Goku sped after General Blue quickly, determined to get his dragon balls returned. When the soldier sped up, he sped up - same for going left, or going right. He chased the guy doggedly, even when they crossed the ocean and kept going further still.

"Give me my dragon balls!" he demanded loudly.

Even when the colors started going all funny and back again, he kept following.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight!" the boy growled, pushing closer and closer until he finally drew up alongside the plane. He grinned and reached for his Power Pole. "Caught you!" he laughed. "So, are you ready to give up now?"

The soldier didn't even turn to look at him, just slammed down on his dashboard.

"Alright," Goku announced, "you asked for it! Power Pole, extend!"

With the staff longer, he swung it down to smack the plane right out of the sky - but it swerved out of the way at the last second, and he hurried to turn his cloud around.

Suddenly, the plane's rocket went out and abruptly slowed down.

The boy blinked at it uncertainly for a moment, slowly getting closer. "Maybe he's finally giving up?" he wondered aloud.

Just as fast as the engine had cut off, it flared to life and knocked him off of Nimbus.

He let out a scream as he plummeted, watching with wide eyes as the plane crashed into the side of a cliff.

He snickered to himself. "Bad man, but great fireworks!"

Seeing the ground fast approaching, he quickly spun himself around and landed feet first instead of right on his head. The boy looked up, meeting eyes with a girl(?) and two weird birds fluttering just above her head.

There was a beat of silence.

"Hi!" the kid greeted brightly, the birds immediately echoing the cry.

He blinked. "... Huh? O-oh, hi!"

"Hello," the purple-haired girl chirped again. At least, he thought it was a girl. She had a weird face. "What's your name?"

"I'm called Goku," he introduced himself.

"My name is Arale," she grinned in reply, turning to point to the little winged things. "And this is Gatchin, one and two!"

He leaned forward and studied them. "Wow, what strange little birds..."

"Would you like to come play with us for a while?" the girl offered.

He turned his attention back to her. "That sounds like a lot of fun, but I can't right now. I have to find the dragon balls," he explained.

"Oh," she blinked. "And what is a dragon balls?"

The boy turned his attention back to the sky. "Hey, Nimbus cloud! Hurry back!" he called, rushing to jump onto it the moment that it was close enough to pick him up. Sending it over in the same direction as the General had gone down, he looked around. "I could have sworn he crashed somewhere around this mountain..." Spotting the smoke, he gave a quiet sigh of relief and started to descend. "There it is - but it doesn't look like there's much left of the plane. I hope the dragon balls are safe."

He landed and started going through the rubble.

"No," he murmured to himself, tossing parts this way and that. "That's not it. This is really strange! There's no sign of the balls anywhere, not a single one! Or the bag! Everything's gone, including the bad man!" He sat back and stood, feeling frustrated. "He must have gotten away and taken the dragon balls with him! Grr... I know you're around here somewhere!"

The sound of... cheering? Drew his attention away from his anger, and he looked over to see the same kid from earlier running straight for him with the birds right behind her. They skidded to a halt in front of him and he drew back a bit, blinking.

"Gee, you guys are really fast," he complimented. "Did you run all the way here?"

The girl nodded. "Yes!"

He reeled. "Incredible! You're as fast as my Nimbus cloud, maybe even faster! Who did you train with?"

She tilted her head to one side. "No one," she admitted. "I just like to run! It's fun!" Then she leaned in slightly, meeting his eyes. "You know, you don't need all this junk. We have a playground."

He chuckled. "I'm not here to play, I'm looking for a bad man! He took my dragon balls."

"That's horrible!" the girl gasped.

Goku turned back up to the sky once more. "Flying Nimbus!" Again, he jumped on as soon as the cloud came to a stop.

"I'd be happy to help you look for your balls if you need a hand," the girl offered.

He blinked down at her. "Really? You wouldn't mind doing that for me?"

"Sure!" she nodded. "Would you mind giving me a ride on your cloud?"

"Yeah, no problem," he agreed. "... if it lets you."

He could have been wrong, but something told him that Nimbus had somehow gotten even pickier after they had met Kagome. It was just a feeling he got.

The girl hopped on with no problem, giving a bright laugh. The birds followed.

