Co-written by SuperSaiyan2Link.

Inviting Trunks into her housing unit, the two sat down on the couch, Trunks trying to keep his distance.

"I know me apologizing at this point is pointless because I keep making the same mistake," Trunks began. "I keep thinking by not telling you things, I'm protecting you... but I was just worried about myself."

He hunched over for a moment, looking down at his shoes.

"For what it's worth, I can't ask for your forgiveness until I can forgive myself for putting you through this again and again."

Trunks saw that Pan was attentive regarding what he had to say, but so far hadn't given a response.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Your father... and my best friend's..."

Trunks simply lightly inhaled air, having prepared for this impending conversation and listening to what Pan had to say regarding it.

"All my life growing up, I could never imagine Vegeta was like that. If I had known before..."

Pan didn't know what to say: that she would've kept away from Bulla and Vegeta's family, or that if asked to protect him, she would've refused. Trunks decided to speak.

"I've known for years now, but truth be told, I'm still trying to come to terms with my father's actions."

His mind traveled back to his earliest days in the Time Patrol as he spoke.

"When I went back in time... all those times my father and I interacted, I only had a faint idea..."

"...but here, I got everything."

Trunks, not in his dark grey coat, but in a dark green Time Patrol jacket, dropped a scroll in utter shock. Chronoa entered to see him turning around, his back to a shelf as he sat on the ground.

"Father..."

She could read the anguish on his face and his slippery tone.

"No... how... HOW?!"

Chronoa took only a glimpse at the scroll, seeing Vegeta destroying an entire planet.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, FATHER?!"

"I fought alongside him, trained with him, even lived with him... but all of that... I couldn't believe he was capable of that."

"After Towa showed me what he did, all I could think was..." started Pan. "How could Bulma love him? After what he did on Namek, on Earth, and before."

"Perhaps over time, my father opened up and gave my other bits and pieces of who he once was, but I honestly couldn't say. Either she didn't tell me to spare me... or she truly didn't know."

Trunks noticed Pan standing up.

"I want to move on from what Vegeta did, I really do... but this isn't just a few people he wronged: Vegeta killed hundreds... thousands... could it be millions? And how much of it did he actually enjoy?"

"I sometimes wonder if my father, in all the time he lived on Earth, ever once repented over his past killings. I know his encounters with Goku changed him bit by bit, but to that extent... I don't know."

But then Pan thought back to...

"Your father... the Vegeta of my Earth... he was haunted by my grandfather's death. The last day I spent on my Earth, he told me Goku's death and the Cell Games were his fault. He hardly showed emotion, but I could see in that moment it tore him up inside."

"And you said your world's Goku never came back, right?"

"After their last tournament together, yes, my grandfather was gone for good. He had to live with that before Bulla and I were born."

She paused, deep in thought for a moment.

"...but even with all the memories, even with him being Bulla's dad, I... I don't know if I can forgive him for the blood he's spilled."

"As much as I can't forgive him..." Trunks added. "I've far outclassed him for what I did when I changed history."

"You mean Towa wasn't lying about what happened to the original branches..."

"When Chronoa and I first met..."

"...she confronted me and my mother over what we did."

Bulma and Trunks were both stunned at the presence of this short pink-skinned woman adorned in purple glaring and pointing at them.

"DO YOU TWO realize what you've done?!"

Bulma crouched down to her level.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm the Supreme Kai of Time and what you two have done has crossed the line!"

Trunks entered the fray.

"What we did? You mean saving the future?!"

"You really thought there'd be no consequences with trying to change the future?! Your tampering with time opened the gate for that bio-Android..."

Trunks couldn't believe it.

"No... no, no, I couldn't have unleashed Cell..."

"And not just that...!"

She conjured their timeline along with several smaller ones.

"Your world was the main timeline, the one which countless others branched from..."

They saw that a new branch stemmed from it, one similar in appearance and size.

"...but because of what you did, creating a new main timeline, all those branches..."

Both Trunks and Bulma were aghast at what they saw next.

"All those branches are fading away. Disappearing for good as if they never existed at all."

"She showed us what became of those branches... entire universes fading into nothing, people confused and terrified of what was to come. The worst one was seeing an Earth where Gohan and I did the impossible:"

"...we had saved our world."

Instead of the ruined cities Trunks was accustomed to, this vision instead showed a shiny metropolis bustling with people. A younger Trunks, still donning his Capsule Corp jacket, walked alongside an adult Gohan, whom had a mechanical left arm.

"How's it feel, Gohan?"

Gohan squeezed his hand into a fist, then twirled the fingers individually.

"Your mother has really outdone herself. Inside, it feels no different from the rest of me."

