I think it's worth saying this is the penultimate chapter of this arc. The finale next week! Enjoy this one.

Chapter 22: Welcome Back

Tuesday 15th June Age 796

Only a few days passed by since the encounter with the Scavengers and the two Saiyan warriors were still on their quest. Going to the outpost on Eoz had actually done some damage to their travels, not only by delaying them, but by taking them quite a bit off course. It was lucky they still had the coordinates, but it wasn't certain how much longer their supplies would last. Vegeta was very wary about it, but he wanted to get to Sadala as much as Noca, maybe more.

Based on what the computer told them they would have enough fuel to get to Sadala and back to their Solar System. They would still have power to contact Bulma on Earth if needed. They just needed to ensure that they weren't taken any further off course by any stupid little distractions. No more random stops on volcanic planets. Training would all be inside the Gravity Room.

Speaking of which, that's where they were in this moment. Vegeta occupied half, going all out against his drones in a very high gravity, while Noca was on the other side, cross-legged and floating. He was deep in a meditation. Better concentration and focus were the key to an effective fighter. Things were starting to get pretty routine for the two Saiyans. It was going well.

Well… it was. The spaceship started to rumble about, but Vegeta wasn't aware right away, believing it were himself. Noca, deep in meditation, could feel that something was wrong, not quite right. He stayed in the meditative state, but kept his focus outside. That's when there was another big rumble and the ship was clearly hit by something. The jolt caused Noca to open his eyes and fall to the floor, Vegeta hit into the walls.

All of the lights started flickering and turned off, as did the gravity. Suddenly the back-ups kicked in and the lights all went red. Vegeta got back up and went to Noca.

"Come on, we need to see what the problem is," Vegeta said, giving Noca a slight whack and then rushing to the control room. Noca slowly stood up and shook his head. Something wasn't quite right. He followed up to the control room and they looked out to see something they weren't familiar with. There were lots of asteroids, but it didn't seem quite like an asteroid field. They were moving around far too quickly.

"What is it?" Noca asked.

"A storm… this is bad," Vegeta answered as he started tapping away at the controls. He took manual control of the ship and tried to turn it away. "We need to land somewhere… quickly!"

Vegeta tried his hardest to move the ship, but the power wasn't quite responding the way he needed it too. The ship started to jaggedly move to the right as the Prince attempted to turn around. The storm was beginning to engulf them a bit more. It was getting more and more dangerous. The power flickered on for a bit and the thrusters kicked in, getting them a little further away, but the storm was too close. An asteroid struck the back of the ship and sent it spiralling away. At least they were getting further away from the storm.

Alarms were ringing like crazy and neither of the Saiyans could stay still as the ship spun around. Finally, things started to stabilise and Vegeta was back on the controls.

"The shields are at critical," He informed the teen, and continued tapping away quickly. "We really need to get away from this."

"How much can they withstand?" Noca asked, stepping forward. Vegeta turned to him and shook his head.

"No. We are not flying through it," The Prince told Noca. He continued to fly the ship away.

"It's our quickest route, right?" Noca said in questioning tone. He was serious about it. Vegeta looked at the boy. This kind of reckless attitude wasn't normal for Noca, what was going on?

"It's the most dangerous route, right now," Vegeta replied, trying to talk some sense into the boy. Noca stepped back and sighed. This wasn't good for them. This would severely hurt their journey and make things far more difficult from here on. "We need to get to a port somewhere and check the damages."

"We need to get to Sadala," Noca said, speaking definitively. He wanted Vegeta to listen to him. He stepped forward. "Don't you want to see your home again."

Vegeta glared at Noca and grabbed on to the back of his neck, pointing the teen towards the computer screen.

"Look at those fuel levels. We may make it to Sadala, but we will not make it home," Vegeta said. The teen forced himself out of Vegeta's grip and stepped back. "If we turn away now we can get home and then… maybe try again some other time."

Noca looked down to the ground, breathing heavily. He was clearly unhappy about this.

