A/N: Prompt time once again, and this time it's about everyone's favourite brother, 17! I was thinking about 17's invitation to the Universe Survival Tournament, and I thought, 'he's probably gonna need to tell his wife and kids about that' so this is that story. It was nice to write and I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Please let me know what you think.

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THE NIGHT BEFORE

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The smell of a good, home cooked meal wafted over the breeze as 17 set down at the end of his long driveway. His stomach rumbled in anticipation, it had been another bland week of only tinned beans and stale bread. The parks department really knew how to take care of its front line workers, that was for sure. 17 smiled, happy to be home at last. He pulled a wad of junk mail out of the letterbox, giving it a firm shake to dislodge any spiders, before beginning the long trek towards the house.

"Papa!" two little voices greeted 17 the moment he pushed open the creaky old door and stepped into the warm, cozy kitchen. He wasn't even fully inside the house before he had two newly turned three year olds firmly attached to his legs, their dinner now a distant memory.

"Hello, monsters!" he tousled each toddlers hair, before prying them off his legs and hoisting them up onto his hips, giving them each a kiss on the side of the head. "I hope you've been good for your mum while I've been at work."

"Of course they haven't, the little terrors," 17's wife, Amya, chimed in over her shoulder from the other side of the small kitchen, where she was watching over a pot of stew as it bubbled on the stove.

17 tutted, and shook his head, looking at each toddler with faux disappointment. "C'mon guys," he said as he lowered his son first, and then his daughter back down into their seats at the dinner table and rolled their sleeves up to their elbows. "What did I tell you about being good before I left?" He turned his attention to the third child at the table, his four year old son, Onyx, and squatted down to rest on his heels beside him. "Have you at least been good?" he asked. Onyx smiled brightly and nodded his head, sending hair flying wildly in all directions. 17 laughed and kissed the boys head as he stood back up. Onyx, 17 truly believed, wasn't capable of so much as thinking a negative thought, let alone being naughty. The kid didn't have a bad bone in his body. He may have had his father's dark hair and blue eyes, but his kind, gentle soul was all his mothers. Speaking of…

"Has it been six days already?" Amya asked, as 17 finally turned his attention towards his wife. He paused for a moment to take her in. There was a playful grin stretched over her pretty face and her bright green eyes sparkled as she laughed, highlighting the smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose. She was dressed casually in jeans, a dark blue teeshirt and her slippers and her vibrant red hair was secured atop her head in a messy knot. She was the most beautiful thing 17 had ever seen. "I was quite enjoying the peace and quiet without you here to hype the kids up all day long."

"Shut up," 17 laughed, and leaned in to kiss Amya. She kissed him back eagerly in return and wrapped her arms around his waist, despite the fact that he was covered in a weeks' worth of dirt and sweat and smelled accordingly. 17 let himself sink into her embrace. He worked a grueling roster of six days duty on the island, and then three days off at home with his family, and he always missed them fiercely by the end of his working days. His sassy and vivacious wife especially.

"I did miss you," Amya snuggled in and tucked her head up underneath 17's chin, not ready to release him from her bear hug just yet.

17 smiled a true and honest smile, and kissed the top of Amya's head. "Missed you too," he nuzzled his face into her hair, and inhaled her familiar scent. He couldn't imagine not ever being able to come home to this again.

It was feeding time at the zoo, and as 17 parted from Amya, he could only describe the scene around him as utter chaos. The kitchen was hot and noisy. Aside from the terrible twosome, twins Storm and River, whose sleeves had both somehow managed to slip back down their forearms and were now dripping in stew, and Onyx, who were all laughing and shrieking with happiness as they hurled chunks of bread at each other, there was a TV blaring and two enormous dogs were guzzling down their dinners too, scraping their bowls noisily across the floor with their snouts as they tried to clean out every last morsel, before they moved on to try and scavenge from the kids.

It was madness, but it was home. 17 had been lying to Goku when he had said he wouldn't care if all of this were to suddenly disappear. He'd care very much, and he was going to fight with everything he had to stop that from happening.

"Would you like some stew?" Amya asked, waving her ladle in front of 17's face.

The loud grumble that came from his stomach seemed to answer for him, and Amya turned to fetch a bowl, but 17 stopped her. "In a minute," he said, the sudden low and concerning tone in his voice let Amya know he had something on his mind. "Let's go into the other room."

The living room connected through from the kitchen, and so was only slightly less noisy. The two dogs, having finished their dinners, followed along behind their owners and plonked themselves down in front of the fireplace. They wouldn't move again until bedtime, when they would each pick a child's bed to curl up at the end of for the rest of the night.

Amya, sensing 17's out of character uneasiness, took hold of her husband's hand and looked him in the eyes. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Did something happen at work?"

17 laughed to himself, the absurdity of the last 24 hours was almost beyond belief. "You could say that," he said. "I had a visit from an old acquaintance of mine, for starters."

"Who?" Amya's face scrunched up in concern. Instinctively, she turned around to check that all three of her babies were still safe in the kitchen. "Was it someone bad?" she gasped as her imagination took off, "Gero?!"

