Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball / Dragonball Z / Dragonball GT.

Happy reading!

"You have four new voice messages. Press five to play."

Beep.

"Kakarot! I'm leaving that stupid conference. Let the woman and the brat have their way. Now get your sorry back to the Northern Wastela—"

Beep.

"Hello, my name is Derpina Trollface and I am an advisor from Megusta Financial. We would like to extend to you an offer to try out our new plan—"

Beep.

"Hello, Professor Son? I just want to thank you for your guidance in the field of tissue engineering. That journal about the applicat—"

Beep.

"Hi, mom! Hi, dad! I'm gonna be staying at a friend's house until Sunday. It's Genki. Remember? The one who likes our beef stew very much? He asked me to teach him calculus. I'm gonna be home soon to pack up, then I'll be off right away. Love ya!"

"End of voice message. Press five to replay, or hang up to finish."

Chichi gave a sigh as she pressed the loudspeaker button on the phone, silencing it. With Gohan juggling his work and family life, Goku being out sparring with Vegeta seven days a week, and Goten making more and more friends at school, there was very little chance for her to enjoy being home together as a family of four to have dinner with all members present like how it had been five years ago just after the Buu ordeal. But hey… Goten did mention something about teaching his friend calculus, right?

That alone was enough to make Chichi produce a wide grin and ignore the unpleasant thoughts she had had previously. Although she had never pushed Goten as much as she had done Gohan in school, she was happy that finally her youngest had focused more on his studies. Maybe—and she hoped real hard for it to actually happen—he would eventually follow his brother's footsteps into becoming a great scholar.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" she said excitedly at the thought of Goten and Gohan constantly inventing new things for the good of mankind and gaining much money, "Now all I need is to be a grandmother, and my life will be complete!"

"Okay, now admin stuff has been settled. I dunno where she is, but I hope mom gets my message… otherwise I'll just sneak away," said Goten. He tried to deliver it as nonchalantly as he could manage, but a trace of guilt was still audible in his voice. "Gee, I never feel good about lying to her… you know her policy of honesty, right?"

"Gosh, I know. I don't like it either… and that Frying Pan? No, thanks," Gohan concurred, "But really, I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

"It's not that I don't wanna help, but you gotta make up for this."

"I'll tell you what. When we're done with Vanitas, I'll treat you anything you want on your favourite restaurant."

"Wow! Really?"

"Uh-huh. Just you and me, like last time. But if security is still tight, we'll have to sneak inside since you don't have a valid ID."

"No worries about that! You're the best, Gohan!"

"Anything for my awesome twin brother."

Goten and Gohan grinned at each other and exchanged a fist. Thanks to Goten's decision to again visit the past and stop the nightmare which had been haunting that world, Gohan was now feeling slightly better than before. You can't blame him for snapping like that, though; the poor Son was in desperate need of help to save his timeline and perhaps of vengeance as well. Goten knew it all too well, since he felt the same way when he saw what Frieza had done to his brother during his previous visit.

What they were planning to do was take the Nimbus—it was Goten's preferred method over flying his way to and from school since that way he would attract less attention to himself—to Mount Paozu, pack some clothes since there was no telling how long Goten would have to stay, and finally blast off to the past. They didn't want their little escape from the world be seen by watchful eyes, so perhaps departing from a very quiet area away from the scrutinies of man would be preferable. Of course, they had to do everything without revealing Gohan to Chichi should she be at home; what would happen if she were to see a younger version of her son? That they didn't want to imagine… and let's not mention the sheer amount of explanation they would owe.

At this point Gohan had gotten more cheerful and talkative, perhaps due to being thrilled at the prospect of fighting side-by-side with the brother he hadn't seen for so long. At first he could still feel a tinge of regret every time he talked about Goten and Trunks over at his side, but Goten kept telling him it wasn't his fault and that the best course of action to take now would be to keep looking ahead and face the future with head held high… not only for his little brothers, but also for everyone who had fallen.

"You know, I've been wondering…" Gohan mumbled, "I wish I could be carefree, too, just like you. You know, not having any care about the world, and always believe that you're doing everything as best as you can for everyone…"

"Why, me? Um… I try not to let what had happened get too far inside my head," the present twin could only shrug hearing his brother's statement.

