Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chance for Love ❯ Facing the Music ( Chapter 8 )

Author: Murasaki Rose
Email: murasaki_rose@dbzmail.com
Archive?: Go for it! Just be sure and let me know where so I can link back to ya!

Title: Second Chance for Love
Genre: AU/Romance
Pairings: Goku/OC
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: None
A/N: "text" = speech, 'text' = thought, --text-- = telepathy

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Part Eight - Facing the Music

With a flick of a switch, the wheels of the sapphire blue Firebird folded back into place as her car settled to the ground(1). Debra couldn't help but smile, the land/air car worked perfectly every time, thanks to her son-in-law's alterations. Still her momentary delight was quickly replaced with the flock of butterflies that had been plaguing her all day. "So!" she said in an overly cheerful voice, "Shall we go inside?"

Goku nodded and noting his mate's forced smile, reached over to take her hand. "It'll be okay, koishi," he said reassurringly squeezing her hand. "They're our friends." Debra nodded lightly and the couple got out of the car and prepared for battle.

A bright and cheerful Bulma greeted them at the door. "Hey guys! Don't worry so much, you're the first ones here. Goku, you can go play with Vegeta in the gravity room until dinner's ready," she said, giving him a gentle shove in that direction. "Come on, Debra. You can help me cook something Vegeta won't complain about eating."

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The later it got the more nervous, Debra became. She couldn't help it. Soon everyone would know. 'I hope their all-right with this, especially the kids,' Debra thought nervously. Their children's opinions were what had them the most concerned, it was important to them that they accepted their being together. They hadn't exactly been secretive about it, it just never came up. The pair had dropped little hints all evening, hoping to alleviate the shock. They had sat hip-to-hip at dinner, held hands whenever possible, and Debra had even rested her head on Goku's shoulder prompting him to wrap his arm around her shoulders. Finally though, everyone had gathered in the family room, they really couldn't delay any longer. That and Bulma kept shooting them looks and mouthing the words, "tell them!" Taking a deep breath Debra squared her shoulders and stood, Goku followed her example and took her hand. "Ano . . . minna? . . . Goku and I have something we'd like to tell you." She waited until everyone was paying attention before continuing, "Well you see . . . uhm . . . Goku and I . . . ." her voice faltered and she struggled to keep speaking.

"We're mates now," Goku finished, earning a grateful smile from her.

There was a moment of complete silence before anyone reacted. Much to the couples surprise, nearly everyone burst into wild laughter.

"Man you two, I almost thought you were being serious!" Kuririn exclaimed, still snickering while wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

Yamcha was still laughing as well, "You almost had us this time guys!"

Debra and Goku exchanged glances. "They really don't believe us!" Goku said, shaking his head in surprise.

Debra frowned thoughtfully, "Well . . . I think . . I think I know how to convince them," she said turning to face her mate.

"How?" he asked looking quite bewildered.

"Like this," she replied pulling his head down to her level and kissing him soundly. Goku responded immediately, his own arms wrapping around her waist and his tail around her upper thigh, while Debra's arms held him tightly.

Stunned was not an entirely accurate way to describe the state their friends and family were in, but it was pretty close. Only three people were unfazed: Bulma who was grinning from ear to ear at them, Vegeta who simply smirked at the new couple, and Ana who couldn't help but smile, her mother was happy again!

Yamcha, Kuririn, and Tien's jaws hit the floor. Fortunately for Tien, his wife Ranchi reached over and gently lifted it back up.

"Th-they w-w-were se-serious," Kuririn stuttered in amazement.

Juuhachigo smiled and patted his hand, "Hai, they were. And it's really not all that surprising."

"Nani?!"

"She's right Kuririn-san," Marion said with a grin.

Akira picked up the thread, " . . and the more you think about it . . ."

" . . the more sense it makes," Takeshi finished while the other Guardians nodded in agreement.

Miraku grinned and squeezed Jianu's shoulder, "Guess your eyes are all-right after all." Jianu nodded mutely, unable to to form a coherent reply as she witnessed her mother and her sensei sharing such a passionate embrace.

"Don't they need to breathe yet?" a wide-eyed Bra asked her father.

