If I could reach the stars
Pull one down for you
Shining on my heart
So you could see the truth

"Sleeping bags?"

"Check."

"Check."

"Torches?"

"Check."

"Uh ... check."

"Eskies?"

"Check. You Saiyans are such pigs, really."

"Check. It's our demanding training."

"Yeah, you don't get a body like this from starving yourself. Bug spray?"

"Check."

"Check."

"Marshmallows?"

"Check."

"Check, check, and check again."

"Honestly, Gohan, you and your marshmallow fixation ... Paper plates?"

"Check."

"Check."

"Knives and forks?"

"Check."

"Check."

"Matches?"

"Check."

"Check."

"Dressing gowns?"

"Ch-what?!"

"Dressing gowns?!"

Mirai's eyes widened innocently. "What? You never know who you'll meet! ... What? ... Why are you looking at me like that? ... What're you-hey! Oi!"

When Chi Chi bustled in a moment later, she had an apt comment on the situation.

"Cut it out. You're wasting marshmallows."

Gohan, Videl and Mirai paused in the midst of smearing each other with marshmallows, suddenly acutely aware of how ridiculous they all looked. Clearing his throat, Gohan awkwardly removed his hand from where it had been stuffing marshmallows down the back of Mirai's top. Videl disentangled her fingers from their rather tense grip of the lilac-haired boy's sleeve and returned the shapeless pink mush in her free hand to the table. Mirai released his grasp on Gohan's hand - the one not disappearing down the back of his shirt, that is - and at the same time freeing Videl's wrist from the grapple they'd been involved in.

Then this love I have inside
Is everything it seems
But for now I find
It's only in my dreams

Chi Chi surveyed the scene with raised brow and hooded eyes. "And what exactly, may I ask, if going on here?" she asked in a voice somewhere between drawling and disdain.

"Nothing, mum," Gohan said almost frantically, waving his hands palm outward in a disclaiming gesture. "Really!"

Mirai chose that moment to reach out and swipe a bit of marshmallow from the corner of Gohan's mouth with his thumb. The darker demi-Saiyan gaped at the other boy, words suddenly failing him, and watched goldfish-like as Mirai, meeting his eye with seeming unconcern, ran his tongue over the marshmallow-smeared digit. He grazed the pad of his thumb with teeth that Gohan was certain looked more canine than usual, drawing the appendage into his mouth and closing his lips over it slowly, relishing the taste of pink fluff.

Then he opened his mouth, gave his thumb a final, impudent lick, and dropped his arm. All this was done with such a bland look that it left Gohan quite confused and not sure whether he should me smirking or glaring or winking or anything, what with all the thoughts chasing each other around his head and the suspicion that he had just been Toyed With, which was unacceptable, and the marshmallow and the flirting and the Mirai.

So it took young Gohan almost a full minute before he realised that the two female occupants of the room had been carrying on a conversation around him for quite a long moment while he was occupied with such traitorous thoughts.

Bloody Mirai.

Because neither man said anything, Chi Chi decided not to remark on the whole thumb-licking incident. But she did think about it - quite a lot, in fact.

***

As Videl trudged up the hill, she tried to figure out exactly what was in her backpack that made it so damn heavy. She'd gone through the inventory in her head several times and come up with nothing to account for the leaden weight dragging at her back and shoulders. Completely despicable though the notion was, Videl was eventually forced to admit that she, tough girl among tough girls, was tired.

Gohan was several steps ahead of her, his speed unhindered by the fact that his own backpack was bursting at the seams. Even now he was trying to fic it as he walked, shouldering the overfull pack in extremely awkward ways as he attempted to pin the splitting seams together and showing no sign of effort in the slightest. His steps were as quick as they had been when they started the hike seven hours ago. Godly creature though he was, Videl had a sudden urge to deck him.

Mirai, of course, was even further ahead, doing his best nancing-elf impersonation as he scouted the land ahead for the quickest way to the campsite he'd chosen. He stepped lightly and surely over even the toughest ground, catlike grace and agility just humming in his veins, even his tough boots leaving only subtle tracks. Videl decided that after she decked Gohan, she'd take her so-called boyfriend's big fat backpack and shove it right up Mirai's-

"Oh! Gohan, you dropped something!"

And I can change the world
I will be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby if I could, change the world

Videl bent down to pick up the photo she'd seen fall from the dark-eyed boy's wallet, meandering leaf-like to the scrub-covered ground in a lazy way that gave no clue as to how important it would end up being. Hence, she was rather startled to see Gohan just about pounce on the small square and snatch it away hurriedly.

"Thanks, Videl," he said quickly, "I didn't notice."

He was stuffing the photo back in his wallet and turning back to continue the hike as he spoke, almost as if he had something to hide. But he hadn't been fast enough to stop Videl from seeing just whose battered and aged portrait he was carrying around with him.

In that second between the photo landing on the ground at her feet and its retrieval by Gohan, Mirai had smiled up at her, the cracks and scuffed edges not hiding his identity, the faded colours and dull matte not disguising blue eyes and lavender hair. The boy in the frame was several years younger than the 'man' nancing along the track ahead, the trademark purple fall cut to his ears, the face slightly more adolescent, less angular. But the charming shyness of his smile, the slightly embarrassed way the near shoulder was turned forward in front of the camera, the sweet sparkle in sapphire eyes, declared that Mirai as a person hadn't really changed.

