Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Saiyan Homecoming ❯ A Happy Birthday ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, and don't intend any copyright infringements. I'm just having fun.

A Saiyan Homecoming

By Nadia Rose

Chapter 1

The sun was sinking well past the mountains when the house finally emptied. Videl sighed and removed the crown of honor from her head, careful to place it on top of the armoir in the hall so that the delicate paper would not be crushed by a careless move. Barden and Pan had really outdone themselves this time-the careful cut-outs of swords and dragonballs were obviously Pan's work, but the brilliant colors and glitter were courtesy of her son. Videl was glad that Pan and her much younger brother got along; she'd agonized that they wouldn't for a long time.

She needn't have worried; Barden and his sister were close enough that Videl often caught him calling his sister in the middle of the night to pour out his worries to her. Videl worried that Trunks might put a stop to it once he and Pan had wed, but as of yet, nothing bad had come of it. Videl suspected that Trunks was fond of Barden, too, considering the number of times he'd come to spar with him.

In fact, that was where Barden was now; off at Capsule Corps to use the gravity room with Goten, Trunks, and Bra.

Leaving Videl alone in a house filled with the remnants of one Z-fighter sized party. Considering 6 of them had Saiyan blood there was surprisingly few dishes scattered about the house. Videl suspected Chichi and Lunch had seen to that; but the rest of her house still looked like a disaster zone.

She wandered through the front room, absently kicking aside a pile of blue streamers and balloons that Goten and Barden had ripped from their places while wrestling. One of the streamers managed to wrap itself around her ankle and she bent down to rip it off, throwing it at the banner that dangled next to the door; it too, had been damaged in the wrestling match.

Videl stared sourly at the words proclaimed across it in bold blue letters: Happy Birthday Videl!

It hadn't really been a happy birthday.

She flopped down on the couch and buried her head in one of the throw pillows, which she promptly chucked across the room. It smelled like Oolong, and while she had long ago adjusted herself to the talking pig and his feline counterpart, well, sometimes Oolong still smelled like a pig. And that shape-shifting thing just weirded her out.

The next pillow, fortunately, was a mix of Yamcha's cologne and Bulma's more familiar perfume, so she dropped her head to it and stared at the wreckage of her living room.

It had been quite a party, but Videl hadn't gotten the one gift she wanted.

She wanted her husband; not a birthday bash in which some of the planet's most eccentric individuals tried to kill each other over pieces of cake.

But then she thought of her mother in law, and knew that she could make it. Chichi had, and she'd been through this almost all of her adult life, was doing so even now. But this time her husband wasn't coming back; at least not in her lifetime.

Gohan had promised to come back.

She didn't think his absence would be so depressing.

He'd been gone over a full two years, and in that time, so much had happened that it made Videl's head spin. Goten and his wife had added child number three to their family, he and Chichi had started a martial arts school, where Videl occasionally taught the most advanced students. She'd seen her daughter fall in love and marry-she and Chichi had a private bet on when a grandchildren announcement would be made.

And Barden was slowly becoming more and more like his father with each passing day. Videl had seen pictures of an 8-year-old Gohan, and the similarities between the two were striking. Barden could have been a clone of his father, had it not been for the blue eyes he'd inherited from her. The expressions they showed, however, were still his father's.

Sometimes the resemblance was so strong it hurt to look at him.

At least she could be depressed alone; her increasingly dark moods worried Barden. With any luck, he would be invited to stay over at Capsule Corps tonight so she could brood alone.

Six months ago she would have been worried sick about him going to spar with the boys in the gravity room, but now, she just let him go. They couldn't really hurt him; but unfortunately, he could hurt her, and had, on more than one occasion. The little boy wanted so badly to learn the martial arts that were deeply ingrained in his family, but he was just too strong for her. She'd tried to teach him; but in their first spar he'd broken a handful of her ribs and punctured one of her lungs. She'd been forced to let him train with the adult Saiyans.

They wouldn't hurt him, though. Goten was always very careful around those weaker than himself, and Pan would withhold certain privileges from Trunks if she thought he'd been too rough. Videl smiled to herself at the thought of that battle; Trunks was more like his father in some ways than he would ever care to admit.

A streamer came loose from the window, and fluttered down over her face.

She really ought to get up and start to clean up the mess, but her heart wasn't in it. With a sigh she clutched the pillow to her chest and settled down to take a nap. At least she could dream about him on her birthday.

Gohan popped up almost immediately in her dreams, as if the polite green god had heard and granted her pleas. Her husband stood in the doorway of the living room, pale-skinned and bright-eyed, smiling brightly at her. He crossed the room to sit on the coffee table to watch her. She quickly shut her eyes again, pretending to be asleep.

Videl noticed that the dream felt so real that he could actually be sitting next to her, and wondered if Dende hadn't had something to do with it. She'd never dreamed in such detail before.

Dream-Gohan smiled and ran large hand across her cheek and down her neck. "You're still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he whispered huskily in her ear.

She smiled happily and rolled onto her back. She'd have to remember to thank Dende when she woke up; this was better than she had hoped.

Gohan smiled and stroked wisps of her hair back from her face, and leaned in to kiss her, a Prince charming rousing his sleeping beauty. Videl wriggled in anticipation at the touch of the soft lips that would send floods of desire through her body. Waking up alone was going to devastating after this; but she didn't really care.

She eagerly awaited the coming kiss; but it never came. Gohan stopped when his lips were mere centimeters from her own, and whispered, "C'mon Vi, wake up."

Videl's mind screamed in frustration. Where was her kiss? The blinding kiss that would manage to convey all the feelings that he would never voice to her aloud-where was it?

She pushed dream Gohan away from her and turned her back to him, letting him know her displeasure.

"Please, Videl," he pleaded softly, slightly amused. "I don't know what you're dreaming about, but it's better in real life."

Videl snorted, close to tears. Now even her dream husband was refusing her? Telling her to wake up and face the fact that she was alone? No. She'd stay asleep and be unhappy in his presence; just because she could see him there.

A large hand fell upon her shoulder, rolling her over and squeezing gently. "Come on, Videl," he whispered again, eerily real. "It's time for you to wake up now."

She opened her eyes to gaze one last time into the dark eyes of her husband. He was right, no good would come of dwelling on what she couldn't have. He smiled and nodded at her, and she pushed herself back into consciousness and opened her eyes.

Only to find the same eyes she'd just seen in her dream staring back at her.

Gohan was home.

Before she could even remember to breathe, he covered the last few centimeters and covered her lips with his own, managing to put all of his guilt, apologies, and love into the overwhelming kiss.

She flung her arms around her neck, and buried her face into his rock-hard chest, trying to hide her tears of joy. Gohan always hated it when she cried.

One of his arms caught her by the waist and she found herself cradled in his lap like a little girl, his hands stroking her hair and back as she cried.

After a few moments he lifted her chin and pressed his lips to hers again, this time filling her with something much more satisfying than the first kiss. This one was filled with longing-and desire.

She kissed him as fervently as he did her.

When they finally broke apart for air, he gave her a feral grin and picked her bodily, half slinging her over one broad shoulder.

When he carried her off in the direction of the bedroom, her hand caught the banner hanging off the door.

As she let it drift back off down the stairs, she decided it had been a happy birthday after all.

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