Sorry I took so long! I know I said there would be

some slash but you'll just have to be patient.This is

NOT a PWP. This story does not revolve around sex, so

if that's what you're lookin' for, you're in the wrong

place. Thanking again for reading and especially for

reviewing, and now I'll shut up and let you get to it!

Enjoy! ^_~

~Torres

CHAPTER 2

BRIIIIING!!

BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!

�Hello?�

Paris rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she slowly

sat up in bed.

�Goten-kun!� A warm smile spread over her face and she

flopped on her stomach again, twirling the phone cord

around one finger nervously. To her mother, watching

her through the crack in her door, she appeared to be

exactly what she was: an innocent, pretty, adolescent

girl, chatting on the phone with her first potential

boyfriend. Her beauty was of the wholesome,

makeup-less sort. Her charm was of the type most rare

these days, honest and na�ve. She was, in the eyes of

her peers, still a child inside, and that was exactly

what drew her admirers to her. Even her enemies, the

type who jealously hate, couldn�t help but admire her

for her simplicity and total lack of awareness that

she was anything special at all.

Her mother, Loraine, knew this perfectly well. Loraine

was a small, fierce woman, who put her neighbors in

mind of a whip, what with her eyes, snapping blue

lightening, and swift, slicing movements. This tiny

whirlwind stood for a moment outside her daughter�s

room, before spinning on her heel to go back to her

own where she sat in deep thought for several minutes.

She and Paris were recently moved in from the country

and the city boys here had shocked them both with

their boldness. Paris was shy but gaining confidence,

while Loraine was suspicious and wary. This young

Goten of Paris�, he had seemed alright to her at

first, but then his reputation had reached her ears. A

playboy, picking up girls and dropping them the next

day. 

Loraine�s mouth tightened and her eyes grew hard.

Something had to be done.

Paris knelt in the grass under a flowering tree and

breathed in the familiar scents of warm grass and

perfumy blossoms. She smiled one of her slow, warm

smiles, and laid back, not caring if her white

sundress was grass-stained. She had missed this. She

watched shadows and sunlight dance together on her arm

through sleepy half-closed eyes until she wasn�t sure

if she was dreaming or awake. Probably both. 

Something tugged at her. 

It tugged again, insistent.

Reluctantly, she moved toward full consciousness,

becoming aware of a tickling sensation on her nose.

�A-A-ACHOO!� 

Rubbing her nose with one hand, she propped herself up

on the other and looked into laughing dark eyes.

�Looks like you feel asleep waiting for me! Sorry I�m

late, Parii-chan.� Goten twirled a feather between his

thumb and forefinger and grinned, sheepishly. She

smiled back and held out both arms without saying a

word. He rolled his eyes and stood up, grasping her

hands and pulling her up as well.

�So, why were you late?� She asked some time later as

they watched the sunset reflected in the lake below

their slope.

�Oh, I was going to get here early, actually, but I

had a collision with my friend, Trunks. And of course,

I couldn�t just fly off without chatting a little, and

then Trunks started doing these weird little tricks

midair, so I imitated him just for fun, and it turned

into a contest, sort of, and I couldn�t back out,

and�well, you know what happened, I guess. That�s why

I was late.�

�What friend?� 

�Trunks. Trunks Briefs. You remember him, right?�

�Oh! Of course! We should all go somewhere together,

the three of us, sometime. Would you like that,

Goten?�

�Sure. I�m sure he would, too. Oh, we�d better get you

home before your mom starts wondering.� He hunched his

shoulders a little.

�I don�t want her to dislike me anymore than she

already does.�

�Give her time. She�ll see what a nice person you are,

just like me.� Paris warmed him with her beautiful

smile then stood and dusted herself off. He followed

her lead, and, arm in arm, they started down the hill.

As they got closer to the city, Goten could feel

Paris� muscles tensing and noticed she had moved

closer to him.

�Is something wrong?�

Paris smiled again, a little uncertainly this time.

�Oh, no, I just don�t like being around a whole lot of

people. We never had such big crowds back home.� She

swallowed and tightened her hold on him. He thought a

moment, then his eyes lit up and he spoke excitedly.

�Hey, Paris, how about I fly you home?�

�Fly?� Her brow wrinkled slightly. �I don�t know��

�Aw, c�mon. I�ll keep you safe.�

�Well�okay. But I should tell you, I�m afraid of

heights. I may strangle you.�

�Strangle away, I�ve got a very strong neck.� He

positioned himself behind her and wrapped his arms

securely around her waist. He began to lift off, but

then stopped.

�What�s wrong?� Paris twisted around to look at him

worriedly. He didn�t say anything but instead released

her and, pointing a finger down the hill, shot a small

stream of ki at something she couldn�t see. After a

moment a pink teddy bear floated into his waiting hand

from the same direction. He presented it to her with a

flourish.

�A memoir of today and something to hold onto in case

you get scared,� he said with a wink, then, in

response to her startled expression, �I got a

bullseye.�

Paris just shook her head, placing Goten�s arms back

where they had been, knowing that was all the

explanation she was going to get. She had realized a

while ago that her boyfriend was different.

Her belly dropped suddenly and she closed her eyes

against the sight of the earth rushing away.

�Oh, come on, Paris,� Goten coaxed over her shoulder.

�Open your eyes! We have a pretty nice view.�

She slowly opened her eyes and, unable to stop

herself, looked down. It was a nice view, she thought

absently, staring. In the back of her mind she knew

she should be terrified, but there was something

pushing her body upwards and supporting her. That and

there was Goten�s warm presence against her back and

his arms around her. With all this, she felt very safe

and was able to enjoy the gentle swooping and rising

motion of the flight. The wind in her hair felt

delicious and stars were just peaking out over the

horizon. A particularly bright one just in front of

them was probably Venus, the evening star.

