"No."

It was not a word that Goku was used to hearing, and it certainly was not one that he liked to deal with. "But I…"

"No."

"But if you would just listen…"

"Goku," King Kai interrupted, "stop it. The answer is no, it is not going to become a yes, so just let it go."

The Saiyan clenched his fists, fighting to keep his temper in check. He was not used to this level of frustration, and he was ill equipped to handle it. "King Kai," he tried again through clenched teeth, "if you would just listen to my side of it…"

But the blue deity cut him off again. "There's no point in hearing your side of it," he sighed. "I'm sorry, but the answer is not going to stop being no."

"This isn't fair!" Goku yelled. He began to power up without even being aware of it. "Damn it, King Kai, I was gone doing what you wanted me to! You were the ones that told me about the problem! You were the ones that told me that I was the only one who could save all those people! You were the ones that got me to leave right after I got home!" His hair bled blonde as he stomped his foot, almost screaming, "You were the ones that kept me from being there when she died!"

King Kai edged back slightly, not entirely certain how to handle the situation. The worst he had ever seen in Goku, in person, was mildly annoyed. This, though, seemed to be borderline rage. It was one of the few times that the higher being locking in on the fact that his pupil really was a Saiyan. "Goku," he attempted to calmly explain, "it's not as easy as you seem to think it is."

"Then tell me what it is and I'll figure it out myself," he demanded.

Quietly the blue man clasped his hands in front of his body. "When a person dies," he explained, "you know that they get judged and sorted. But things are not the same for most people as they have been for you. You were brought by the guardian of your world with a mission to stop a great evil. You were permitted entrance to Snake Way and my realm so you could complete your training. And when you died again, after Cell, and took me out with you, by the way…"

Goku calmed down slightly to sheepishly hold his wrist.

"...I brought you to the realm of champions," King Kai went on. "It was a land where heroes get to go on in glory for the rest of time. Only a small handful of beings ever go there. It's almost impossible to get in."

Forcing himself to keep calm, the Saiyan demanded, "What does that have to do with what I want?"

"It has everything to do with what you want." King Kai sighed and began to pace. "Your wife was a good woman, Goku. She did gain entrance to heaven. But she went to heaven, Goku. You've never actually been there."

Goku frowned. He hadn't?

Still pacing, the smaller man went on. "Heaven is, basically, the biggest reception area of all time. From anywhere. Ever. She went to eternal peace, but so have countless other souls."

"So?"

Almost nervously, King Kai wrung his hands. "See, we have a kind of interesting sort of accountancy here in the Otherworld. If a soul is damned and condemned to hell, we basically put a tracker on their soul. That way, if they manage to get out, we know exactly where they are. We do random check ins to make sure that all the damned are right in hell, where they belong." He cleared his throat. "Heaven's a little...different."

The warrior's frown deepened. "Different how?"

"Uh, well, once you're in heaven," he shrugged, "we kind of...stop tracking you."

"WHAT?"

King Kai winced. "We used to try to keep track of everyone, but it got impossible to keep up with ever soul from all over the universe. We knew that we needed to track all of the evil souls, because if they got out, it would literally be hell breaking loose. But good souls, the ones who earned salvation, well, we didn't really see a need to keep eyes on them. We noted that they belonged in heaven, got them through the front door, and left them."

Working through the information, Goku shook his head. "But when I was a kid, I was able to see my Grandpa Gohan. Baba brought him back from the Otherworld. How did she find him?"

"Well, divination can help narrow it down," King Kai admitted. "However, the fact of the matter is that some people don't venture too far once they enter heaven. If I were a gambling god, I would say that Gohan probably hung out near the front door."

"But divination can help?" Goku asked. "If I get Baba to help, and I can find her…"

"There's a no guests policy in heaven," King Kai interrupted.

Getting cheeky, Goku returned with, "Didn't you say it was the biggest reception area ever? That means that they can take guests!"

"Goku," the deity warned, "that's not what I meant and you know it."

"No, I don't know it!" the Saiyan argued. "Look, I know it kind of goes against some of your rules, but damn it, I break the rules of the universe all the time! I have to if I'm going to keep saving people the way I do. Now I don't ask for a lot from you guys. Hell, I can't actually remember asking anything from you, other than for training. I think I've earned a favor, and damn it, this is the favor I want!"

But King Kai shook his head again. "You can't see your wife Goku," he softly told the man. "Not until you die, and only if you give up the realm of champions."

Goku froze slightly. "What does that mean?"

Sympathetically, the Kai of the North placed a hand on the warrior's shoulder. "You have earned passage into heaven," he gently explained, "but your wife has not earned passage to the realm of champions. We can't let souls bounce around wherever they want. You would have to choose one and stay there."