He smiled. "Wow, you guys have definitely been good," he declared.

"Of course!" she agreed. "Let's go!"

"You heard her!" he told the cloud, turning his attention back forward. "Let's go! Fly!"

They took off, the girl's hat blowing away in the wind.

"So is this fun or what?" he grinned, glancing back at his new passengers.

"Yes!" she agreed, all of them laughing and cheering as the Nimbus did tricks in the air.

Goku was actually a little relieved to know that, even pickier, his cloud was still happy to have fun with anyone who could ride it.

They flew on for a while longer, finally leveling out after a couple of minutes.

"Hey, look!" his new friend called. "There's Akana and Taro!"

He glanced down, seeing a couple of people on the road below. "Who?"

Nimbus landed quickly, allowing them to investigate.

"Hi, Arale," one of the people sighed.

"Hi!" the girl responded brightly.

"And who's this?" the person wondered, looking up at him. "I don't believe I've ever seen you before."

"He's just visiting," Arale explained. "His name is Goku!"

"Hello," the boy greeted. "Nice to meet you."

"Is he a friend of yours?" the other person asked the girl curiously.

"Yes!" she chirruped. "We've been having lots of fun!" She glanced back at him with a smile. "Haven't we, Goku?"

"Yeah, you bet," he agreed.

"Ah, you were flyin' pretty fast," the one with sunglasses spoke. "Do you have a permit for that cloud?"

"Akana here has the coolest scooter in town," Arale announced, pointing to the other.

"My ride is nothing compared to this beauty," the one with the ponytail spoke. "What do you call it?"

He'd been trying to be able to determine gender better lately. Kagome had told him that girls usually had higher voices and were smaller, and boys usually had lower voices and were bigger, but that it wasn't always the case. Still, he was pretty sure this one was a girl, just like he was guessing the same of his new friend. Both were smaller and had higher voices, right?

He wished Kagome was there. She would have told him for sure.

"It's called the Flying Nimbus," he said, answering the question.

"It's neat-o, it even does tricks and stuff!" Arale grinned. "You should try it!"

"Would you mind?" Ponytail asked. "I've never sat on a cloud before!"

"Sure," he agreed. "But you should probably be careful-" he cut himself off as she(?) fell right through. "Never mind."

"Oww," Ponytail groaned. "What did I do wrong?"

He poked his head through the cloud. "I don't know, but it must've been bad!" he grinned unapologetically.

"What?!" she(?) growled.

"Only people with clean minds and hearts can ride aboard the Nimbus cloud," he stated.

Ponytail cringed, and the other person started laughing as she(?) stood back up.

"What are you laughing at?!" Ponytail glowered at Sunglasses. "You think this is funny?!"

"You're busted!" he(?) (again, deeper voice... right?) snickered.

"Oh, yeah?" the other glared. "Then why don't you try it?"

Sunglasses stopped laughing right away and went stiff, but quickly made a determined face. "My pleasure!"

Again, Nimbus didn't even stay solid for a second.

The girl(?) burst into laughter. "Looks like your star's a little tarnished, Taro! I thought you were supposed to be perfect."

"But I'm the police!" Sunglasses whined.

"So a policeman is someone who goes and and tries to catch the bad people?" Goku asked, remembering some of the things Kagome had told him after they'd met Mr. Police in West City when they were looking for Bulma.

"That's our job, son," the man(?) confirmed.

"I'm looking for a bad person, too," he confided. "Maybe you've seen him!"

"Who?" Sunglasses asked excitedly. "Is it someone dangerous? Like a bank robber?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "But he's a member of the Red Ribbon Army!"

Sunglasses started freaking out. "Did you say Red Ribbon Army? The Red Ribbon Army is here in Penguin Village?!"

Goku blinked. "Yeah."

He(?) screamed and ran into the car, taking off quickly.

"What was all that about?" Ponytail wondered.

"Taro?" Arale chimed in curiously.

They shook the incident off pretty fast and were back up in the sky in no time.

"This is strange," Goku sighed as they flew on, still looking for General Blue. "It's almost as if he disappeared into thin air!"

"Oh, look!" the girl spoke up. "There's Taro!"

