-friend, Pan. My other brother, Vegeta Junior, isn't in town at the moment. He's doing something for my father."

Taisho nodded and smoothed down his suit for the tenth time. "I see. I want to thank you-"

"Hold it right there." Bra smiled. "You've thanked me enough times already. Just go find a nice girl and be yourself for kami's sake!"

"Where is Son-kun?" Bulma asked anyone within hearing distance. "He called earlier and said he would be here by seven-thirty! It's now seven thirty-eight and he's a no show!"

"Calm down Kaasan before you give youself a heart attack." Bra led her almost forcefully over to a chair and pushed her down into it. "Goku-san may be a little late but he'll be here. Eventually."

"Can I help in anyway, Briefs-san?" Taisho asked her.

Bulma smiled and shook her head. He had already helped with everything imaginable up to this point. "Not this time, Taisho. Unless you have a spaceship that can get you across the universe in less than ten minutes?"

"Oh no Briefs-san!" He said, eyes wide. "No one has a ship that fast!"

"Don't be so sure about that." Vegeta decided to make an appearance for the first time in hours. No one besides Bra and Jakina had seen him since that morning. Taisho jumped at the sudden voice behind him and quickly turned around.

"Your majesty!" He bowed low and Vegeta just about glowed in pleasure. At Bulma's glare, though, he quickly told him to stand back up again.

"You don't have to call me that." Bulma got up and left the room to check on a few things and he quickly changed his words. "I demand that you bow and address me as either 'sire' or 'your majesty' at all times."

"Hai, your majesty."

Bra rolled her eyes at her father. "Don't listen to him, Taisho. You can just call him Vegeta-san."

"Okay, Bra-hime." She groaned.

"Lesson number three: Do not call me Bra-hime."

He nodded. "Hai, Bra-hi-," he cut himself off at her glare. "Bra."

"Good." She nodded. "We're finally getting somewhere."

Eight o'clock came very quickly to the very busy Bulma. The string quartet was set up, the food was laid out, and everyone was present and dressed. Everyone except for Goku that is. The position that had been assigned to him was still empty so the kids filled in.

"Goku-ojiichan is going to get it," Pan grumbled underneath her breath as she took another lady's fir. "He owes us big."

'I'm here!" Goku's voice bellowed through the main hall. He rushed to his place by the door from the staircase and immediately noticed that several small children were glaring at him. One hand behind his hand, he chuckled slightly.

"Oops?"

" 'Oops' is not the word," Bra handed him the book that listed who was the owner of what piece of outerwear. "We're out of here."

"Save me some food!" At their frowns he added, "Please?"

Pan, feeling sorry for him, agreed. "Sure, Goku-ojiichan. It'll be in the kitchen."

"Domo arigatou, Panny-chan!" He began to hum as he worked, trying not to be bored. Bulma had said that people would probably only straggle in up until nine. His good mood was shattered by the arrival of the Lord of Shadows.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Goku glared at him. He didn't want to fight anyone, not on Christmas Eve.

The dark-haired man smirked and handed Goku his black cape. "I'm here to have a good time just like all the rest of these people. It was said that anyone could come."

"Damn that public invitation," Goku muttered. "Go ahead but if you cause any trouble you'll know where you'll be."

"I'm sure you would officially throw me onto the street." He nodded his head slightly at Goku. "You have my word that nothing will happen."

"We'll see." He said aloud before contacting Vegeta. "Now don't get angry Vegeta, but the Lord of Shadows is on his way inside."

He felt Vegeta's mind, which had been very sluggish up this point, snap to attention. "This isn't a very cruel joke, is it?"

"Would I joke about something like this knowing how much you despise him and wish that something awful would happen to him?"

"You're serious." He paused briefly. "You've warned him about what would happen if he starts something?"

"I didn't need to."

"Good. At least we're all on the same page. Contact me again if something else comes up."

Amused at his words, he agreed. "Sure thing, Veggie. Over and out."

"Very funny." And the connection was severed. Krillin, Juuhachi-gou, and Marron decided to enter then and of course he had to visit with them before sending them inside. His mood officially good again, the Lord of Shadows was forgotten. For now.

***

"Do you find this as boring as I do?" Mia asked as Trunks as she yawned. She had been keeping him company as he sat on his throne for thirty minutes so far. The dance was as formal as Bulma required it to be but unfortunately that meant it needed to be mind-numbingly boring. Bulma herself was chatting with all of the guests one-by-one and Vegeta was struggling to stay awake in his throne.

"Of course I do," He frowned. "I don't even have Goten here to help me play pranks on someone."

"How old are you again?" She grinned. "Why have you been talking about Goten so much? You miss him?"

"Of course I do!" He said that a little louder than he intended. Lowering his voice he continued. "If you best-friend was half-way across the universe you would miss them too. Besides, I wanted to go!"

"Trunks-chan!" Pan called as she slowly made her way over to him. She wasn't quite used to her shoes yet. "You wanna dance?"

"With you?" His eyebrow rose. "And to this song? I can't waltz, you know."

"The onna should have added dancing lessons to her list," Vegeta muttered. He stood and walked past Trunks, heading straight for one of the hors d'oeuvre trays. The little crackers wouldn't fill him up but at least it gave him something to do. Besides, his butt had been falling asleep from sitting too long.

Goku entered the ballroom and immediately found a tray and took the entire thing for himself. It was only a slight snack, though, so soon he was looking around for something to do. ChiChi spotted him from where she was talking to Juuhachi-gou so she made her way over.

"Goku-sa, do you want to dance?"

