April 15th (Chikyuu Rememberance Day) to April 20th

Law, Order, and A Little R & R

In April of the following year, Vegeta decided to perfect his government. There were still plenty of things that were half-finished or unfinished completely and he really needed to correct that before the peasants revolted.

The fifteenth day of the fourth month was a holiday now. It was a day of rememberance for all of the innocents that were killed because of the Kamoku-jin. The holiday hadn't been Vegeta's idea; it had come from the mind of Bulma.

The week also began a vacation known to people everywhere: Spring Break. Vegeta wanted to flee once again from all of the reporters that continuously stalked him everywhere he went. He could have killed them but that wouldn't have made a good impression on everyone else. So he secretly made plans with a travel agent for a brief vacation to finish his laws and things. He wasn't going to go alone, his wife and children were of course coming with him.

"Why are we having a family meeting?" Bra asked as she took the seat on the couch next to her father. There had only been three other family meetings prior to this one. The first had been before V.J. and Goten had departed for Agalar, the second was New Year's Day, after V.J. got drunk on the punch Trunks had spiked and flashed the party guests, and the third had been in Feburary when Bulma yelled at everyone for tracking wet, dirty snow through her house. Bra could only imagine what this one could be about.

"We're going on a trip to Miami for Spring Break," he told them while displaying his plane tickets. "I bought a beach house down there some time ago." Everyone looked at him with shocked looks on their faces. "What? You didn't know?"

"Of course we didn't know!" Bulma exclaimed. Then she counted his tickets. "How come there are only six tickets there?"

"For obvious reaons, Onna. I refuse to let Kakarotto and his insane family come too!"

"How big is the house? How many bedrooms and bathrooms are there?"

"There are seven bedrooms and four bathrooms." He looked away. "That doesn't mean a thing."

"Hai, it does Papa." Bra cleared her throat as if preparing for a big speech. "If you really didn't want Goku-san and his family coming down there with us then you wouldn't have gotten such a big house."

"Would you believe me if I told you that it was the only one left?" They all looked at him with a lot of head shaking. "I didn't really think so."

"Go to wherever you got the tickets and get nine more." Trunks said this in a tone that would allow no arguments. Vegeta, surprising, didn't say a word. He merely picked up the phone, dialed the travel agent's office, and made the plans. It cost them a medium fortune this time but it wasn't like they couldn't afford it.

"I'm going to go tell Pan!" Bra said excitedly. She and Jakina left the room and headed upstairs.

"You need to pack because we're leaving tomorrow!" Vegeta shouted after them. He looked at Bulma and sighed. "Do you know how much tickets cost when you buy them at the last minute?"

"I can imagine," she said. "But it wasn't *your* money now was it?"

A small smirk appeared on his lips. "Iie, I guess not." He turned toward his sons, then, and both of them instantly knew that he wanted something from them. "One of you need to go get the tickets."

"Can't you just get them at the gate?" V.J. asked.

"I don't trust those ningen not to screw up. I suggest you go, Trunks, and take Goten with you."

"But Papa!" Trunks protested. "I can't!"

"This entire thing has been going on long enough. You need to talk to him some day, Trunks. It'll be easier sooner than later."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Bulma began, "but Vegeta's right."

During the conversation, V.J. tried to sneak from the room. Trunks still didn't know that Goten knew because one of Pan's plans had worked for once. She had just explained to everyone that they couldn't tell Trunks that they knew on penalty of death. She couldn't kill any of them besides Kallen, Taura, and Jas but it was effective. No one had spoken about it since. The only reason Vegeta and Bulma knew was because Trunks had told them himself. He had wanted advice and now he was paying the price.

He blinked. "Nani?"

"Hai, Trunks. You have to tell him sometime. Would you want to go through the rest of your life not knowing what could have happened? If not today then tell him in Miami. You'll feel better."

V.J. successfully escaped the room and ran upstairs to find Goten. He wasn't going to warn him of a future talk but urge him to start the discussion. He had time to deal with everything, Trunks was the one stressing.

Goten was coming down the hall as soon as Vegeta made it to the third floor. He grabbed the other demi-saiya-jin by the arm and yanked him into his room. Shutting the door tightly, he leaned against it while Goten stared at him in perplexion.

"What are you doing?" he asked while taking a seat on V.J.'s bed. A very Son-like confusion settled on his face as he looked up at Vegeta.

"You have to talk to my niichan," he responded as he began to pace the room. "Do you see how this is killing him?"

"Hai," Goten looked down at the floor guiltily. "It's killing me too. I would never do anything to hurt him on purpose but I just don't know what to say."

"We're all going to Miami tomorrow," he told him. "It was just going to be us Briefs' but we yelled at Papa and he got more tickets. The girls and I are going to set something up for you two and you're both going to take the chance. Since Trunks still doesn't know that you know I'm going to let Jackie-chan tell him about the meeting. Do you accept this mission?"

Goten nodded mutely, looking all the world like a kicked puppy. V.J. curbed the urge to pat him on the head to make him feel better and sent him on his way.

"Go and pack for the trip and I'll contact you later."

"Sure Vegeta," he said and the door closed. V.J. sat down on his bed, deep in thought. How was he going to get them both to stop looking so miserable all the time? It would take a lot of effort but he was going to come up with a plan that would work.

At least it had better work.

***

An hour before dawn the next day, Bulma stood at the foot of the main staircase with a clipboard. She had already shouted to them about swimsuits and sunscreen but now she was checking off people before they headed off to the airport. Vegeta was in his office making sure that he had all of his papers in his briefcase while Gohan was checking the security robots. The palace was already like Fort Knox but a little more security couldn't hurt.

"Do you have the carry-on bag packed?" Bulma asked the girls upstairs. They were the last ones to make it to the main hall. The carry-on was going to be filled with things to keep them occupied like books, drawing paper, food, and travel games. Bulma jokingly called it her sanity kit. Vegeta arrived on the scene with a black bag on one shoulder and his leather briefcase in the opposite hand. He sighed at the huge amount of luggage on the polished floor and barely kept himself from massaging his temples. It wouldn't do to get a headache with Kakarotto on the trip.