The boy glanced down, seeing the same Sunglasses from earlier next to the broken up pieces of... a car? They flew down, and Arale and her birds hopped off.

"Hey, Taro, are you okay?" she questioned worriedly. "What happened?"

"It was so terrible," Sunglasses murmured, eyes distant. "We tried to apprehend him, but he's... unstoppable!"

"So I was right!" Goku announced. "The bad man is still alive! Which way did he go?"

Sunglasses pointed down the road. "Straight. Just follow the sirens."

"Thanks for your help, policeman!" he called over his shoulder as he swerved around and took off after the soldier.

It was frustrating that he couldn't find him, though. Again.

"Okay, you," he grumbled, keeping an eye out. "I know you're around here somewhere!"

He went around everywhere, asking anyone he could find if they had seen the general - but no matter where he got or who he asked, he received the same answer.

Finally, he met back up with Arale and the Gatchins.

"Any luck finding that bad man?" she questioned.

"Not yet," Goku sighed. "If I only had a way to find him... Hey, wait! I do have something here I can use!" He grinned and reached into his shirt, pulling out the dragon radar. "Bulma built this to find the dragon balls, and if he still has mine... then wherever they are, that's where he is too!" He pressed on the button a few times, beginning to get worried when it didn't light up like it was supposed to. "Oh no. It's broken again! I guess I'll have to take it back home and ask Bulma to repair it..."

He paused and glanced up, looking around for a moment before turning to his newest friend with a question.

"By the way, do you know where we are?"

She smiled. "No, but it's pretty!"

"Not here," he specified, "this whole place! I was chasing that Red Ribbon guy so fast that I didn't look where I was going. Do you have any idea how I can get back to Master Roshi's island?"

The girl blinked at him. "No, I sure don't," she admitted.

He groaned. "Oh, no... How can I get the radar fixed if I can't get home!"

"Are you sure it's broken?" she asked.

Goku turned his attention back to her face and sighed again. "Yes."

She grinned. "Then that means a doctor can fix it!" she declared.

His eyes widened, an eager grin stretching his lips. "Really?! Great! Do you know where one lives?"

"Yep!" she confirmed, her birds echoing the affirmation.

They got there quickly enough, and Nimbus took off the moment they were both on the ground. He wasn't really sure where it was going in such a hurry, but he knew that it would come back when he needed it.

"There he is!" Arale pointed towards a pair of people. "He's the doctor."

He nodded in understanding and ran up to the taller one - Kagome said that the bigger people were usually the guys. "Hey, there!" he greeted. "I mean, hello. How are you?"

"Fine," the blonde responded pleasantly. "And you?"

"Goku, over there," the purple-haired girl murmured to him, pointing towards the shorter of the pair.

He tilted his head and looked over. "Are you his wife?"

It turned out that he was wrong; the taller one was the wife, and the shorter one was the husband. This was why he needed Kagome with him, he had no idea how these sorts of things were supposed to work.

"Sir," Arale requested, "we were hoping that you could repair this."

The boy quickly handed over the radar.

"Okay," the man blinked down at it. "Your watch?"

"No, sir," he explained. "It's a dragon radar."

"Dragon radar?" the doctor repeated, sounding surprised.

"You hunt dragons with this thing?" the woman questioned, stunned.

"Dragon balls," he corrected. "There are seven in all, and the radar helps me find them."

"That's fine," the man sighed. "But I need to know how it works. What makes it tick?"

"I believe it works by detecting unique energy signatures emitted by certain objects," the floating baby spoke up.

"Oh, yeah," the doctor nodded, seeming just a bit overwhelmed. "Well first I'll need to get inside the machine and make a diagnostic appraisal," he announced, taking it over to a small table nearby to unscrew the back. "Its construction looks simple enough... What in the world is that?!" he yelped the moment it was open. "I've never seen anything like this before, look at all the colors! It's really high-tech, look at the size of the thing!"

"A girl named Bulma made it," Goku grinned, happy to boast about his friend.

The man looked defeated. "Girl? You say a little girl made this complex machine?" he squawked. "That's impossible!"

The others all gaped down at the innards of the device curiously.