"Yeah, once she was able to go outside in peace, she gathered everything she could into making it. Probably would've come in handy earlier, huh?"

Gohan put his hand out in front of Trunks, who stopped.

"Listen, Trunks..."

Trunks gave his mentor his full attention.

"Yes, Gohan?"

"I know it wasn't easy. I know I had to push you farther than you could bare and then past it."

He then put his mechanical hand over Trunks' shoulder.

"But we did it. We saved the Earth. I couldn't have done it without you, Trunks, and I couldn't be more proud of you."

"Thanks," answered Trunks after nodding to him. "But without your help, I never would've been able to stand a chance against either one of them... let alone both."

They then continued on their walk.

"Hey, Gohan... you ever wonder what might've happened if my mom had gotten that time machine to work?"

"IF it had worked. But who knows? You could've met the old gang. You might even have met me when I was a kid."

"And your dad... and my father."

Gohan noticed Trunks stopping again for a moment.

"Without the Dragon Balls... they're gone for good."

"Your mother's working on that rocket, right? Once it's finished, we can get to Namek. The Namekian Dragon Balls can bring back Kami and Piccolo..."

"And our Dragon Balls. And then we can bring back everyone those two..."

"One thing at a time, Trunks, but for now, let's just..."

Gohan was interrupted by sudden screaming and panicked running from all around them. The two immediately took on fighting stances back-to-back, looking all around them for the source of what was going on.

"What is it, Gohan? I can't see anything in this crowd!"

"I'm not sensing anything out of the ordinary, Trunks."

"Please tell me it's not another android."

Trunks then turned and saw something in the distance that petrified him: a black void swallowing up the city streets, buildings, and anyone who happened to be too late to escape it. Even with what he and Gohan had accomplished, this was beyond anything they had ever encountered before.

"Trunks, do you see anything?"

He noticed no response, then turned to see Trunks shivering in place in fear.

"Trunks!"

He took hold of him by both shoulders to get his attention.

"Are you okay, Trunks?"

"Gohan..."

He could barely speak. All he could do was point in front of him at what was approaching them.

"It's swallowing everything... everyone!"

Gohan soon turned to find the void was coming in from all around them: even the sky offered no escape as it was overtaken completely.

"My mom... is she...?"

The thought of Bulma's fate led him to tear up.

"She's gone. Everything... everything we did... it's all gone..."

The two knew right then and there that their fates were sealed. But as Trunks despaired...

"Gohan... I... I..."

Gohan simply wrapped his arms around Trunks as if to shield him.

"I've got you, Trunks. I'm here. I'm..."

Trunks fell to his knees, crouched over and his hands around the moving image like a crystal ball.

"Please..."

He turned to Chronoa, tears streaming from what he had seen.

"Please stop this!"

Bulma, just as utterly shaken at what she had seen of these disappearing timelines as her son, pleaded with Chronoa as well.

"Do something, please!"

"If I had found out earlier, I could've prevented it..." Chronoa began to explain. "...but all this... is beyond my control now."

Trunks turned back, seeing this Gohan and his parallel self from this Earth vanish away into nothing.

"I had saved the future..."

"...but the cost was beyond anything my mother and I could have ever imagined."

When Pan first discovered Trunks had changed history, there was a moment where she came to resent him for being allowed to have done so. But now hearing his pained voice describe seeing the consequences of his actions...

"Even knowing new timelines knew peace and some that were erased were perhaps even worse off than my own... whole universes gone for good was too high a cost."

"Then what happened next? Did Chronoa make you join her?"

"Not quite."

"Are you..." began Trunks. "Are you going to punish us?"

Before Chronoa could answer him, Bulma stepped in front of her son.

"Please don't punish my son! I made the time machine, not him!"

Bulma and Trunks saw Chronoa, with just a gesture, guide the time machine towards her in a teal bubble.

"All I can do is take this... to keep this from ever happening again."

"She just wanted the time machine?" asked Pan.

"I don't know if she ever intended to punish us, but if I had guess..."

"...seeing how broken we were by what we did seemed to suffice for her."

"What you've done has opened the doors for others to follow... perhaps some with less than noble intentions. This was all under my watch and I failed in stopping it. I kept the flow of time in check for millions of years, but now... I alone am not enough anymore."

Trunks watched as Chronoa began to float off her feet.

"What will you do?"

"I will gather a group of beings to patrol and defend time. If I fail again, the consequences could be even graver."

"If she was just going to leave you and Bulma... then how did you get here?"

As Chronoa prepared to conjure a portal to leave...

"Wait!" Trunks went, his hand out towards her.