Finally Jakina came down the stairs with her Pooh suitcase on wheels. Pan and Bra followed with their things and finally everyone was set. All they needed, now, was for Gohan to get out of the lab.

"If you don't go get him he's not going to show up," Pan set her things on the ground and disappeared through the door that lead to the throne room. It was the quickest way to the lab. "I'll go!"

"How long is the flight going to take?" Magori asked. He was excited about going on his first plane trip but a little nervous as well.

Mia smiled at him and put her hand on his head. "A while. We'll fly to Los Angeles, California first for a layover and then we fly to Miami, Florida. The total time is estimated at thirteen hours. Nine hours from Tokyo to L.A. and four hours from L.A. to Miami. I have no idea how long for the layover."

"That's a long time on a plane," Magori frowned. "Do they show a movie?"

"On the first leg of the trip they should since it's so long. Don't worry Magori. You'll have Jakina to play with."

"Tousan! You can't just sit in the lab all day studying whatever it is you study!" Pan said very loudly. Gohan still continued to argue with her.

"I'm close to discovering a way of artificial immortaility. Actually," he paused for a moment, "it's Bulma's theory but I want to see if it works."

"It can't wait a week?" Pan asked him. They exited through the doors as he answered.

"Pan-"

"Please! For your very special little girl..." She put on her best puppy-dog look and her father gave up.

"Fine, Pan. I can continue after we get back in town."

"Yay!" She hugged him tightly. "Arigatou Tousan!"

"That look is irresistible, isn't it?" Goku said to his oldest with a grin.

"Hai, Tousan. I wonder where she got that from."

Bulma cleared her throat with an annoyed look. "If everyone's finished and packed we can leave. We only have three hours before the plane leaves without us!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Oh wow, Onna. Three whole hours. Just where did all the time go?"

"Shut up, Vegeta. Don't start with me." Bulma, frowning, brought out her mini encapsulation gun and trained it on the huge pile of luggage in the middle of the floor. It shrank and turned into a small capsule really neatly. Bulma tucked it in her purse and nodded to the assembled group. "Let's go."

***

"I want the window seat!" Pan shouted as she tried to physically force Bra up. "You can't have it!"

"I'm older so I get the window seat!"

"Well I'm stronger," Pan pulled her into the aisle and claimed her prize. "So I get it."

"I'm a princess!"

"I'm...." She trailed off, unable to think of something good. "Aw, crap."

"Pan!" ChiChi, Videl, and Gohan began in unison.

"I know, I know. Gomen nasai."

Across the aisle Bulma had the window seat, Vegeta was in the middle, and Jakina was on the aisle. Both the king and his daughter were going over the laws while Bulma did a crossword puzzle.

"Don't you think the military should exist by now?" She asked her father. "What if something else happens?"

"At the moment it's peaceful and besides, Kakarotto's in charge of it. He and I would have to go over it together and he's just been so busy that we haven't found the time."

She smiled. "You just don't want to discuss anything with him."

"You got that right."

"What's so bad about Goku-san?" she asked, truly wanting to know. "He's a really nice guy and he always spends time with us kids unlike most adults. He's funny and really cool."

Both of them were drawn to the next row forward where Goku was trying to get food from a flight attendant. He tried everything from begging to tears but her answer was always 'You have to wait a while, sir.' "He's also ridiculously childish."

"Well, that too."

"Hey, Bulma! Do you have something for me to eat?"

She grinned and pulled out a labelled capsule. "This is yours. I thought ahead."

Eyes lighting up, he pressed the button on top, threw it, and out popped a seven course meal. "Domo arigatou!" He said as he dug in.

Five hours into the trip the kids were extremely bored. They had played every game they could possibly think of but were bored of all of them. Pan finally decided to alter a game and it was pretty bad overall.

"Truth or Dare Son Pan style!"

Bra frowned. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"Who wants to play?" She looked at the girl sitting beside her. "What about you Bra-chan?"

"Sure," she sighed as if it were a big sacrifice. "Why not? I don't have anything better to do."

"Trunks? Goten? Mia? Magori? Jakina?" She looked at them. "What about you guys?"

"I don't even know what Truth or Dare is, Pan." Magori told her. "How do you play?"

"Normally someone would just ask you truth or dare and after you pick they ask you another question. Since this is Son Pan Style, I have truth, dare, double-dare, promise, or repeat. If you refuse to do what you were asked," she paused to think for a moment, "you have to ask Veggie-ojisan for a kiss on the cheek. If he refuses then you get hit once by each member of the group. Not hard," she added this when he looked a little frightened, "just enough so that you feel it."

"Sounds interesting," Mia said. "Count me in."

"What are you kids doing?" ChiChi was, of course, disapproving. "I don't want you drawing attention to us!"

"Aw, let the kids play ChiChi," said Goku. "The other passangers have been staring at us since we boarded. Vegeta's face is extremely familiar, you know."

She frowned for a little while longer but she gave in. "Fine, Goku-sa. But I don't want to be able to hear you all the way back here. Do you understand?"

"You're the only one being loud," Pan muttered and Bra laughed.

"What was that young lady?!"

"Nothing ChiChi-obaasan!" ChiChi eyed her with a disapproving frown but she eventually went back to her book on educating children.

When the game was finally ready to begin there were eight players: Pan, Bra, Jakina, Magori, Mia, Trunks, Goten, and V.J. Pan was extremely pleased that her game went over so well and of course decided to go first. She chose Trunks and he chose promise.

"You have to promise to tell the one you love what you feel." She grinned and Trunks gulped.

"Does it have to be now?" he asked.

"Of course not!" She exclaimed. "You don't want us to hear your sappy declaration of love, do you? Go ahead. Pick someone but it can't be me."

"Goten: Truth, dare, double-dare, promise, or repeat?"

He thought about it hard and finally said, "Dare."