The boy just blinked. What was so strange about it?

xxxx

Kagome sat out on the beach of Roshi's island, deep in thought. She had retreated after the noise inside had gotten to be too much, though she was somewhat grateful that no one had seen the bit of reiki that she'd managed to squeeze out earlier.

Something had changed inside of her, and it was more than just replenishing her energy faster than she would have predicted. She needed to find out what it was about this world that was not only different, but making her the same way. Because she could feel it flowing through her very veins, now that she was aware enough to look for it.

She narrowed her eyes down at her hands and called up another slow flare of energy, her fingertips glowing silver in response. Now that she was actually using it, calling it up and letting it pulse through her, it was getting stronger.

Realistically speaking, she should have still had at least a week to go before being fully recovered. With that little foray in the North, that should have become closer to two or three. At the current rate she could sense her reserves rushing to fill back up, it might be closer to two or three days.

Maximum.

The priestess let out a steadying exhale, trying to find her center. She closed her eyes, giving her inner reservoirs a more thorough check as she slipped into a lightly meditative state. If this new change had effected the jewel...

She sucked in a gasp, almost choking on it as she flinched back in disbelief.

It... was restrained. It was restrained? She was actually restraining the damn thing?! It had always been a fight to keep it leashed, much less tied down, and yet...!

A distant tug at her awareness had her cautiously expanding the search to the outside, and her heart leapt when Reikenkon's subtle energies rose up to meet her own. Her sword was there. Sesshoumaru really had found some way to send her bag through that stupid well!

It was all she could do not to jump up and start cheering.

A different rush of energy caught her attention, soft and gold and barreling right for her. Her eyes snapped back open and she leapt to her feet only to be greeted by the sight of the Nimbus hovering in the air just before her, quivering impatiently - and since when had she been able to sense its emotions? She knew that this wasn't the first time, but it was the first time that she was actually making a note of it - and it occurred to her.

She groaned and slapped her forehead tiredly. "Where's Goku?"

It shook, swishing from side to side and staying low enough for her to easily board it - and she knew that was exactly what it was after.

Kagome glanced over her shoulder towards the house, hearing the others continuing to talk among themselves and seeming to have forgotten all about her anyway, and she gave a quiet sigh as she turned back to the cloud.

"Alright," she agreed, stepping forward and settling down into the fluff. "Take me to our boy, then."

It shuddered in relieved amusement and shot back into the air.

xxxx

"Do you think you can fix it, Senbei?" Goku wondered, watching the man tinker with his radar. He hoped that it would be working again soon. He needed to find the dragon balls and get back to Master Roshi's before everyone started to worry.

"Fix it?" the woman repeated with a light laugh. "He'll make it as good as new! Senbei is an electronics genius."

At his wife's praise, the man seemed to change in an instant - literally, it was like he was a completely different person! "There's nothing to worry about, my boy," he assured. "Senbei Nuramaki put the 'possible' in impossible!"

Goku reeled back, his eyes wide. How did he do that?

The man turned back to normal just as fast and went back to tinkering.

After a few minutes, the blonde woman led the boy, girl and birds over to another table nearby with a giant umbrella on top keeping it in the shade.

"Goku, please tell me more about the dragon balls!" Arale requested excitedly.

He smiled. "There are seven magic balls," he described, raising his hands to show how big they were, "like this. They have great power, and if you collect all of them you can ask for one wish to come true!"

The girl and the birds both gasped and cheered in awe as he explained more.

"Hey, kids," the woman spoke up as she came back from the house with a tray in her arms. "Hungry? Here's some snacks to tide you over!"

The boy stared at the tray curiously as the others gave another cheer.

"Here you go, Arale," she spoke, placing something in front of the girl, "Gatchins, this is yours," she continued, presenting them with something else. Finally, she turned to him with a pleasant smile. "Goku, I made some fresh-baked cookies. Have as many as you want!"

He stared down at the plate she handed him, getting excited. So many cookies, and they smelled so good! "Ah! Thank you!" He finally glanced over at what the girl and the birds had gotten, and felt his jaw drop. A... baby bottle? A bowl full of metal scraps? Still, the Gatchins tucked right into their nuts and bolts and Arale started sucking away, so...