"Iie. They'll stop when they need air," he replied, sounding somewhat amused. Vegeta knew first-hand how hard it was for the newly mated to keep their hands off each other.

Sensing that they'd gotten their point across and needing to breathe again, Goku and Debra broke the kiss. Turning to face their friends and family, they didn't let go of the other.

"Now do you believe us?" Debra asked a bit breathlessly.

There was another brief moment of silence before the gang burst into a collection of "congratulations".

Jianu smiled happily, they did make a cute couple. However, "Ya know, you really should be careful about whose window you're flying by when you're making out." Debra turned bright red as her eldest daughter went on, "I do use my office every once in a while."

Chuckling, Miraku leaned over and hugged his wife, "Yea, you had her thinking her eyes were going bad."

Gomen ne, Jianu-chan," Goku replied sheepishly, "But I just can't help myself!" The expression on his face was priceless and the whole gang burst into laughter at the sight.

When the noise died down, Goten had a question, "Ano, Tousan . . . if me and Laura are already married . . . . and you and Debra-san get married . . . . what will that make us?"

"That would make you both my son-in-law and my stepson," Debra answered for her mate.

Goten's eyes grew round, "Is that legal?"

Laura snorted and punched his arm, "`Course it is. We're not blood relatives, just in-laws and stuff."

"So you guys are okay with this then?"

"Absolutely," Laura replied hugging her mother and father-in-law tightly while Goten flashed them a thumbs up.

Pan smiled brightly at her grandfather, "As long as you two are happy, ne? Isn't that what you said when Trunks and I announced our engagement?"

"And everyone recovered from that shock didn't they?" Trunks added in.

Goku breathed a huge sigh of relief, everyone seemed to be okay with this. But he hadn't heard from Gohan yet. Probably because he wasn't in the room. "Where'd Gohan go?"

Everyone looked around in confusion before Videl spoke up, "Outside I think. He seemed a bit distracted."

Goku made as if to go after him, but was stopped by Debra's gentle hand on his arm. "Let me talk to him, koi. I think I know what's bothering him."

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Up on the roof of Capsule Corp, Gohan stared up at the stars, his emotions a jumbled mess. 'Should I be happy for them? Am I happy for them? Does this mean he doesn't love Kaasan anymore? And does Debra-san really love Tousan? Baka, of course she does . . . but still . . .'

"Oi, penny for your thoughts."

His muddled thoughts interrupted, Gohan turned to see Debra landing nearby and his eyes went wide, "When did you learn how to fly?"

"`Couple weeks ago," she answered, sitting down next to her future stepson. "Nice view."

"Uhn." Gohan just sat there, trying to think of something to say but drawing a big blank. 'Great Gohan, you've got an IQ of 300 and you can't think of a single intelligent remark. Brilliant.' he couldn't even figure out what he wanted to say, much less how to say it.

Debra sighed, "Look Gohan, I wanted to explain a few things." She turned to face him, "First off, your father and I did not plan on this. It just kinda happened. Second," now she locked eyes with the young demi-saiya-jin, "I have not nor will I ever take Chichi's place in your father's heart. Just as he will never take Tim's place in my own." Gohan said nothing, merely blinked in surprise. "Your mom was my friend, and I would never do anything to hurt her. And don't think she isn't watching over all of us. But I really do love your father and we both want your acceptance."

At first Gohan didn't know what to say, but it didn't take him long to figure it out. Giving her the classic Son grin, he swept her into a bear hug, "I'm glad you two are happy again," he whispered.

"Arigato Gohan-kun," she replied, returning his hug then letting go to slap his shoulder playfully, "Now get in there and tell your father that."

"Okay!" His fears at ease Gohan happily bounded off the roof.

Debra shook her head, "He's just like his father sometimes."

February 01, 2002

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1 - Think "Back to the Future I & II. Remember how the Delorian's wheels folded up for flight and back into place for regular driving? Just like that.

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Disclaimer: Here we go. I do not own any of the characters from Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. They are all the property of Akira Toriyama, Bird Studio, Toei Animation, and Funimation Inc. However, all the other characters in my stories are mine. I'm not making any money off of this, its just for fun. And to top it off I'm a college student who works for the school system so you know I don't have any money. So if you sue me you won't get anything.