Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball / Dragonball Z / Dragonball GT.
Happy reading!
The time had come.
It was raining softly, but due to the fact that they were inside the protective domes of West City they weren't in any way affected. The mood of all those familiar faces seemed to match the weather, too; save Vegeta, they had all gathered on Capsule Corp's inner yard in a sombre spirit for having to see Goten off to his timeline. During the past three weeks, he had been a welcome presence amidst the Sons and Briefs. This was no surprise since along with Gohan he had defeated Vanitas for good, brought everyone back to life, and been there for mental and emotional support during the trying times of little Goten and Trunks's road to recovery.
Unfortunately, Videl would miss Goten's farewell. She had left several hours ago after revealing her purpose of visit, which was to have Gohan—and Son, now that he was among them—teach her the basics of energy; she wanted to reinforce her fighting skills, be able to utilise energy-based attacks, and also fly. The boy was a bit apprehensive since he was afraid what Hercule would think about it, but Videl said she had talked about it and had been given the green light. Obviously, it was very much to Goten's surprise since the Hercule of his timeline would have never—at least initially—allowed his daughter to do that, but hey, this was an entirely different world in which the world champion was actually a very brave and honourable man.
As though it hadn't been enough, Videl had one more thing in her agenda. By her father's order, she gave an offer which came as a total shocker to Son, Gohan, Goten, as well as all others present that time: whether or not they, especially the Sons, approve the possibility of her hometown, Orange Star City, being renamed after them—Son City. Chichi was excited about this offer, but Gohan promptly told Videl he was against it and, as per Goten's proposition, suggested the town be rechristened as Satan City.
Of course this surprised the Son matron to no end, so she asked Gohan about his rationale. It turned out that the boy didn't want to draw attention to his family, and he believed the fame and fanfare would have detrimental effects on their peaceful, reclusive lifestyle. Gohan also reminded that was exactly the reason why Goku and Chichi had chosen to live deep in the mountains in addition to pay homage to Great-Grandpa Gohan, Goku's adoptive grandfather by taking care of his old house. Besides, it was all thanks to Hercule that he and Goten found the time to fuse together to become Son and defeat Vanitas for good, and they didn't want him to be an unsung hero after everything he had done so gallantly.
Gohan's decision, which was final, was seconded by Son and Goku. Chichi—now having understood the rationale—finally gave up her desires willingly and fully supported Gohan's decision. After all, he was the one who had saved the world, so it really was his right whether to take the offer or give it a miss.
But that was enough of what had taken place. Let's focus on the here and now.
Among all the people, there were three of them who were profoundly affected by this farewell. They were Son, little Goten, and most of all Trunks. Indeed, the bossy little kid had said to Goten he understood very well the reason why he had to leave, but now… admittedly, he just learned living up to his claim was harder than it seemed. No wonder the proverb "actions speak louder than words" exists.
If given the chance, Trunks would very much like to join Gohan and Goten in their journey to the future. He was interested to see how life was in Goten's timeline, how the older him looked like, and even interact with him. Alas, the time machine could only carry two passengers with them since the cockpit wasn't too spacious to begin with. He could try stowing away by holding on to one of the legs of the machine, but there was no telling what would happen to him should he lost his grip en route to the future and fall into the interspatiotemporal abyss.
As Goten said his gratitude and final goodbye, the pangs of sadness and loneliness that had been assaulting Trunks's mind grew even more powerful. He had to struggle with all his might to keep his tears at bay; he wouldn't want to be seen by other people, especially little Goten—who was not only his best friend, but also self-styled rival—as being a crybaby.
Yes, the goodbyes Goten exchanged with the Son parents and Bulma—tearful on the adults' end—just made it all the harder for him to contain his emotions. However, life had this penchant for throwing curveballs; as though it hadn't been enough for Trunks, when he thought the situation couldn't get any worse, it did.
Little Goten, who had been behind his mother's legs all the time, stepped out of his hiding place and approached his older counterpart, albeit with the pace of a snail. It seemed he wanted to say something to him but couldn't muster enough courage or was simply too shy to get his point across.
"Hmm? What is it, little me?" asked Goten.
The little child tapped the tips of his index fingers together, and this was the only action he produced as a response to Goten's question. He knew he wouldn't make any progress by being silent like this and that his brother from the future wasn't a telepath, but he just couldn't bring himself to voice out what was in his mind. He was simply too shy.
Fortunately—or rather unexpectedly—for him, Chichi took the initiative. She knew very well what her son was trying to say. "Oh, I know…" she said, "You want a hug from your brother, don't you, Goten?"
Chichi seemed to have nailed it. At her words, little Goten stooped his head in what seemed to be embarrassment as his cheeks started to blush. This sight elicited coos from those around; after seeing the interactions going on between the two Gotens, they knew how close to the his counterpart the little one had grown.
