One: An Uneventful Reunion

- 1 -

An Uneventful Reunion

Time.

Lady time is such a fickle fragile creature. Events that were once the deemed path for her can be drastically changed and altered beyond recognition with one choice made by a sole person who had a seemingly minor part to play in this tale of history and life.

A single choice.

That is all it takes to twist Lady time's path into a multitude of other unknown paths that lead to more choices and more divergences. Splitting off into some great tree. A great white tree of life, with each branch containing another version within the fleshy rings beneath. Who knows where each one leads? Do even the fates? Who knows what will happen when the old known events that once followed this worn story in her rings of truth disappear and fade, lost and forgotten in the expanse of time and space.

Mystery.

What was know is replaced with what is unknown. Mysterious and dark. Each new branched universe could be only slightly different or things can be radically different with new faces, places and events... Yet, if you look into each story you will find the resemblances of the same people and actions. A pattern in the chaos. A chosen few who will always be or some actions that will always happen.

This. 

This and the events that lie herein are only one such branch in Lady time's glorious tree. A story of how two souls and the people around them were altered by one choice. A choice made by a man the fates deemed for death at the hand of a monstrous Tyrant. This is a story of how no matter what separated them, these people together would conquer all the odds that were stacked against them to find each other and fulfill their destinies.

Fulfill past destinies. And fulfill new darker destinies, consequences created by this lone choice that could be the end of Lady time and the great white tree of life itself.

.~-~.

In the vastness of space a small sphere, a silvery one-manned ship slipped silently through the barrage of stars that streaked past the darkened window of glass. It's course... unplanned. A mere fluke of a bloody disfigured hand as it smashed against the control keys. The single inhabitant, unconscious. Not from the drugs meant to keep him asleep in stasis during his long journey, but for a wholly different reason entirely.

A faint grunt escaped his dry, cracked lips. His head swayed from the weight, unable to keep it up. His eyes opened slightly, vision blurred as he took in the swirling stars and the crimson stained prints on the control panel. Closing his eyes, he drifted in-and-out of his mind, unable to comprehend what lay before him or how his life would come to change from this. His body was battered and broken, haunting memories flashed in his head of the horrors he had left behind and once more he fell into a troubled, restless slumber.

.~-~.

Bulma gave a heavy sigh as she tucked a stand of her silky blue hair behind her ear. Roshi's island was beautiful (as usual), but it was hard to enjoy the scenery with her heart aching like this or with the troubled thoughts that lingered in her mind. Even with the sun shining brightly overhead, the gulls' cheerful cries as they swopped by on the air currents, and the prospect of seeing Goku or her other old friends, she simply couldn't stop thinking. And that was the problem, wasn't it? Thinking. She never stopped thinking. Not even when she was asleep. Her mind was always running and running, trying to figure out that next equation set before her. The equation on her mind now wasn't a mathematical one, or even remotely scientific. But with the way her head was going around and around one would think it was. No, this question and her thoughts were on men. Well, one man in particular. Yamcha. She couldn't stop thinking about him, or how he was connected with her woes with men in general.

Closing her eyes, she tilted her head to face the sun. With a deep breath, the salty tang of the ocean filled her nose and the soft ocean breeze caressed her tanned skin. The water licked her thighs as she waded through the surf next to Master Roshi's pink Kame house. She was standing more than wading really, in her bright green string bikini, hands outstretched beside her as her fingers brushed into those same waves. Along with the gulls' calls, the tiny island's lone palm tree swayed, back and forth, back and forth.

She knew she should let her thoughts on Yamcha go. Should let her ex and what he had done... go. This place was too tranquil and peaceful for such thoughts. And yet, the thoughts and questions wouldn't go away. They ate at her. Ate at her like a bothersome fly at a picnic, buzz, buzz, buzzingaround in her mind.

