Disclaimer: I still don't own DBZ or FMA. If I did, by now, Ed Elric would be a half-breed saiyan. Capice?


Authornotes: Remember how last chapter started deceptively happy and ended sad? I thought y'all would like a reversal. 8D;


Sometimes those who live cannot always forsee where they go on the open road of life.

It was the day after Maes Hughes' funeral, and the one person who had forseen Maes' path was the one person who didn't have the will to get up that morning. Hazy coal eyes stared blankly at the wall; occasionally, they diverted to the cold steel hand that could be seen jutting from beneath the pillow. He'd gotten all his tears out the day before, but still emotions were in turmoil.

A metal fist clanged against the door to the room that Bardock had slept in. "You awake?"

"Go away..." Bardock muttered, closing his eyes and curling up tighter on the bed. He hated everyone and everything at this very moment--especially himself.

"I'm not leaving. Listen, I know Maes was your best friend...just like me...but..." Tora began.

Bardock tensed. "Don't lecture me you bastard! You don't know what it's like."

"You don't know what I know. I know you've lost a best friend before, but answer me this: did you give up after I died?" Tora growled, slamming his open hand against the door and leaving it there.

Coal eyes opened wide. Tears Bardock thought had run dry ran anew down his face now. Tora was the voice of reason right now; nay, he'd always been a voice of reason when Bardock needed it. He spoke logic, and yet the emotions of the scar-faced saiyan were winning out in his mind right now.

A dry voice finally replied. "Back then I was a fool. I went to my death alone and numb. I knew who to go after. This time, I don't know who did it. This time I've got people to go with me. I've learned so much from a reckless rush to death. Tora, you don't understand!" With that final growl, the emotionally-charged saiyan flung the pillow he'd been laying his head on.

A cold metal hand grabbed the doorknob and thrusted the door open. Tora slammed his hand on the doorframe now. "What don't I understand? That you're giving up instead of trying to put his killer to justice?"

Bardock gave a hollow laugh now. "Justice? That's a lie, Tora. Is it justice that Frieza got away with murder? It's not about giving up! I could have stopped this. I...had a vision of it happening, and yet...I did nothing! I could have warned Maes! I could have stopped his killer!"

"What?" Tora gave a confused look. "What do you mean 'a vision of it happening'?"

"You remember Kanassa, right? Remember the Kanassan that struck me in the back of the head? He really did give me the ability to see the future. I saw this, and I still didn't stop it!"

Tora slowly moved toward the bed now. He faintly recalled the incident now; it was something he tried to keep in the back of his mind. A steel hand reached to grip the remaining flesh arm that belonged to his former commander.

"Things happen and even if you forsee them, sometimes you have to let them happen." Tora spoke in a firm but calm voice. "The gunman pulled the trigger, not the guy who saw the future. It was Frieza who destroyed our planet, not a selfless man who was willing to give his damn life for the planet he loved. Stop blaming yourself. You can't always be the goddamn hero, Bardock!"

Tense muscles relaxed. Coal eyes softened and a few final tears slid down Bardock's scarred cheek. Tora was right. He knew too well that Tora was right. Somehow, that lunkhead had gotten through to him. Slowly, he pulled himself up, wriggling free of the larger man's grasp. With a renewed will, Bardock glanced to Tora with the first true smile he'd given since the funeral.

"Thank you." He lipped, leaving the room.

------

"Big Bwother! Don't go!" Elicia wailed as Gracia, Elicia, Vegeta, Tarble, Bardock, and Tora gathered to see Broly off at the train station.

Violet-black eyes fixed themselves on the small girl before Broly reached out his large hand to ruffle blond strands. "I have to, little one. You take care of your mother, alright? Your father would want you to. No. Both of our fathers would want this."

Elicia whimpered. "But why? Why do you have to go?"

"There are kind people in Lior who need help. Innocent people. Alchemy is all about 'be thou for the people', so I'm doing just that. I'm going to be there for the people of Lior." Broly gave a small, gentle smile. "I know you're too young to understand everything I just said. But I want to do something that will make my father smile in the afterlife."

Elicia sniffled. "Will you come back?"

"Of course. I could never leave my 'little sister' forever." Broly gave a genuine smile, pulling his hand away now. He then glanced to Tora. "Master Tora, thank you for teaching me so much. I'll be practicing every day."

"Eh, you're practicing a major creedo of alchemy, so forget about practicing transmutation every day!" Tora gave a bright smile. "And don't forget the Law of Equivalent Exchange."

Broly nodded. "I won't." His eyes then glanced to Bardock. "Thank you for...being a voice of reason when I needed it."

Bardock nodded gently. He understood what the younger had meant; he'd been the one to stop Broly from making his foolish mistake.

A train pulled up to the platform now. Broly lifted a duffel bag over his shoulder and nodded a goodbye to those he knew before boarding the train to Lior. As the train pulled away, he could be seen glancing back toward them out the window. Elicia whimpered and cried some before Gracia took her home.

"We're staying here in Central. The library had some interesting Alchemy information, and I wanted to check it out." Vegeta suddenly spoke. "Maybe I can find something about augmenting my strength. My power."

Tarble nodded in agreement with his older brother. "Yeah! O-oh! And I'll be sure to practice every day, Tora! And one day we'll get home and I promise I won't forget you!"

Tora shook his head and laughed. "I hear ya. You guys take care."

The princes left the train station now, leaving just Bardock and Tora.

"Well, that's a bummer. Looks like we're alone, buddy." Tora laughed softly as he and Bardock walked away from the platform. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"I have to make sure that Mustang got that report. Or you might get in hot water. Don't say that I'm not looking out for you, ya big lunkhead."

---------------

Later that day, the two found themselves back at the train station. Tora had his old, ratty knapsack, and Bardock, his old beaten-up luggage. Their destination? Tora had already plotted it: Rush Valley.