"Hey… of course! Why dontcha just say so?" said Goten. He then lifted the child high in the air. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'd do this a hundred times if I have the time and won't ever get bored of it. Hee-hee."
That was it for little Goten. He could no longer contain his sadness anymore and began to bawl his eyes out. To console him, the older boy held him close to his chest and gently caressed his hair, allowing him to empty out his lacrimal glands even though it meant his shirt would be soaked and uncomfortable to wear.
Little Goten fastened his grip around Goten's torso and buried his head on his chest, causing the older boy to actually shed a tear from his eye. Goten hugged him back; this moment reminded Goten so much of that time when Goku ran out of time and had to return to the Other World during the skirmish with Majin Buu.
Now that he was at the other end of the table, he knew his father must have been as reluctant to leave that time as he was right now. It was sad, but it had to be done. As Gohan had previously said in their heart-to-heart talk a while back, every meeting was bound to end with a farewell. Life could be cruel, indeed, but it had to go on.
After a minute of affectionate embrace, the youngest Saiyan finally found the courage to let go. Goten put him back on the ground, ruffled his hair for one last time, and whispered how he was very proud of him.
By now, Trunks, who had been watching the exchange between the two incarnations of his best friend, had endured countless ruthless blows to his defences. The wall and chains that had been keeping his emotions in check were all but shattered, and if he didn't act right now, he would burst out in tears in front of everyone. That would be the first item in the mop-top's list of things not to do, considering how proud he was for someone his age…
… and so he did act.
With as much strength and boldness as he could possibly muster in his current state, Trunks pulled a stoic face and tugged at Goten's sleeve to gain his attention. "Big brother, come with me, will ya?"
"Huh? W-whatcha doing—wah!"
"Gohan, I wanna borrow him for a while. Don't follow us, okay?" Trunks said—or more fittingly, commanded—as he yanked Goten's sleeve even harder. "C'mon. I don't have much time. Don't be such a snail, big brother!"
Gohan just shrugged and smiled in reply as he watched the two halflings made their way to the depths of the house. Unlike the others who couldn't make sense of what the apparent urgency was about, he knew exactly what Trunks wanted to do. Little Goten suggested they go and follow them despite the warning and was actually about to storm off, but Gohan managed to catch and hug him in his arms before he could.
"Aww, that's not fair, Gohan… I wanna go, too!" the tyke struggled to break free of his brother's hold in protest.
Instead of letting go, Gohan enforced his hug and rested his chin on little Goten's head. "Nuh-uh, you can't. If you do…" he smiled knowingly, "… Trunks would get very embarrassed."
Hand-in-hand, the Brief kid walked with his big brother figure in whom he had so much faith. Neither of them had spoken a single word, so Goten really had no idea where Trunks was taking him or what was it that he was planning to do. One thing for sure, though, the child seemed to be heading as far away as possible from the inner yard where all others were gathered.
After making sure they were far enough, although still within the confines of Capsule Corp's walls, Trunks let go of Goten's sleeves and stopped. He then lifted his head and cast his cerulean eyes to meet the older boy's gaze. Words weren't needed to understand the point the look was supposed to get across; it was for Goten to talk with Trunks.
And so that was what Goten did. He knelt down so that his eyes were level with Trunks's. "What now, Trunks? Are you still gonna play silent and keep everything a secret, hmm?"
"I wanna climb on your back,," replied Trunks. Before Goten could answer, the lilac-haired kid had taken his place on his nape, his legs draping down his shoulders, pretending he was a jockey. "Alright! Now let's go to the front porch, big brother. Let's watch the rain and get some air."
Goten finally understood what Trunks's agenda was… it was to spend what little time he had together with him. No wonder he took him all the way to the front porch so others wouldn't be able to see him being all emotional. Goten produced a bittersweet smile and let out a sigh; knowing Trunks could have actually killed someone in order to enjoy this moment, he deliberately slowed his pace and took his sweet time in walking toward the entrance of the house.
Once there, he seated himself on a chair and set Trunks down, but the kid refused. In record time he climbed back to Goten's lap and sat there facing forward; he even warned him not to even try to shove him away unless he wanted to have a bump on his head. Goten gave a chuckle and feigned fear, but complied nonetheless; he put his palms on Trunks's shoulders and did everything in his power to make him comfortable.
A period of silence followed. The only sounds they could hear were of the traffic and sometimes pedestrians. No one of the two boys made an effort to break the quiet; on the fifth minute, though, Trunks took something from the pocket of his three quarter pants.
It was a neat, compact Polaroid camera, which was very popular in the late 760s.
"Wowee, lucky you! When I was your age I didn't even have a watch," said Goten. It should come as no surprise to him, though, since the child was the son of the richest mother in the planet. "So whatcha gonna do with it?"