He wished that Kagome were here to tell him if this was normal or not. Feeling a bit out of his depth, he picked up a cookie and munched down on it.

The girl was quick to tell the woman all about what he'd told her earlier as they ate.

"What an incredible story!" the blonde declared brightly, clasping her hands together in front of her face. "I had no idea such power even existed. It's just so fabulous! Tell me, Arale - if you had the dragon balls, what would you wish for?"

The purple-haired girl grinned. "I'd ask for a pony, a sugarplum tree, a rainbow that never ends, and a flower that changes color everyday!" she exclaimed, counting them off. "Oh, and-"

"Arale," he interrupted. "Don't you remember? I told you the dragon balls will only give you one wish..."

She blinked at him for a moment. "How come?"

He shrugged "I don't know. I guess that's just the way they were made."

"I'm finished!" the doctor finally called out, drawing their attention.

Goku perked up. "Really? Super!"

They got up and rushed over to see the fruits of the man's labor.

"Wow," the girl gasped. "You did it, Senbei! It's fixed!"

"For you!" the man chuckled, handing the radar back over to the boy.

"Uwah!" Goku grinned, fiddling around with it a bit. "Nice." He pushed down on the button, a wave of relief rushing over him when the lights came on just like they were supposed to. "It's working again!" he beamed. "It's great, Senbei. Thanks!"

Arale and the Gatchins once again cheered.

"A-hah!" the man laughed loudly. "Senbei, you are a genius!" he praised himself.

"What's this?" the boy wondered, staring down at the screen.

"What's the matter?" the woman questioned worriedly.

Senbei deflated in an instant.

"The radar shows there's a dragon ball nearby," Goku explained, glancing around and beginning to walk off towards where it was showing up on the map.

Arale, right behind him, gasped after a couple of seconds. "Look, I found one!"

He looked over to see her hands clasped together. She parted them to show a small orb in the palm of her hand.

"Surprise!" she grinned.

"No," he shook his head. "Dragon balls are bigger."

"Oh, really?" she mumbled disappointedly.

"This way," the boy announced, walking around the side of the house.

She hurried to keep up with him.

"It's somewhere over here," he stated, slowing down a bit and running his eyes over their surroundings. "... I think," he frowned, adjusting the button a couple more times. "It shows the dragon ball should be near here."

They entered the house to continue the search.

"Almost there," Goku hummed, walking a bit further and opening one of the doors. He blinked. "Wow. That looks just like Master Roshi's favorite chair!" He was pretty sure that Kagome had called that a toilet before, actually. "There's no sign of a dragon ball in here," he sighed heavily. "Let's keep looking."

He shut the door and they continued walking.

"Let's try down here," the boy suggested, gaze glued to the screen. "... Whoa! Wait a minute!" he jolted, turning them back around. "Down here." The radar led them into the kitchen, and he peeked under the table just in case. "The signal is really strong in here... Maybe it's in this box?" he wondered, walking up to - hadn't Kagome called it a refrigerator before? He was pretty sure that Master Roshi, Launch, and Krillin all had at some point, too.

He opened it quickly, saw a man, closed it - wait. He hurried to open it back up, letting out a yelp when General Blue fell onto the tiles with a shout.

xxxx

Kagome was starting to get impatient. Just how long had they been going at top speed already? Half an hour? Maybe more?

Finally, Nimbus started to slow down and she sat back up, looking around below.

"There he is," she sighed, relieved - only to immediately take back the sentiment. "Oh, what has that little twerp gotten into now?" she groaned.

He was there with a small group of people, one of which was General Blue and another of which was a little girl who said General was holding hostage at knifepoint. Moreover, from the way that the boy was shaking, she was going to go out on a limb and guess that the stupid blond had gone and used that eye trick on him.

And just, as a side-thought, why was that baby floating and what the hell was up with the freaky little cherub-looking things?

She saw Blue snatch the radar and slip it into his pocket.

"T-that's mine!" Goku stuttered. "Give it back to me!"

"Down, Nimbus," she murmured, flattening out across the fluff and glaring daggers at the jerk. "Slow and quiet, okay? Keep us out of sight for as long as you can."

