Chapter 7
Bathing Cleans the Mind and Soul, I Feel Young Again!
Quote: "A wise man once said the stronger you train the stronger you smell." -Gokku
Part 1
"Oh, this feels wonderful," said Bulma. Bulma, Chi-Chi, Bra, Chibi Bra, Veggi, Pan, and Gogeta all sat in the wonderful hot springs Crono had taken them to. Gogeta, Pan, and Chibi Bra were splashing each other with water, laughing their heads off.
"Reminds me of the springs on planet Vaz," said Bra. "Now all well need are some muscular men to come rub oil on us." She smiled devilishly.
"There plenty of muscular men over there," said a voice coming towards them. A male Crono came into view.
"Ah!" said Bulma, Chi-Chi, and Veggi. They all sank lower in the water.
"What are you doing? This is the woman's side!" shouted Chi-Chi.
Bra laughed. Only her legs were submerged in the water, and the rest of her was visible for all to see.
"Bra! Have you no decency!?" shouted Bulma.
Crono joined Bra's laugh. Then his form changed to that of his adult female form. "I assure you Bulma-san, I'm sexless."
"Crono doesn't have a real body, Mom," said Bra. "This is only an image for us to see."
"Oh," said Bulma and Chi-Chi. They sat up a little more, but were still a little uncomfortable.
Crono sat down on a tall rock. "So what will you do now, Bra-san? You can just as easily take over were Nall left off." The others looked at Bra, slightly worried.
"No, I have enough on my mind with filling my Dad and Mom's shoes," said Bra. "Too bad I can't keep this place for when I need to relax."
Crono smiled. "Nall did have good taste."
"What do you mean?" asked Bulma. "Can't you just leave this place as it is?"
Crono shook his head. "Afraid not, Bulma-san. You see, everything here is from different planets and different dimensions. They can't just be replaced. There are maybe millions of different dimensions with the same tree or rock in them, but each dimension only has one of that tree or rock. So if we don't put them back it's a lot like stealing."
"I see," said Bulma.
Crono nodded again, "Yes, I have to put them all back were I found them, the trees, plants, animal, people, the whole shebang."
"What a minute," said Veggi. "What about Gokku and Vegeta? I'm mean everything in this world was locked down so it's the same as when it was taken, but Gokku and Vegeta are years older then when they were taken."
Crono laughed. "Smart girl. You'd better not tell them, but I'm going to have to change them back."
"Change them back?" asked Chi-Chi.
Crono nodded. "Reverse time and return them to the age they were when Nall and his men picked them up."
"You mean turn them into babies!?" shouted Veggi.
"Shhhhhhhh!" said Crono pointing in the direction of the guys' spring.
"Knowing those two, they would head for the hills if they found out. Unless you want to hunt them down." Crono's eyes sparkled as he began thinking up a new game to play with the Dragon Ball group. "I could take away their powers, and give you guys some cool stuff, change your clothes to camouflage, and—"
Crono was cut off by Bra. "Really, Crono! Don't you think you've had enough fun for this century?" Crono looked disappointed. "You know it's going to take you a long time as it is to fix everything, and there will still be rips in the fabric of time."
"Oh Bra! You're spoiling my fun," whined Crono.
"I don't know," said Bulma with a thoughtful look on her look on her face.
She turned to Crono with a wicked grin on her face. "Can you make us stronger then them?"
Crono's eyes lit up, but before he could say anything, Bra had wrapped a hand around his mouth. "Mom!" she protested. "Don't give him any ideas. This isn't all fun and games. This is doing real damage to time. The longer we're here, the more damage; the more damage, the more problems in the universes."
"Just a thought," said Bulma, looking a little disappointed herself. "I've always wanted to beat the stuffing out of your father just once."
"I wouldn't mind doing something like that myself," said Chi-Chi.
They all shared a good laugh.
"So," said Veggi getting back to the problem at hand. "You're going to change Vegeta and Gokku back to babies, and drop them off in the right time?"
"Not exactly," said Crono with a sly smile.
"Crono," said Bra in a suspicious voice.
"I'm not going to be dropping them off. Nall sent some of his men to pick them up. Therefore, someone has to go back and fix things."
Veggi groaned. "I suppose that someone is us."
"Bingo!" cheered Crono.
"What?!" shouted Chi-Chi. "Why are we doing it instead of you?"
"Well," said Crono shyly, "because I don't want to end my vacation just yet." Everyone face faulted. Bra shook her head. "Ah, come on! It'll be fun, and I'm not going to take no for answer. Beside you should have seen Gokku and Vegeta when they were babies. They were so cute!" squealed Crono.
"I guess that means you have no choice. If Crono say so, only I can force him to change his mind, and I really don't feel like it," said Bra.
Everyone sweat dropped.
"Thanks a lot, Mom," snorted Veggi.
"Well, you guys don't all need to go. Some of you can't go to planet Vegeta because you're not strong enough."