"I dare you go over to that blond lady behind us and ask her to meet you in the bathroom." Trunks had a huge grin on his face and everyone was giggling at Goten's reaction.

"N-nani?" Goten was shocked.

"Do it! Do it!" Pan began to chant. Everyone joined in, quietly enough that ChiChi didn't freak, until he got up and propositioned the lady. First there was a look of absolute shock on her face but then she smacked poor Goten. Hard. He stood there, an angry red hand print on his face, looking embarrassed. When she raised her hand to strike him again, he took off towards his seat.

"Is poor wittle Goten in pain?" V.J. asked with a smirk on his face. "Let mommy kiss it and make it better." He made the motion towards him and the other demi-saiya-jin blocked him.

"That's alright. I don't know where your mouth has been." He grinned and turned towards the next victim. "Bra-chan: Truth, dare, double-dare, promise, or repeat?"

"Truth." She said and everyone made appropriate 'ooh' noises.

"Do you like that Taisho boy? Boyfriend wise I mean."

"Of course not! He's annoying!" She looked indignant at the fact he even asked. Goten decided she was telling the truth and merely nodded. Bra then chose her little sister.

"You know the questions."

"Um," she Jakina paused, "promise. That seems safe enough."

"You have to promise to be my slave for this entire vacation."

Jakina looked at her incredulously and then shook her head. "I won't do that! When will I have time to go to the beach?" She crawled over Magori to reach her father. "Papa, can I have a kiss on the cheek?"

His eyebrows rose. "In public?!"

"Hai, in public. Those meanies will get to hit me if you say iie." She pouted, batting her blue eyes at him for added effect. Vegeta finally sighed and gave her a tiny, brief peck on the cheek.

"There. Happy?"

"Very. Arigatou Papa!"

"I can't believe he did it!" Bra was shocked to say the least. "Papa! Can I have a kiss too?"

"What is this? Earn Affection From Vegeta Day?" But he gave her one any way. Before his other two kids could even ask, he held up his hand. "I'm all kissed out so forget about it. Ask the onna."

A loud snore pierced the air. Bulma was fast asleep with drool on one corner of her mouth. Vegeta took the bottom of her shirt and wiped it off.

"Baka onna," he said somewhat affectionately. Then he remembered just where he was and who could hear him. Clearing his throat, he resumed typing on his laptop as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. No one dared to laugh out loud but several of the kids had smirks on their faces.

"Pick someone, Jackie-chan. Make your question good."

"Magori: Truth, dare, double-dare, promise, or repeat?"

"Double-dare," he said without thinking. When everyone stared at him he realized what he said. "That's a bad one, isn't it?"

Pan nodded. "*Very* bad."

"Can I have a do-over? Please?"

"No do-overs." Jakina smiled. "I double-dare you to eat two spoonfulls of Kaasan's specialty dish: tuna casserole."

"Oh my kami, no." Magori said in hushed tone. "I won't survive that one!"

"Hey Tousan? Can we have what's left in that blue tupperware bowl?"

Goku nodded his ascent and continued to watch the really stupid in-flight movie. Now Showing: How Satan-San Killed Cell.

Jakina got a brand new plastic fork and shoved the plastic container at him. Magori turned even greener than he already was and dug the fork in. The entire serving of tuna casserole came up in one big lump. Magori became even sicker and shook his head.

"I can't do it," he said with some difficulty because he was trying not to get physically sick. He pushed away the dish and took a deep breath of fresh air. "No one can do it. Even Goku-san can't eat that stuff!"

"You know what to do."

Magori leaned across the aisle and pasted a cheerful smile on his face. "Can I ask you a question, Vegeta-san?"

The short saiya-jin blinked at him. "Nani?"

"Can ya kiss me?"

"Kami! What is it with you people?!" He gave him a brief one on his forehead. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Um, Vegeta-san?"

"What is it now, Magori?"

"It has to be on the cheek."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow but he did it anyway. "Am I a part of your little game?"

"Hai, Papa," said Bra. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Well I don't mind!" he said in a falsely cheerful tone. All of the players cringed slightly. "Guess what you get to play now?"

"What?" She was more than a little wary.

"You get to play 'Take A Nap and Leave Vegeta the Hell Alone'!" He glared at them suddenly. "Now do it!"

All the young ones did immediately what he said while Trunks, Goten, V.J., and Mia just looked at him.

"Do you think because you're older that this doesn't apply to you to?"

"We're too old to take naps, Papa!" Trunks complained. He didn't get a response but his father's glare intensified threefold. Trunks gulped and then smiled nervously. "How long do we have to be down?"

"At least four hours. Go."

Vegeta sighed and returned to his document in the word processor when the group broke up. Just as he was beginning to type, a loud snore errupted from Bulma's direction. He sighed, packed up his computer, and just gave up. After kissing Jakina on the forehead he lay back in his seat.

A few minutes later sleep claimed him.

***

"Do *not* miss the flight!" Bulma screamed at everyone at the airport. The nine hour flight from Japan was finally over but now there was only the four hour one ahead of them. Bra, Pan, Jakina, and Magori all nodded and ran to the airport gift shop. They wanted to get some California souvenirs.

The older crowd waited almost impatiently at the gate. The piliot gave them all twenty minutes to stretch and purchase food at the airport café while the jet was refueled. People kept stopping to stare at Vegeta throughout the entire time because his face was a familiar one in the media. He shook so many people's hands he lost count after a while.

"We're buying our own private jet," he muttered to Bulma. "Royalty shouldn't have to pay for transportation."

"We *didn't* pay, remember? The president of the airline company said that it was on them. We could have brought a small army and they wouldn't have cared. No one wants to piss you off."

"A very wise ningen, that president is." He folded his arms across his chest with a content expression. "Very wise."

A tinny voice constantly interrupted by static suddenly came over the loudspeaker system. "Will all passengers of Tokyo Airlines Flight 216 to Miami please board? The plane will be taking off in ten minutes."

Seeing Bulma was about to panic because her precious children (Pan & Magori included) were about to be left behind, Vegeta waved her towards the plane. "I'll go get them and we'll meet you on the plane."