Opening her blue eyes, she looked out across the calm expanse of the clear water with white foaming caps, a frown tugging her lips down. Bulma was a respected scientist known throughout the world, not only through her father, but by her own merit. The only thing that rivaled her intelligence was the beauty she had inherited from her mother. Yes, she knew she was vain, knew she was over-bearing at times and rather demanding. But still! Why couldn't she have one mind-blowing, over-the-stars, I-will-never-love-again relationship? Dang, she would settle for a partly decent one where the guy just wasn't using her for her money, beauty, or fame. Was that really too much to ask?

She had given up long ago on finding that prince charming who was ruggedly handsome and tough, but with a soft spot who knew what to say and when to say it and would give her foot rubs (among other things). And though an intellect who could at least understand her in part -so she wouldn't have to stoop so mentally low- would be nice, it was not required... Clearly, if she had been dating Yamcha this long. He had always hated it when she was her true self around him, he felt like she was trying to show off or make him feel stupid. But then what did you expect from a high school dropout turned worthless thief? He had the brain the size of a microbe.

Okay okay, he wasn't that stupid, AND he did have some good parts to him- even if she couldn't think of any at the moment. Other than not taking her out on regular dates and their fights (or how she had to make herself think simpler so he could understand) they got along perfectly and had fun. Never once in their off-and-on again relationship had she thought he would turn out like all the others. Just another one who used her. Taking a deep breath she bowed her head, watching as a small brave rainbow colored fish swam closer to her, only to dart away. Everyone knew if it hadn't been for her Yamcha wouldn't be on the West City Blue Jays. It was a sweet little set up that didn't have enormous pay, but enough to take her out occasionally. But no! He hardly ever did and when he did it was to crappy cheap places...

That wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't caught him a few days ago with some stupid airhead blonde in the fanciest, most expensive place in West City, Sharlet's. She clenched her fists, knuckles turning white as she muttered a few curses under her breath. The feelings of hurt returning and her blue eyes shimmered with tears she refused to let free. How long had they been dating? Far too long to remember a time without him. Even during their spats apart, Yamcha hadn't ever been far from her life, they had always remained something a little more than simple friends. Shaking her head she folded her arms, trying to calm herself down again. At twenty-six, it wasn't like she was getting any younger... and sure she wasn't really ready to settle down with a man and start a family, it would be nice that for once in her life one man treated her with respect and decency. One who didn't use her and liked her for who she was...

Turning from the ocean she started back for the tiny golden sanded beach with its pink house and one palm tree, running a hand through her shoulder length cerulean hair. When she was younger she used to naively thing that she could find her prince charming. Her perfect man. It was because of this dream of finding that one perfect guy that she had sought out the dragon balls to begin with... Okay, so sure. First it had been for a life time supply of strawberries, her favorite fruit ever! But that had only been because everyone thought all the strawberry plants were going to die off and she just couldn't imagine a life without strawberries... Her feet sunk into the sand as she neared the plastic forest green chair, grabbing the towel and swiftly wrapped it around her waist before she sat down with a huff, blowing a few strands of hair from her face. At least strawberries are still around...

"Hey... are you okay Bulma?" Krillin asked suddenly, startling her from her thoughts and she turned to find the short bald man in his orange gi standing in the doorway. He started stepping down the stairs to the beach before she turned back to the ocean view.

"Yes," she snapped back quickly, only feeling slightly guilty (and would have probably felt more if he had seen his cringe). It is his own fault, she mentally pattered herself on the back to cheer herself up. He knew better than to ask. She always hated talking about 'him' whenever this happened.

She tried her best to ignore him as she heard his approach in the sand until he came to a stop right next to her. Glancing sideways, she saw him as he looked out at the surf, a slight smile on his lips. Looking down, she buried her toes within the golden sanctuary of fine rock particles and they remained like this, in the silence, with only the gulls and washing waves for a few minutes, neither saying anything. It wasn't an awkward silence. They were too good of friends for that, but it wasn't a completely comfortable one either.