"Planet Vegeta," said Veggi, perking up.
Crono nodded, "I'm going to divide you up into two groups. That should save time. One of you will take care of Gokku, the other Vegeta. There will be some fighting and I'll have to change some physical characteristics for those going to planet Vegeta, but it shouldn't be too bad."
"I want to be in the group that goes to planet Vegeta," said Veggi.
Crono winked at her, "I knew you would. Although I'll have to do something about your purple hair."
Veggi looked at a lock of her hair. "Well, I guess I could dye it."
Crono shook his head, "No need." He snapped his fingers and Veggi's hair turned black.
"Wow," she said, looking at her new hair color. "How long will this last?"
"Don't worry, I'll change it back when you're done."
"So who is going where, I mean when?" asked Bra.
"I'm sending Veggi, Carrot, and Trunks to Planet Vegeta. I thought I'd send Goshin, Goten, and Gohan to take care of Gokku."
"I kind of want to go," said Bulma. Then she sighed. "But if I did, I'd want to see planet Vegeta, and I'd get squished there."
"Don't worry. I'll let you watch the fun."
"You can do that?" asked Chi-Chi.
Crono smiled wide. "I'm time."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 2
Everyone finished their baths and dried off.
"Okay, everyone," said Crono when he got their attention. "Here's the deal. We're going to divide up. Veggi, Carrot, and Trunks go to Planet Vegeta. Goten, Goshin, and Gohan to planet earth."
"Planet Vegeta?" said Vegeta confused.
"Didn't you know you were the prince of Saiya-jins?" asked Gohan.
"No," said Vegeta, scratching the back of his head. Everyone face faulted.
"Well, that explains why he so nice," said Bulma.
"What a minute," said Gokku. "What about us? Aren't we going?"
"Of course you're going. This mission is to drop you two off at your respective homes in your respective times."
"Oh," said the two Saiya-jins at once.
"Um, isn't that going to be a little weird?" said Vegeta. "I mean I don't remember anything about being the Prince of Saiya-jins."
"Oh, don't worry about that. When I'm through with you, you won't remember being Nall's bodyguards either. I should be able to get all your other memories back easily considering you only have a few of them."
"What? Why do we have only a few memories?" asked Gokku.
"Oh, that simple: because you were less than a year old."
"Okay," said Vegeta. "I don't think Kakarot or I can pass for one-year-olds."
"Oh, but when I'm through with you, you will." Crono cracked his knuckled.
Gokku and Vegeta backed away. "I don't like the looks of this," said Gokku.
"Neither do I," said Vegeta.
"RUN!" shouted Gokku. They almost got away. The two disappeared; the only thing left was their towels.
"Crono!" shouted Gohan. "What did you do?!"
"Calm down," said Crono. "They're fine." As he said that a whimper came from one of the towels on the ground. Crono walked over a picked it up. A baby
Gokku's head popped of the bundle. "See," smiled Crono. "Aren't they cute?"
The Dragon Ball gang was having a hard time believing that Gokku had been turned into a baby.
"If that's Gokku..." said Carrot, looking at the other towel that squirmed.
Bulma walked over and picked it up. She uncovered a cute, wide-eyed, bushy-tailed chibi Vegeta.
"Oh Kami-sama, that has got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen!" squealed Bulma. Chi-Chi walked over to Crono and took Gokku from Crono.
"They're cute all right, but I prefer my husband past adolescence," stated the woman.
"You have a point there," said Bulma, cradling Vegeta.
Suddenly Goten's stomach growled. He smiled sheepishly. "You don't think we could have lunch before we leave, do you?"
Goshin was going to protest, but his stomach growled as well. The quarter-Saiya-jin blushed and coughed. "I think that's a good idea."
"Yeah," said Gohan. "But, what are we going to eat?" Everyone looked around to see they were in the middle of nowhere.
"No problem," said Crono, tapping his staff on the ground. Capsule Corp. appeared out of thin air next to the springs.
"What?!" said Bulma running over to the building.
"Don't worry. I'll put it back later," said Crono.
"You'd better," warned Bulma.
"I don't mean to bother you Crono," said a blushing Trunks, "but could you maybe give us back our clothes?" Everyone turned to look at Trunks, who was trying to keep his towel from falling off, while Pan and Gogeta tugged on it.
Crono laughed and snapped his fingers. Everyone was suddenly dressed.
"Um, Crono," said Trunks.
"What?" said the god of time.
"These aren't my clothes. In fact, they look like my dad's." Sure enough, Trunks was dressed in a blue jumpsuit with Saiya-jin armor over it.
"That's not your hair either," said Goten.
"What?!" said Trunks touching his hair. It stood up straight on top his head, like it did when he was in super Saiya-jin mode.
"It's black too," said Goten.
"Crono! What did you do to me!?" shouted Trunks, and he took a step towards the god. Trunks lost his balance and fell. He looked behind himself and gasped, as did everyone else. Trunks had a tail.
