"Halt, villain!" Seventeen flourished his long black cape lined with red satin. Iron Dominator turned and laughed evilly, clutching Princess Bunny even tighter.

"Oh, you want this back, do you?" He shoved her to the side, where she was taken by a minion. Iron Dominator drew his rapier and pointed dramatically at Seventeen, who was dressed as Domino Mask. "Let's see if you can take her from me."

Seventeen drew his own rapier and they flew at each other, swords clashing. Seventeen grinned, toying with the man who had dared to harm the princess while she was under his protection. There would be no clemency this time. Domino Mask was a pussy who always let the bad guy get away. Seventeen, with his hair slicked back and eyes hidden by his signature domino mask, would not make that mistake.

Plus, he looked damn cool with a rapier.

He and Iron Dominator exchanged blows for several minutes before Seventeen decided it was time to end things.

"Your reign of terror has come to an end," he said dramatically, and then paused as he tried to remember the next line. As he was thinking he heard a slight cough that might have been someone feminine stifling a laugh. Suspiciously he looked around, but the only woman in sight was Princess Bunny.

He turned back to Iron Dominator. "A list of your crimes would reach all the way down to hell, but —" His eyes whipped back to Princess Bunny, who was looking awfully flat-chested these days. Her bustiness was another mark against this show, considering how athletic she was supposed to be, but even in his own fantasies he didn't think he'd given her quite that much of a reduction. She looked back at him wide-eyed, although somehow the look was more mocking than innocent and, anyway, come to think of it, weren't her eyes supposed to be brown? Seventeen blinked.

"Sis?"

Princess Bunny — or rather, Android Eighteen — completely broke character and laughed, elbowing the minion that had her by the shoulders in the gut. He wheezed comically and fell to the ground. Eighteen brushed the wedding veil away from her face and looked at her brother in amused exasperation.

"What the hell are you doing, Seventeen?"

Seventeen gripped his rapier even tighter. "The hell am I doing? What the hell are you doing? This is — this is..." What was this, anyway? Seventeen looked down at himself, the exquisitely tailored tuxedo and cape suddenly seeming silly when mere seconds ago they had been the height of coolness. Eighteen smirked.

"This is priceless, is what it is." Then she sighed. "But blackmail fodder aside, we really need to get out of here."

"What? Get out of... What? Where... The hell?" Seventeen clutched the rapier in one hand as Eighteen stepped closer and took his other hand. He kept his gaze on his sister, who suddenly seemed to be the only real thing in existence.

"It's a hell of a story," she said, back-handing Iron Dominator without looking. "But I'm not telling it until I get the glitter out of my hair."

"There's no glitter," Seventeen objected. Eighteen snorted.

"There's always glitter."

She led her brother away, both of them still arguing.

Goten heard Trunks' voice down the hall, and he peeked his head out from his room despite not being allowed out of it. Since their return Chi-Chi had alternated between smothering him with hugs and kisses and smacking him around the head and yelling at him, but the one constant had been that Goten was not allowed to leave his room. The one time he had dared ask how long he was grounded for Chi-Chi had nearly had an aneurysm.

But he hadn't seen Trunks since they got back, hadn't been allowed to call or anything, and even though he was pretty sure they were back on familiar ground now, he hadn't gotten the chance to make sure. Trunks glanced up over Chi-Chi's shoulder and winked, then apologized to Chi-Chi for intruding and left. Goten slipped back into his room before Chi-Chi could notice him.

A minute later she knocked on the door and then entered without waiting for a response. She looked apologetic.

"Sweetie, that was Trunks at the door just now. He wanted to see you, but I told him you're grounded, so he gave me this to give to you." She handed him a capsule and then put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you boys are having a hard time right now, so it kills me to have to separate you, but maybe you'll think about this the next time you decide to go traipsing around the universe without telling me."