With a slight shudder of agreement, the cloud began to do descend.

"Excuse me," the man spoke up, "but that really does belong to the boy."

Blondie laughed. "You've been very passive thus-far," he sneered. "Do yourself a favor and don't mess it up now." He turned and began walking towards the nearby plane. "Oh, I'm in a hurry, so I'd better fly!"

"No problem, sir, but..." the man spoke uncertainly, "I haven't finished the instruments yet..."

"Hm," Blue paused. "Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?" He turned, eyes landing on Goku, and he gave a sadistic grin. "Oh, that's right - how silly of me! I almost forgot the most important thing of all..." He began stalking towards the motionless boy, a chuckle bubbling from his throat. "I can't go away... without a goodbye fist!" he shouted, reeling back an arm and swinging.

"Oh, hell no!" she snarled, jumping from the cloud and plummeting about ten or twenty feet to plant her feet in the soldier's back.

He gave a shrill scream and scurried back, holding his jaw with a horrified expression.

The priestess glowered at him, keeping her gaze just off to the side of his face, and took up a defensive stance in front of Goku. After all that time being protected by him, it felt nice to finally be able to return the favor.

"Kagome!" the boy shouted, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Thank Nimbus," she huffed shortly. "I know I've said something about that bad habit of running off without me."

"H-heh," he laughed awkwardly. "... Sorry."

Blue snarled, taking another step back towards the plane. "So, your little girlfriend shows up to save you yet again?" he mocked.

The priestess scowled. "Why does everyone keep assuming I'm a pedophile?"

"One has to actually be significantly older than their partner for that term to even apply," the man sneered cruelly.

She very nearly burst out that she was old enough to drink, dammit, but refrained.

Somehow.

"Big words from the guy who's obviously had work done," she snorted. "Trying to cling to the last of youth while you still can, are we?"

Okay, so maybe she wasn't above petty revenge. Sue her.

The soldier's eyes widened with indignant wrath and he darted over to a tree, slicing it down with the swipe of a hand and turning it on her like a weapon. "You'll rue the day you crossed me, little girl!" he growled.

She glared. "You really think all it's going to take is better range, asshole?"

"Arale, quick, it's playtime honey!" the man that had been defending Goku earlier yelped, pointing at the blond. "Go show the bad man how you play tag!"

"Yay!" the purple-haired little girl cheered, bouncing excitedly. "Tag!"

Kagome fell right out of her fighting stance when she glanced over to see that same little girl charging the soldier at full speed, flying up into the air and delivering a heavy kick to his chest that sent him flying.

"Yeah!" the girl laughed proudly, watching her victim turn into a dot on the horizon. "That was a good one!"

The others also laughed, and the priestess wondered if there was such a thing as demon blood in this dimension after all. If so, that was one child who had inherited more than just a decent little helping of it.

She quickly ran off in the same direction as she'd kicked the blond, and Kagome shook her head in wry amazement as the man chuckled.

"I guess he didn't need the plane after all!" he announced jokingly.

Goku let out a strained little grunt and she turned around, about to release him from the paralyses, when the floating baby beat her to it.

The boy glanced down at himself. "Hey, look! I can move again!" he announced happily, bouncing up and down a couple of times to illustrate his point further.

The priestess gave a low sigh, stepping back out of the way and watching from the side.

Maybe Nimbus had been overreacting when it came and got her. It seemed to her as if everything would have gone just fine without her interference.

"I'm here!" the little purple-haired girl laughed loudly as she rejoined them, her attention solely on Goku as she skidded to a stop. Really, this kid was just a lady-magnet, wasn't he? "Oh good, you're well again!" she beamed.

"Where is he?" the boy questioned worriedly.

The girl shrugged, still grinning. "I don't know. He hasn't come down yet, silly!"

Goku gaped and glanced off in the direction that the soldier had disappeared in. "He's still up in the sky?"

"I sure hope he took a snack," the man wisecracked.

The boy turned his attention back down to the purple-haired girl. "You're one of the strongest people I ever met!" he announced, awed.

She just laughed. "Thank you, but I'm nothing compared to the Gatchins!"

The little cherub-things cheered and, as if to prove her point, the freaky antennas they had on their heads lit up and they fried the felled tree left behind thanks to the general.