The Saiyan was shocked. "Why haven't you ever told me that before?" he demanded.

"Because it didn't matter before," King Kai said. "You were dead, your loved ones weren't. I had full intentions of letting you know what your choices were when the time came. I just thought you would enjoy having fun in the meantime."

Goku was not ready to deal with that news yet. He had to stay focused on his task at hand. "The dragon balls," he stated. "I can use the dragon balls."

"They can't bring her back…"

"I know that!" Goku closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down again. "I know they can't bring her back to life. I know...I know she died of natural causes, and that they can't be undone. I know that. I get that. But could they bring her soul to a designated area? And can I talk to her then?"

It was highly against regulations to even be sustaining the conversation, but King Kai had always had a bit of a soft spot for the man before him. Goku really had earned a favor or two in his lifetime, but had remained humble and selfless through it all. If anyone had earned the right to a bizarre request from the gods, it was Goku. "I can't promise you anything."

Hope began to spark anew. "But it might work?" he challenged. "I can try?"

King Kai smirked. "Is there anything I could have done to have stopped you from trying?"

"Probably not," Goku admitted. "So, um, I need a hand with something…"

/

Goten silently continued to go through the long lost family items. From the corner of his eye he checked on his brother. Gohan had not spoken a word since Goku's abrupt departure, and did not seem to be handling it all that well. The younger brother had opted to work quietly and let his brother process through things, but it had been a little bit, and Goten was not going to risk letting Gohan fall back into his old, self-detrimental practices.

"Okay, question," he stated, deciding to take an off-beat approach. "I know I don't know that much about Goku, but isn't he supposed to be, like, the happy one?"

Slowly Gohan glanced at his younger brother. He stayed silent.

"I mean, most of what I've got on him comes from stories," the younger one went on, "but they're all about how it doesn't matter what's going on, he's all happy and confident and, you know, upbeat."

A mild eyebrow raise was the only indication Gohan gave that showed he was interested.

Goten picked up the family picture they had been looking at earlier. "But ever since he came back, I don't think I've seen him smile once. Not really. And he just ran out when we were looking at this." The younger of the brothers approached his sibling and looked him dead in the eye. "I know he's always been a flight risk," he calmly stated, "but don't you think that was weird? Even for him?"

Gohan considered for a moment and opened his mouth to answer, but found himself cut off.

"Hey, guys?"

Both brothers glanced around the room. "Dad?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah, it's me!"

Extremely confused, Goten kept scanning the room. "Goku, where the hell are you?"

"I'm in the Otherworld."

Goten's eyes grew enormous. "You died?"

"He teleported," Gohan clarified, figuring it out.

A curious eyebrow went up on the other brother. "Goku can teleport between life and death? That's a thing?"

"Sort of," Goku's voice said. "I can get to parts of the Otherworld. Actually, that's why I'm talking to you now. I kind of need your help."

Goten leaned over to his big brother and softly said, "He's got unfathomable power and can jump between the worlds of the living and the dead. What the hell does he need us for?"

Goku's voice came through clearly as he chuckled. "I need you to get the dragon balls."

"But why…"

"I'm trying to find your mother."

Both boys stood a little straighter. "You're trying to what?" Gohan hoarsely asked.

"I'm trying to find your mom," Goku repeated. "I wanted to talk to her, but apparently heaven isn't great at tracking which soul goes where. And since she didn't get her physical body, I can't really sense where she is. So I need you guys to find the dragon balls and wish her to where I am." He paused before adding, "If you don't mind."

Goten squirmed slightly. "Um, if you can see her, then can we…"

"Sorry, boys," King Kai's voice interrupted. "I'm breaking too many rules letting him do this. You can't tag along."

"Oh."

"Hey, cheer up," Goku said. "I know it sucks that you guys can't be here, but could you please let me do this? It's not fair. I'm not going to pretend that it is. But please, let me see her. Please."

Gohan sighed. "It's going to take some time, Dad," he explained. "We only have two dragon ball radars. Why don't you come back while we look?"

"No," King Kai interrupted again. "If we're going to pull this off, Goku can't leave my planet until after the transaction."

Goku's grumble was not missed by anyone. "What's the point in being a kai if you've got to follow all these stupid rules?"

"Do you want my help?"

"Fine. I'll be good."

Goten smirked. "Well, at least now I know where I get that personality trait from." He chuckled as he got to his feet. "I'm game for this. How about you, big bro?" Honestly, he was a little surprised when Gohan nodded, but he would not turn his brother away. "Awesome! I'll call Bulma and get the radars."