She gave him a peck on the forehead and then left. Goten waited until he was sure she was back in the kitchen before popping the capsule. A cell phone dropped into his hand, state-of-the-art Capsule Corp., along with a charger. When Goten pressed the power button he could see a text message already waiting for him.

meditate when you get a second

Goten was only confused for a moment. He grinned, hid the cell phone in case Chi-Chi barged in, and sat cross legged on his bed. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his mind. Despite being in a self driving vehicle on the way back to Capsule Corp., Trunks was there, ready and waiting. Goten waved, and then with a start realized that Trunks was back to being his smaller self. Trunks saw his surprise and chuckled.

"I guess I'm not really used to being taller yet," he said. With a moue of concentration he grew until his appearance matched what he really looked like. Goten wondered if he could make himself grow, but decided there would be time for that later. "This is such a cool technique, I wonder why the old guys only use it for training."

Goten shrugged, conjuring up a rock for himself to sit down on. "What else do you want to use it for?"

Trunks spread his hands, as though the answer were obvious. "For this. So we can hang out even when we can't, you know, hang out." He hesitated, his easy assurance faltering for a second. "You know, if you... want to."

For a moment Goten was too shocked to say anything. If he wanted to? Why on earth would he not want to? Trunks was looking down and to the side, like there was something interesting on the ground. But there was no ground here. Goten remembered that he had been the one to punch Trunks in the face, that he had been the one to challenge him to a fight back on Ophidia. He sighed and kicked his heel against the imaginary rock.

"Yeah, I'd like that," he said. "If you aren't... too busy. You know, with your new friends and... and work and stuff."

Trunks looked up from the fascinating piece of nothing in confusion. "What new friends?"

Goten looked back in equal confusion. "You know. At your school. All those friends you hang out with there. The ones you didn't want to see me."

He hadn't meant to say it, and it came out far too bitterly. He looked back down at the rock, ashamed of himself, and for a moment there was utter silence. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Trunks' feet shuffle and heard him sigh.

"Those aren't friends, Goten," he said. "They're the sons and daughters of companies that Capsule Corp. has to make nice with. If they tell their parents that the future heir of Capsule Corp. is some kind of freak, then that has repercussions for our stock price. People's livelihoods depend on that stock price."

Goten looked up. Trunks was pacing now, digging his fingers through his hair. He sounded like he was quoting something, but he also sounded slightly desperate. "Mom and grandpa can get away with being eccentric because they're geniuses, and mom's so charming she can do anything she wants and make people love her for it. But I'm not a genius, and I'm not charming. So if I'm not at least an amazing businessman then I'm going to make Capsule Corp. tank just because I can't live up to the family legacy. When you're a Briefs it's not enough to be good enough. You have to be so much better than everyone else that it's obvious why you're in charge."

Trunks trailed off, but he was still pacing. Goten pulled his knees up to his chest. He felt overwhelmed just listening to it all, and here he'd been pouting because Trunks didn't come over to his house as much as he used to. Guilt sank like a stone in his stomach.

"I'm sorry Trunks. I... didn't really get it."

Trunks stopped pacing, the fingers of his right hand still caught in his hair. He looked at Goten in the corner of his eye, and then glanced away.

"Well, why should you have?" he said airily. "I didn't get it until dad spelled it out for me last year."

Goten blinked. "Your dad did?"

Trunks smiled. "Yeah. Mom doesn't think about this kind of thing, and I'm not sure grandpa's ever seen the inside of a boardroom. But dad knows all about political maneuvering and stuff, and he thought it was high time I started thinking about it too."

There was silence again as Goten digested this. Then he hopped off the rock and dusted off his pants.

"How long until you get home?" he asked, stretching.

"Another couple of hours. Why?" Trunks asked, but he was already smiling. Goten straightened from his stretch and grinned back.

"Then we have plenty of time for a good spar."

Krillin leaned back in his deck chair, something fruity and alcoholic in his left hand, and heaved a sigh so deep it seemed to be coming from his soul.