"No." 17 put the brakes on that train of thought. "No. I stomped that motherfuckers head into the ground ten years ago." The vision of him putting an end to Gero's worthless life flashed through 17's mind and he smirked victoriously, until Amya burst his bubble, telling him off for swearing within earshot of the kids.

"So what happened then?" she asked.

"A man named Goku came to see me. I've told you about him before. It was actually pretty good timing, because a pack of space poachers showed up right behind him and he was pretty useful in helping me return all the animals they stole back to the park."

"Space poachers?"

"It's a long story."

17 didn't stop Amya as she reached out to run her soft hands all over his weary body. She poked and prodded, squeezed, and pressed her fingers against him, feeling for any signs of illness or broken bones with the deftness of a skilled professional. Of course, he was fine, but 17 had missed her touch and he let her carry on with her assessment for a moment, enjoying the sensation of their bodies connecting. "I'm fine," he eventually said. "The poachers, not so much, but that's beside the point. Goku told me about a tournament that's being held tomorrow. He needs me to go and fight. It's important."

The subtle change in Amya's demeanor as she processed the news of the tournament would have gone completely unnoticed by just about anyone else. But not 17. He saw the way her lips pursed ever so slightly, and her nostrils flared at their edges. He was aware of the dilation of her pupils, and the sudden rise in her heartrate and blood pressure.

"A tournament?" she asked. The metered and measured tone of her voice was the final clue 17 needed to accurately read his wife. His prediction had been right. She was not impressed.

"Yeah," 17 said, treading lightly. "Tomorrow. In the afternoon."

"No," said Amya after a moment's thought. She stepped away from 17 and crossed her arms over her body.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no. It's not happening. You're not going. Forget about it."

"I already said yes," 17 pushed back. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'too bad, it's already done' but Amya was having none of it.

"I don't care 17!" She yelled, even surprising herself with her sudden angry tone. She quickly contained her frustration so as not to alert the kids to their parents feuding. "I don't care what you said to some stranger, before you even thought to consult with your wife. I don't care what he said to you. I'm saying to you right now, that I'm saying no. You're not going."

17 sighed. He knew what Amya was trying to do, and he loved her so much for her efforts, but now just wasn't the time. "Listen," he began, the serious business tone was back in his voice. "I know that you're trying to protect me from the past, I do, really," 17 stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her close against his body, until there was no space between them. "And I love you for it. But this isn't about the past. This is about the future. If I don't go tomorrow…" 17 hesitated, he didn't want to say the words out loud, because then this whole thing would become true. He kissed the top of Amya's head, and squeezed her just a little tighter. "If I don't go tomorrow, this could all go away. Everything I've ever cared about, you and the kids, it could all just disappear. And honestly I don't know if my being there will make a difference or not, but Goku seems to think it might, and even if it doesn't, I have to try."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Amya pushed herself out of 17's arms, and spent a long and confused moment just staring at him. She pressed her palm against his forehead, but there was no sign of fever. "Did something fall on your head at work?" she asked, "you're not making any sense."

"I know, and trust me, it gets a hell of a lot more convoluted than that. I'm not even sure I understand it all properly. You know that there are a lot of things in this world that don't make sense, right?"

"Things like Cell?"

"Exactly," 17 shuddered at the mere word. "Things like Cell, and Dragonballs and the fact that I can fly, or get run over by a tank and walk away without so much as a scratch. This is one of those things. You just gotta trust me when I say that this is something I gotta do."

Amya exhaled deeply, in an attempt to expel all the negative emotions from her body. 17 had been away at work for almost a week, she should have been excited to see him. Instead, she found herself feeling sick. Turning away from her husband, Amya shook her head and let herself fall back onto the sofa, where she took a few long, deep breaths while she attempted to collect her thoughts. 17 stood silently, waiting, listening to the sounds of the crackling fire, the dogs snoring and his children getting into mischief in the next room. The sounds of his home. He was determined that this would not be the last time he heard them.

"Why do you have to go?" Amya eventually asked. She looked up and locked her bright green eyes onto 17's blue ones, hoping to find the answer there, but 17 was a master at keeping his emotions at bay, it was so hard to read him. "What makes you so great?"

17 cracked a smile. "Where should I begin?" he asked. The smile morphed into a cheeky smirk and Amya hurled a cushion at his head. He caught it and tossed it back down where it belonged. "It won't just be me. My sister and Krillin will be there too, and others. We're all doing our part."

"My husband, the hero," Amya replied, her voice oozing with sarcasm.

Heh. If only she knew. 17's heart ached to tell his beloved wife the entire story, but what was the point? And where would he even begin? Amya was a smart lady, she had spent years slogging away at school to become a veterinarian, and after that, getting her master's degree in Zoology. And just last year she had completed her PhD studies in savannah cats, while somehow juggling three kids, a full time job and a husband who was only ever home for three days at a time. She was amazing and 17 was inspired by every part of her. But still, even for someone who knew about his unusual life story, and was more in the know about the true goings on of the world than the average citizen, this was some next level shit.

How to explain to someone that their entire universe, everything they had ever known to exist, 13 billion years of evolution – was all just part of some much larger multi-universe picture? And that looking over those universes was an all seeing, all knowing, omniscient god who viewed their very existences as nothing more than a game.