"You better, Vegeta." ChiChi scowled. "My little Panny-chan is *very* important."

"So are the rest of them, Kaasan," Gohan said in his best soothing tone of voice. "They'll be fine. Even if they miss the flight they can fly over and meet us in Miami."

"You're right," she said. Everyone was surprised that she had given up so easily. "They'll all be perfectly fine."

Vegeta made his way into the very crowded gift shop. The kids were all standing around tee-shirts of various California landmarks. The Golden Gate Bridge, the Hollywood Hills, Universal Studios, Disneyland. Everyone had money out and they were trying to figure out what they could buy with what they had.

"I have ten dollars, six hundred yen, and a stick of gum." Bra said.

"Three dollars, two hundred yen, and-" Jakina blew at something in her hand. "-a huge ball of lint."

"Don't even look my way," Pan said. "All I have is fifty yen."

"What happened to all of your money?" Vegeta asked as he came up to them. Pan blushed and coughed slightly.

"Hunger happened. I ate a lot at the airport in Tokyo." She gazed longingly at a Mickey Mouse tee-shirt. He was dressed like the wizard he was in Fantasia and stood in front of the Disneyland sign. "Kid size shirts cost eleven dollars each. We only have enough for one."

"Go ahead and get what you want," Vegeta pulled out his wallet. "I'll pay. Plastic is a wonderful thing."

Eight minutes later they reached the cash register. Unfortunately the cashier had been having trouble with the register so the line had moved very slowly. Finally someone came out to replace her and the final boarding call was heard very dimly.

"We're going to miss the plane." Vegeta said in a very calm tone. The kids looked up at him, confused.

"That's supposed to be a bad thing, Veggie-ojisan." Pan said. "What are we gonna do? They're gonna freak out!"

"We fly," Vegeta smiled very faintly. He couldn't really stand being shut up in the plane anyway. "We'll probably get there before they do."

"All right!" The kids cheered and as they left the gift shop. Of course Magori didn't know how to fly yet but Vegeta was going to carry him.

Even if he did it complaining all the way.

***

The beach house was huge. The living room was the first room that you entered into and it was fully furnished in darkly wooden furniture. A staircase led upward to the bedrooms and two of the bathrooms. One bathroom was just off the living room and the other was off the large kitchen. Vegeta went all out with the furnishings and there was also a big screen television with a stereo system set up next to it. Bra's eyes widnened when she stepped over the threshold and had to take her shoes off to walk in the thick, soft carpet.

"Man, Papa, I didn't know that you had good taste."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Bra." He smiled slightly when he said it.

A while later, after everyone had unpacked, there was a knock at the door. No one knew they were there so when Bra answered she was more than a little surprised.

"Hi Bra-hime!" Taisho said with a big grin on his face. "Welcome to Miami!" She just blinked at him for a while until she was able to form a word.

"Nani?"

"My parents and I have a house just up the beach. We've been coming here every year for a long time." His grin grew even wider. "We're going to have so much fun together!"

"Oh kami no!" She slammed the door in his face and ran screaming from the room.

Pan stood at the window in the living room staring at Taisho. "This is like a bad episode of the Twilight Zone." She opened the front door and let the confused boy inside. "Go on and have a seat, Tai. I'll go get Bra."

***

Bra was on the beach by the time Pan tracked down her ki. She had changed into her swimsuit and had grabbed a bucket and a shovel and was digging in the sand.

"I can't believe you ran from him." Pan dropped to the warm sand beside her with a faint smile on her face.

"Yeah? Well you would too if he were stalking you." She put down her plastic shovel and sighed. "Why did he have to be here? I'm supposed to be able to have fun!"

"You still can." Pan jumped to her feet and pulled Bra upward. "Let's go kick over the chibi's sandcastles!"

"No Pan!" Bra shook her head. "You're evil, do you know that?"

"Yep!"

The beach was beyond crowded, the city being the Spring Break party capital for a lot of the teenagers in the world. They looked at Pan and Bra with annoyance as if a ten and twelve year old shouldn't even be there. They obviously didn't know who Bra was.

"Well I'll be a teenager later this year!" Bra shouted at one uppity girl. She jumped aside as three other teens playing frizbee came running past and sighed.

"How many people are out here today, anyway?"

Pan shrugged. "About two hundred I guess."

"Hey guys!" Taisho shouted as he waved his hands from a sand dune. "I just need to get my nose and ear plugs and then we can go for a swim!"

Bra snatched up her bucket and shovel and took off down the beach. Pan shrugged at Taisho with an apologetic look on her face.

"We'll see ya later Tai!"

"No we won't!" Bra corrected as they ran. She opened her mouth to say something else when she tripped over someone. Doing a flip to correct herself (and to prevent getting sand in her mouth) she landed sort of heavily on her back, looking up at the blue sky. Pan looked down at her, doubled over in hysterical laughter.

"What the heck did I fall over?" She turned her head to the right and her mouth opened in shock. Then she screamed, covered her eyes, jumped to her feet, and began to run again. Pan blinked in confusion and looked in the direction her friend did. She had pretty much the same reaction.

"My eyes! My eyes!" She took off behind Bra, trying to forget the image she just saw.

Yajirobe lifted his head up from his beach towel at their shouts. He rearranged his Speedo and went back to sleep while he worked on his tan. The last thought through his mind was, 'Too bad this isn't a nude beach. Then I wouldn't have any tan lines.'

***

"Now I can finally get to work on my government," Vegeta said more or less to himself. Taking everyone on vacation was the best idea he had in years. They would be gone all day and he would have the peace and quiet needed to get some work done. Booting up his computer, he made himself comfortable on the floor and began to describe his advisory board. A few minutes later he hit a mind block.

"Jakina's good that this stuff," he frowned at the screen. "But I have no idea where she is. Besides, how can I rule if I don't even understand my own laws?"