"You're not thinking about our families right now," Vegeta informed the boy. "You're far too focussed on this quest… on Kuyato."

Vegeta walked over to Noca and placed a hand on his shoulder. The teen looked up, finally starting to see a little sense.

"Come on, Noca. Don't be stupid."

Vegeta was right. He was the only one seeing sense right now. Noca was blinded by this journey to find Sadala and get as much information about Kuyato as possible. Their journey had been hindered and it was a problem, but they could always try again some other time. Vegeta was right.

"Ok… let's go home," Noca said. He turned away and walked back to his quarters. Vegeta took the ship away from the storm and towards the nearest outpost so he could make any necessary repairs. They had failed their quest this first time around, but it wasn't over.

Exerting all their remaining fuel drives, Noca and Vegeta managed to return to Earth very quickly. Their journey may have taken them 6 months getting as far as they did, but it would only take them a couple of months to get back home if they went at a breakneck pace. (Yes, it's questionable, but this is science!)

Saturday 14th August Age 796

In the lonesome house of the Moori Forest, an entire family slept, but one member of the family was having a restless sleep. Something was getting to her, something… was coming.

Pan sat up in her bed and looked to the window. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was on its way. The teen stood up out of bed, quietly. She knew her parents would be sleeping, as would her brother, but she needed to see what was going on. She looked out of the window properly, it was already open due to the warm summer night.

She did her best to focus her senses, but it didn't help things. Whatever it was, it was too far away to get a proper lock on it. But it did have a certain familiar feel to it. And the power… well, the power was significant in size. It was almost worrying. The girl shook her head and started to put some clothes on. She intended to discover what it was. It was keeping her awake anyway, so what harm could possibly come from it.

While Pan continued to get herself ready, not feeling the need to rush about it, a space-ship entered the Earth's atmosphere and started to descend down to the ground. The energy was getting so much closer now and Pan felt a bit more now. It wasn't one energy, it was two. Two huge energies and they were familiar to her. A smile crept across the girl's face as she rushed to get ready and shot out of her window. She accidently used too much power and awoke everyone in the house.

Rei started moaning and calling for his parents. Gohan and Videl got up immediately. Videl went to check on her young son, while Gohan went to Pan's room. He saw the window open and felt her energy heading towards the other two. A smirk crept across his face as Videl entered the doorway.

"What is it?" She asked her husband, seeing the smirk on his face.

"Do you feel that?" Gohan asked, looking at his wife and son. He put his arm around her and placed a hand on his son's head. "They're back."

Pan blasted through the sky at a pace unlike any before. She wasn't sure how to feel, but excitement was definitely one of those feelings. She zoomed past scenery, towns and villages, not a care in the world. She felt the ship land and knew it was somewhere around West City. She started laughing to herself and could feel some tears welling up in her eyes as she got ever closer to the location.

The ship had landed safely, but a bit further away than intended. It wouldn't exactly take them long to get back to Capsule Corp., but they could've been closer. Noca and Vegeta stepped out of the ship, the latter pressing the button on the side to capsulize it. Noca looked around and took in a breath of air.

"Ah, it's good to be back," He said, to no one in particular. Vegeta looked at the teen, questioning the situation slightly. He knew that Noca was disappointed about what seemed like a failure, but it seemed that he had grown past it now. The two Saiyans soon felt a power approaching them and the smirk on Noca's face slowly turned to a look of worry. It was Pan. Over 8 months since he last saw her… this was going to be a strange encounter.

The raven-haired girl dropped down and sprinted towards Noca, throwing her arms around him and grabbing him in a tight embrace, as if she would never let go. Noca was a little surprised, but he couldn't deny to himself how happy he was to see her again after all that time. He moved his arms up and wrapped them around her waist, tightening the embrace.

"I've missed you," Pan mumbled into his chest. Noca kissed her on the top of her head and was about to say the same, but Pan pulled back and then pulled Noca into a long, deep, meaningful kiss. Noca sunk into the feeling of Pan's lips on his and he truly felt at home. All the fear he had about seeing Pan again had finally faded away. They had returned.