"Um," he looked around. It seemed safe since no one was looking at them. "I don't know how but I can try." As she led him into the crowd of people, Bra and Taisho came by.

"Look, it's easy." She said as she faced him. "Put your hands on my waist."

Eyes wide he asked, "I can do that Bra?"

"Just put your hands on my waist. I put my hands on your shoulders." She did so but it was awkward since she was taller. "Okay now you just move to the music." He did so but he was completely off beat. Bra sighed and stopped him. "Follow my lead."

"Can these guys play anything other than classical music?" Pan asked Jakina. The younger girl shrugged and they both walked over to the musicians just as they ended another song. "Do you know anything upbeat and modern?" She asked.

"We know Celebration." One man said helpfully.

"Um, no. That's okay. Then you are officially dismissed. I'll have Bulma-san pay you the amount that she promised you."

All four bowed and began to pack up their instruments. Pan lead her friend through the back exit and up the back stairs. They were going to gather a collection of CDs that would really get the party started. Guaranteed.

Back in the ballroom Vegeta was currently stuffing his face with Goku along side of him. Neither knew who started the competition exactly but neither Goku or Vegeta would back down from a challenge. Soon the buffet table was down to just crumbs and both saiya-jin eyed the last piece of strawberry cheesecake.

"It's mine Kakarotto!" Vegeta growled. "I'm your king!"

"But I'm still hungry!" Goku whined convicingly and held his stomach. "How can I protect you and your kids if I'm hungry?"

"That won't work." He was firm about that.

"Uh oh! Bulma's coming over here and she doesn't look too happy..."

"Shit!" Vegeta cursed and turned around. Goku's hand shot out and in five seconds that piece of cake was gone. Of course Bulma was still across the room chatting. She hadn't even noticed that all the food had vanished into the bottomless pits saiya-jin called stomachs. The caterers were coming out with more already. They had been warned beforehand.

"I won, Veggie. You owe me." Goku grinned and walked away. Vegeta was left silently fuming.

The two girls came back into the ballroom a few minutes later with bags full of CDs that they had taken from Trunks' room, VJ's room, Mia's room, Bra's room, and their rooms. Going over to the huge stereo system that had been set up earlier, they began to argue over what CD to play first.

"These solve all our problems," Pan grinned as she opened the case to 'Dance Hits, Volume One'. Of course there was also a Volume Two, a Volume Three, and a Volume Four. She popped all four discs into the changer and went searching for six more. Afer choosing (and making sure at least one CD had Christmas songs) and pusing it closed she turned the volume up to max and made sure 'random song' was selected. "Let's party!"

There was stunned silence for a moment as Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca" blared out of the very large speakers. All of the people under thirty cheered and began to move to the beat. The middle-age and older folks just looked blankly at the stereo system. Vegeta watched the older ones with a smirk on his face. It was amusing to say the least.

Bulma, who had been having a pleasant conversation with a former country leader, looked up and frowned in annoyance. Although she knew that somehow her party was going to be ruined, she didn't expect it so soon. She watched the older people wander from the dance floor and saw the younger ones having a good time. Then she shrugged.

"Can you excuse me?" she said to the man. "I want to go ask someone for a dance."

The older man looked over to where Vegeta stood at the very edge everyone and smiled. "Go ahead, your majesty. I don't mind. He looks a little lonely anyway."

"Domo arigatou, Hansnir-san. I'll continue our conversation a little later. I'm very interested in hearing about your skills and accomplishments." After one last nod, she made her way across the room to where her mate stood. He glanced at her briefly and resumed watching the people on the dance floor.

"Before you ask, Bulma, I don't dance."

"Aw come on! It's fun."

He turned to look at her fully. "I'm saving myself the embarrassment by not participating in this. What would these people think if their king is making an ass of himself on the dance floor?"

"He knows how to have fun?" she asked mildly. "Look, Vegeta, I'm asking you to perform brain surgery here. All I want you to do is dance with me."

"If you don't mind, I'll take the surgery." Then he sighed and took her hand. "Come on then, onna. You can teach me."

"The name's Bulma."

"Whatever." By this time the music had changed to something even faster than the Ricky Martin's song. Of course it was the remix version. Nearly five minutes of dance instruction torture. Eventually he got the hang of moving to the music and was actually having fun. Sort of. He wouldn't admit it if asked though.

The party wound down around one in the morning. All of the kids except Bra and Pan were asleep on their feet. The two girls were still shakin' their bootays to the music and had to be forced into bed. Six frappuccinos and an entire carton of coffee almond fudge ice cream will do that to person.

"From this day forward," Bulma yawned. "I'm banning caffeine from the palace."

"Nani? Iie!" Gohan cried in shock at her words. "How the hell am I supposed to wake up in the morning?!"

"Gohan, language." ChiChi reprimanded automatically.

"Gomen nasai, Kaasan." he replied just as quickly.

"Gohan-sa we can always just keep a cappuccino machine in our room. That way the kids can't get their hands any more caffeine."

"Good idea Videl!" He said this brightly as the entire group of then ascended the stairs. "Well I'm going straight to bed and get as much sleep as I can. Tomorrow the kids are going to drive us all insane."

"You mean later today," They were the only ones besides Bulma and Vegeta to continue down the richly carpeted hall. Goku and ChiChi's room was on the third floor with Trunks', Goten's, and Vegeta Jr.'s. The two bid goodnight to the king and queen and Videl pointed to the digital clock with it's glowing numbers that sat on the nighstand. "Merry Christmas, Gohan-sa."

"Merry Christmas, Videl."