Chaos in the Millions

I.

He opened his eyes slowly, his narrowed blue orbs focusing on the slightly darkened ceiling, the morning sunlight not quite reaching its exact destiny. A low groan escaped his lips, making his body jump from the sudden sound. He slapped his palm to his forehead roughly, turning onto his side. The bed he lay on hardly even made a squeak, making him wonder what woke him up so early in the morning.

Flip, flip…flip. Flip.

The man began hearing this sound continuously, the noise sounding distinctly like papers being shuffled. Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, he let out a quiet sigh and threw the three blankets off him, planting his feet on the thin carpeted floor. He knew what it was, this routine has been going on for a little more than six months now.

Wobbling a bit when he stood up, he quickly regained his balance and made his way out of his bedroom and across the hall into another bedroom, the door slightly cracked. He pushed it open slowly.

"Knock, knock," he greeted, also knocking twice on the door to let the woman know he was there.

A head of blue hair looked up from scanning over a stack of pictures in her hands. Her hair, which came down to about the middle of her back, was pulled into a messy ponytail. Dark circles laid under her eyes, making her blue pools look quite worn and dulled. Smoke poured off the cigarette that was resting at the corner of her mouth, a half empty pack sitting on the desk beside her bed.

The woman smiled at him, little wrinkles forming at the sides of her eyes and lips, "Good morning, Trunks. Did you sleep well?"

"For the most part," Trunks answered, letting out a big yawn while walking into the room and sitting beside his mother on the bed. He took a quick peek at the pile of pictures she held, noticing that it was a picture of everyone, including him when he was not even a year old.

"Glad to hear it," his mother, Bulma, answered, reaching one hand up to grab the cigarette between her two fingers, taking a deep breath before exhaling slowly, a puff of smoke forming in front of her.

Trunks leaned away from her a bit. Bulma smoked since he was born, but he still didn't approve of the horrid smell. He already did way too much damage to his lungs from all his fighting and he didn't feel like making them worse from inhaling too much cigarette smoke.

Bulma happened to notice this, quickly finishing off the drug and squishing the rest in her ash tray, which was full of tons of butts, "I'm sorry, Trunks. I'm trying to quit."

He shook his head, telling her to forget about it; after all, she's been saying that for the past five years or so. He leaned back on the bed, keeping himself propped up on one elbow. Trunks shook his head a bit, getting strands of lavender out of his eyes.

The two went quiet, Bulma again flipping through all her photographs. Trunks yawned again, happening to look at the digital clock on her nightstand which read 7:13. His eyes closed quickly, suddenly feeling very tired again at realizing how early it really was. He never completely understood why his mother always got up this early just to flip through old pictures of the gang from back then, but she did nonetheless.

"You know what I was thinking about doing?" Bulma asked, not looking away from the images.

Trunks grunted when he let his body fall on the bed after removing his elbow. He lay on his back, resting his hands on his hard stomach, "What's that?"

Bulma was again silent for a few moments, Trunks waiting patiently for her answer.

"…past to live," was the only part he heard. It was then that he realized that he was about to drift back to sleep in the moment of silence. He felt bad that he hadn't been paying attention to her, making himself sit up so he wouldn't have the temptation to go back to sleep.

"Sorry, Mom. I missed that," he apologized, scratching a sudden itch located on the back of his neck.

Bulma sighed loudly as though she wished to not repeat it, "I said I was thinking of going back to the past to live."

Trunks thought about this for a moment, memories of when he went to the past to meet all the people he never got to know. But that was what…at least thirty years ago. What would make his mom bring up the conversation now?

"Why you thinkin' that?" he asked, running his large hands back through his silky hair.

Again, Bulma sighed and gently threw the pictures on her nightstand, turning to her side to look at her son. She reached out and grabbed his hands, holding them in her own. She softly ran her thumb across his knuckles, making him raise his right eyebrow in curiosity.

"Mom?"

"Trunks, can you honestly say that you love living here?" Bulma questioned, her eyes searching his matching eyes for an honest answer, "Don't you ever wish you lived in a better world, where you can be with many of your friends and maybe even get a girlfriend?"

From this question, a light blush grew over his cheeks, his eyes lowering from hers to stare at their hands, "Uh, well…I guess the thought has crossed my mind at one time or another, but I never really—."

"Great!" She interrupted, bringing their hands up to chest level, her once lifeless eyes now full of excitement. Bulma leaned forward and planted a kiss on her son's cheek, making him blush even more as she stood up from her place on the bed.