Vegeta cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Save it for later, I want to get home and get a good night's sleep," The Prince said, even though he was happy for Noca. He just wouldn't show it. The teen boy still wore the scars of his emotional breakdown, but he prayed silently that Pan would never ask about them. Pan finally got a good look at Noca and her brow furrowed. Noca finally had a chance to drink in Pan and he too was surprised.

"Your hair?" they both said at the same time, before laughing simultaneously.

"I had it cut after you left… and I liked the style so I kept it," Pan explained as she raised a hand to it and ran her hand over it. Noca smiled and put a hand on her face. "And yours?"

"I didn't really trust Vegeta to cut it while out there…" Noca explained, running his own hand through his hair, which was down past his shoulders. "I hadn't actually noticed until now."

"Well, we have to get that cut," Pan said, sternly, before laughing. "But I guess we should both get home first."

Noca looked into her eyes, smiled and nodded. He was about to say something to Vegeta, but Pan quickly slapped him, hard. Noca stepped back, astounded.

"What was that for?" Noca asked, he wasn't angry, just surprised.

"For leaving without saying a proper goodbye," Pan answered. She actually appeared to be slightly angry and upset with Noca.

"I didn't think you would have wanted to speak to me… I worried that you wouldn't forgive me," Noca explained, feeling guilty again. Those feelings had been buried deep within, but he had never forgotten about them, or what he had done to her.

"I would never stop loving you," Pan said, putting her hand on his face. "I was just too shocked at the time. I knew you never meant to deliberately hurt me…"

Noca looked away and took a breath, beginning to feel a bit sad now. He held back from letting anything out and soon felt Pan's hand on his own. He looked back down at her and saw her smiling.

"Let's get home and rest," Pan said to her boyfriend.

"Good idea," Vegeta answered as he turned away and blasted off towards West City. The couple watched him go and then took off together. There would be a lot to discuss in the coming days and weeks. Noca already knew which question he was starting with.

How did Pan become so much stronger?

Sunday 15th August Age 796

The next day Noca was told about all the things that happened while he was away in space. It was lucky that the duo decided to stay in for the whole day as they got to spend the time together. Pan started by saying that she got her haircut, finished off her assessments and prepared for her January examinations. Christmas was standard for the Son and Brief families. It wasn't the same without Noca, but they managed to deal with it.

Of course, New Year happened, but none of the teens really got to enjoy it with their revision taking the forefront of their attentions. Before Christmas or New Year happened, Valese finally gave birth to hers and Goten's child. A girl that they decided to name Alexa. Apparently, it was Valese's grandmother's name and meant a lot to her. Alexa was born on the 12th of December. As New Year rolled around, Pan had her exams early in January and got them out of the way. She received her grades for the assessment she had been working on. She passed, with a good grade as well.

Noca expressed his pride in her and her dedication to it. Also in January, Pan turned Seventeen. Noca was sad to have missed her birthday and expressed his sadness at having to do so, but he didn't think about those things before leaving for space. Pan was very forgiving, but joked that he needed to make it up to her at some point. Not just for her birthday, but also for missing Valentine's Day. As February got on, Rei turned 3-years-old, and that was fairly surprising for Noca. He wasn't a baby anymore. Rei was growing up.

Obviously other birthdays happened. Dom turned Seventeen, and Holline and Kiera both turned Sixteen. Also happening, Bra, Dom, and Pan all seemed to get jobs. Not surprisingly, with Capsule Corp. Noca joked that he was the only one to actually earn his job, but Pan said she felt that she deserved her job. Bra and Dom were working in the lab, helping Bulma. Due to their advanced scientific knowledge, it served not only them, but Bulma well. Pan, due to her business course, was handling more of an office job at Capsule Corp., but still managed to spend time in and around the lab. Most of her work kept her at the compound. Except from the occasional visit to the Tower.

Pan had also managed to pass the entirety of her first year with flying colours, as did the other two. Now they were preparing to enter their final year before going off to University, if they did all decide to do that.