"Don't worry, Bulma." He nudged her gently, finally breaking the peaceful sounds. "I'm sure he will call you by the end of this week groveling, saying how much a fool he is... for doing whatever he did this time. And if not, then it's not the end of the world. I'm sure Kami is looking out for you..." he hesitated, "You know, since we kind of know him."

She sighed, relaxing more with his words before tilting her head to look at the very short man. He was right, they did kind of know the Guardian of Earth, didn't they? He was probably looking out for her. I wonder if I could ask him...? She pushed the thought from her head, knowing it was a silly thought. "Thanks, Krillin."

He beamed back at her. "What are friends for?"

Nodding with agreement, something moved in her peripheral vision and she looked, finding a red crab crawl by, pinchers held up in the air. Kami was far too busy to be solely concerned with her and things about love and the heart were never so simple, but it was still nice to hear it. What would she do without him? She glanced sideways at him again, this time with an appraising glint in her eyes. While he was shy most of the time, when it came down to it he always knew the right thing to say to make her feel better. There was one check on her list... Maybe I could... nah, there's no way I would ever date him. She could already see the tabloids. "Bulma Briefs, Out with the Yamster and in with... the short baldy?" Kami only knew what sort of nicknames they would come up for him. She wasn't that desperate. Yet. And even if she ever got there... she simply couldn't see herself having to bend over to kiss someone. There wasn't much romantic appeal in that. She wrinkled her nose, quickly looking away.

Catching it he gave her a wide-eyed puzzled look. "What?"

Bulma shook her head, leaning back on her arms and looking up at the big puffy clouds. "Oh, nothing..."

Unsure of what to do, Krillin frowned as he studied her. Luckily for her a few seconds later he felt a familiar ki signature flash across his mind. His head snapped up to the left and stared intently at the sky.

"What is it?" she asked, noticing and sat up straighter. Unable help the thought that maybe it was Yamcha. That would be a new one, normally it took at least a week for him to come to his senses. Not that I'll forgive him this time...

A huge goofy smile turned Krillin's lips up. "It's Goku..."

She followed his gaze, all thoughts of her ex flying out of her mind as excitement at seeing her old best friend surged forward and she brought her hand up to block the sun to get a better look. After a few seconds she found the small speck. Sure enough, there he was flying on Nimbus. Smiling, she jumped to her feet. It was Goku. She was going to see him in... how long had it been? Five years? More even. She started waving their arms frantically, calling out to him and knew she must have looked like a complete idiot, but she just didn't care. She was too happy to let appearances get in the way. This was why she was here. To see her friends'. Especially Goku... her first true friend. He was her little brother, for Kami sake! Not having seen him at least once these past years was something that had honestly troubled her and had been hard on her considering how much time they used to spend together when they were younger.

"GOKU!" she screeched with joy, her voice echoing out across the water as she jumped up and down, unable to contain her excitement.

No. Instead of gaining the perfect man that would love her she had gained good friends and a little brother that she wouldn't trade anything for, even if all the strawberry plants had died off forever.Er... well, I would definitely be depressed. She let that thought go when she heard Roshi and Oolong calling out to Goku from the front porch and making their way down to her and Krillin.

"Hey guys!" he replied as he jumped down from Nimbus in his bright orange gi and landed flawlessly on the sand next to them.

As lost as she was in her joy in seeing her friend, she almost didn't notice the young child in a yellow, red, and green outfit sitting on Goku's shoulders with his black hair in a neat little pony tail tied at the nape of his neck and the cute red-yellow dragon ball-topped hat almost too big for his head. Her eyes widened slightly. "Hey, who's the kid?"

"Goku babysitting?" Krillen stood next to her stunned as Goku lifted the boy off his shoulders and set him down on the ground next to him. "Woow... I'll be damned."

The boy and Goku looked at each other, a small smile playing on her friend's lips as he looked back at them and replied, "He's my son."

Bulma, Krillin, and Master Yoshi gasped, flabbergasted as their eyes widened even more and their mouths fell open. Goku simply chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Pretty wild huh?" They all stared the young boy who peered at them from behind his father's legs, unsure.