"How do you do that?"

"Well… I mean, if you have someone to fight for, you wouldn't wanna let him down, right? So I always draw strength from them… you remember when Frieza, uh…"

"I know what you wanna say. Just shoot, kill me?"

Goten was surprised at Gohan's nonchalance regarding a topic he had thought as sensitive. "Uh, I was gonna say incapacitated you. It has a nicer sound… but yeah. You know I transformed into Super Saiyan 2 because of you?"

"Huh? Really?"

"Uh-huh. And when I fought him in that state, I could only think of avenging you. You were my driving force."

Gohan could only let out a huge sigh. "I kinda envy you, big brother…"

That 'big brother' thing again? It seemed even though they were the same age now, Gohan kept considering Goten his older brother. Some things would never change and it almost felt strange, but he didn't mind. After all, he had been the one Gohan turned to in times of hardship when he was five; he had had himself imprinted in the past twin's mind as someone to talk with comfortably and look up to… a big brother.

"Cheer up, Gohan. You're strong!" Goten encouraged his brother, "Plus, you're not gonna be alone. I'll be always at your side. We'll fight together for little Goten and Trunks and everyone else, you hear me?"

Somehow that was all it needed to embolden Gohan. With a weak but sincere smile he said, "Right. Thanks, Goten."

"Anything for my awesome twin brother," replied Goten with the exact same tone Gohan had used earlier.

Thanks to their little heart-to-heart talk, the time traveller now has gotten even more relaxed. The rest of their flight to Mount Paozu was filled with exchange of stories, especially those about the Gohan over here. Hearing Goten's tales and amazed at how close he was to his real brother, the past Son requested that they take a look at Gohan's residence; they could do it, said Goten, since around this time Videl would most likely be visiting his father and shopping for groceries and she wouldn't return until just before nightfall, which was still four hours to go.

And so, once they arrived at the Son compound, they jumped off the Nimbus and straightaway barged into Gohan's house. There was this one skylight window in the study upstairs which was never locked, so they made their entrance from there. They touched down on the wooden floor, and how surprised Gohan was upon seeing a huge collection of books, journals, encyclopaedias arranged very neatly in the study! But that wasn't all; a closer examination revealed the books and journals were all about things even more advanced than simple orthopaedics. He took a journal titled 'Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Bone Tissue Engineering' and quickly read it in ardent fervour with eyes as wide as a petri dish.

Seeing Gohan exhibiting the same penchant for crazy science as his counterpart, Goten teased him. "Professor Son, you wanna explain them to me? They sound like an awful lot of nonsense to me."

"Woah… look at all this stuff," said Gohan without even averting his gaze from the book, "Are all of these Gohan's work?"

"If you mean those papers, yeah. All in two years. Crazy, huh?"

"This is awesome…"

Realising there was no taking Gohan away from the study, Goten decided to just leave him there for the time being; of course, the more erudite of the twins had no problem with that. He was more than happy to be in this—as he put it—sunken galleon… and so he stayed.

After Goten flew out through the skylight, he became more and more excited and started to ravage the room to satisfy his perpetual hunger for knowledge. Although this was the future, Gohan felt like being transported even further ahead in time; this study held much knowledge still unknown in his timeline, and perhaps—with some luck—he would come across something he could use to help Goten and Trunks over there. Bringing something useful from the future to be used for the good of the past sounded like a good idea, so why not?

But wait a second.

Suddenly a tiny glimmer of idea sparked inside his mind. It was obscure and vague, though, so Gohan had to think very hard to bring it to the surface. What could that be? Did it have anything to do with something from the future to be brought back to the past? Was it related to Goten? Or was it something else, just like…

… yes, those were exactly what they were! Why didn't he think about them earlier?

Now brimming in cheerfulness and joy, Gohan carefully returned everything to its place and prepared to shot up into the sky. Before he could do that, however, Goten showed up and hovered down into the study with his orange bookbag, that same one which he had brought to Namek. Gohan found it quite strange seeing that bag still in a good shape after all these years, although in actuality not even a year had passed since he first saw it. Confusing? Very.