The last piece of news. Trunks had finally asked Marron to marry him, but they hadn't set a date as they were waiting for the return of Vegeta before deciding any of that. Surely, he would want to be there for his son's wedding.

"And… that about covers it all," Pan said, as she and Noca lay there on her bed with the window open, letting the wind blow through. Noca took it all in and lay there, with his arms around Pan.

"Ok, but I have a question about one little thing," Noca started. He stayed laying down, but Pan sat up and looked down at her boyfriend.

"What is it?" She asked. Noca eventually decided to sit up and sat with his back against Pan's headboard. He crossed his arms and smirked at the girl.

"How did you get so much stronger?" Noca asked, Pan didn't know what to say right away and just looked away, but she was trying to stop herself from smiling. Noca noticed this and chuckled to himself. "That's right, I noticed."

"How else does someone get stronger, they train," Pan said as she moved to the end of the bed and was about to get off, but Noca quickly moved and pulled her back down onto the bed with him. "Noca, stop!"

If Pan had actually made some sort of proper protest for Noca to stop, maybe he would have, but she seemed to be enjoying herself and continued to laugh with him. The two took a moment to lay there once again, but Noca still wanted an answer to his question. He sat up again and so did Pan.

"So, seriously, how did you get so much stronger?" Noca asked, again.

"I just trained with Dad," Pan answered, not really thinking she needed to go into actual details. "Whenever we both had free time or an hour or two some nights we would go out and train."

"I'm just surprised Gohan agreed to it," Noca said, knowing that Pan had difficulty in the past.

"It wasn't easy," Pan said rolling her eyes, "But in the end, he couldn't deny me. I wanted to be stronger, I was determined."

"I'm glad," Noca said, standing up and heading to the door. Pan furrowed her brow and looked at her boyfriend strangely. He turned back to face her. "The stronger my allies are, the better things will be in the future."

Pan shook her head, while smiling. Noca held his hand out.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat," Noca suggested. Pan stood up and took Noca's hand before realising something.

"Do you mean go out, or get something from the kitchen?" She asked, taking a moment to think about her outfit and how long they had been stuck indoors for.

"Up to you," Noca said, smiling and chuckling, "I don't mind going out, just need to get ready first."

"Let's do it!" Pan said, sounding quite enthusiastic about that suggestion. Noca smirked and turned around again. "Let me just get ready and then we'll head into West City."

Noca nodded as he stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, Pan dropped back on to her bed and started laughing and crying tears of joy. She was just too thrilled that Noca had returned to her. Things would hopefully be a lot better for them now.

Noca headed back to his room and decided to get into the shower. He needed to wash that long, long hair of his. He took a moment to look at himself in the mirror first. He stopped, let his smile fade and then looked down at his right hand and at the permanent scaring on his knuckles. He looked into his room from the bathroom and saw the half empty bottle of Saimizu that he had been given.

He looked back in the mirror and took a breath. He knew things would look up from this point. He and Pan would head out, have a nice dinner and then they would both settle into life together. Sure, Noca still had to think about his quest for Sadala and finding more information on Kuyato, but maybe now he could include Pan. We'll see.

Thursday 19th August Age 796

The summer was proving to be pretty boring and both Noca and Vegeta had agreed to take a little break from their training. They didn't think it was worth over-exerting themselves in this moment. They still had plans on increasing the abilities of Super Saiyan 2 and they were doing a good job with it already, but the break would serve them good.

Noca was revelling in the time he got to spend with Pan. Sure, she had work to do at Capsule Corp., but Bulma was more than happy to let Noca come and pitch in whenever she was needed. Granted, the teen had only been back for 5 days at the moment, but still. It was good to know that the option was open. Lord knows he fluffed up his last job by leaving to go to space for eight months. Sure, he could go back, but he was certain that Pan wouldn't be happy about that.