"Wow..." Krillin shook his head, powerless to say anything else.

Bulma smiled sweetly down at Gohan before she spoke and looked at her best friend, her tone rising slightly, "Oh Goku, he's adorable!"

"Go on, Gohan, say hi..." Goku glanced down at his son as he stood there with his hands on his waist utterly comfortable. Nodding, Gohan stepped out, bowing as he said a swift hello.

"Oh, sooo sweet. " Kneeling down in front of him the young kid, Bulma asked, "So... how old are you?"

Clearly thinking, his fingers moved as he counted in his head before declaring proudly, "Five!"

"And are you going to be a brave fighter just like your father?" she asked even though she felt it was a no-brainer. She rubbed the top of his head, fighting the urge to pinch his cheeks. When she was little and her other relatives used to do it to her, she never understood why. It hurt sometimes and was really annoying. Now she understood. Sometimes kids were just that cute.

"Actually, ChiChi doesn't allow him to train." Goku shrugged, but Bulma could tell it bothered him as she heard the low undercurrent in his tone.

"Hum..." Pulling her hand back, she looked at Goku with raised eyebrows before looking back at Gohan. I guess that's not unexpected. "So what do you want to be when you grow up?"

With a serious face, he replied, "An orthopedist..."

Slightly taken aback (and by the looks of Roshi, Krillin, and Oolong she wasn't the only one), she stood up. She was sure he would say something like other boys do... a firefighter... or something else along those lines. Something stereotypically tough and manly. Never once did she think he would say that, not to mention he would even knew what that word meant. Repeating it slowly, she studied him before shaking her head. ChiChi's a severe parent, gheesh.

Her mind froze when she noticed the little boy's brown tail as it flicked behind him and she pointed at the furry appendage. "Hey... he has a tail."

With a hint of pride Goku beamed down at him. "Yup, just like I did when I was born."

The ocean breeze picked up slightly, pushing against them and shortly after with a nervous laugh Krillin asked, "Say Goku... he's never looked at the moon has he?" Bulma exchanged a worried look with Roshi, both wondering the same thing.

Bulma watched as Goku's face went blank with confusion by his question. What was he thinking? She knew he wasn't stupid and even believed he knew. Was it possible that he really hadn't put it together? "No... we go to bed really early..." But then, there it was. Something that looked an awful like recognition flashed in his dark gaze as he asked, "Why?"

"Oh... nothing..." Bulma waved off the pesky question with her hand as the other two looked anywhere but to him. The last thing she wanted was to explain it here and now, especially when they hadn't seen each other in such a long time. He gave them a curious look, only to shrug, letting it pass as he took the hint from her.

From there Bulma directed the conversation back to Gohan as he played on the turtles back. Talking more about ChiChi and how the married life was treating him. It wasn't long before the conversation went into the pink house, where steaming hot fish and seafood orientated feast was shared along with stories long past. The minutes trickled by into hours and before Bulma knew it the sun was starting to set on this day she didn't want to end. She hadn't been this happy in... she wasn't sure how long. It seemed like forever. Just to have Goku, Krillin -and yes Master Roshi and Oolong- all there chatting and laughing like old times. It felt good. Real good. So it was startling for her, and sad, when she glanced out the window to find the sun sinking over the waves, knowing that Goku and his young son would have to leave soon. It was made even more apparent when they all noticed Gohan had fallen asleep on top of Turtle's shell.

Goku sighed. "Sorry guys, we really need to get going. ChiChi will be fuming when I get home with Gohan after the sun sets."

Krillin pouted. "Yeah, I guess it is getting late... sorry if we get you into trouble, Goku."

Her tall, crazy black haired friend scratched the back of his head in his fashionable style as he laughed. "It's okay. I'll be fine."

"Okay, Goku..." Bulma said, rising to her feet as she tried not to let her disappointment show. She started for the door and the others followed. She stopped at the open door, turning back to watch as Goku walked over to his son and carefully picked him up, trying not to wake the young child. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. The little guy was out.