Vegeta had decided to erase all country boundary lines and rearrange everyone into sectors. Sector One consisted of only the former United States and Canada; Sector Two conisisted of Mexico, the former Central America, and all of the former South America; Sector Three consisted of the entire former continent of Africa minus Egypt; Sector Four consisted of all of former continent of Europe minus Turkey; Sector Five consisted of the entire former Middle East, Sector Six consisted of only the former country of Russia; Sector Seven consisted of the entire former continent of Asia minus the Pacific island countries; Sector Eight consisted of the former countries of Austrailia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Phillipines, and Papua New Guinea; and Sector Nine consisted of the former countries of Greenland and Antartica. As he thought of the new boundary lines, he came up with a great idea.

"I'll call the advisory board the "Council of Nine" and have one person looking after each sector. Within a sector there will be several different subordinates to a council member called governors that help with more local problems. Within each city there will be a lord that reports to the governor of their subsector and even more more people called comissioners that monitor their ward." He mumbled all of this absentmindedly as he typed it all up.

"Is there someone else in here that I don't know about?" Bulma asked in an amused tone. "Or are you going insane?"

"I'm working on my government, Bulma. Go on down to the beach with the kids."

"This whole trip was just to give you time to straighten out things, wasn't it?" She took a seat next to him. "Shouldn't I be helping you? I *am* queen after all."

Vegeta stood and stretched. "Go right ahead. I'll be on the beach." And before she could say a word, he was gone.

"That little...!" Bulma rolled her eyes and settled herself down to read over what he had already typed.

***

Bra and Pan ran to the other end of the beach, trying to purge their minds of Yajirobe. Both spotted a ice cream cart and stopped for one. Jakina made her way over to them and purchased her own.

"I hear Taisho's here."

Pan nodded and poked Bra. "Yeah. He followed his sweetie."

"I AM NOT HIS SWEETIE!"

In unison the other two girls said, "Sure you're not."

"You really think niichan's gonna tell Goten about his secret love for him?" Bra asked just to change the subject. Actually, she really was concerned.

Pan shrugged. "I hope so. He's been procrastinating for three-and-a-half months now. That's way too long. You think they'll hook up even after he tells him?"

"I don't know.... Goten's a girl-chaser and he likes Kallen."

"Maybe Goten's bi-sexual." Jakina spoke up as she licked at her cone. "That happens sometimes, you know."

The older girls looked at her with amusement. "And what would you know about that?" Bra asked.

"I watch t.v." She said this as if it explained everything. "Besides, papa said that a lot of saiya-jins were when I asked him. Trunks was only dating girls so that people wouldn't ask stupid questions."

"Back to what papa said before," Bra said, "I bet he was going to go through his entire life and not tell us about his 'guy watching'."

Pan started laughing. "Guy watching? He didn't say he had been doing that! He just said he had looked at some."

"What about Goku-san?"

"Please don't bring that up. I'm trying to forget."

"I think you should ask Gohan-san that question," Jakina finished her cone and wiped her hands. "I wanna know."

"Why don't you ask then?" Pan said as she made a face. "I, for one, *don't* want to know."

Trunks walked along the beach with a forlorn look on his face dressed in only brightly colored trunks. Girls left-and-right were making a huge effort to get his attention but none could. He only had eyes for one person and he was playing frizbee with Mia and V.J. The girls all noticed this and sighed in unison.

"He's getting pathetic," Bra said.

"Like a lost puppy." Pan ran off after him and the other girls followed. "Hey Trunks, just about everyone on this beach can see you're depressed."

"I don't care," he said in monotone. Pan looked to be struggling to tell him something but at length kept her mouth shut. They had to figure it out on their own. She and Bra exchanged looks and were startled by a sound from Jakina.

"Listen up Trunks!" she said in an authoritive voice as she grabbed him by the arms. "You are going to tell him on this trip even if I have to tie you down and make you listen to me tell him myself. I am *so* tired of your pitiful sighs and longing looks. You're going to waste so much time that he'll never find out just how much you love him. So get off your ass and do it already!"

Trunks, Bra, and Pan all stared at her with their mouths open. She suddenly smiled and hugged Trunks around the waist. "I just don't like seeing you so unhappy, okay? Ignore the shouting."

"I'm going to do it!" he said with a smile. Then he sighed. "Eventually..."

All three girls pushed him down into the sand and stomped off.

He laughed so hard tears ran down his cheeks. "WAIT! I was just kidding!" He received no response and eventually snagged his brother and talked to him about his plan. He was going to take a chance soon.

***

"What are you doing?" Bulma asked in a loud voice. She had heard the familar clacking of computer keys as she passed a closet. Opening the door she found the very man she had told explicitly *not* to work doing it anyway. Gohan jerked his hands away as if he was caught with them in the forbidden cookie jar. He smiled the familar sheepish Son smile and slowly closed the top to his computer.

"I'm so close to finishing!" he said with pleading look. "Can I just-"

Bulma shook her head. "Iie."

"But-"

"How many times must I tell you Son Gohan?" she asked. "Iie, iie, IIE!"

He sighed and unfolded his long legs from their crossed position. "You're starting to sound like Kaasan."

Bulma shuddered. "Please don't say that." Gohan grinned and of course did the exact opposite.

"You sound like Kaasan! You sound like Kaasan!" Bulma took a swipe at him and he danced out of reach. Then he took off running down the hall and laughing like a maniac with Bulma chasing him. The kids looked up from the television in the living room just in time to see the two run from the house and down to the beach.

"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Pan asked, eyes wide with amazement.

Everyone nodded. "Hai," Magori said. "But I don't believe it either."

"Let's just pretend that didn't happen."

Vegeta entered the room, looked around, and left. Just when Bra was going to call out and asked who, or what, he was looking for he stuck his head around the corner and asked, "Have you seen Kakarotto?"

"He said that he was going down to the beach for a swim," Pan told him. "That was a few hours ago."

He sighed. "Knowing him he's probably eating."

"Yoo hoo! Veggie-chan!" Goku entered through the front door grinning. "They have the best club down on the boardwalk! I was planning on going back after dinner."