"Mom, you really aren't going to—."

She cut him off again, "Of course I am, Trunks! I mean, ever since Chi-Chi passed away last year, we've had no other friends. Why not go in the past and be with everyone?" Her ocean blue eyes never losing their light, she ran over to her closet and pulled out a suitcase, throwing it on the floor wide open, "We'll leave as soon as possible."

"Eh, Mom?" Trunks stood up, watching his aged mother go back and forth, from her dresser to the suitcase, "Isn't it a little…soon?"

Bulma stopped with about ten shirts in her arms. She looked him in the eyes, her features full of complete seriousness, "Trunks, nothing is too soon."

He opened his mouth to say something more, but was unable to get anything out.

"And before you even mention the fact that the time machine is made for only one person, that's taken care of. I've been building a new one in my spare time and I've finally finished it," her smile grew, the pride she had in herself flashing through her eyes.

Trunks' eyes widened, his shoulders slumping as his jaw dropped, "W-what!? How did you manage that without me knowing?" It was obvious that the fifty-year-old man was dumbfounded and shocked beyond belief. He could've sworn that he hadn't spent more than three hours away from his mother a day…man, she was a quick worker for a woman at eighty!

"Oh, I have my ways," she answered, a certain mysterious glint in her eyes. She threw more clothes and accessories in the suitcase before having to pull out another one. She picked up the filled one and put in on the bed, trying her best to lock it. Grunting and groaning, she just couldn't put the latch in the hole.

Subconsciously, Trunks grabbed the suitcase from her and snapped it together with ease, the suitcase bulging with objects, "So…that means we're leaving today?"

"Hopefully," Bulma said, dropping some of her jeans into the fresh bag, "so if we are, I suggest you go begin packing your things also."

"O-oh! Right!" Trunks agreed with a single nod, running out of her room and back into his own. He went to his closet and reached up blindly for the handle of his suitcase, finding it quickly and pulling it down, along with many other things. Jumping back, he then realized how messy his closet really was.

"Heh, guess that's what happens when I want to keep my room clean and there's no place else to put things," he chuckled, dumping the large object on his bed. For a man like Trunks, age was only a number as he looked no more than thirty. He never stopped training, afraid that the Earth would get another threat (even though nothing was there any longer) and he would have to protect it on his own. So far, the androids and Cell was the toughest he had.

After thinking about this, he paused in the middle of his room, looking around at the simple look of it. Yes, he was going to miss the house that's been his home all his life, but on the bright side…there was a Capsule Corporation in the past, also! An even better one at that; one that hasn't gone through tons of destruction.

That certain smirk that he inherited from his father formed on his lips. Who knows what adventures lay ahead for him and his mother in the past…

**********

"All set, Trunks?" Bulma asked right after fitting all her belongings in two little capsules. She snatched them into her palms tightly, looking over her shoulder to see her son copy her actions.

Trunks smirked at her, flying up and taking his seat on the passenger side of the time machine while Bulma took her place behind the controls. They gave each other one last look before nodding, Bulma pressing a yellow button, closing the glass roof over them.

"Let's boogie!" Bulma exclaimed, pressing three little buttons and then the big green one, making the machine hum comfortably. She pulled the stick handle towards her, causing them to rise into the air. Slowly they went up, out the roof of Capsule Corp. They both looked down one more time at their home, mentally saying goodbye to it along with their rightful time.

Within the blink of an eye, the machine and the two people located inside zapped out of sight, ready to go back to a better place…

~*~

"Goku! Get your butt down here, right now!" came a very loud and screechy voice, obviously sounding quite annoyed.

"Coming, coming!" a distant voice sounded, only a few seconds passing before Goku entered the kitchen in a hurry, his bare feet sliding across the bare floor, making him land on the floor with a loud thud.

His wife put her hands on her hips, her usual large eyes narrowed down dangerously, "Goku, stop playing around! Do you have an explanation for this?"

Goku quickly stood up from the floor, smiling hugely and chuckling with embarrassment before he realized how mad she really was. He looked to where she was pointing, which was basically all over the kitchen. This is when it occurred to him that there was food and dirty dishes everywhere.

"Uhh…" he managed to get out as he looked around the room, trying to act innocent but it was written all over his face that he was guilty, "gee, Chi-Chi…I don't know what could have happened in here."

Chi-Chi crossed her arms under her breasts, tapping her foot impatiently. Her intense glare made him wince and hang his head low.

