fate39

One year. It had been one whole year and already, everything was different. One year since Cell and the Androids had been defeated. The people had worked valiantly to bring their civilization back to the way it had been prior the Androids' attack. With the help of Capsule Corp.'s technology and money, reconstruction had been relatively swift, but there was still a long way to go.

*It'll be a few years until everything is fully restored,* Trunks thought, his hair blowing into his face as he looked down on the marble tombstone. *And she will never see the completion of it,* Trunks thought as a few tears run down his face. The irony of the situation was appalling. Bulma Briefs had been the biggest activist in the reconstruction of their world...and she had been killed, killed through a fluke accident in the lab. She was working on a space ship to take her and Trunks to Namek to collect the Dragonballs so they could wish back their friends and family, but something short-circuited in the lab and cause the whole thing to explode, killing the project and it's maker.

Trunks would have wished her back, but he had no way of getting to Namek. No one but Bulma had the technological genius to build the spaceship. Trunks could have finished it if he had the designs, but those were destroyed along with Bulma. Trunks just didn't have the genius that his mother had and there was no way he could have built the spaceship even if he wished it. He had nothing left in his world. Anybody who would have even slightly understood was dead and Trunks was alone.

That's why he was going to go back to the past and live out the rest of his life with the people from the other timeline, where he could live with people who loved him. He would be with his mother again, though the Bulma of the past wasn't really his mother. Technically, she was his mother, but she wasn't the same woman who consoled him when Gohan died, who tended his wounds, or shared a cup of tea with him. His mother was gone forever and there was no way to bring her back. There wasn't enough energy in the time machine to make a round trip, so Trunks was just going to stay in the past and try to live out a happy existence with people who would understand him.

"Good bye, mom," he whispered, "I'll love you always and I'll never forget you." Trunks blew a kiss at the grave marker before turning around and heading to where the time machine was standing, ready to make it's final journey. He hopped into the cockpit and closed the hatch, taking one last look around at the world that he would be leaving behind.

Tears blurred his eyes as he programmed the coordinates into the time machine to go back in time to one year after the Z-senshi had fought Cell, the realization that he would never be coming back finally hitting him. So blurred his eyes were that he didn't even realize that he had misprogrammed the coordinates into the control panel.

Suddenly, the scenery around him changed and he found himself in the middle of a small clearing. He wasn't too shocked, however, figuring that the area he had been in wasn't developed. Not only was he in a different timeline, but he was in the past, so it was very probable that the area he landed in hadn't been developed yet. Trunks hopped out of the capsule and encapsulated it, putting it in his pocket without any thought of ever using it again.

The moment that he stepped out onto the open ground, he was overwhelmed with the sense of an incredibly high ki, higher than anything he thought should exist in the time he was in. Confused and curious, Trunks took to the skies, racing towards the awesome source of ki. The source led him to a large city and soon Trunks found himself at the source. The source was a young man, probably about 18 or 19 years old.

The said young man was standing on a balcony that led into a grand mansion, leaning against the railing wearing nothing but a towel that was wrapped around his waist. His dark, jet-black hair swayed gently with the breeze that fluttered through the air, giving him a slightly ethereal look. His body was incredibly toned, his muscles well defined. He looked to Trunks like he had been training his body for years.

Trunks strained his eyes to get a better look at the person he was seeing, thinking that the man looked very familiar to him. Trunks continued to stare at the person in front of him, racking his brain all the while trying to think of why the person looked familiar. Trunks suddenly jerked as it hit him, as if the realization was a physical blow to his body. Trunks couldn't believe the appearance of the person he was staring at.

It just wasn't humanly possible. Trunks' mouth just dropped open in disbelief; he must have typed in the wrong coordinates; it was the only possible explanation for what he was seeing. Trunks blinked a few times, trying to clear his head as he searched for his voice that had disappeared the moment shock overtook him. Finding his voice, he loudly spoke one word.

Gohan sighed as he stood on the balcony of Videl's room, a single white towel wrapped around his waist. The cool late morning breeze floated through his damp hair, progressing the drying process, causing it to move slightly as it was disturbed. The sensation of the said breeze moving across his exposed chest caused a slight chill to run down his spine and it reminded him of the feeling of Videl's fingers caressing his own skin when they were alone together.

The thought of Videl brought a gentle smile to his face as the thought of his mate always did. They were an inseparable pair of lovers, always wanting to be around each other and the bond they shared only intensified the need to always be together. But, although Gohan and Videl were always together, it was beginning to prove to be rather tiring. The late nights they pulled with their lovemaking never gave them enough rest to get them through the school day.