"*You* went clubbing?" Pan asked him. Then she shook her head. "The world is going insane. First tousan runs from the house laughing like a little boy now you're telling me you went to a club!"

Goku blinked. "Gohan actually had fun? I didn't think he knew the meaning of the word."

"I have an idea!" Jakina said with a grin. "V.J. asked me to help him with Goten and Trunks and Goku-san finshed my plan. They're going clubbing!"

Bra frowned. "I'm not following."

"They need some place where they can talk, somewhere that no one knows him."

"And you picked a public place? As famous as Trunks is?"

"You're right. Bad idea."

"How about we make them a candlelight picnic on the beach? Just the two of them."

Pan shook her head. "We don't have a place. That beach out there is *way* too crowded."

Bra lightly smacked her against the head and Pan pouted in mock pain. "We're in Florida, baka. There's always more than one beach."

"If it'll stop those two from looking pitiful all of the time then it's a good idea." Vegeta motioned for Goku to follow him and they disappeared into the dining room.

"What are they doing in there?" Jakina whispered curiously. She began to creep closer to the door way but Vegeta was insantly there to block her.

"You wanted something?" he asked.

She thought fast. "Can we use your laptop? I wanted to get a map so that we can find more beaches."

"There's a Florida tourist guide in the bedroom. It has all you need." He closed the doors to the dining room and she couldn't hear a thing.

"I wanna know what they're doing!" Jakina whined as she began to climb the stairs with Bra and Pan following. Then she thought about what she said and shook her mind. "That's okay. I'm just going to tell myself they're going over the government."

"They probably are," Bra said as her eyes scanned the room. "We have no military, remember? Besides, kaasan told me that this was a business trip for papa. He was trying to give us something to do so we wouldn't be around all of the time."

"At least *I* help him. All you and Pan do is run from Taisho and play all day."

Bra narrowed her eyes at her younger sister in anger and folded her arms. "I know what you're trying to say. We know that you're smarter than we are, Jakina. *Everyone* knows that you're smarter than we are! But," she poked her in the chest, "we don't need you throwing it back into our faces all of the time."

"Yeah!" Pan agreed. "We're smart too. Bulma-san's a genuis and my tousan's pretty smart."

Jakina didn't answer then but instead grabbed the map from the bed and left the room. She got as far as the staircase before the tears came. Bra and Pan both exchanged guilty looks as they heard the front door slam but neither moved to follow her.

"This is all your fault!" Both accused in unison.

"You yelled at her," Pan told her as she slowly began to follow the path Jakina had taken.

"But you agreed with me!" Then she sighed. "This is both of our faults. We both know she isn't as strong as we are. She can't take words like that and ignore them."

"That's only because she's so nice that no one really ever gets mad at her." Pan peeked out the window and saw the girl sitting on a large boulder staring off at the ocean. "Why were we so mad anyway? Isn't it a good thing to be as smart as she is?"

Bra shook her head and turned away. Pan waited while her best-friend gathered her thoughts. "Not to me it isn't. I guess I think that kaasan and papa like her more than me. You remember how it was before she was born? I was Papa's favorite. Now she helps him all of the time and I can't do anything."

"You know Veggie-ojisan loves you, Bra." Pan stopped herself. "Well, I guess you know. It's not like he ever tells you or anything." She hastily continued when she saw the other girl's face fall. "But he does stuff with you that he never did with Trunks or V.J. If anything I'd say that he doesn't like *them* too much."

Bra smiled slightly. "I do remember the time when I was seven and he helped you and me make brownies. We ended up throwing flour at each other and kaasan almost had a heart-attack when she walked into the kitchen."

"See? He never had fun like that with your niichans."

"How would I know? I wasn't even around yet. Trunks was twelve and V.J. was eight when I was born."

Pan stopped trying to cheer her up and just watched her. After a while a determined look came over her face and she marched off towards the dining room.

"I'm going to ask him right now!"

"You are? Wait a minute! That might not be a good idea..." Bra opened the doors and walked over to her father, closing his laptop to make him focus his entire attention on her.

"Do you love me Papa? I need to know the truth."

Vegeta looked confused. "Why are you asking me this *now*?"

"I know you love Jakina but you never told me." Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked down at him. "I don't know if you do." Pan and Goku quietly left the room leaving the other two to their privacy.

Vegeta sat Bra on his lap as he had done when she was a little girl and wiped her tears away. "Listen to me, Bra. I love you, your sister, and your brothers all equally. I may not say it a lot but it's true."

"Really Papa?" Bra asked hopefully. "Jakina's not your favorite because she can help you with the government?"

"Not at all. You could help, too, if you wanted. It's not difficult at all."

She made a face. "Iie arigatou. I'd rather not." Her eyes widened as she remembered her sister. "I have to talk to Jackie-chan! She's probably still crying because of what I said." Bra jumped from her father's lap and ran to the door. Pausing she said, "Arigatou Papa."

"I have a place!" Jakina said cheerfully as she entered the room and spread the map on the table. "It's a little known beach only a mile away from here."

"Maybe not," Bra muttered to herself, moving to see the map. She watched her sister point to a red circle and the blue dotted line that lead from it.

"This is the beach in red, the blue line goes from it to our current location. In black I've written the estimated time it'll take to get from here to there." Vegeta nodded as he read the name.

"Lover's Cove?" he asked. "Isn't that a little... much for a first date?"

"It's not a date, Papa, more of a meeting."

"Well, for a first meeting then."

She disagreed with him. "It's private, it's secluded, and Trunks can't use the excuse 'There are too many people around!'."

"Point taken."

"Who's going to make the food?" Bra asked. The three of them looked at each other for a moment and said in unison: "ChiChi."

"Yeah," Jakina said. "We can't have them getting food poisoning before even having their talk!"

"How does she feel about them? ChiChi won't cook if she doesn't like it."

"ChiChi's dealing," Goku said as he took a seat. "She's not happy but she's dealing with it."

"What about you, Goku-ojiichan?" Pan asked. "How do you feel?"