Bulma didn't know what her son was doing.

"Trunks?"

Chronoa stopped what she was doing and looked over at him.

"What do you want?"

"Everything I did... I can't just sit here while it happens again."

"Trunks, what are you saying?" went Bulma with concern.

"To pay for my actions... and to preserve the lives of all these universes... I want to join you, Supreme Kai of Time."

Chronoa was initially puzzled at what he was suggesting, but saw just how serious he was about what he was willing to do. But Bulma couldn't believe what her son was doing.

"She tried to talk me out of it. Telling me I had done enough for our world. That she couldn't bear the thought of me dying a second time, if not for good... but I'd already made up my mind."

"I'm sorry, Mom... but now we know just how massive the scope of everything is. I can't ignore this. And I can't let something happen that'll erase you and everything."

Chronoa floated down to the ground, then reached her hand out to Trunks.

"I accept your offer, Trunks. But if you are to join me, we will be leaving now."

Trunks was ready to take the Supreme Kai of Time's hand, but he had one question on his mind:

"Will I be able to see her again?"

"I'm afraid you will not see your mother again for quite some time."

Trunks broke off for just a moment.

"Just a second!"

He made his way to Bulma who had already reached out her arms to hug him even before he moved his own. Chronoa waited as the two stood hugging one another for what would be the last time for a time neither would know.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, son. Please... please take care of yourself out there."

"I'll protect everything we've made... and I will see you again, Mom. I promise."

"I know you will, Trunks."

As much as she didn't want to let her son go, Bulma was the first to let go, giving way to Trunks walking back to Chronoa, who conjured the portal from before. Soon, the two traveled through time into what would be become the basis for Toki Toki City.

"It's been years since I said goodbye to my mother. Part of me wonders if I made the right choice in choosing to leave her behind. Even if time is slower here, even more years could be passing for her. Will I be the same as I am now when I see her while she's on her deathbed just waiting for me?"

As she saw Trunks beginning to look down at the floor, Pan took a seat next to him. When she first met this Trunks, she couldn't begin to dream that he was a man of such penance.

"...and with everything since... Towa... I'm not sure we'll ever get that day."

She put her hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him, but he still looked downward.

"Like my father, I'm trying to make up for what I did..."

At this point, he didn't even try to keep his emotions in check.

"But the bill will never be covered! That blood will never be cleansed from our hands!"

He lifted himself up just to cover his weeping eyes with his gloved hands.

"I deserve this!"

As Trunks began to lower himself again, Pan put her arm around his side, letting his face lie down on her shoulder. She simply held him up as let everything out. She knew saying "You're not a bad person" wasn't going to abate Trunks at this moment, but for the time being, she would simply be there for him.

Age ?

Towa and Mira made their way across the lifeless ruins of what was once a lively alien city. Mira was rather curious as to their purpose there.

"Who is it that you are hoping to find here?"

"We shall soon find out, Mira."

Just then, a figure in armor, the one responsible for all this death and destruction, flew in front of their path.

"Ah, right on time. Another warm-up..."

The figure then glanced over at Towa.

"And a weakling."

Towa didn't take any offense to what this man had to say, though Mira stood in front of her in case of an impending attack.

"Your bodyguard here..."

He pressed his red scouter to gauge Mira's power.

"Is actually quite impressive. Might give me a challenge... for a little while."

Towa put out her hand to ease the tension.

"We've come to talk."

"Really? And what's to stop me from destroying you both?"

"Nothing... but then what I have to offer would be lost to you."

Mira still stood ready to defend her, but the figure slowly lowered his hand.

"You've peaked my interest. Now then... what is your offer?"

Towa sat down on a piece of a pillar.

"In exchange for a single mission, you will be given Namek's Dragon Balls to make any three wishes you desire."

The figure smiled...

"Three wishes?"

Then chuckled.

"You must be desperate for my help if you're not using those Dragon Balls yourselves."

Towa was unmoved.

"That is my offer. Now what say you?"

Seconds passed as the figure's hand was over his chin in thought.

"I, Turles, accept."

Towa and Mira noticed him reaching for something in his armor's side pocket.

"Now unless we're leaving right this moment..."

They saw that he held a seed of some sort.

"I have a tree to plant."

"Would one day be sufficient, Turles?" Towa inquired.

"That'd suit me fine. Until then..."

He began to float away, but turned back and pointed to Towa.

"Just don't forget my Dragon Balls."

Towa watched as he left her sight, no doubt off on another massacre. As she and Mira prepared to depart from this world, Mira had an inquiry.

"Regarding the Namekian Dragon Balls... Turles wouldn't be able to..."

"We will worry about that later, Mira."