//------------------------------// // Confession // Story: Blooming Talent // by Griffin Productions //------------------------------// There he was; the most handsome creature she'd ever laid eyes on and one of the kindest and most innocent souls she'd ever met: Goten. He was just finishing up getting the bath ready for the three of them. He was already halfway undressed; his t-shirt thrown into the corner like always, waiting to be washed afterwards. His rigid muscles rippled with every movement he made as he checked the temperature with his finger. He made a small yelp that was barely audible, pulling his finger out quickly. "Hm...not hot enough." He smiled, and turned the temperature up a bit to fill the last few inches in the tub. She giggled a bit at that. Sometimes his reasoning made no sense with his body language, but that was just one more thing the young anthropomorphic mare found endearing about him. Goku had not yet come back, as he was giving her a chance to finally say something. He had told her that she didn't have to until she was ready, and that he would give her some time now to see if she was. To be honest, she didn't think she was at all; in fact, she thougt she never might be. She was never good at expressing feelings like that to anypony; to say something to the one she felt those feelings towards...well, that was a whole different level of difficulty. What would she say? How would she start it? She was terrible at small talk; once, Scootaloo had tried to teach her ways to get better at it, and somehow, she had thought the answer "clams" was an appropriate response to "nice weather we're having." She breathed in deeply, and exhaled slowly like Princess Twilight had taught her to do in these situations. She figured she had better get it over with; Applejack and Big Mac wouldn't appreciate her procrastinating. She walked up uncharacteristically shyly behind the half-saiyan as he stood straight up, satisfied by the bath's current temperature. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was stopped when he turned around and ran into her by accident. He jumped, startled by her sudden appearance,and she too jumped in response, involuntarily. Goten slipped on some of the water on the hard floor of the Earth entrance and fell backwards, his trajectory taking him into the bath. Apple Bloom quickly reached to grab is arm, but she realized too late how silly that was as his weight was greater, and they both fell loudly into the hot water; the clear liquid splashing up and out wildly, soaking the whole bathroom floor and everything on it as the steam filled the room. The water should have been scolding hot, but to their aching muscles, it was just right, so no burns were suffered, luckily. However, the young pony anthro chastised herself internally for the "brilliant" start to her confession. Stupid, stupid, stupid... Goten, once he had gotten all the water he could away from his eyes, looked down at Apple Bloom laying atop him in the tub; her yellow fur matted down and dripping, her orange gi sticking to her body tightly. She looked up at him through her dripping red mane and gave a nervous smile; Goten could have swore he heard a sort of "squee" sound when she did so. "If you wanted to get clean that badly, you could have just jumped in yourself." He laughed, giving her a big smile back. She blushed a bit, started to up and out of the tub so that she could take off her now soaked combat attire. Goten did the same, and replaced his wet jeans with a towel for the moment. As Apple Bloom removed her top and threw it to the floor with a wet slap, she looked over at Goten again, suddenly remembering what she had fallen in he tub for. He was right there, and now she had his attention, so even though she may have botched the start, she still figured she had a chance. "Hey, Goten, I--uh--" "Yeah, Apple Bloom? He encouraged her, looking at her completely unaware of her intentions. She started to fidget in place, and her face became hot; she was happy there was steam in the air to explain away that part. Why was she so nervous though? "I...I have to tell y'all...somethin' really important..." Goten nodded, once again urging her to go on with a silly grin. "I...well, ya see...for the past few...I mean since we been...what I mean to say is..." She started to nervously shift again, her cheeks completely flushed red now. She was finding it hard to make eye contact with him; it didn't help that he was being so receptive. He was ready to hear everything, and she was uncomfortable because of it. Why? "Just buckin' say it, silly filly!" Her mind screamed at her. "I--I want to---I have a--a--can we---and me--you--uh--er..." Genius... Goten was now confused as he tilted his head to the side. "What's wrong, Apple Bloom?" What was wrong, indeed? She had been so ready to say it at least twice before, and now she could without interruption or anything, and she was frozen like a cockatrice victim. The anthropomorphic mare from Ponyville just stood there mumbling for a bit; somehow, Goten was still waiting for her to finally pony up and say what she wanted to say. "Cat got your tongue, or something?