AN: :sniff: :SOB!: Well, all good things must come to an end eventually. And since this is ending too, I guess all mediocre things go along the same rule. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the final chapter of "Once Upon a Chibi." Well, actually, this is more of an epilogue than a chapter. A little idea given to me in a review that I can't find. An idea that was just too damn good to pass up. So I did it!
I hope you like the way I ended my traumatic tale. I DON'T OWN DBZ!!!! But that's okay. My therapist says I'll get over it. But he knows nothing…hehe…nothing…fire…whoops, sorry 'bout that!
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Epilogue
It was hard to believe, but a year had passed.
One full year had gone by since that fateful day when Son Gohan had been wished back to his adult self. And it had actually been one year and four months since that even more fateful day when Son Goten had gathered the Dragonballs and made the wish that had turned Gohan into an eighteen year old in a seven year old's body. And it was difficult to believe that one year and two months had passed since the equally fateful night upon which Gohan had become a living Cinderella story, returned to his eighteen year old form for one night so that he could attend his prom with his current girlfriend, Videl. And now he was finally eighteen in both mind and body.
(AN: I think I just summed up my whole story in about five sentences…)
Gohan was quite happy to be back in his normal adult self, though he would never forget the days that he had been given to relive his lost childhood. At the beginning, when the wish had first been made, he had actually made plans to brutally murder his little brother the instant he was back to normal (making it look like an accident, of course), but now, looking back, he just couldn't. Goten had actually done a pretty awesome thing for him. Truthfully, he probably should thank the kid.
Videl was delighted to have him back to normal. He had gone back to school, pleading the illness story (and thankfully, no one questioned how he had recovered enough to attend the prom). He had resumed his role as the Great Saiyaman, and only yesterday had gotten to bust a few bank robbers with Videl at his side ("I shall right all wrongs! I shall fix all that is broken! I bring air freshner to where there is the stink of evil! I am the Great Saiyaman!").
Most of the old gang still teased Gohan about some of the more idiotic things he had done whilst in his chibified state. The little incident where Marron had kissed him was a particular favorite, right up there with the loud, screaming fight Marron and Videl had gotten into over him. And, of course, they brought up all of those delightfully brilliant pranks he, Goten, and Trunks had played on Vegeta every chance they got.
Oh, and Vegeta hadn't gotten off scot-free, either. Gohan had once again managed to get the proud Saiyan and put him in his place—again using the Gravity Room as the scene of the crime, catching Vegeta just as he was emerging from a training session; the reaction had been loud, obscene, and utterly, utterly delightful. It was absolutely amazing what one could do with a simple garden hose.
Poor Vegeta. The Order of the Prank was still alive and well.
But at the moment, Gohan wasn't thinking about playing pranks on Vegeta. His attention was focused entirely on digging through the rocks, until finally, he found his prize. A small orange sphere with three stars on it. It glowed when he picked it up, and he was sure that the other six of the set (each with a different number of stars on it, from one to seven) were doing the same.
"Gotcha," he chuckled, reaching over his shoulder to stick the final Dragonball in his bag. He took off into the air then, heading for a secluded place where he knew he could make his wish without being interrupted. He went back to the place where Piccolo had dropped him so long, to live alone in the wilderness for six months by himself.
The sand was warm under his feet, right through his shoes, but he ignored it and dumped the seven Dragonballs out onto the ground in a haphazard pile. They were glowing brightly, as though excited that he was going to make use of them and wish for something.
"Shenron, I summon you!" he called, holding his hands out over the spheres out of habit more than anything else. "Come forth, and grant my wishes!"
The now-familiar light shot into the sky, and the enormous, writhing form of Shenron, the Eternal Dragon, appeared. "YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME," Shenron boomed. "NAME YOUR FIRST WISH."
Gohan hesitated for a moment. Should he really do this? It wasn't really very nice, and there weren't really very many excuses he could make for doing this. After all, two wrongs didn't make a right…though two lefts did (or something like that). It was just petty revenge.
And revenge was sweet. Let the wrath of Hell—aka, his mother's Frying Pan-fall upon him. This was going to be extremely funny. And besides, it could always be fixed. In four months.
Smirking, Gohan called his wish up to the Eternal Dragon, looming in the sky.
Oh, payback was so very sweet.
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At the Son residence, Goten and Trunks were cheerfully playing with their action figures. It was yet another game of 'Videl and Saiyaman Save the City Because the Police are Helpless and Can't Do It Themselves,' the boys' favorite game.
Suddenly, Goten stiffened, and pressed both hands to his forehead. "Owwww…"
"Goten, what's wrong?" Trunks asked in a panic, but he got no answer.
Fire shot through Goten's head, piercing his temples. He recoiled as it spread, joining with a pain in his back to form one nice, big arc of pain. He saw pretty stars in front of his eyes—and he wished he could move so he could catch one, but his body suddenly went numb, and he fell forward.
Then, suddenly, it stopped. Flat-out, it was gone. And he sat up, shaking his head a little. He turned to Trunks to ask what had happened, but the words froze on his tongue when he saw the look on Trunks' face. It was horror and confusion melded together into a very odd expression.
"What? What's wrong?" Goten asked, then stopped. He was surprised at the timbre of his voice. Was he going through puberty early or something, because his voice had never been that deep before. And he felt so very strange, like he wasn't quite himself anymore.
He climbed to his feet—and nearly fell over. His center of gravity seemed to have shifted, and it was hard to keep his balance. Plus, everything looked a little different; he was looking at it from a different vantage point, higher up than he had a moment ago.
Scrambling frantically across the room (and managing to make it there without falling flat on his face), Goten looked in the mirror. But the face that looked back at him was not a seven year old's face. It was the face of someone older. A fairly handsome face, it was true, with dark hair and equally dark eyes. But that didn't take away from the fact that the face was older. Like…Gohan's age, maybe…
Realization hit like a ki blast to the head. Except it didn't hurt as much, and probably wouldn't result in severe injury or, more likely, death. Anyway…
Goten clapped a hand to each side of his face and screamed, Home Alone style.
"GOHAN!!!!!!!!"
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AN: Whew, and it's over! All over…after close to ninety thousand words (does anyone else think 's word counter is a little screwed up?), almost a hundred pages, and a year and a half, it's done. Man, I'm almost sorry to see this story end. It was actually a lot of fun to think up stuff for Gohan to do, and torture Vegeta, of course. But that's okay.
I'll [eventually] [hopefully] come up with something else eventually. My DBZ inspiration for anything other than one-shots has been severely waning. I've got A Very Chibi Christmas posted—part one of it, anyway. So I'll continue working on that.
If anyone has any brilliant ideas for fics, let me know. The once-plentiful spring of my creativity has run dry, leaving me with an unquenchable thirst— [readers attack Candyland for using a really bad metaphor and discipline her with bricks]
Well, that's it then. My long, rambling fic AND my long, rambling author's note. Heehee. I talk too much. Anyway, a very warm, very heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who read, doubled THANK YOU for everyone who reviewed. I love you all!! Thanks for sticking through to the end. Until next time!
THERE WILL NOT BE A SEQUEL TO THIS FIC. I AM LEAVING AN OPEN ENDING. IF SOMEONE ELSE REALLY WANTS TO TRY AND WRITE A SEQUEL PICKING UP WHERE I LEFT THIS OFF, THAT'S FINE. ASK FIRST, THOUGH! I'D WANT TO READ IT! I REPEAT, THIS IS THE END! NO MORE! FIN!