Making it out the door and on the golden beach, they remained silent for a little while before Goku gave a small sigh before his gaze came on Bulma. "Well, I guess this is goodbye until next time we meet."

"Let's not make it too long Goku..." Bulma muttered softly, trying not to cry. She really didn't want to wait another five years to see this man who had become family in so many ways.

"Yeah, too many years have passed," Krillin agreed, nodding. "Let's at least have some kind of get together every year, in the least. I want to see that son of yours grow up." He smiled as he patted his friend on his lower back, unable to reach higher.

"Sure!" Goku replied happily, "And if you guys ever need anything give me a call or something."

"You bet!" Bulma punched him lightly in the arm. "Goodbye, Goku..."

"See ya. Krillin. Master Roshi. Oolong. Bulma..." With one last look at her and a squeeze of her upper arm, he took off into the night sky.

"Bye, Goku!" she called out after him.

Watching Goku leave with his sleeping son... It had been hard. Her little snot nose, naive little friend who she had practically raised was now a father. It was only another painful reminder of the fact that she would probably never find the perfect guy -because if she was being at all honest with herself no one could really beat Goku... She shook her head, but Goku was so much like her brother to count, right? It didn't matter. It was a hopeless cause, to find a man who loved her for her, and to have a family with. ChiChi didn't know how good she had it.

After a few seconds Bulma sighed as she crossed her arms. "Well, I guess I better get going too..." A sudden loneliness started taking root in her heart once more...

Krillin whined slightly as his gaze focused on her, "Oh... do you really?"

"You can sleep here if you want, Bulma," Roshi said in his 'fake' grandfatherly tone as she straightened us with his cane. It didn't fool her for a second. She could see those lecherous eyes ogling her even under those tinted glasses of his.

"Kami no... not with you, you old pervert!" He gave her an innocent look as she walked over to the beach chair to collect her things. It didn't matter what either said, she was not staying. She had long lost count how many times he had tried to pull something with her there. He always had. He always would. It was him and nothing was going to change the disgusting old perv.

Groaning with understanding, Krillin shook his head as he gave Master Roshi a displeased look. "Okay Bulma... keep in touch, will you? You're just as bad as Goku too, sometimes, you know..."

Sliding the white sun dress that she had worn there over her head, she chuckled lightly. "Fine... I'll call you every week, Krillin." After putting her towel in her bag and putting the bag over her shoulder she turned back to them, giving Krillin a smile and waving goodbye before going over to her yellow aircraft.

Opening the door, she threw her bag in and hauled herself up. Then sitting in the pilot seat, she proceeded to push buttons and flick switches, starting the engines before waving back at them again as the old man, her short friend, and the pig stood waiting by the door. "Goodbye guys."

"Bye, Bulma!"

Bulma took a hold of the controls and shooting straight up into the air before she started speeding across the sky, moving quickly towards her home in West City. As the ocean first past underneath, giving way to land and blurs of greens and browns, her mind that she had been fighting to keep quiet finally rebelled and all the troubled thoughts from earlier returned. Was there honestly no guy out there for her? Was there something wrong with her? Well, besides the obvious...? In all truth it was turning into a regular old Bulma-pity-party. Sometimes she really hated her life. But never before had it been this bad. She disliked how vain it made her sound, but seriously, being drop-dead-gorgeous, smart and insanely rich was not all that it cracked up to be and came with its own set of problems. Problems that for some reason a genius like her simply couldn't grasp in the first place, let alone solve. Sure, she could always find a man who would love her for her assets (and she meant more than looks here), but she didn't want that. All she had ever yearned for was one of those rock-your-world romances that movies so often illustrated.

Having been pouting, she placed the aircraft on autopilot before tears started trailing down her cheeks and dripping off her chin, disappearing into the white fabric of her summer dress. She tried to brush them away, getting frustrated with herself, only to forget them completely as she folded her arms and her pouting deepened. Was having one romantic encounter like that, really too much to ask for?