"Okay, okay…I admit it," he said quietly, raising an eyebrow to peek up at her to see if she was still angry. She was. He sighed, "It's just that…Goten and I got really hungry and we—."

"Dad!" another voice interrupted him, the owner flying into the room, a look of pure horror within his dark eyes, "You're not supposed to drag me into this!"

The woman walked across the room to the two men, glaring at them even more, "I hope you two plan to clean this mess up! I'm sure not going to do it!"

"Eh heh…how about I do it later, Mom," Goten said, holding up his hands in defense, just in case his mother tried to attack him, "I have a date with Paresu right now and I'm already late as it is…"

"I don't care if you're late for dinner with Kami himself!" Chi-Chi shouted, poking her younger son in the chest angrily, "You and your father are going to clean this up whether you like it or not!"

Goten sighed, his shoulders slumping. He dragged his feet across the floor, his eyes focused sadly on the ground, "Aww, Mom…" He went over by the window where the mop was, happening to look out the glass at just the right time. At first, he paid no attention, but once he did a quick double take, his eyes widened, "Uhh…there's a spaceship outside…"

"Ohhhh no! I'm not falling for that one again!" Chi-Chi shot back, a little memory coming to her head:

Goten was no more than thirteen at the time and had made a big mess similar to the one right then. He didn't want to clean it up, so he pointed out the window and told Chi-Chi there was a spaceship outside. She ran to the window to see, pushing her son out of the way. Once she realized that nothing was out there, she turned around to question him but found that he was long gone…

"No, no…I'm serious this time!" Goten insisted, running to the door to check it out. Yet before he was even able to turn the doorknob, Chi-Chi grabbed him by the ear, stopping the young man abruptly.

He cried out in pain as he got dragged back to the middle of the kitchen. The two of them hardly realized that Goku was now standing at the window, peering out in wonder, "Hey, Chi…there really is a spaceship out there…"

"Oh, not you too!" Chi-Chi wailed, throwing her arms up in the air in frustration, "For once, can't you men take responsibility for your actions?"

Goku didn't seem to hear her as he went outside with ease, making his wife screech in anger.

"Wait up, Dad," Goten called, running out the open door after his father. Chi-Chi called his name before running after her son, stopping dead in her tracks once she reached the soft green grass of her front yard.

"My word…" Chi-Chi gasped out, her eyes boggling out of their sockets at the sight before her. Goku and Goten were only about five feet in front of her, watching in amazement as the oval shaped glass covering on the ship opened up, the two people inside shown more clearly. The two jumped out almost immediately, both grinning at the people before them.

"Hey," the lavender-haired one spoke up first, giving a short wave. He walked up to the older man who was now about an inch shorter than him, "Goku, long time no see, huh?"

Goku blinked twice, his large eyes full of confusion. He tilted his head to the side, trying to decipher if he really knew this man or not. It only took about another half minute for something to click in his brain, then knowing full well who the guy was. That famous Son grin spread quickly over his face, joyous and surprised chuckling escaping his lips, "Well if it isn't Trunks. I thought I'd never see you again."

Trunks chuckled also, shaking his head, "Believe me, I thought the sa—."

"What are you two talking about?" Goten interrupted, stepping forward to look at Trunks weirdly, "You were just over yesterday, I could have sworn you guys saw each other," he paused, looking his best friend over, "and what's with the new style? Did you have a revelation last night and finally decided to stop being a nerd?" Goten snickered at his joke, ignoring the look of bewilderment on Trunks' face. He turned to Bulma, "And you got a new look again? Wow…maybe I should consider it…"

"Uhh…" Trunks looked back and forth; from the boy he didn't know to Goku. Finally, he focused his attention on Goku, pointing at Goten with his thumb, "who's this?"

Goku grinned, going over to his son and putting an arm around his shoulders, "Trunks, this is Goten. My second son."

Trunks' eyes widened, "Whoa…"

Finally, Bulma stepped forward, smirking with a hand on her hip, "Well, well, well…I guess in this time you live long enough to go over time, huh?"

"Hehehe, yep!" Goku said proudly, his teeth showing from his wide smile.

Bulma continued to smirk for awhile more before that smirk quickly changed into a small, sad smile. She walked forward until she reached her old friend, wrapping her arms around his torso in a tight hug, "It's good to see you again, Goku."

Goku stared down at the woman before also wrapping an arm around her, smiling softly, "Heh, same here, Bulma…even though I just seen you…oh wow, I guess it's been three whole years."

The woman stepped back, her eyebrow raised, "Three years? You mean we don't keep in touch in this time?"