�First star to the right and straight on till

morning,� she murmured, enchanted. Goten heard her and

smiled into her hair.

All too soon, they landed.

Goten released her and stepped back. Paris turned to

face him and he looked at her silently in the fading

light. Her hair fell softly around her shoulders, her

eyes were gentle and shining, her face was that of a

model�s, high cheekbones and full lips, her body was

graceful and rounded. She was truly the most beautiful

girl he had ever seen in his life. They had been

dating for some time and he knew that now was the time

to take the next step in their relationship. He moved

toward her until he was no more than a few inches

away, took her hands in his, then slowly, hesitantly,

leaned down and covered her mouth with his own. He met

with no resistance, she almost seemed to melt into

him. He felt her curves molded to his body and he kept

his eyes open to watch her. She had closed her eyes

and looked like she was concentrating very hard. 

After several moments Goten  pulled away. He tightened

his hold on her hands and looked down at them. Paris

tried to calm down, but this had been her very first

kiss. Her heart thundered in her ears and an

incredulous smile split her face in two.  Goten�s face

was hidden by the baseball cap on his head as he

looked at their joined hands. She gazed at him

lovingly, content to just stand still and look at him.

After  a brief moment, her boyfriend finally looked up

at her and she was shocked at the glitter of his dark

eyes and the look on his face. He looked as if he had

just lost his best friend and he blinked hard to get

rid of what she was certain were the beginnings of

tears. He let go of her hands and took a few steps

back, still with that lost look on his face. He opened

his mouth then closed it, several times, twisting his

hands together in front of him. Then she watched, her

hand to her mouth in disbelief, he whirled around with

one last look of fear and ran, launching himself into

the sky and streaming away. 

Paris was left alone in the dark, the breeze from his

passing causing her to shiver. There were a thousand

questions in her mind and a thousand emotions, but the

foremost two were why? And overwhelming hurt.

Goten flew, straining himself to the limit for speed,

but he knew he couldn�t outfly the thoughts in his

head. He didn�t know why he was flying or what he was

trying to escape but he knew whatever it was it was

going to hurt Paris. He couldn�t stand to see the

happiness in her smile or the questions in her eyes as

she observed him. He had been told many times how

completely transparent his feelings were and for the

first time he cursed his inability to lie, or even

obscure, anything.

It was the kiss. It was Paris. It was the way he felt

around her. It was everything. But more than anything,

it was Trunks.

Ever since they had been children, Trunks had been

there, teasing, playing, scheming, helping. Not even

Vejita had been able to deny the bond between his son

and �Kakkarott�s damn brat�. They were the perfect

team. 

Goten had grown older and, of course, made other

friends. But while his other friendships were close

and satisfying, they felt the same. He was happy to

see them, ready to help them out, he cared for them

deeply. But they were all so different from his

friendship with Trunks. He was happy to see Trunks as

well, but there were other emotions there. Strange

emotions, wild and confusing. He couldn�t say that

Trunks was like a brother, because he certainly

wasn�t, but he could definitely say he cared deeply.

That was just it. When it came to Trunks, he felt so

much, he cared so much more. When he was angry, he was

well and truly furious or perhaps merely irritated

beyond reason. Hurt was more hurtful, sorrow was bone

deep. Everything was magnified. His other friendships

were so superficial, so polite. He would never scream

at them the way he had at Trunks. He would never be so

unashamed to show his weaknesses. No one he knew, not

his parents or anyone else acted this way. His father

and mother never talked about their hopes and fears.

Just surface things, like finances and rules,

schooling and family outings. There was something

beautiful and unstoppable here. Goten was so very,

very glad. Without that, he would never have had the

confidence to be himself. Everyone told him what to do

and how to be, a warrior, a scholar, a businessman, an

artist. Everyone did. And he ignored them all to go

with his gut and wait until something came along with

which he felt right. This was Trunks� gift, and his

fault, as his mother would say. 

�Some times I think that Trunks is a part of me, my

other half. We�re so different, but I need him and

what he has while he needs me and what I have,� Goten

voiced his thoughts aloud. 

�If that was all, I wouldn�t be so scared, though!�

His voice changed at that to an almost sob. He thought

back to the morning when he had woken up freom a dream

of something which had happened years ago, when he was

only thirteen, still trying to keep his balance in the

crazy world of puberty and young adult hood. It was

the day of his first real kiss that something had

changed between Trunks and him. They still understood

eachother without speaking but it was like they had

taken a distinct step away. Goten found himself so

much more aware of Trunks� body and his own when they

were together. He understood why, but they both

remembered what they had felt and were made

uncomfortable by it. Goten knew uncomfortable in this

way with friends was fairly common and so passed it

off as a normal development. 

Until tonight.

�I need to talk to someone,� he decided, �anyone.

But�I don�t know if I have the courage.�

�That�s why you have me, Goten,� came a quiet voice by

his ear. With a startled yelp, he lost his focus and

tumbled out of the sky. Someone grabbed him by the arm

and slowed his descent until he recovered enough to

summon the ki to catch himself.

�Who are you?� he managed, staring at the apparition

before him. It was a woman, he couldn�t put his finger

on an age, but she was fairly young and quite lovely.

Her eyes were large and mild, set in a perfect face

with strange blue markings on her forehead and cheeks.

Layers upon layers of strange light apparel seemed

almost to float about her slim, pale, form. Long mouse

brown curls drifted about her head, moved by the light

wind which had mysteriously sprung up.

�My name is Belldandy and I am a goddess.