"You said it," Eighteen said from her deck chair next to his. She sipped her own fruity, alcoholic drink, and then added, "You know, a surprise party would have been a terrible idea anyway."

Marron and her cousins ran and played around the pool in front of them. Krillin chuckled.

"Maybe. But you didn't see what a great little conspirator Marron was. We're going to need to watch out for that."

Across the pool Seventeen raised his drink in salute from where he and his wife also lounged. Krillin raised his in answer.

"So you've taught our daughter how to hide things from us," Eighteen said. "Fantastic."

"You might be changing your tune on that in a minute," Krillin said, sitting up. "Marron? It's time!"

Marron shouted and sloshed her way out of the pool, running into the pool house and emerging a second later with a small box in her hand. Krillin got up from his lounge chair and accepted the box from her, then knelt in front of Eighteen, who had already sat up and lifted her sunglasses to perch on the top of her head.

"What are you...?"

Krillin cleared his throat and looked into his wife's eyes, which were narrowed in confusion.

"Eighteen, I would gladly spend a thousand lifetimes with you. Will you marry me all over again?"

He held up the box, and opened it to reveal a ring set with a sapphire exactly the color of her eyes. Eighteen stared at it in shock, and Krillin grinned, but the grin began to slip as the shock continued for a little longer than he thought it really warranted.

"Um, Eighteen?" he whispered, but to his surprise his wife turned to their daughter, who was standing next to them with one hand pressed to her cheek, hard.

"Marron," she said in an exasperated voice, and Marron burst out laughing. Krillin looked between his two favorite blondes, and then his jaw dropped when Marron pulled out another box from behind her back and handed it to her mother. Eighteen took it with a sour look. "You little sneak."

Marron squealed with mirth and danced in place. "Daddy came up with the idea first, you know. Go on, mom, open it!"

With a darkly amused glance at Krillin, Eighteen opened her own box, which contained a solid gold band.

"You should look at the inside," she said, looking away. Krillin took the ring. Engraved on the inside was a heart surrounding their initials. It was probably the most sappy thing Eighteen had ever done, and Krillin quickly scrubbed at the tears springing into his eyes.

"Put it on, daddy!" Marron said, bouncing on her toes. "And you put yours on, mom!"

Before Eighteen could move, Krillin took her left hand and slipped the sapphire ring onto her ring finger. Gently he kissed the back of her hand, and looked up to find her beet red.

"Give me that." She took the ring and slipped it onto his finger, and then squeezed his hand, biting her lip again. They gazed into each other's eyes for an endless moment that felt like the best kind of eternity.

"I now pronounce you man and wife!" Marron said with mock solemnity, and they turned and, acting in tandem, gave their daughter a tickle attack she would never forget.

Goten headed to the kitchen, intent on sneaking a midnight snack. Instead he nearly ran over his dad, who was sitting cross legged in the middle of the living room floor.

"What are you doing, dad?"

Goku opened one eye and regarded his son solemnly.

"I'm trying to figure how to do what Zema did."

It was a warm night, but suddenly Goten felt chilly. He crossed his arms over his stomach. "Why do you want to know that?"

Goku opened both eyes, pausing his meditation for the moment. He looked down at his hands with a slight frown and spoke. "He locked me away so easily. I don't even remember the moment he took over. I was on my way to Bulma's, and then I got there and she was talking to me, and then I left and went to fight someone, and somewhere in there I went from being awake to being asleep without even noticing. That kind of power is overwhelming, but not the exciting kind." Goku's frown deepened. "It makes me angry. And… something else. Like… worms in my stomach. Cold worms. No —" Goku made a face like he had bitten something sour and finally looked up at Goten. "I don't know what I mean. But I'm going to make sure it never happens again."