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood. She wished that his tongue had her tongue... Jeez, where did that come from? How was that train of thought going to make this any less trying? Apple Bloom reigned in her pervy side for a second so she could try and make words com out of her mouth. After several gibberish filled attempts, she finally gave up trying to say it. There was only one way she was going to get the message across. Moving to lose the distance between them, she stared into his eyes for second; those hope filled orbs shimmering somehow. After those short moments, she placed one hand behind Goten's head, and stood on the front edge of her hooves so she could gently touch her lips to his in a soft, much easier way of using her mouth than trying to articulate it. It seemed to last for hours in the lovestruck mare's head as she held the kiss for what in reality was only a few seconds. The nirvana she had felt was unreal, and was much better than anything she could make herself feel with her hands. One thing killed the moment, though; she noticed that Goten had not kissed her back. Instead his eyes had been wide open the entire time her lips had been locked with his, and he seemed dazed and surprised. She pulled away from him, a wave of shame and regret coming over her. He hadn't liked it. She should have known that he didn't like her that way; she had just scared him. Apple Bloom, teary eyed, backed away rather hastily, heading for the door, not caring that she was topless and soaked in water as Goten shook himself back to reality. "I'm...I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have--have--" She tried, but once again, her lips failed her a third time. She took off into the white void of the Time Chamber; up into whatever passed for a sky there. "Hold on, Apple Bloom!" Goten called after her, taking off into the sky himself. The distraught mare was fast and showed no sigs of stopping for awhile, which was bad because I she went to far, she'd lose where the Earth entrance was and be lost in the void forever. Transforming into Super Saiyan state, he ramped his speed up as much as he could to start gaining on Apple Bloom. He didn't understand why she was so upset though, and if she would just stop and talk to him.. He finally got close enough to grab her arm, and she stopped and looked back at him, face wet with not just bath water, but tears as well. She considered wrenching free and running again, but she didn't want to upset Goten more than she may have already. She once again prepared herself to get yelled at, or at least told how wrong she was for doing something like that. But like with Goku, no harsh words came, and Goten reverted back to normal before speaking. "Apple Bloom, why did you run off like that?" She sniffed loudly an wiped her muzzle before answering. "Cuz I made you all upset when I kissed ya.." "Upset? What made you think I was upset?" "You just stood there, wide-eyed while I was trying to show my affections to ya, ya big dork!" Apple Bloom blurted, instantly regretting saying the last part, but not apologizing for it. Goten smacked his forehead; he supposed he had just stood there like an idiot rather than say or do anything. He could see where she may have gotten the wrong message. "No, Apple Bloom," He said. "I'm not upset...I'm just..well...confused?" "Confused about what? I kissed you for Celestia's sake, what's there to be confused about?" She knew there was actually quite a bit to be confused about, considering she hadn't really said things pertaining to this beforehand. "I--I guess I don't know...why?" He offered, giving a nervous chuckle. "Why you would kiss me and not someone your own species?" Her ears drooped at that. It must have been the species thing, then. "So, I am too different for ya..." "No, no, no! I didn't mean it like that!" Goten tried to recover, his arms waving frantically. "I just mean...I guess--I don't know how you, a pony, could find me, a half-saiyan, attractive..." The anthropomorphic mare finally turned towards him to talk, her tears subsiding a bit. "I admit I don't really...understand...the whole physical attraction part myself. But I do understand that it's not the only reason I like you, Goten. You've been so kind and generous with me, and sometimes at the expense of your own valuable time. You're always willing to give me comfort and console me when things go bad...and you're always ready to protect me, even from your own dad..." She locked both her hands into his, which he gripped back without hesitation this time. "I know I haven't known you long; heck, it hasn't even been a month back on Earth I believe, but I feel a strong sort of...bond with you. And...I just wanted you to know just how much that bond has affected me..." Goten continued to look into her eyes, taking in every little detail she was saying. "I suppose in a way, I'm just tryin' to say..." She finished. "I love you, Goten. I hoped that you could love me back..." The two looked at each other, hands held tightly together between them in the infinite. The half-saiyan pulled Apple Bloom in gently, and gave her a kiss of his own, which she happily returned. After a few seconds, Goten smiled as he broke the liplock. "We may have only known each other less than a month out there, but it's been near half a year in here." He stated. "And we have the other half to get to love each other better. Sound good?" She nodded and wrapped her arms around his upper waist in a tight embrace as she buried her face in his chest. Goten returned the hug without needing any prompting to. Apple Bloom smiled and new tears began to fall down her face; tears of happiness.