"W-well…" oh man, did she corner him, "it's not like that exactly…I've just been so busy with training and all…"

"And you're still training?! Gees Goku, I thought you would've been over that by now…" however, she did smirk, reaching up to pinch his cheek playfully, "though I guess I should've guessed. You don't look a day older than twenty."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Goten pleaded, looking like he was about to cry he was so confused.

"Oh, eh heh…" Goku apologized by putting a hand behind his head sheepishly, "you remember when I told you about Trunks coming from the future to warn us about the androids? Here he is," was Goku's full yet simple explanation.

"Ooooh," Goten said slowly, eyeing Trunks. The older man began to feel just a little uncomfortable from the gaze, but the relaxed once Goten gave him a smile that matched his father's and brother's, "Hi, Trunks! You're my best friend in this time, but I guess I was never born in the future, huh?"

Trunks shook his head, "No, you—."

"Well, I gotta get going…I'm already late as it is for my date," he grinned, feeling very superior because of that reason, "I'll see you guys later!" And as quickly as he said those words, he raised his aura, shooting off into the sky.

This is when Chi-Chi decided to snap out of whatever she was in. Her eyes narrowed down again, her dark hair that came down to her shoulders hardly even moving, "Goten! You get back here right now!" Though no matter how loud she screamed, Goten was already too far away to hear.

She sighed, knowing he was long gone. Putting on a smile, she walked forward to her friends from the future, "Trunks, Bulma, how are you?"

"Fine," they said in unison, realizing that Chi-Chi looked a whole lot better in this time than she did in the future. Then again…who could blame her?

"That's great. So, what brings you back here?" she asked, standing next to her husband, gently putting a hand on his arm.

"Actually…" Bulma began, steeling a glance from her son, "we decided to live here."

They were all silent for a moment before Chi-Chi let out a, "W-what?"

"We have nothing in the future, so…well, I'm sure you get the point."

"You mean…" Chi-Chi began, taking in all this information, "you're gonna live here?" She pointed to her little cottage.

Bulma laughed and opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Goku.

"Of course they're gonna live here, Chi-Chi! Where else would they go?" he grinned at Trunks and Bulma, turning around and waving a hand for them to follow, "Come on, I'll show you where your bedrooms are."

Chi-Chi stared with wide eyes as a huge smile came to Trunks and Bulma's lips, ready to follow Goku in the house, "Umm, Goku?"

He turned around, oblivious to how unsure she looked, "Yes, Dear?"

"It's not like I wouldn't enjoy having them here, it's just…do we have the room?" she questioned, her hands fidgeting around each other, mostly thinking of how much more she would have to cook for another human and half-Saiyajin.

Goku nodded, grinning all over again, "Yep, we have the guest bedroom and the storage room…which has nothing in it since we don't have any storage things," he gave her a look that would make almost any female give in to him, "don't worry. It'll be fun with them around!"

He then disappeared within the house, expecting the others to follow him. Bulma and Trunks walked past Chi-Chi, patting her lightly on the shoulder.

"Thank you, we really appreciate it," Trunks said politely.

"We sure do," Bulma agreed, both of them going into her house also.

Chi-Chi watched them go, her hand in front of her as if she wanted to try to persuade them that this wasn't such a good idea. In the end, she just sighed and dropped her hand to her side, her shoulders slumping, "Doesn't anyone ever think things through before just doing it?" she questioned to herself before slowly walking in her cottage to clean up the mess in the kitchen…

**********

"I'm home!" Pan yelled, slamming the door behind her after entering her house. She threw her black duffel bag on the couch as she passed the living room. She ran up the stairs, taking two at a time until she reached the landing, walking into her room.

"Did you have a nice time training?" she heard her mother call in from the next room, her voice sounding slightly muffled, an indication that she was folding clothes and sheets.

"Yeah," Pan answered back simply, grabbing random clothes to change into after her shower. She threw off her orange bandanna, the thin cloth floating on top of her bed. She clicked off the two chains that were hanging on her jeans, also throwing them to her bed. Exiting her room, she went down the hall, passing her parent's room on the way.

"We're going over to have dinner with your grandparents today," Videl informed her, putting Gohan's shirts in a top drawer of their dresser.

Pan nodded, not even glancing in at her. She went into the bathroom, throwing her clothes on top of a hamper, "What's the occasion?"

"Oh…you'll see," Videl replied, her voice dripping with some sort of secret.

