Maintaining: Fitting In

Chapter 22 - Fitting In

Gohan rolled his eyes when he entered the living room of his mother's house. She was sitting on the floor between Rezu's legs, singing along with the TV while her girlfriend played with her hair.

'Girlfriend'. It had taken him a few months to get used to the idea of his mother having a girlfriend. Goten, on the other hand, had latched onto Rezu immediately - but he didn't know any differently - that their relationship wasn't accepted by everyone. Add to that - even though they were kids, he had a sneaky suspicion about Goten and Trunks...

And now this...GodS... Why couldn't he have a normal family? He'd done some experimenting, and it was fun, but he really did like girls - and he loved Videl.

"Hi Mom. Hey Rezu," he said, plopping down in an armchair with a sigh, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"Hi honey. Are you hungry?" Chichi asked as she turned off the TV.

Gohan chuckled and shook his head. His mother loved to feed people - and she always had enough food in the house to feed a horde of Saiyans.

"Hey kid - you look beat," Rezu added. "Did everything go okay at The Lookout?"

"Yeah, they should be fine tomorrow. I hope it's okay - I left Truten with Korin to wait for the Senzu. They were driving me nuts, and Piccolo threatened to tie them up and throw them over the edge."

Chichi grinned. "What makes you so sure Korin will put up with them?"

Gohan snickered. "I told them it was training. They've been running Korin ragged for hours. So far they haven't fused to catch him, but it will happen. Then he'll chuck them over the side."

Rezu chuckled. "You sound like Piccolo."

"So what's going on up there?" Chichi asked.

"Mom, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. They were in bed - sleeping together. They were... cuddling. Their tails were..." he tried to figure out how to describe it, and gave up, making twisting motions with his hand. "And Mom... they were... purring."

"Yes!" Chichi said, pumping her hand in the air.

"That's great!" Rezu proclaimed.

Gohan stared at them in shock. "You guys are really okay with this?"

Chichi gave her son a questioning look before getting up to sit next to Rezu.

"Yes, Gohan. I think this is a good thing for both of them. Does it bother you?"

Gohan looked down at his hands while he thought.

"Nooo...," he slowly said. "I mean - I knew Dad liked Vegeta. His tail was...*sigh*...he reeked. But I didn't really think Vegeta would..."

"It does bother you," Rezu said.

"A little." He waved off any remarks his mother might make. "I guess I just need some time to get used to it. It's just that... it was kind of strange to see."

He didn't intend to tell them one of the things that bothered him. He had been reminded yet again of how truly alien his father was. He didn't want anyone to know the momentary fear he had felt when he went to where his father and Vegeta were sleeping. Dende was going to try to heal Vegeta some more, and Gohan had followed him. As he entered the room his father had snapped awake from a sound sleep and had glared at Dende with teal eyes. He had heard a threatening growl and saw his father's tail snapping a warning. The transformation was more terrifying for not being complete - and Gohan was positive he didn't know who he or Dende were at that moment. Dende had turned around and clung to him, trembling. He couldn't tear his eyes away and just stood there, frozen, suddenly feeling like prey, afraid to move, until Piccolo had pushed past him and said, 'Knock it off, Goku. No one is going to hurt him.' His father blinked, his eyes returning to their normal brown, before they closed and he went back to sleep.

"I wish I had pictures," Chichi said with a smirk.

"Mooommm...that's sick," Gohan complained.

Rezu snickered. "Quit trying to upset the kid, girl," she said, poking Chichi in the side. She got up and took Gohan's hand, dragging him over to the couch by his mother, ignoring his protests.

She headed for the kitchen as Chichi made her eldest lie down, resting his head on the pillow she put in her lap.

Gohan let his head fall back with an exhausted groan.

"What's wrong, Gohan?" Chichi asked, shifting into 'concerned mother' mode, stroking her son's hair.

Gohan kept his eyes closed and directed his answer at the ceiling. "It's just... this has been a tough couple of weeks."

"First it was Dende going through heat - and I'm beginning to wonder if that wasn't a mistake. I mean, I know he needed help, and he didn't have many alternatives, but it's made things kind of weird..."