More often than not, they would take a small nap during their only free period, hoping that it would give them an extra boost of energy that would get them through the day. But, although it tired them out, every night, without fail, the two of them always found the energy to be intimate with each other.

Despite the lack of energy, Gohan wouldn't give up what he had with Videl for the world. What they had was something that was more than just a passing physical attraction. They were connected on the deepest level: their souls. Gohan loved Videl more than life itself and the only reason why he would give her up would be to save her life.

*But forcing her away would most likely kill her,* Gohan reasoned, keeping the thought of their bond in mind. Any permanent separation of the two would eventually result with their ultimate demise for neither could live without the other; that was just the way their bond worked. While they still held their own individual identity, their lives were intertwined so intricately that each of them felt that they were each halves of one whole, made for each other. That was why Gohan never wanted to let Videl go.

*And,* Gohan thought with a smile, *Nor do I intend to.* Gohan sighed with contentment as he allowed his thoughts to wander over his mate while the cool air dried off his skin. But, Gohan's thoughts were interrupted as a voice called out his name.

"Gohan?" the voice said. Gohan snapped to attention and looked around for the source of the voice. It didn't take long for Gohan to find the person who called out his name and Gohan's eyes widened in surprise and happiness when he spotted the person.

"Trunks!" Gohan exclaimed as Trunks floated slowly over to the balcony, his feet landing gently on the hard surface. Gohan walked over to the older man and pulled him into a giant, Saiya-jin hug, one that the other demi-Saiya-jin returned, though rather slowly. Gohan pulled away and looked at Mirai Trunks, wonder and amazement written on his face.

"That's because I haven't, Gohan. It's only been one year since I returned from your timeline. I was going to come back so that it was only one year since the battle against Cell, but I must have typed in the coordinates wrong when I was programming them in. That's the only reason why I can figured that I ended up at this point in this timeline," Trunks explained. Gohan nodded as he registered Trunks' words.

"That seems to be the only explanation," Gohan said, "But, forget about that. It's not worth worrying over. It's just good to see you again, Trunks. How are things in your timeline?" Trunks froze at the mention of his world, his face suddenly going somber. Gohan noticed the change in the other half Saiya-jin's manner and his face took on a look of concern.

"Oh, it's just that in my timeline...my mother's dead. That's why I came here: to live with people that I care about and who can understand me and accept what I am. That is...if you'll let me stay here in this timeline," Trunks said, his voice down to a whisper. Gohan looked at Trunks sympathetically; he knew what it was like to lose a loved one.

"Oh Trunks, I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. And of course you can stay! Why would any of us turn you away? You're one of us," Gohan said. After a long pause, Gohan spoke again.

"She was working on a spaceship that would take us to Namek to resurrect the others who died fighting the androids, but there was an accident in the lab and something exploded while she was in it, destroying herself and the project. With nowhere else to go, I decided to come here." There was another long pause between the two men while they both thought about Trunks' words, but Trunks broke the pause himself.

"Never mind about that," Trunks said with a small smile, "How are things here? Is there anything new?" Gohan smiled; there was a lot that was new in his timeline.

"Well, just to get this bit of news out of the way, Krillin married Android #18 and they had a kid...a little girl named Marron. Android #18 isn't evil anymore; she's changed a lot, so you can't go and blame her for what the Android #18 of your timeline did in your world." Trunks nodded at Gohan's words, knowing that although the Android #18 of his world was evil, the Android #18 of the past timeline was a different version and shouldn't be held accountable for the sins that the other version committed.

"Well, it's been seven years since Cell, my dad's back from the dead, I have a little brother named Goten who's the best friend of the younger version of you, my Saiya-jin grandfather's back from the dead and-" Gohan was cut off as a pair of slender arms clad in a terry cloth robe slipped around his waist.

"Hey baby, who are you talking to?" Videl asked, sneaking up behind Gohan. Gohan smiled widely and brought out the person the arms belonged to, giving her passionate kiss. Trunks watched in awe, a blush spreading on his face as he noticed that the robe Videl was wearing showed off an incredible amount of cleavage, before turning his head to let the two share their kiss. After several seconds, Gohan and Videl parted lips, sharing a quick look, before turning back to Trunks.

"Trunks, I'd like you to meet Videl...my mate. Videl, this is Mirai Trunks," Gohan said. Videl smiled and nodded her head slightly in greeting.

"I remember you...from Gohan's memories that is. You look like you haven't aged a bit. You really are a cutie, aren't you?" Trunks, on the other hand, was gaping profusely.

"She's my mate. Didn't you mom or mine ever tell you about the Saiya-jin bonding ritual?" Gohan asked. Trunks shook his head in the negative.