"You're so fast," said Gohan.

"Um, yeah. Mom got my message," replied Goten with a sheepish smile, "She was very happy I'm gonna tutor my friend, so she had everything packed for me."

A mischievous grin formed on Gohan's face. "Baby boy Goten… heh-heh."

"Hey! That one must've been from Trunks!" the present twin retorted. He made a mental note to grill his best friend for having bestowed upon his brother his gift of toxic tongue. "Watch what you're saying, little brother!"

"Still the same Goten. Your face became so childish when you're mad… it's so funny."

"Funny? You know I don't like being laughed at, dontcha?"

"Yeah, I know. But I'm not laughing, right?"

"… yup. You've definitely got some Trunks in you."

And so, after that little unexpected exchange, they departed from the Son residence to find a quiet place and make their journey to the past. Since the machine wouldn't jump in space, only in time, Goten suggested they go into the middle of the forest near the house so that they would land far, far away from the city. He believed this was a good idea since Gohan mention something about the cities being in some kind of a lockdown and security had been pretty tight, and getting caught materialising into existence out of thin air—à la Instant Transmission—in front of the authorities wasn't even in his list of things to do. Just think about the repercussions they had to face.

Gohan agreed to his brother's preposition, but he remembered that little idea he had had in mind. Getting excited, he asked Goten about the status of a certain set of items in this timeline… it was uncertain at best, but he believed no idea was a bad idea and there really was no harm in trying.

"Um, we always store them at Trunks's house," replied Goten. He was curious of what Gohan was having in his mind. "Whatcha gonna do with them? Do you have a wish in mind?"

"Do you think…" Gohan paused, unsure how to word his thoughts, "… we can use them to wish everyone over there back? It's a long shot and I dunno if it works, but what do you think?"

"Gee, I have no idea, Gohan… do you wanna take the Dragon Balls from Capsule Corp?"

"I don't mind if you don't… but you said Trunks is away, right?"

"Ah, don't worry. I always have an access card with me. It's my second home, hee-hee."

"Alright, I guess it's worth a try. Let's go."

Intent on making their wish, they took a detour to Capsule Corp to fetch the seven wonder spheres. True, just in case, the Z-warriors always stored the Dragon Balls at Capsule Corp; every time after they used them, they would wait for one year and quickly hunt for them as soon as they became active again. This was done so that whenever there was a need for a wish or two, they didn't have to go through the entire tedious process of hunting again.

Goten warned, however, that perhaps the Dragon might not be able to grant such a time-transcending wish. As they flew on the golden cloud, they also brainstormed for any possible loophole they could exploit. Then, yet another idea came across Gohan's mind; rather than risking a perfect opportunity by wishing something they weren't sure would work from over here, why not just bring the Dragon Balls over there? That way, there wouldn't be a single doubt about the Dragon's power since the balls and the object of the wish would be in the same space-time plane, and everyone could be brought back to aid them in their battle against that living nightmare.

Goten was amazed at Gohan's critical way of thinking. "Wow, Gohan! I think it's a great idea!"

"Do you think it'll work just fine?" Gohan asked for his brother's opinion.

"Well, I honestly dunno," came the nonchalant reply. It was true that Goten had absolutely no clue since nobody had ever tried doing what they were about to do, but there was no reason not to try and find out, right? "Let's just keep our hopes up."

"You bet. If there's a possibility of it not working, the opposite is also possible, right?"

"Yeah, you're right! Smart little brother."

Hopeful, they commanded the Nimbus to fly even faster toward West City. Whether or not their plan was going to work remained anyone's guess, and they would have to wait until their arrival in the past to find out.

Yes, Goten and Gohan have trod into uncharted territories and engaged in a gamble without even knowing their chances of winning.

Post-note: I have to apologise to you guys… I might have to leave this story here for a while due to a block. That means much longer waiting time for an update, but it doesn't mean I'm giving up on it. I think I'll be writing some short stories or one-shots to clear my mind and get around that blasted writer's block, so do stay tuned for those ones in the meantime. Once again, I apologise for the inconvenience.