"I'm gonna cook with it. Big brother, you're such a dummy! Of course it's for taking a picture… our picture!" replied Trunks while raising the camera in the air in front of them, the lens facing their face, "Don't move, okay? I'm gonna take two pictures at once… one for me to keep, and one for you to take home. I only have four films left so if your face is cropped, that's it."
"What about the remaining two?"
"Well duh, they're for taking a picture with everyone else."
"Ooh, I see… then why do you wanna do this now if we're gonna take a group picture later?"
"Ugh, so you don't understand? It's so that I have a picture with you alone!" Trunks rolled his eyes and gave Goten a playful bop on the head, "Now c'mon. I've expertly positioned the camera to capture our faces. There's no way it'll go wrong unless you move too much."
Goten flashed the sheepish Son grin, but since he was about to be photographed, he soon pulled his best smile. Trunks, too, assumed his best expression which contradicted the feeling of sadness which had been gnawing away at his heart; with a click of the shutter button, the camera made a strange click and buzzed for a while before two sheets of plastic-like films came out from the slit on the bottom.
After waiting for a short while, the films slowly revealed the picture Trunks had taken. They showed a child donning a wide grin while flashing a victory sign on the foreground, and a preteen smiling playfully on the background. Trunks was very satisfied with the result to say the least; he handed one photograph to Goten and asked him to keep it with extreme care, just like how he promised he would handle the other one.
"Thanks a lot, Trunks! Yup, I'll take care of it veeery carefully," said Goten. He made a wide arc with his arms to emphasise his point. It might sound like overkill, but he hid the photograph in an empty capsule of his, just in case.
However, Trunks needed more than words to be convinced. He extended his tiny pinkie finger to Goten, intent on sealing the promise. "Remember what you said, big brother."
"I promise, and I mean it," replied Goten in an assured manner as he firmly hooked his pinkie finger onto Trunks's. "How about that? Are you convinced now?"
"Mm-hmm…"
"Attaboy, Trunks. Now what do you say we get back inside, hmm? It's getting cold—"
"Big brother… I'll miss you…"
Without warning, Trunks latched onto Goten's neck with the strongest of grips, almost cutting off his air supply in the process. The former actually began to break into tears; he only sobbed, unlike little Goten who readily screamed his tears out for the world to hear, but still… in his sobs he cried noisily, making loud, convulsive gasps and sniffles. It was evident Trunks could no longer keep his emotions at bay.
"I'll miss you too, Trunks. Trust me, I will…" Goten said hugging him back. His previously cheerful mood shifted into a sweetly sad one. He didn't want to part either, but of course he knew better than that. If he stayed, his presence would further derail this world from the passage it had been intended to traverse. "But you'll never be alone… Gohan will always be there for you."
True, he had Gohan. However, he couldn't expect the older boy to always be there and help him just like what Goten had so willingly and kindly done for him. Gohan had his own little brother to tend to, and sometimes this triggered a spark of envy deep down inside Trunks's heart. He confessed to Goten he had actually been coveting the presence of a big brother—not a big brother figure, but one who would always be there for him, in health and sickness, in joy and despair, just like Gohan was to little Goten. To Trunks, Goten was the one and only person who had fulfilled those requirements, and that was why he trusted and loved him so much like his own big brother.
"So you're jealous of little me because he has Gohan to take care of him?" asked Goten, to which Trunks responded with a weak nod, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Gohan will always have time to play with you. Besides, big brother Son will always be there, too."
"But he's not you… you can't expect me to trust him that easily…"
"Hey, give him time, okay? I'm sure he'll be a greater big brother than I ever was."
"But can he…?"
"Yup, he can, trust me. Now let's get inside or you'll get sick again… the air is getting colder," said Goten as he wiped Trunks's tears with his sleeve, "C'mon, don't cry. You're a strong boy, arentcha, Trunks? I'm sure you don't want the others to see you just cried yourself silly."
And so, after several attempts to convince the little boy to man up, Trunks finally stopped crying and pulled his usual stoic expression. His eyes were still red and swollen, though, and his shirt was soaked with tears, so Goten took him to the children's room, gave him time to wash his face, and helped him change.
After making sure Trunks looked as fresh and tough as he had always been, they left the room and made their way to the inner yard. "You ready, Trunks?" asked Goten.
Having been egged on, Trunks responded with newfound resolve although his voice was still shaky. "Yeah. I'm ready."
"Nuh-uh, not like that. With that voice they'll know you were crying," the older halfling gently poked the younger's nose, eliciting a giggle from him, "You gotta be strong, okay? Let's try again. You ready?"
Trunks cleared his throat and gave it another try. This time the response coming from him was infinitely more confident and certain. "Yeah! Never as ready as I am now!"