"Well," Gohan said, "Videl and I need to get dressed. We just got out of the shower. So, if you could wait right here for a couple of moments, we'll be right out." Gohan and Videl walked back inside the room, leaving Trunks to stand alone on the balcony as they closed the doors on him. Through the closed doors, Trunks could hear the sounds of an occasional giggle and once he heard a shriek of surprise.

* I don't want to know, * Trunks thought to himself, his blush only deepening. It wasn't long before the doors opened, revealing a smiling Gohan and a breathless, blushing Videl. Trunks raised an eyebrow at the two lovers and Gohan just shook his head.

"Yeah...it would be nice to see everyone again. It's been a while," Trunks said. With that, they all walked out of Videl's room into the grand hallway. Trunks wasn't all that impressed with the size of the mansion he was walking through; Capsule Corp. was building about three times the size of the place he was walking through. Videl seemed to pick up on his thoughts as she commented on it.

"I know this is small compared to what you're used to, but, to most people, the house of the famous Mr. Satan is a big deal," Videl said, a smile on her face. Videl's words made Trunks halt in his tracks.

"Oh, that's classic! Absolutely classic. Gohan mated to the daughter of the man who stole the credit for what he did! That situation is just ironic!" Gohan and Videl looked at each other and rolled their eyes; they had gotten much the same thing from the rest of the Z-senshi after Gohan and Videl had completed their bond.

"Tell us something we don't know," Gohan and Videl said simultaneously, causing the two of them to burst out laughing as well. Eventually, the three of them calmed down and stopped laughing, realizing that they should probably be heading downstairs to see everyone else.

"Well, let's get downstairs. I think we've dawdled enough up here," Gohan said, the others nodding their heads as they moved downstairs. The three walked slowly into the dining room where everyone was enjoying lunch and the entire household turned their heads to see the new arrivals, everyone gasping at the newest one except for Bardock, Trunks, Goten, and Marron, who had no idea what was going on.

"Well," she continued, "That's him." Trunks looked over at the older version of himself, critically analyzing him. Trunks took in the well-muscled arms, the long hair (A.N.: personally, I think Mirai Trunks is SOOO much sexier with long hair...just felt like sharing that with everyone!), and the sword strapped to his back before allowing a small, Vegeta-like smirk to spread over his face.

"I knew I felt a familiar ki in the area, but I couldn't figure out who's it was. I'm glad to see that you're ok Trunks. You don't look a day older from when we last saw you!" Goku said and Mirai Trunks smiled.

"Yeah," Goku said, "I was brought back to life recently...along with my father, who you need to meet. Hey Father!" Bardock raised his head and looked over at his son.

"That's my father, Bardock. He just came out of the Room of Spirit and Time a couple of weeks ago. He was training to become a Super Saiya-jin, but we don't know if he did. He either didn't become a Super Saiya-jin and doesn't want to talk about it...or he did and is waiting for the right moment to show all of us. He's very good at controlling his ki, so we can't tell and he won't tell us, isn't that right, Father?" Bardock struggled to suppress the grin that was threatening to come over his features.

"See?" Goku said, "Not a thing." Mirai Trunks laughed slightly. Although seven years had passed in this timeline, it seemed like the Z-senshi hadn't changed a bit. Sure they'd aged, but besides that, they were the exact same people.

"Well, now that you're here, what do we call you?" Krillin asked, "Because there's already a Trunks here in this timeline and then there's you." Mirai Trunks thought about it for a few moments before an idea struck him.

"Hey, since I'm from the future, why don't you just call me 'Mirai'? That would make things a lot easier and there wouldn't be any confusion between which Trunks you were trying to talk to," Mirai Trunks, or just Mirai, said. Everyone nodded at that.

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Bulma said. At that moment, Trunks got up out of his chair and walked over to Mirai, an intrigued look on his face. He stopped so that he was a few steps in front of the older, lavender-haired man, looking him up and down for a couple of moments before sticking his hand out for Mirai to shake. Mirai kneeled down so that he was at Trunks' level and smirked inwardly as he thought about how weird the situation was turning out to be.

"Yeah," Mirai agreed, "It is. But we'll get over it in time. This isn't the first time we have met...you were just too little to remember meeting me." Trunks nodded.

"Yeah, mom told me about when you came back to help everyone fight against Cell and how I pulled on your hair," Trunks said, slightly embarrassed. Mirai shrugged, a small smile on his face.

"Don't sweat it, kid. It wasn't that big of a deal. You had a strong grip as a baby. I bet you're turning out to be pretty strong, aren't you?" Trunks nodded.

"I guess. I've been training with my...well, our dad and he trains me really hard. I think he wants me to be stronger than Goten so he can beat Goku in something, but I don't see why it matters so much," Trunks said, not noticing the amazed look on Mirai's face.