"Why in the hell are we going to Rush Valley?" The incredulous look on Bardock's face, and the twitching tail said it all.

Tora shook his head. "Don't you get it? Rush Valley's the best place to get upgrades for your automail! It's the Boom Town of the Broken-Down!" The tall saiyan clenched his automail hands into fists, pumping them to the sky.

Coal eyes narrowed more. "And?"

Tora shook his head, laughing. "Well, I've always wanted a hidden knife in my automail. It's so damn hard to cut vegetables while holding a knife in your metal hands, you know? Not to mention I wouldn't mind having a gun installed in one of my arms."

"You know what? I don't need a fancy sword in my arm. I don't need shotguns in my knees. And I certainly don't need a gatling gun in my tail. It doesn't take fancy weapons in your metal limbs to win a fight." Bardock sighed, his flesh palm pressed against his face.

Tora shook his head. "It's so much more than that though! There's also getting it prepped for all sorts of weather. And repa--"

"I'll trust Pinako with repairs, thank you very much. She knows her creations better than some back-alley bum."

"And competitions."

"We have the unfair advantage."

"And isn't that where Shugesh headed?"

Bardock froze in his tracks and couldn't come up with a retort. Tora had convinced him for that reason alone. Catching up with the last link in their chain--Shugesh. When the train arrived, the duo boarded without hesitation; Rush Valley awaited.

----------

Upon their arrival, Bardock and Tora set out to explore the town. Somewhere along the way, the two had gotten separated; Tora was looking for automail upgrades, and Bardock was on a search for Shugesh.

"Get your palm-gun here!" A mechanic hollered as people passed by. Rush Valley was a pretty big town, to be sure, and full to the brim with automail mechanics hawking their wares, from the newest models of prosthetic limbs they had created, to upgrades such as a knife that came out of the space between the thumb and the index finger of an automail hand. Such an upgrade had caught Tora's eyes and filled him with glee--he had been wanting something like that. While he checked out the wares of the mechanic offering such an upgrade, a large figure in a cloak appeared from the crowd and swang a fist at him, blindsiding him.

"What the?!" Tora sputtered, skidding aside before swinging a left-handed punch back at this mysterious assailant. A large, fleshy hand caught the steel hand with ease. Tora swung his right fist at the assailant in the cloak now. His right hand was suddenly in the grasp of another large, fleshy hand. The two grappled for a few moments before the figure beneath the cloak shoved Tora back and then proceeded to cock back a leg and kick the tall saiyan in the knee to take him off balance. For a moment, Tora could have swore he saw a flash of steel between the pantleg and the boot, but automail was so common in Rush Valley that he thought nothing of it.

Soon, the cloaked figure pulled him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Geez, Tora. You're out of shape." A familiar voice mocked.

Tora growled, trying to swing his arm at the assailant before being thrown down, and a foot shoved onto his chest. The assailant pulled back his hood. Shugesh smirked down at his old friend.

"You know, you're a bastard." Tora grumbled.

Shugesh laughed. "And you're a lunkhead."

-------

Almost a half-hour later, Shugesh cloaked himself again, slinking through the crowds. It was a daily ritual now, of course. He'd been awaiting the day that Bardock and Tora would show up again. To be honest, he missed the other two, but it was more than that. He had been training in his downtime when he wasn't working on automail--no easy task with automail legs, to be sure--and he'd been wanting to test himself against the only two worthy of his display of power.

His eyes latched to a figure inspecting automail polish; the cheek scar and the hair were there. The outfit--a blue military uniform--was unusual, and there seemed to be no sight of a tail, fur or automail. But Shugesh couldn't deny it. This had to be Bardock.

The pudgy saiyan beneath the cloak leaped up on a table and ran across to the table of wares that Bardock was inspecting, and Shugesh cocked back a steel leg before kicking at his former commander and old friend. Bardock had taken the blow to his shoulder, and was now very much uninterested in the wares on the table, his mind geared for a fight.

"Wanna play dirty, eh, you cloaked bastard? Well eat this!" Bardock growled, swinging a right-handed punch toward Shugesh's leg, still not knowing the identity of his attacker. Steel met steel, and the clang was deafening. Thinking fast, Bardock looped both arms around one of the legs now, and tugged; Shugesh had nowhere to go but down on his behind now. The table broke from the impact and cans of automail polish flew everywhere. Chaos reigned at this moment.

Shugesh had to think fast. Bardock was still the great tactician he used to be back in planet-clearing days. Hastily, he lifted a leg to kick at his old friend. A flesh hand caught the foot and Bardock dragged Shugesh closer before yanking off the cloak. What had been a frown suddenly became a smirk; if it was a fight Shugesh wanted, it was a fight that Shugesh got.

"Didja really think I was going to be a slouch?" Bardock taunted, swinging a kick at Shugesh.

Shugesh laughed, bringing his arm up to block as he fought to get back to his feet. "Well, you are a dog of the military."

That statement was greeted with Bardock swinging his right-handed automail fist toward Shugesh's face with a high rate of speed before he stopped. "You think I woldn't keep up with things? The military keeps you in good condition, you tubby meathead!"

Shugesh laughed. "Heh. You win. I should have known that you'd be keeping up with your training as much as I am, if not more-so. Too bad we can't say the same for Tora, huh?"

"You said it." Bardock chuckled.

Tora staggered onto the scene. "Whoa-whoa-whoa. Not funny you guys. I hate you so hard right now."

"Get in line." Shugesh and Bardock replied in unison.

Sometimes those who live cannot always forsee where they go on the open road of life. And for Bardock, not always seeing those twists and turns on the road could lead to a pleasant surprise that made him realize that even if he'd seen the worst, the best was yet to come.