How did he explain that when he left tomorrow to fight in this tournament, that he would be leaving the universe entirely? That it was being held in the forebodingly titled 'World of Nothing' and that 17 would be fighting against not only the strongest warriors he could imagine, but the strongest warriors he couldn't. Enemies that he couldn't even dream of, from worlds he would never know, with powers that he would never be able to predict or fight back against?

And even if he could find some way to eloquently tell this story, which he didn't even entirely understand himself, it would do his family no good. If their universe was to end tomorrow, it would be over in less than a blink of an eye. One moment they would exist, and the next moment they wouldn't. It would be a painless transition. Telling Amya the truth would do nothing but ensure her last remaining hours were filled with terror instead of joy. No. This was a burden that 17 would carry alone.

17 shook his head and flopped down onto the sofa. He threw his arm over Amya's shoulder, trying his best to act casual, and not like there was a giant, nervous knot twisting itself up in his stomach. She resisted at first, trying her best to stay mad at him, but quickly relented and let 17 pull her into his hug. "I just wish you wouldn't do things like this without talking to me about it first." She said, as she stared into the hypnotic, glowing embers in the fireplace.

"Aww, c'mon now, you don't mean that. You didn't complain last time I did something without asking."

"That was different, 17!"

"How so?"

"Because last time you did something without asking me, it was bringing home abandoned newborns! You were hardly just going to leave them to fend for themselves in the wild, were you? You're not a monster."

Those last few words really struck a nerve with 17. For the longest time, he had considered himself to be a monster. An abomination born by the hands of a madman, designed to be nothing more than bait for the most horrific evil the world had ever known. That had been his only role in life, and he had fulfilled it dutifully.

He'd come a long, long way since those dark days. Back then - 17 shuddered to think - back when he was struggling with identity issues and fighting to find his place in a world where he really didn't belong, he'd hate to think what he would of done if he came across those abandoned, screaming infant twins. He'd probably have left them to their fate, out in the freezing winter rain, without so much as a second thought.

But that was the old 17, and old 17 wasn't someone that new 17 was really able to relate to anymore. Now that he was a husband, a father, a contributing member of society, he struggled to understand his old ways.

"And look how that turned out," 17 smiled and craned his neck to catch a view of the cheeky toddlers, who were making a mess all over his beautiful, painstakingly handcrafted kitchen table. "Adopting them was one of the best things we've ever done." He turned back to Amya who, despite her best effort not too, was smiling.

"Do you really have to go?" Amya sighed. "The kids and I get so little time with you. They've been waiting for you all week. I've been waiting for you all week."

There was a suggestive tone to his wife's last sentence that piqued 17's attention. He looked at her with a curiously raised eyebrow, and asked, "Is that so?" It was certainly a problem he had every intention of remedying at the very first moment of opportunity. Leaning over, 17 placed a soft kiss on Amya's lips. He could feel her tongue seeking permission to enter his mouth, but he pulled away instead. There would be time for that later. "I'll be home in time for dinner tomorrow, I promise."

"Fine." Amya's shoulders slumped as she admitted reluctant defeat. She knew her husband, and there was no point arguing with him. 17 needed to be able to make his own decisions in life, his ability to exercise his own free will was one of the main ways he was able to separate the past version of himself from who he was right now. Plus he was as stubborn as an Ox and when 17 had made up his mind about something, arguing would only result in him digging his heels in even further. It was hard to win an argument against someone who could just fly away when they weren't getting their way. And over the years, Amya had learnt to just accept the fact that her husband was somewhat of a free-spirit, and sometimes he just had to do what he had to do, and there would be no warning or explanation. If nothing else, it kept her life interesting

"Hey, monsters!" 17 called over his shoulder, breaking the tension between himself and his wife and effectively putting an end to their quarrel. "Get your butts in here!"

The children were only too happy to abide by their fathers request, and a moment later, 17 and Amya heard the hectic shuffle of little feet on floorboards, and they braced themselves for what was headed their way. Three little torpedo's hurtled towards them, and launched themselves up onto the couch, all fighting to be the first to claim the prime position up on 17's lap.

"Now, now," 17 said with a laugh, "there's enough room for everyone." With well-practiced skill, he shuffled the trio around so that he had a twin on each leg, and Onyx awkwardly sitting between them. He wrapped his arms around all three children, in a big bear hug. Closing his eyes, 17 took a deep breath, inhaling their scent and imprinting the feeling of having all three of his children in his arms firmly in his memory. Even in death, he would not allow himself to forget this feeling.

He wasn't entirely sure what tomorrow would have in store for him, but there was one thing that 17 was certain of. Whether they ever knew it or not, 17 was going to do his family proud. He was going to prove to them, and too himself just how far he had come. By giving his absolute all at the tournament to end all tournaments he would finally, officially close the book on his past of chaos and destruction.

Tomorrow, Android 17 was going to help save the world.

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A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this one! I'm always taking prompts over on my tumblr, so follow me there if you'd like to see your own prompt here one day! Already working on the next one, so hopefully I'll be back soon with the next prompt!

Big Love
D.B