He shook his head. "I can't do anything about it but *my* genes are the ones responsible." He stopped Bra from speaking. "I know that he hasn't said anything about being in love with Trunks but he doesn't have to. I can see it, Vegeta can see it, and their mothers can see it. I'm surprised that you can't see it too."

"Very insightful, Kakarotto," Vegeta commented. Goku only smiled. "ChiChi will do this if only to make her son happy. He has to understand by now that Kallen is beyond his reach. She's a ruling mage and heir of Chaos therefore she doesn't have the time to spend with him."

"That reminds me," Goku said. "Are we going to help her? She can't die childless you know. We would all die too and she doesn't want that."

"She wants to be immortal and we can't provide that at the moment." Vegeta rolled his eyes. "The onna has confiscated the water for scientific study. Hopefully she'll come up with something good."

"Isn't that what tousan is doing?" Pan asked. "Studying immortality?"

"Probably. That's *all* he does, by the way. Gohan is obsessed with science like he should be obsessed with his training."

Goku chuckled. "*What* training? I think he's forgotten how."

"That's exactly my point!" Vegeta pushed his computer away and yawned. "I'm going to sleep. *Do not* wake me up for any reason."

"What if the house is on fire?" Jakina asked with a grin. "Are we supposed to let you burn to death?" He gave her a look and her grin grew wider. "I'll take that as a 'iie'."

Both adults departed for different locations and the girls were left alone with Jakina. Bra fidgeted for a moment before she looked up from the floor.

"I apologize for making you cry, Jackie-chan," she said. "I wasn't thinking."

"I didn't know that you felt that way about me but it's in the past. Forget about it."

Bra shook her head in refusal. "No we are not going to forget about this! I hurt your feelings, you know. You're not supposed to forgive me!"

"Bra-chan," Jakina said as she went over to stand in front of her. "we're two different people. You inherited both mama and papa's stubborness when it comes to anger. I haven't." She shrugged. "There are more important things to worry about."

Pan nodded. "I agree. Let's go."

"We are going to discuss this *now*!" Bra stomped her foot on that word to stress it. The other two girls left the room with smiles on their faces and Bra stood there looking annoyed. "Fine! We'll talk about it later then!"

"No we won't!" Jakina called back with a giggle.

Bra finally gave up and followed them to the beach. Her sister had been right after all. There *were* more important things to worry about. Like her niichan and Goten for one. Either they were going to get together or Trunks was going to stop driving them insane with his moping.

Their plan had better work. Too much was riding on it.

***

The next few days passed by very quickly. The three girls, when not at the beach, were planning the "meeting". Trunks never noticed in his depression but Goten did and asked them about it.

"V.J. told me to talk to you," he said to Jakina. "I have no idea why."

"The *plan* that's why!" She looked around to make sure that Trunks couldn't accidentally overhear somehow. She motioned for him to follow her outside onto the porch and after one last look, she explained to him what was going on. "It would give you two time to talk. No one likes to see Trunks so sad."

"I-," Goten broke off and looked away. "I don't know what to do!"

"What can I say to make this better since I seem to have to be the adult here?" Jakina paused. "Oh! I know!" She placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. "You need to follow your heart, Goten, not your head. It's probably telling you that what Trunks feels is wrong anywyay. Deep down inside you know what you have to do. Either way, if you choose correctly, you'll be happy."

He nodded in understanding, a little amused seeing as he was taking the advice of a nine-year-old. "I know what I have to do now. Domo arigatou Jackie-chan. Have you ever thought about becoming a counselor?"

"Am I really good enough for that?" she asked. "You're the first person I've ever given advice to."

"Believe me, you're good."

She smiled and gave him a quick hug. "Now you know who to come to. I'm always open, rain or shine!"

ChiChi, at first, did not want to cook anything for a son that would deny her more grandchildren but Goku talked to her and eventually she gave in. That part was finished and V.J. took the kids to the store for candles. On the day before they were to leave Miami for home, Goten paced nervously in his room.

"What if I screw up and make things worse?" he asked Mia as she sat on his bed. "He'll probably never speak to me again."

"One tiny little fight won't ruin your friendship. You two are closer than that."

"I know. Well, at least I *think* that I know." He stopped moving and looked at her with a miserable expression. "What about Kallen?"

"What about her?" Mia asked. "We all thought you were over her and had accepted the fact that you two will never be together. You don't really love her anyway."

"How would you know?" he asked, still trying to cling to belief.

"You had only known her for less than three weeks, Goten. There is no such thing as love at first sight. You liked her, maybe even lusted after her, but you sure didn't love her."

Collapsing onto the bed beside his sister, Goten faced reality. "You're right, you know? I liked her a lot but I didn't love her."

"You love Trunks."

"Of course I do. That's the difference between just regular friends and best-friends. You like one kind and love the other."

"But you love him despite what he's done or said to you over the years. He wasn't that nice as a kid, I hear."

"He was a real brat but the bad things never overbalanced the good ones. We have fun and he understands me."

Mia's dark eyes met Goten's own. "Do you understand him?"

"Hai, Mia." He looked away. "I understand what he feels and why he feels that way. But I'm...."

She grabbed his hand and held it in her own. "You're afraid and that's okay. No matter what happens tonight things will work out in the end. You have to believe in that."

"I will," he replied. "I don't have anything else."

***

Trunks took a deep breath to calm his nerves and smiled shakily at Goten. "Have a seat," he said as he motioned to the beach blanket on the sand. "We have to talk and it'll probably be better if you're sitting for this one."

Goten decided to play along as if he didn't already know what the talk was going to be about. He had come to his decision earlier that night and the only thing remained was for Trunks to hear it. The other man's hands shook as started into the food and Goten felt sorry for him. Soon their meal was complete and all that waited was Trunks' revelation.

"Goten, you have no idea how hard this is for me," he said. "I've never felt the strongly about anything before. Now please don't get mad and walk off before I finish, okay? Just *please* don't do that." Goten nodded mutely and was tempted to just tell him that he knew to end Trunks' mental torment but he had a feeling it would be better if he let things run their course.