The picture was at least two years old, judging by Mirai's appearance, but the photograph itself looked scruffy enough to be quite a bit older, more like six or even seven years. Which meant that Gohan had kept it close to him for a long time.

Videl was almost positive that wasn't a good sign. Combined with the ice cream incident the other week and Gohan falling into Mirai's arms at the baseball game several days later, she was fairly certain she had due cause to begin worrying.

If I could be king
Even for a day
I'd take you as my queen
I'd have it no other way.

By the time they at last reached the campsite, Videl's legs and back, her throat and lungs had forgotten the miles in deference to the hive of activity going on inside her head. With a lot of time to think and more than a few things to think about, she came to a conclusion that explained everything.

Gohan and Mirai had known each other several years ago, which she already knew. What they hadn't told her was that they'd been involved. Videl wasn't dumb - she knew someone as gorgeous as Gohan couldn't go the majority of his adolescence without finding a partner before meeting her. Nevertheless, she couldn't prevent the swift sting of jealousy that leaped to the forefront of her mind.

*And then I bet Mirai dumped him* Videl's train of thought continued, picking up speed as it went and circumstantial pieces of evidence started to piece themselves together in her mind. *He hurt Gohan somehow. That's why they haven't seen each other for years, because Mirai left him. And ... and that's why Gohan suddenly decided I was his girlfriend - to get back at Mirai.*

By now, the tent was being set up - a three-man dome with assemblage so simple that even a Son could figure it out. It took next to no time to push in the pegs and raise the roof, but Videl's thoughts now had enough steam behind them to tear along their path just as fast as she could process them.

*And now Mirai wants Gohan back. He's trying to steal him from me, trying to get back together with him. But Gohan's trying not to give in - he's trying to resist him. He kissed me to get even with Mirai ... he used me to get revenge.*

A pang went through Videl at the conclusion she reached. She liked Gohan so much - to find out that she'd been used was a heavy blow to her feelings. She didn't want to believe it. Gohan had been nice to her before Mirai turned up, after all. He'd been friendly - he could have been more than friendly if that bloody purple-haired bastard hadn't turned up again. He did like her, he did. He had to.

*It was a cry for help.* The thought came to her suddenly out of her desperate reaches for hope. *Gohan was trying to prove he could survive without Mirai, and he needed my help ... he couldn't do it on his own so he used me to help him.* Videl wasn't one to believe something just because she needed to, so it took her a few moments to find enough evidence to support her hope without clutching at straws. Once she'd managed to convince herself, though, it was easy to then make the decision to act.

Mirai would not have a moment alone with her man, she promised herself. He would not have a single opportunity, not one chance, to try and steal what was hers..

***

And our love would rule
This kingdom we have made
Till then I'd be a fool
Wishing for the day...

Videl wasn't snoring, but her energy signal said she was totally out to it. Mirai was pleased. They hadn't had a second without her all day - from the time he arrived at Gohan's house to find that she'd arrived before him, she'd been there every minute of every hour. It had gotten really annoying.

But now at last he had his lovely Gohan all to himself, and was properly appreciative of this good fortune.

Although he tried not to be too obvious, Mirai knew Gohan was aware that the lavender-haired prince was admiring him. He just couldn't keep his eyes from not-so-subtly adoring the dark-haired Saiyan, from lingering on every accessible inch of the image before him, from drinking in the sight like he was starving for beauty, and from loving every second of it.

"What're you thinking about?" Gohan asked quietly.

"You." It sounded corny to Mirai even as he said it, but he knew his beloved had a higher-than-normal tolerance for sappiness.

He was proved right when Gohan spoke again, turning to regard Mirai solemnly. "There are stars in your eyes." A hint of a dreamy quality stole into the other boy's voice that made Mirai glow inwardly. He did so love the sound of Gohan's voice.

"I'm looking at you, aren't I?" Mirai responded, soft and low. He was playing the love-struck romantic to the hilt. "It's just a reflection."

Silence settled between them as Gohan turned his attention back to the sky and each quietly savoured the moment. Mirai's thoughts were focused on the demi-Saiyan lying across from him, on his back with hands behind his head, bathed in the ethereally beautiful wash of starlight. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered the thousand indefinable but immensely comforting sounds of the night, made by a multitude of little animals and insects just as vital to the well-being of their world as all the efforts of the Z fighters.

Gohan was stargazing. Fully aware though he was of Mirai's enamoured attention, for the moment he was content to be when and where he was. He silently enjoyed the affection of the cerulean-eyed boy while his gaze travelled to and from the angelic points of light in the inky blackness above. They seemed to swing low, beautiful and various, singing silvery promises of something so much greater, so further above the lot of mortals...

And I can change the world
I will be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby if I could, change the world

"Why do you love me, Mirai?"