He closed his eyes and went back to meditating, leaving Goten shivering. The idea that there was anything in the universe Goku was afraid of was terrifying, but Goten still remembered Gohan looking at him with a flat hatred that belonged to someone else and he knew that fear was justified. He had also realized, in a conversation with Trunks, that there was no good reason Zema hadn't snatched the two of them as well. Perhaps he didn't want younger bodies that weren't finished growing, or there might have been some other reason. But until Goten knew what it was, for all he knew he had only been spared through blind luck. This could be him right now, wondering futilely which moment had marked the transition from reality to dream.

Snacks forgotten, he settled down cross legged in front of his dad. Goku cracked open a questioning eye, and Goten took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

"Teach me too."

They didn't speak for the entire flight out to Mount Paozu. They weren't angry; there was simply nothing to say. Pan dozed most of the way there, so the only sound for nearly four hours was the high whine of the engine and the dull roar of the wind. When they got there Gohan took Pan out of her car seat and carried her to the house. Videl watched him for a moment, noting his erect posture, his slightly lifted chin. Seeing him be brave made something behind her sternum ache.

Chi-Chi had sewn a tiny, child-sized orange gi, and Pan stripped off her clothes right in the doorway and refused to let anyone help her put it on. Everyone smiled and laughed, but Gohan's mirth was forced. Goten (newly released from grounding) ran to get Goku from the forest, and pretty soon he landed hard in the yard, crouching down with his hands open to receive Pan's excited, screaming self.

"Airplane! Airplane!"

Goku laughed. "Panny, you don't need me to do airplane! You can fly on your own!"

Pan jumped up and down in fury, each landing shaking the earth and making two, tiny foot-shaped impressions in the dirt. Gohan stepped forward, ready to discipline his child, but Goku waggled his finger in Pan's face.

"Nuh-uh-uh. I'm supposed to be teaching you martial arts, but I can't do that if you throw a fit. Do you want to learn from me?"

Pan stopped, her eyes wide. Videl held a hand over her mouth, not sure what she was trying to keep in. She didn't think Goku had ever refused Pan anything in her whole life. Glancing at Gohan all she could see was tense shoulders and raised hands, but he wasn't moving. Goku went on.

"You're a strong girl, Panny, strong like me. I'm going to teach you everything my grandpa and Master Roshi taught me. It's going to be hard work, but I know you can do it."

Pan nodded her head emphatically. Videl knew it was mostly his tone she was responding to. But at least she wasn't throwing a tantrum anymore.

"Great! Let's start with a punch. Show me how you make a fist."

Chi-Chi bustled inside, making noises about lunch. Goten wandered off somewhere, already bored. Goku corrected Pan's form, bringing his massive, ham-sized fist next to hers for comparison. Soon they were completely engrossed in each other. Videl and Gohan might as well have been invisible.

Eventually Videl took Gohan gently by the elbow and led him inside. He flashed her an uneasy, self-deprecating smile, and they joined Chi-Chi for lunch, making small talk as though nothing had changed.

That night as they lay in bed, waiting for sleep to take them, Gohan rolled over and buried his face in her hair.

"Why would I dream about sending Pan to fight Cell?"

His voice was so quiet she would not have heard it had the house not been utterly still. She rolled over and wrapped her arms around his head, tucking it under her chin.

"You don't want her to go through what you went through," she said.

"But she won't!" Gohan sighed deeply, the breath tickling her neck. "But she might."

"Yes," Videl said. Gohan made a sound that might have been a whimper and might have been a groan.

"It's stupid," he said in an even tinier voice. "Of course she needs to learn how to fight. She needs to learn control, she needs to learn how to defend herself. I know that. But..."

"I know."

They lay curled together, just breathing.

"Piccolo will want to train her too, now," Gohan said eventually.

"Hey, free babysitting."

He blew a petulant raspberry on her neck and she chuckled. She combed her fingers through his hair, her nails scratching lightly at his scalp. Eventually his breathing slowed, and she wondered if he had gone to sleep.

"I'll keep training too," he said after a while, voice thick with sleep. "So she never has to fight alone."

"And I'll be there with you both," Videl promised, but Gohan was already dreaming.

The End