"Oh well," Trunks said, "I better get back to my food before Goten eats it all. I'll talk to you later." Mirai nodded and let Trunks go back to his chair. Mirai stood up to see that Gohan and Videl had already sat down and started eating. Chi-Chi noticed that Mirai hadn't sat down yet and smiled at the young Saiya-jin.

"You're more than welcome to sit down and eat with us, you know. There's plenty of food...I mean, there has to be with all of the Saiya-jins and half Saiya-jins running around," Chi-Chi said. Mirai smiled gratefully and took an empty seat next to the tiny wife of Goku.

"Thanks, Chi-Chi," Mirai said as he started piling food onto his plate and began eating. As lunch commenced, Goten was very confused at what was going on.

"Wow! That is so cool! You are so lucky, Trunks, 'cause you get to be that cool when you grow up!" Goten exclaimed. Trunks let a small smirk creep onto his face.

"I know," Trunks said, a bit too egotistically, before resuming his hectic eating schedule. A few minutes later, Bulma set down her chopsticks, having finished with her food, and looked at her son from the future.

"So, Tru...I mean, Mirai, what brings you back to the past? Just a friendly visit?" Bulma asked. Mirai froze mid-bite and placed his chopsticks down on his plate, a solemn look on his face.

"I'm afraid it's more than just a friendly visit. I've come back because I have nowhere else to go. You see, in my timeline, my mother died. There was an explosion in the lab while she was working on a project and she was killed immediately. I figured that I would be able to live a relatively peaceful life with people who understand me back in the past, so I decided to come back and stay here...if that's ok with you." Bulma looked at Mirai sympathetically.

"Well, it's a good thing you came when you did, Mirai, because we sure could use the help right about now." Mirai's face took on a look of confusion at Goku's words.

"There's a new enemy and she's after Videl. If she gets Videl, then she will be able to take over the universe. You see, if she gets Videl, she'll use her as a sacrifice to give her power to take over the universe. We have to protect Videl at all costs and we really could use the extra manpower. She sends her warriors out to fight us so they can get Videl, which is why we are protecting her," Goku said, his face serious. Trunks gave a small nod of his head, understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Well, it's a good thing I came when I did...and that I accidentally typed in the wrong coordinates. Otherwise, I'd end up in a different timeline, wouldn't I?" Goku nodded and went back to his food, as did Mirai, both of them attacking it with the ferocity that only a Saiya-jin or a starving man could muster. Silence passed over the dinner table for several minutes as the Z-senshi resumed their meal. Suddenly, Yamcha spoke up, a huge smile on his face. He had been reading the newspaper when an article caught his eye.

"Hey guys, get this! There's another Tenkaichi Budoukai coming up in a month and a half to celebrate Mr. Satan's return to Satan City," Yamcha said. He raised his head and looked around the table.

"Yeah, I'll enter too," Krillin said, "Even though I don't stand a chance against Goku, I'll enter for the fun of it anyway." Tien smirked.

"Well, I guess I have no choice but to enter as well," Piccolo said, "It seems that you guys want a reunion of sorts, so I'll follow suit and enter the competition." #18 and Mirai Trunks also agreed to enter, seeing how as they had never competed in a tournament before. Vegeta smiled viciously.

"Well, I'm going to enter this stupid tournament as well. What do you say Kakarot? Want to prove which one really is the better Saiya-jin?" Goku smiled in return, his Saiya-jin side coming to the surface.

"Well, if you're entering, then the winner of the tournament has already been decided," Goku said. A light blush spread over Gohan's face.

"Gohan, even with ascending to the third Super Saiya-jin level, my strength doesn't compare to yours. You're still the strongest one in this room." Gohan smiled at his dad.

"Nah. As much as I love the competition, I'm afraid I'd probably be out in the first round and definitely by the second. I don't see any point in competing if I don't have a fighting chance, no pun intended." Gohan smiled at his mate.

"Ok...then you don't have to enter if you don't want to. You'll cheer for me at least, right?" Gohan asked, his smile causing Videl's heart to race faster. Just his smile was enough to make her a little light-headed.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? I'll be rooting for you the entire time," Videl said, emphasizing her point with a sound kiss on the lips. Gohan smiled.

"Thanks." Thinking that the matter was settled and everyone spoke up if they wanted to compete in the tournament, everyone went back to eating. It wasn't until a couple of moments later that Bardock, who had been silent the entire time, decided to add in his two cents.

"What is this 'Tenkaichi Budoukai' anyway?" Bardock said, a confused expression on his face. There was a collective sigh at the table and Goku, who was sitting next to his father, placed a hand on Bardock's shoulder, wearing the most pity-filled look on his face, and spoke.