"That's the way, squirt! Now let's go!"
Their return was anticipated, especially by Gohan who at the sight of his brother promptly shot him a knowing smile. Trunks wasted no time in having everyone take their position for a group photo; they all complied with the bossy kid's request and arranged themselves nicely so that the children were sitting in front of the standing adults. He set the camera on self-timer mode, put it on a lamp post, pressed the shutter button, and immediately darted to the space right beside Goten.
When the picture had been taken and developed, Trunks handed one to Goten and the other to Gohan to be passed around, but not without warning the others to be extra careful when handling it. The result was great; everyone was visible, not one person left behind, and they were all in their best expression. Yes, since the picture would serve as proof that Goten had lived here, chances are it was going to be reproduced into a large one, framed with the best frame, and displayed in the living room of Capsule Corp.
Finally, the time had come. There was no longer pushing back the inevitable. Truth be told, Goten had delayed his departure by a considerable amount of time, so if there was anything else he wanted to say to the denizens of this world dear to him, this would be the time. He had said his farewell to the people, little Goten and Trunks included…
… except for one.
Goten walked toward this particular person who was sitting by the water fountain and greeted him. "I never thought you can actually be this silent, considering I'm one of your two halves."
Son chuckled at the remark made by his brother. He acknowledged it was true, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly why it was so. "I dunno… but perhaps it's because you're gonna leave. That means I'm gonna lose a part of me, right?"
"Theoretically, yup, but practically, nope. I'm Goten, and so is that little guy over there," Goten pointed at his younger doppelganger, "So long as he's around, you're not losing anything."
Son's smile just became wider at Goten's words. He never knew Goten had always been this positive, but then again, should it have come as a surprise to him? Not at all. "Well, that's one way to put it positively. I don't see the wrong in it," he shrugged, then gave Goten a fist bump, "Thanks for the encouragement, awesome brother!"
"Yeah! But don't forget, you're gonna be even more awesome than I am!" Goten beamed in reply, "By the way, do you need a refresher course on how to handle little me and Trunks?"
"Nah, don't worry about that. I think I remember."
"Then good luck with their ghost prank!"
After flashing a mischievous smile, Goten rushed toward the time machine with the speed of wind. Son became deeply concerned with that last remark; as he too walked toward the vehicle which seemed all fired and ready to go, he silently grumbled and lamented the fact that he had to inherit Goten's fear of ghosts. Him, the strongest being on earth who was able to make adorable little phantoms of his own, afraid of ghosts? Now that was plain ridiculous. However, he believed taking care of the two little pranksters also had its perks in its own right which would surely bring joy to him.
Gohan flew into the time machine and seated himself on the pilot seat, waiting for Goten to finish his final farewell. After said boy was done with it, he made certain that every one of them got one last hug. He only ruffled Trunks's hair to save his face since he wouldn't like being treated like a little kid in front of other people; besides, they had just had their sweet brotherly moment.
When it came to little Goten's turn, Goten expected him to cry again. Yes, his eyes did start to water, but surprisingly he managed to produce a smile, albeit a small one. That was a sign enough for Goten to stop worrying about his other self; although it might take time, little Goten would be able to move on, be it with or without Son's help.
And finally, it was Son's turn. The ex-fusion was still a bit bitter over the remark regarding some ghost pranks and even made an unimpressed face when Goten approached him. The latter knew he wasn't being serious, though; with just a playful smile, Son's unfriendly façade shattered and he gave a similar grin in response. Just like brothers—except they were, in a certain way—they exchanged a brief yet meaningful fraternal hug and another fist bump.
Now, Goten had fulfilled his purpose here. He flew into the time machine and seated himself on the passenger seat. Seeing him all but ready, Gohan punched several buttons, and Goten cried a loud "goodbye!" for everyone to hear. As the canopy was lowered, they all waved at him, and he waved back. When his eyes met little Goten's and Trunks's, he flashed them a victory sign, which they—as well as Son—returned with both hands.
With that, Gohan punched one last button… and that was that.
As though Afterimaging, the time machine vanished into thin air.
Goten had departed from this dimension, never again to return.
Believing his words could transcend the confines of their space-time fabric, Trunks, with his hand now on little Goten's shoulder to give him moral support, looked up to the heavens beyond the skylight and whispered, "Thank you… big brother. I won't forget you… because I can't."
Post-note: Despite the way it ends, this chapter is not the final chapter. Well, initially, it was supposed to be and it was also longer, but I decided to truncate it and save the cut part for the epilogue. That way, I can limit the chapter into evoking only the necessary emotions; I figured it wouldn't be good to have intermingling emotions. Besides, I feel it still needs some editing, so please bear with me… but yeah, do keep your eyes peeled for the conclusion of the story!