"Boys," King Kai said, "I'm not a telephone and I can't stay on hold forever. We'll contact you again later."

The sudden silence was a little jarring, but Goten seemed unphased. "This is kind of cool," he said with a smile. "I mean, it's weird as hell, but it's still kind of cool. I've never been on a dragon ball hunt before without a grown up telling me what to do!"

Gohan placed his hands on his hips. "What makes you think you'll go unsupervised this time?"

Goten blushed. "The fact that my number one wish is no longer for the biggest candy bar the world has ever known?"

"I don't know," Gohan teased.

With a laugh, Goten punched his older brother in the arm. "You're an ass sometimes, but I love it. So here's how I say we do this: you get Pan and Videl, I'll get my three crazy friends, whichever team gets the most dragon balls wins."

Firmly, Gohan placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Can we put a clause in there that states that no team is allowed to do great damage to public or private property?"

Pretending to pout, Goten agreed to it. "But only because we're doing this to contact Mom, and I don't want to get grounded."

Slowly sitting down beside his brother, Gohan got an odd expression on his face. "I really wish we could be there."

"Me too," Goten said. "But hey, we do this, Goku can bring back a message from her, and some day, when we die, we get to go see Mom and know that we earned some major 'good son' points by doing this." He grinned as he added, "We might even get extra dessert for it!"

"How do you do it?"

Goten blinked, confused. "How do I do what?"

"How do you always see the good in everything?" Gohan softly asked. "How do you see it? How do you maintain it? Just...how?"

The younger brother did not really have an answer for that. "I just do," was really all he could offer. "Trunks has asked me that question more times than I can count, and there isn't any real way to explain it. It's just a part of who I am. Mom used to say that I must have a guardian angel who's just really good at showing me joy." He laughed as he added, "Trunks said I must have a guardian angel with a lot of really shiny stuff to distract me whenever something bad was there."

Gohan lightly laughed. "I think they both might have been on to something." He stretched out as he got to his feet. "This is definitely not how I planned for today to go, but I must admit, the idea of taking Panny on a dragon ball hunt does sound amazing."

Already dialing his guardian, Goten nodded. As per usual, it did not take long for the scientist to pick up. "Hey, Bulma?" he asked, putting it on speakerphone.

"What's up, Goten?"

"Can we have the dragon ball radars?"

There was silence on the other end. "Why?"

Goten looked over at his brother with a wicked smirk. "I've decided that Vegeta has made some very good points over the years, and I've decided to take a shot at world domination."

When only silence greeted them again, Gohan had to put a hand over his mouth to keep from snickering. "You don't think she took you seriously, do you?" he asked, careful to keep his voice low enough to keep the phone from picking it up.

"VEGETA!"

"Oh my god, kidding, I'm kidding!" Goten quickly said. "Bulma, it's a joke! Please don't start a war with Vegeta! The Earth doesn't deserve to die right now!"

With an angry huff, Bulma grumbled, "I think you're being a little dramatic about what Vegeta would do."

"I wasn't talking about Vegeta…"

"Oh, are you kidding me?"

Gohan laughed. "Bulma, we want the dragon balls to set up a chance for Dad to talk to Mom."

"Oh." There was a clear sound of the phone being rearranged before she asked, "You can do that?"

"We're going to find out," Gohan responded. "Look, I know there are a lot of questions you have. There are a lot of questions we have, too. But can we put those on hold? I'd like to get my family and start as soon as possible."

Bulma grinned. "Family field trip, huh? Now that I can get behind. I've got one with me, and the other is up in my bedroom. By the time you boys get here, I'll have it." After taking a drink from her coffee cup, she asked, "Goten, I assume you're taking my two delinquents with you?"

"Plus Marron, yeah."

The heiress sighed. "Man, I miss the days when I got to go dragon ball hunting. Oh well. Come by when you're ready."

"Will do!" Goten wasted no time redialing, calling his best friend. Gohan, however, was moving a bit slower.

He had only just started to mend his family back together. Was doing something like a dragon ball hunt too much too soon? But he glanced at his brother, and listened to his brother excitedly tell his friends his plans. Panny had always wanted to go on an adventure. She would never forgive him if she found out she had missed this opportunity because her father had chickened out.

"Hey, Videl?"

"Hey, Gohan," his wife gently responded. "Are you okay?"

Gohan cringed slightly. He had a feeling that was the way people would be greeting him for a while. "Yeah. Things are...odd...but I'm alright. I was wondering if you and Panny had plans for today."

Videl smiled. She and Pan were just finishing up unpacking back at the house. "We're pretty open today. Are you boys done already? Do you want to have a picnic or something?"

"Actually, I was thinking of something a little more adventurous…"