Chichi frowned for a moment. She had been surprised when Gohan had asked for her advice about the young Namek. She knew part of his interest was due to plain curiosity and teenage hormones, but she also could tell Gohan was unconsciously doing his 'superhero' thing. Although she thought the idea of Dende needing rescuing from unrelieved sexual tension was one of the more ridiculous things she had ever heard. Gohan had done the exact opposite of what she had advised, and she thought it was a huge mistake - especially getting Videl involved. Her son, though, would never hear that from her lips.

"Between you and Videl?"

"No," he said quickly, "We're fine. But Dende's become kind of weird about it. Every time I go to The Lookout now he looks at me funny...

"I mean, I told him we were helping because we were friends - it wasn't anything serious...after all, it only happens once in his life."

"I wonder what Piccolo did when he was that age?" Chichi asked with a grin.

Gohan sat up, covered his eyes and groaned in protest. "Mom, I don't even want to think about that." It was bad enough thinking about his parents having sex, but Piccolo...his mentor - someone he looked up to...? He shuddered as the images passed through his mind.

"Maybe Dende is just lonely," she said, rubbing his back. "After all, you don't visit him as often as you used to. And I don't think Piccolo likes him."

"Yeah - I've never been sure why, though. They seemed to get along at first. Something must have changed."

"Professional rivalry?" Chichi suggested.

He lay back down in his mother's lap, facing the blank TV. "Because Kami was Guardian? I never thought of that."

They were silent for a few minutes as she continued to stroke his hair.

"What else is bothering you?"

Gohan finally permitted his tail to uncoil from its hiding space around his waist to loosely wrap around his mother's arm.

"I don't know...Dad's been spacier than normal - that whole thing with the tails at dinner was weird you know...

"And then Vegeta just flipping out like that...

"And then...trying to keep Truten from seeing them so they wouldn't freak out."

He sighed.

"How bad was it?" she asked quietly, regretting again her inability to fly to The Lookout. She had hated putting the task on Gohan - he had been burdened with adult responsibilities since he was a child - and part of him knew and resented it. That was one of the reasons he often sounded so angry with Goku - his father seemed to be able to avoid dealing with them, instead leaving his son to cope with difficult situations.

He shuddered in memory. "I'm still having nightmares. You didn't get close enough to see. I..."

"You thought you were going to lose your father again," she said, understanding.

Gohan just nodded, eyes closed, not willing to let anyone see how close to tears he was.

"Poor baby," she crooned, "It has been rough for you lately, hasn't it?"

He sat up and hugged her, feeling like a little boy again.

"Can't things ever just be normal?" he protested. "I didn't ask for all of this! Why can't I have a normal life? A normal family?"

"I'm sorry, Gohan, that you don't have your fairy tale family. We are what we are. You do have a large family that loves you."

"Why do I have to be the only straight one?" he mumbled.

Chichi couldn't help herself - she chuckled.

"Quit laughing," Gohan complained.

"I'm sorry, Gohan, but you have to stop being so worried about what other people think."

"But even Goten and Trunks..."

"Because of the fusion? I don't know. We'll have to see."

He sat up and frowned. "Sometimes I feel kind of..." He paused, searching for the right word.

"Left out?"

He sighed. "Yeah."

"You're not left out, baby. You have a wonderful girlfriend, who you might want to marry someday. Your father and I love you, and Goten and Trunks adore you. You have good friends, like Piccolo..."

Rezu walked into the room with a plate of sandwiches. "Oh, are we talking about little green men?"

"Piccolo's not little," he protested.

Rezu did her best to stifle a giggle, making an immediate about-face, bolting into the kitchen, plate still in hand.

Chichi grinned as she heard the hysterical laughter pouring from the kitchen.

"What, what?" Gohan asked confused. He played back the last few sentences and turned deep red.

"You know," he shouted at the kitchen, "For someone who doesn't like men, you have an unhealthy obsession with penises!"

Chichi couldn't hold back any longer and roared, holding her sides as tears streamed down her face.

TBC