Again, Pan nodded, not even going to bother trying to get the real answer out of her. She closed the door, locking it before she turned on the shower, twisting the knob all the way to the little 'H' symbol. She stripped down, opening the hamper quickly to throw her bad smelling clothes in. Pushing the shower curtain aside, a big puff of steam hit her in the face, already making every inch of her body overheat. She stepped into the slick tub, moving the shower curtain over again.

Wincing a bit, Pan took on the steaming hot water directly, letting it soak her hair and run down her face, neck, and the rest of her body. She sighed loudly to hear herself over the spraying water, grabbing a washcloth and running it over the top of her chest, tilting her head back with her eyes closed.

Ever since about four weeks ago, the young nineteen-year-old girl hasn't been the same. Why? The blame could be put on Trunks, but that wouldn't be fair. She knew she had just as much to do with it as he did.

The beginning deals with when the two of them just began going out. It was her number one dream come true; she knew Trunks was the one for her and the one she wanted to be with. And she finally had him. Who could ask for more?

The rising action was the two of them getting even closer. They spent almost every waking moment with each other, never getting tired of the other. Though she was only seventeen at the time, she knew she had found her soul mate and would never let him go.

The conflict began about two months before her nineteenth birthday. They wanted to go a step further with each other, but wasn't sure if they should. They spent countless weeks thinking it over, one time Pan not wanting to do it and Trunks wanting to, and then vice versa.

The falling action is when they finally decided to sleep together. At first, they both wished that they had made this decision earlier, both feeling emotions running through their body more quickly than ever. Yet after about a month of the physical love, they began getting into arguments. Pan was terrified of getting pregnant and Trunks thought she worried too much.

The resolution came when the two of them decided to break it off and go their own separate ways. This happened about three weeks ago. And Pan still wasn't over her life-long crush and lover. Even though she knew it was for the best.

Again, she sighed and turned around, letting the water hit off her back. Why couldn't she just forget about him? After all, they haven't even glanced at each other since that day and she never mentioned him to anyone and no one ever brought him into the conversation when she was around.

Oh well… Pan thought it herself, running the now soapy washcloth down her legs. I'll get over him eventually…I mean, we've been seeing each other for three years and it's only been three weeks. This feeling is natural…right?

She certainly hoped so. Every time she thought about this subject, she always had to wonder if Trunks was also thinking the same thing, missing her just as much as she was missing him.

Shaking her head to snap herself out of her thoughts before she began to feel like she was going to cry, she squirted a hand full of shampoo in her hand before rubbing it all through her shoulder length hair.

**********

Over at Capsule Corp., everyone is relaxing and just lounging around the house, this even including Vegeta. For once. The Saiyajin wasn't outside training, not in the mood to try to kill himself at the moment.

The only one that wasn't relaxing or having fun outside was Trunks. Here's another surprise: he was up in his office, working vigorously, even without his mother's constant urging to do so.

He didn't know what else to do, though. He was used to always hanging out with Pan in his spare time (even if that "spare time" was his working time), but he couldn't do that any longer. Now he was stuck with millions of papers needing to be looked over for the business, all these people he didn't even know waiting for his consent.

It was his turn to sigh as he shuffled through the papers, his mind not even focusing on the small print that covered each page. Finally giving up after an hour or so, he threw off his dark rimmed glasses, the object landing quietly on top of the desk. Trunks pinched in between his eyes with his index and middle finger, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

"I have a headache…"

Opening his eyes to look around the room, he noticed that it was very bare. Not that it had any use to be filled with things since he was hardly in there, but he remembered when it had the accessories to make the working place semi-comfortable. But he had to get rid of all the things that reminded him of Pan…and since she helped to move almost everything in there, almost everything had to go.

He shook his head, looking out the window. It was a bright, sunny day, the kind of day he always loved to go out it. An image came to mind of Pan floating right outside his window, a dangerous grin on her lips. Her hands waved, urging him to come outside and hang out with her. A smile would quickly form on him, loving her beyond believe at how well she knew when he was getting bored to death.

Trunks looked back down at his desk, wanting to kill himself because of that daydream. He stood up, his chair wheeling backwards. Maybe a nap would help…

Suddenly, he heard a light tapping at his closed door, making his head shoot up. He was about to tell his mother that he was going to take a quick break, but an unfamiliar female voice came from the other side, sounding slightly high-pitched and happy.

"Special delivery for Trunks Briefs!"

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Okay, I know that nothing real odd happened in the first chapter, but…just be patient! Believe me, it will get very chaotic. ^^ Please review and tell me what you think.