Kagome really, really needed to find out what the hell was up with this world.

"Whoa!" Goku gawked. "That's incredible!"

The 'Gatchins' let out another cheer of thanks and pumped their arms.

"Oh and that was nothing, trust me," the girl chimed in. "They must be tired; you should catch them on a good day!"

The boy's mind looked sufficiently blown. "Uwah... I thought I was strong," he mumbled. "I never knew there was so much I can't do! I guess I need to start training harder..." He looked up, expression changing. "Hey! I almost forgot about the dragon balls!"

The priestess smiled a bit as he ran over to the plane, jumping up and retrieving Bulma's bag from the cockpit.

"Here they are!" he declared happily. "Perfect."

Of course, it was about then that he realized that Blue still had their radar on him when he went for his little trip and started freaking out.

"How am I gonna find him again?" he grumbled to himself with a scowl as he hopped back onto the ground. "I never should have let him take it!" He came up to the small group and frowned. "That guy still has the radar," he explained, "and without it, we can't get back home! We're stuck here."

Kagome chuckled. "What, not going to say we'll walk it?"

He stuck his tongue out at her.

The floating baby gave him a reassuring smile. "Aw, don't be sad; I can make you a new one if you want."

The boy gaped. "You... you can? But how?"

The baby glanced to the man. "Papa, can I please take a few parts off your airplane?"

The man blinked. "Sure, son," he agreed rather easily. "Are you sure you can even make a dragon radar?"

"I saw the one you fixed," the baby assured, raising his hands and turning back to the plane. "Aha!" he giggled, several panels coming off of the plane and flying through the air with a whole slew of smaller innards.

"That's a little more than a few parts, son," the man spoke again with a sigh.

The two children just awed over the spectacle together, the girl laughing and Goku giving an excited "How does he do that?" Kagome admitted that it was impressive, but... well, she had lost a lot of things in the Feudal Era; that ability to just see something and marvel at it was, sadly, one of them. She was too busy trying to analyze whether it could be a threat or not.

Even sadder was the fact that not all of that had come from Sesshoumaru's training.

The radar seemed to assemble itself in midair, and the baby floated down to hand it over to the boy with a bright "Here!"

Goku stared down at it and pressed the button, the familiar beep confirming its efficacy.

He laughed and tinkered with it a little more. "It's working! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome," the baby smiled.

The man chuckled loudly. "That's my boy, alright - a genius, just like his old man!"

The boy took a step back, still grinning widely, and glanced up. "Flying Nimbus!" he called out. The cloud swooped down, coming to a stop before him, and he turned his attention back to the others. "Thanks for everything you've done for me!" Quickly, he crouched down just a bit to meet the purple-haired girl's eyes. "You should think about joining the Martial Arts Tournament next year. You'd be great!"

She just blinked up at him. "Huh?"

Goku hopped up on the cloud, an eager grin stretching his lips, and the priestess settled on behind him knowing that he was already itching to be on their way. "It was nice sort of meeting you all?" she offered the group wryly.

"Nice meeting you!" the little girl echoed, together with the 'Gatchins'.

The blonde woman giggled. "Perhaps we'll have a better introduction the next time the two of you stop by Penguin Village."

She nodded in agreement and waved as the cloud took off.

"So," she spoke after a while, "how do you feel about a little detour on the way?"

The boy blinked up at her curiously. "Huh?"

xxxx

"So... what are we searching for again?" Goku asked, staring over the side of Nimbus as they hovered over a wide, green canyon. "There aren't any dragon balls around here."

"Nope," Kagome agreed, also looking intently. "We're trying to find a yellow backpack."

"Why?" he wondered.

She sighed a bit. "Because it's mine."

"How can it be yours, though?" he pressed curiously.

"Because," she shot him a look, "my brother somehow found a way to send it across the rift for me. I sensed my sword when I was meditating earlier, right before Nimbus came and got me."

"You actually sensed your sword?" he gaped. "How'd you do that?"

The girl shook her head and continued searching. "You know what? Help me find that backpack and I'll tell you everything. It's a bright color, we should find it easily."

He immediately perked up. "Everything, everything?"