When the group of Noca, Bra, Pan and Dom had finally got a chance to have a break from helping out Bulma they went and sat in the living room together. They switched on the TV and had their lunches while chatting. The TV was just for background noise. No one was paying it any attention. Also, by now, Noca had a haircut and it had been done similar to what Gohan's was like back during the Majin Buu time, only with minor differences. Two locks came down over Noca's forehead, but they were going over to the right side of his forehead. The front was also a little longer and also seemed to go towards the right, but not as noticeably. (Might have a picture one day!)

While they were all sitting there and enjoying their lunches, the TV seemed to change and go to a news channel. Something important, some kind of breaking news. Everyone was a little intrigued…

And then Mr. Satan appeared on screen. Standing in front of a podium outside his mansion. Pan put her head in her hands and Noca shifted to face the TV a little more. An interviewer stood alongside Mr. Satan and seemed to be introducing the Champ, even though everyone knew who he was already. It wouldn't take a genius to guess what this was, but Noca had to admit he was surprised it was happening.

"We come to you LIVE from in front of Satan Manor to present a very special announcement from the Champ himself, Mr. Satan!" The interviewer said, as a cheer erupted from the crowd that had gathered.

"Welcome to my home, I have a fantastic announcement that I am very happy to reveal to you all. That's right, there will be another World's Martial Arts Tournament!" Mr. Satan declared as another roar erupted from the crowd. "Here to give you details about the upcoming tournament, the Thirtieth of its kind, is my assistant."

A man stepped up to the podium as the Champ stepped back and he cleared his throat, preparing to read a statement from the card in front of him.

"Only a maximum of 64 fighters will be able to sign-up and compete in this new tournament. Round 1 and 2 will be done as preliminary fights, closed to the public and will take place on day one. After the preliminary rounds are complete the lots for round 3 (or the round of 16) will be taken and the fights for the next day will be confirmed. If less than 64 people sign-up then high qualifying students from the biggest dojos and schools will fill the gaps. Each fighter will draw numbers to decide where they are placed on the preliminary board."

He took a moment to see if everyone had taken that in and prepared with the next part.

"The rest of the tournament will take place as usual. It will be a knockout based competition with the last fighter left declared the champion by the end of the fifth day. Sign-up opens on August 31st Age 796 and will close on September 30th Age 796. The tournament will take place on the week starting July 18th Age 797. We look forward to your entries and seeing you compete to see who will finally take the belt from Mr. Satan and become the next world champion."

The Champ stepped forward one more time and held up his belt.

"This could be yours!" He bellowed, "I look forward to watching you all compete. Thank you and Goodnight."

The champ turned around and walked back inside his mansion, followed by his assistant. Pan shook her head, Noca seemed excited, neither Bra or Dom knew what to say.

"We'll both be competing in that," A voice said from behind the teens. They turned to see Vegeta and he was looking at Noca.

"You better get training then, if you want to beat me that is," Noca said with a smirk. Vegeta smiled back and let out a huff as he walked back to his Gravity Room. Noca sat back in the chair and looked at Pan. "Are you going to compete?"

Pan was a little surprised that Noca was actually asking her this.

"Um, yeah, of course," She said, not really sure what to say. She did want to compete, but it felt like Noca had put her on the spot somehow. "I plan to fight you in this one, for sure!"

Noca smiled and wrapped his arms around her. She pushed him off playfully, but in their minds, they knew that a lot of preparation was needed. A lot of their friends, family, and allies would compete in this competition. It would hopefully turn out to be a great spectacle, and not end up like the last one.

So, a new tournament coming… that should be interesting. Still little under year to go. Plenty of time to prepare for the worst. Noca would be ready this time. He was planning to win it.

So, that's right. I'm doing another tournament and that tournament will be part of this story, but... it will be arc VII. That's right! Arc VI will be something different. I will announce what Arc VI will be at the end of the next chapter, but I hope it's something you will all be on-board with. If not, I don't care, it's my story.

Hope you enjoyed this new chapter and I look forward to reading your reviews. Thanks!

Next Time... Chapter 23: A Different Power