He could sense the other's surprise at the question and privately registered a degree of startlement in himself. Stargazing always had that effect on him - honesty, openness, the direct transmission of thoughts to voice.

"I hurt you, Mirai. I know I really hurt you when I kissed Videl on Halloween. Why did you forgive me?"

There was silence for a moment. Gohan fought against the compulsion to look across and observe Mirai's reaction, listening to his own steady, loud breathing to distract himself from the compulsion.

"I don't really know," said Mirai slowly, at last. "I ... just ... I've never been able to hold anything against you, Gohan. You always undo me. And ... and I guess because somewhere in me I just refused to believe that you were really out of reach, that if I tried hard enough to prove myself you would choose me. It was stupid, I guess, but..." He gave a short laugh like bells, like water chattering over rocks in a creek. "But I'm too much like my father to admit defeat without putting up a damn good fight first."

A small, warm feeling began to stir in Gohan's body. He identified it as the precursor to beaming. Mirai was willing to fight for him - Mirai wanted to prove himself worthy. Somebody up in the Fate department was reading Gohan's thoughts tonight. He felt chuffed.

"As for why I love you..."

He couldn't help himself. He grinned.

"...I've never met anyone who makes me feel like you do. When you're around I just can't keep myself from smiling. You can play me like an instrument and I don't mind in the slightest. You know where all my buttons are and I'd let you push any of them if you wanted to."

By now Gohan was struggling to keep from dissolving into blissful squirms of happiness. It wasn't just the total sincerity in Mirai's tone - it was the fact that the love of his life was willing to work on their relationship and fix the problems in it. He didn't say so in words, but Gohan's every sense was alerting him to the opportunities evident in the soft, honest voice.

Baby if I could, change the world
And I can change the world.

"The day you said you loved me, Gohan..." Now the tone was quieter still, pitched exclusively for the darker demi's ears. "...I found something that killed me to give up. And at the same time I lost a bit of myself to you. You've had my heart since that day - I'd loved you long before that, but it was like that one little step, when you and I became an 'us' ... I could never go back. I'd do anything for you, Gohan." Mirai's voice dropped still further on the last sentence, evocative of truth straight from the soul. It was so real, so honest, that Gohan shivered.

It was all there, everything he wanted, everything he'd pined for and dreamed of for seven years. And now that the fulfilment of his dearest desire was so close, there was one more thing - one little thing - left to do. It was Gohan's turn to be truthful now.

"Do you know why I hurt you like that, Mirai?" He sensed rather than saw the shake of the lavender-crowned head. "It was because you hurt me just as much, seven years ago. It felt cruel to be accusing Mirai like that when the delicious prince had just warmed him so effectively, but Gohan felt it needed to be said. He wanted to clear the air, to be as honest as he could, so their relationship could be built on trust without deception. "When you left I cried for three days straight. I didn't eat, I barely slept - all I could think about was how much I missed you. I was only eleven years old and I'd already had my heart broken."

A horrible awful feeling was starting to uncurl in Mirai's chest. He identified it as the forerunner of guilt. Gohan had been hurt - his hopes and feelings had been crushed at a time in his life when shouldn't have even had to think about the possibility of heartbreak. Someone up there was taking enjoyment in making Mirai suffer. He felt terrible.

I will be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby if I could, change the world

"Seven years without you..."

How could he have stayed away that long?

"...And no way of telling if or when you were coming back - it hurt worse than anything I'd ever felt, anything I'd ever thought I could feel. It was like you could've come back if you'd wanted to, but I wasn't worth it to you. I know that's not true," he added hurriedly. "It's just the impression I got."

He hadn't known. He'd had no idea. Yes, he was aware he'd hurt Gohan by leaving, but not on this level ... Only now did Mirai realise how monumentally stupid he'd been. For a few days, the happiest of his life, he'd had Gohan's love - a gift so precious and wonderful it hadn't seemed real. But then he'd gone and done the stupidest thing possible, and thrown it away.

"So when you came back the other week it was like a dream come true - or a nightmare. Suddenly I was eleven years old again and there you were, turning your back on me. I just couldn't take it - I couldn't take you. I wanted to get you back, to make you hurt as much as I had, to make you understand exactly how much pain you caused me." A troubled sigh. "It was stupid of me, I know. And I hurt Videl by doing it - I used her, and now I feel so guilty ... She's a good person, really, she is. She's always been nice to me. She didn't deserve to be treated like that." He swallowed. "I shouldn't have done it. But I just couldn't let you get away with doing that to me. I'm really sorry, Mirai."

He sounded it, too. Mirai wanted to yell at him not to be, that Gohan had every right to treat him that way. He deserved it. It was only fair, after he'd been so cruel seven years ago. Mirai's own pain, made worse by the fact that it was self-inflicted, was forgotten as he started to believe himself to be the heartless monster he'd spent so long trying to convince Gohan he wasn't.

No, Mirai didn't deserve Gohan's love. He wasn't worthy of anything so valuable, so priceless. And Gohan ... Gohan deserved someone better.

Baby if I could, change the world
Baby if I could, change the world

=============================

Now that was a conversation..

But hey guess what.... VEGETO IS BACK!!! 😂😂