Shaking her head, she gritted her teeth as rage over her pity fest consumed her and she jerked up, her hands seizing the controls angrily. "Damnit. Look at yourself, Bulma! You're pathetic... get over it... get over yourse-"

"AHHHH" a startled scream cut off her rant as something big and white flashed inches before her aircraft. Her eyes snapped wider, nearly bulging from her skull as she abruptly jerked vehicle to the side (even in spite the fact that it would have done little good), taking it automatically off autopilot.

The seconds after, the aircraft hung there in the night sky, unmoving as she panted heavily, mind frozen and face pale as her heart raced, thumping wildly in her chest. Gradually her mental capacity returned and with it the realization that she almost just died. It was interesting how nothing had flashed before her eyes. No images of her life or even a sudden comprehension of something important. All there had been was the shock... nothing more. She was still breathing heavy when her body started to loosen up, breaking free from her from her frozen position in the seat as she shook her head.

Hands shaking, she ran a hand through her blue hair, trying to get a hold of herself as she wondered out loud, "What in the name of Kami was that?"

All she knew was that it had been big, far bigger than any common meteorite that usually crashed on Earth. And that it had been white. She was also fairly certain meteorites weren't white. Did another plane almost crash into her? Oh, Kami... Without a second thought, she flipped her aircraft around and head back. Turning on the bigger searchlights, her eyes scanned the ground for the plane. Only, what she found in the huge crater nearly directly below her wasn't a plane. No, what remained in the crater was the debris of what looked to be a space ship of sorts that had once been a sphere, littered everywhere. It was clear from the wreckage that no one would be surviving it, not with the twisted white metal jammed into the rocky ground. The crash site was made more haunting with the ghostly pale moons glow casted down upon it, and her eyes widened with disbelief.

Still concerned for whoever had been piloting the thing... and also curious. She started to ease her aircraft into a landing, touching down a few yards from the beginning of the crater. Being sure to grab her emergency capsule case from the center storage console, she got out of her yellow aircraft and rushed to the huge indent. She came to a stop just before, taking the damage in from ground level. Wow... what a crash. And I almost was part of it!

With a shake of her head, she cleared those thoughts away before starting down the incline of the crater, sliding ever-so-often on the rocky debris littered ground. The further she came towards the center, the more and more she started to believe there was no one living. She had also come to realize that the ship hadn't been as big as she had thought it once was, in fact it looked like it maybe could have only held one person. Nor was this ship made out of any material that she knew of. While there was a lot of debris, she was surprised by how whole and intact some of them were. Who owned this model? It had to be a prototype, it was nothing like had seen before. Then there was always the possibility that it was from outer space.

Bulma came to a stop, just before the main wreckage, unable to quell the excitement at the thought that what she was seeing was extraterrestrial. Ever since she was a little girl she had been fascinated with the stars and space. What would she give to have this be a moment of blind luck and have her wildest fantasies of obtaining space travel come true? Anything. She tried to dampen the excitement down, not wanting to get her hopes up -because knowing her luck it would be an Earth made prototype- but also because whoever had been in this ship had to have died. She couldn't see any way they didn't. And she felt guilty being excited over something that meant the death of another.

Giddy, she nearly tripped as continued making her way towards the center, picking her way through the white and silver pieces of ship that were burnt and charred in some places as they jetted out from the ground. She ignored the pieces that interested her, strange objects that had wires and were still blinking, knowing she could examine them later. Finally reaching the heart of the wreak, she climbed on top of the pile and bent down, starting to clear some of the pieces and dirt away. Her hands sided a laptop sized piece of outer shell when a hand shot out, grabbing her wrist weakly.

Startled, she screamed, the sound echoing around her as she yanked her hand away and fell backwards, landing roughly on her ass. After the first initial shock, her eyes widened with the realization that her thoughts of no one living were wrong. Her hand came up to her pounding heart, trying to get a hold of her frantic breaths.

"Oh Kami!"

~~~~ .~-~. ~~~~

Beta read by LPphreek.