"This isn't some spur-of-the-moment decision," Trunks continued. "I've thought about this for years but never said anything about it. But it's time for me to speak out and I've even made this my New Year's resolution. It took me three months to actually get around to fufilling it but it's better late than never."

Goten had reached the end of his patience. He had been warned by everyone that, unless stopped, Trunks would procrastinate until the sun refused to shine. He stopped him in mid-word and brought up the true purpose of the picnic on the sand.

"You're in love with me. I know." Goten watched the color drain from his best-friends' face and mentally berated himself for speaking out. He should have just remained silent. Trunks would have said something, eventually.

"Who told you?" he asked with a look of forced calm. "I know that Jackie-chan, kaasan, and papa wouldn't so it was either Pan or Bra."

"It was Pan but that's not important," Goten tried to make him feel better.

"When?"

"Christmas."

"You knew for that long and you never said anything?!"" Trunks asked with a shout. "How could you let me worry for months?"

It was Goten's turn to fidget. "I thought that you should bring it up. I was afraid." This calmed Trunks considerably as he carefully considered his words.

"I guess I can't fault you for that," he sighed. "I was scared too. I thought you were going to stop being my friend or, worse of all, begin to hate me. That alone was enough to keep me quiet."

I could never hate you, Trunks, I love you too much for that." Hope flashed on Trunks' face but it died at his next words. "But I don't know if I'm *in* love with you. There's just too much going on and I need time to straighten it all out."

"I... understand." Trunks said in a soft voice. "I never should have brought it up in the first place."

Goten smiled. "I didn't say iie, baka. I just said that I *didn't* know. There's a difference."

Trunks began to smile as well. "Then there's still a possibility?"

"Hai."

"There's still a possibility!" he shouted with glee for the first time in a long time and pulled Goten to his feet. "I still have a chance with you!" His happiness spread to Goten and they both began to dance on the sand. Trunks paused in his celebration and looked at his friend. "I will wait for eternity."

"I know."

Then the two of them sat side-by-side in comfortable silence until the stars glowed in the sky.

***

Everything was rushed the next day as everyone packed up to leave. The kids wanted to say goodbye the ocean despite Bulma's urgings to check around to see if they had forgotten something. Breakfast was toast, cereal, and strawberry Pop Tarts since they had to be at the airport in only a few hours and that definitely wasn't enough time to cook food to feed saiya-jin. Trunks literally skipped into the kitchen and grabbed a box of cereal from the counter.

"Ohayo family!" he said brightly. "Wonderful day, isn't it?"

Pan snickered. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you got laid last night."

"PAN!" Gohan, ChiChi, and Videl shouted while everyone else began to laugh.

"Well he's acting too happy in my opinion!"

"Can't a man be happy just because?" he asked.

"Not *you*."

"Well..." He trailed off with a smile. "Let's just say that the meeting didn't go badly."

"But we're not together," Goten added as he entered the room. "Trunks is in his 'there's still hope' state of mind."

"A maybe is positive to me!"

Bulma shook her head. "A maybe is neither positive or negative, Trunks."

Still clinging to his happiness he said, "Well, at least it wasn't negative."

"I have things," Goten sighed, "that I have to straighten out first. It's not just about Kallen either."

Jakina spoke up. "For my second piece of advice I'm going to tell Goten to again stop listening to his head. It's saying to him, "It's wrong to think that way' and I think he's starting to listen. Just go for it. I know you'll be happy."

ChiChi opened her mouth to add her own two-cents in and Goku spoke over her. "You're very wise, Jackie-chan. Goten *should* listen to your words but he really doesn't pay attention to anyone but Trunks."

"It's not like he's ever right about anything," Goten grinned. "He always lied to me when we were kids."

"I just didn't want to seem stupid, okay!" He blushed and focused on his cereal. "You believed me, though."

There was a knock on the door and Pan jumped up to answer in. In a few moments she called back, "Bra! Your boyfriend is here!"

"He's *not* my boyfriend!" Bra had successfully spent three days advoiding him and was just about to exit through the back door when he entered the kitchen. She sighed and put a smile on her face. "Ohayo, Taisho."

"I have to tell you something Bra-hime." He took a deep breath. "I'm apologize for the way I've been following you around. I got a little carried away."

Bra agreed. "You sure did."

"But it's just that you're so cool!"

"Me? Cool?" Bra was shocked. No one had ever called her that before. "I'm not cool."

"Nope," Pan piped up. "She's a baka."

"You see what I have to put up with?"

"I'll see you back in Satan City, Bra-hime. Maybe we can talk then."

She was beginning to have a change of heart about Taisho. "No problem. You know where I live." She walked him to the front door and when she returned to the kitchen a lot of them had smiles on their faces. "I *don't* like him, you know."

"She hates his guts," Pan added.

"Now I wouldn't go *that* far anymore. He apologized."

"What if he does it again when we get back?" Magori asked her. "You would hate him then wouldn't you?"

"Hai and then I would get a restraining order."

"And *then* it would be all over international television," Bulma added. "That's the price you pay for fame, you know. I would prefer if you could settle this outside of a courtroom."

"I suggest you hurt the boy," Vegeta said. "It would at least make him think twice about bothering you."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "She'll end up with assault charges, Vegeta. For once, can't your ideas *not* involve kicking someone's ass?"

"I'm a saiya-jin onna! Ass kicking is all we do!"

"I would have to disagree," Goku said. "Ass kicking is all *you* do. I'm a civilized saiya-jin which means I can solve problems without resorting to violence. You should try it sometime, Veggie. Maybe you'll like it."

"I am a warrior, Kakarotto! Not a peacemaker!"

Bulma finished the last of her coffee and commented. "*Now* you are. Kings promote peace, not destroy it." Vegeta didn't respond but instead thought over all of the work he had gotten done the past week. The trip had definitely been worth it.

Finally I'm finished with this side-story. Can you believe that I started writing this one before New Year, New Hope? Anyway, stay tuned for book three (I'm rewriting it).