"Yes, Goku, everything," she allowed, actually sounding a little amused. "I suppose it's about time you found out what you got yourself into when you picked me up three weeks ago, but I really do need that bag. Especially before someone else stumbles across it."

The boy nodded and also returned to looking in earnest. She was actually going to tell him! About everything!

"Ah!" she suddenly shouted eagerly, pointing at the ground. "Down there, Nimbus!"

They dove, and Goku saw exactly what she had been talking about - that backpack was really yellow. She leapt off the cloud the moment they were close, surprising him. Usually he was the one that got too excited and jumped from Nimbus before it even stopped, and she was the one keeping her cool and scolding him for it.

"Yes, yes, yes!" the girl cheered, laughing brightly and picking the bag up, hugging it to her chest tightly and bouncing in place. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru!"

Goku smiled. He liked this side of her; it didn't seem so sad or forced.

Kagome grinned back at him, plopping down on a log and dropping the backpack in front of her knees as she unzipped it. She tore into the contents with a happy squeal. "Oh, a couple changes of clothes! Yes!"

The hopped down and joined her. "What all did you get?" he chuckled.

"A fighting kimono, another pair of haori and hakama... Oh gods, there's even a formal kimono in here!" she babbled away, shifting her hands through the inside of the bag until she reached what she was apparently looking for. The girl gave a heavy, relieved sigh and pulled out a sword almost reverently. "And Reikenkon, of course."

"Wow," he gaped. "That's a lot nicer than Yamcha's sword!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the blade rattled in her hands, and she laughed at him good-naturedly.

"That means 'thank you'," she translated wryly, holding it up to show him better. "Goku, meet Reikenkon. Rei, this is my new friend Goku. We're going to be traveling with him and Nimbus over there from now on."

The boy hesitated a moment before reaching out, poking the dark sheathe cautiously. "Hello...?" he tried. It rattled again and he immediately snatched his hand back.

His companion barked out another laugh. "Play nice, you two!"

"What kind of sword is it, Kagome?" he wondered, running a finger curiously along the pink silk wrapped around the hilt. "I've never seen a sword that shook on its own like this before. Are all weapons like this where you come from?"

She shook her head in amusement. "Nope..." she leaned down slightly and met his eyes with a mischievous quirk of her lips. "Only the demon ones."

He gawked at her.

The girl giggled. "Have you ever heard of priestesses, Goku?"

He tilted his head to one side. "You mean the ladies in some of Master Roshi's stories? He said they don't really exist."

She blinked. "Oh, well I guess that explains why Launch knew what they were..."

The boy's brow furrowed. "Huh?"

Kagome propped an elbow on her knee, the sword held tight against her chest as she held his gaze. "They do exist. At least, they do where I come from. I'm one of them."

He gasped, eyes going wide, and grinned. "Really?"

"Oh, yeah," she nodded.

"What about demons? And ghosts? Have you seen one? Oooh, what about-"

"Yes, yes, calm down," the girl chuckled. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask... those guys that came through with me - the ones out in the desert. What really happened to them after I passed out?"

He blinked at her. "I beat them up and they ran away," he admitted. "Why?"

She sighed. "Because those three are demons, and not some of the nice ones."

There was a slight stretch of silence, and he slumped. "I thought demons would be a lot tougher than that..." he pouted.

"Oh, some of the good ones could slaughter that group in about two seconds," Kagome assured with a snort. "The only reason they managed to get the drop on me was because they had an army and I was all by myself outside the West."

He settled a bit more comfortably on their log. "Tell me about it?" he requested.

She gave him a warm smile. "Which part?"

The boy thought it over for a second before shooting her a grin. "All of it!"

Kagome laughed brightly. "Alright, so Bulma was sort of right; my brother did adopt me into a noble family. It all started when I turned fifteen..."

He ate up everything, happy that he had waited until she was ready to talk.

It really did make a world of difference.

xxxx

A/N: Alright, loooooong chapter today! And so this wraps up the General Blue Saga, and heralds in the time where Kagome can finally slip into being more of a concrete partner than (let's face it) rather useful baggage. Commander Red Saga, comin' right up!

Edit: 7/02/16