"Sorry about that. You'll get use to it in a little bit," said Crono.
"I don't what to get use to it!" shouted Trunks. "Now I'll never get a girlfriend," he said, hiding his face in his hands.
"I'll be your girlfriend, Trunks!" shouted Pan, and she hugged his neck.
"Ahhh!" Trunks jumped up and tried to run away from the girl. He wasn't doing a too good of a job, and nearly fell several times. Crono disappeared and reappeared next to the two as Pan jumped on him, causing him to crash to the ground. Crono picked Pan up. She protested.
"Don't worry, Trunks. It's not permanent. You'll need to blend in when you get to Planet Vegeta. You think the Saiya-jins are going to mind if a purple-haired, blue-eyed, tailless, demi-Saiya-jin walks down the street?
You won't get more then ten steps before someone tried to fight you."
Trunks sighed in annoyance. "You could have told me that ahead of time."
Goten walked over to Trunks and helped him up.
"Yeah, that's right. Sorry," said Crono with a big smile.
"You did that on purpose," said Bra, a.k.a. Blue lady. Crono smiled wider.
"Wow, you look just like Grandpa," said a voice behind them. Everyone turned to see Veggi and Carrot, who looked far too much like Vegeta. Both now wore
Saiya-jin armor like Trunks; their hair was black, and Carrot's stood straight up.
"That's not going to be a problem is it?" asked Goshin.
Crono shrugged. "All the male members of Vegeta's family, till Trunks, looked very much alike. It might come in handy since you have to pass through Saiya-jin security."
"Well," said Chi-Chi, handing Goten Gokku. "I'm going to go cook lunch. You play with your father." Chi-Chi turned and walked away before Goten could protest. He held Gokku at arms length, obviously not knowing what to do.
Gohan saved him by taking Gokku when the tiny Saiya-jin started to whine.
"Come on, Gohan. We can use Trunks and Bra's old nursery." Goten stayed outside with Trunks, helping him adjust to his new appendage. Bra took Pan, Gogeta, and Uub to her room to play. Veggi and Carrot talked excitedly about going to planet Vegeta to Goshin, and Bulma and Gohan went inside Capsule corps. with Gokku and Vegeta. Not having anything better to do, Piccolo followed Gohan so he could talk to the boy.
Bulma and Gohan entered the nursery. Piccolo stayed in the doorway.
"Now you play like a good little Saiya-jin," said Bulma in a girly voice, setting the boy down. Vegeta laughed and shook her finger, shaking her whole body. Bulma quickly pulled out of his grasp and gave him a toy to destroy.
Gohan set his father-turned-infant down and watched as he gave Vegeta's tail a good yank. Vegeta whirled on him and hit him in the head. Gokku started crying.
In the door Piccolo frowned with disgust. He didn't like babies.
"Bulma!" called Chi-Chi from the kitchen. "Where do you keep the rice!?"
"In the pantry!" Bulma yelled back.
"Where!?" Chi-Chi called back.
"Watch him for me," said Bulma, and she went to go show Chi-Chi where the rice was.
"Gohan!" yelled Chi-Chi. "Come down here and carried this for us. It's too heavy!"
Gohan looked at the two toddler Saiya-jins and back at the door. He then noticed Piccolo standing in the doorway.
"Piccolo-san, please watch them. I'll be right back," said Gohan going through the door.
"Wait a minute," protested the Namek sei-jin, but Gohan was already gone.
Piccolo grumbled to himself and leaned against the doorframe. He glanced over at the two Saiya-jins and noticed Gokku playing with a small green solider. The Saiya-jin baby popped it into his mouth.
"Ahhh! Spit it out!" said the Namek sei-jin, stepping toward the Saiya-jin.
Too late! Gokku swallowed it with a big gulp. Piccolo sweat dropped and wondered what he should do. Gohan came back.
"Sorry about that. Hope they weren't too much trouble." He went over and began playing with the two Saiya-jin boys.
Piccolo decided it was best not to say anything.
Chi-Chi finished cooking lunch with the help from Bulma and everyone sat down to eat. They were all startled by a bright flash. Goten and Trunks jumped up into fighting stances. Well, Goten did, but Trunks fell out of his chair.
Bulma stood in the doorway to the kitchen with a camera in her hand.
"Mom!" said Trunks climbing back into his chair. "Don't do that."
"Sorry," said Bulma. "Thought I'd document this little adventure." She took another picture. "You look interesting with black hair Trunks," she teased.
Trunks groaned and hid his face in his hands.
Bulma then left to go take pictures of baby Gokku and Vegeta.
Blue lady smiled to herself, hiding it behind her teacup. Her eyes glanced at Crono.
Goshin caught the look, but decided to ask about it later.
They all finished their food. Trunks was finally able to balance correctly.
Wrapping his tail around his waist helped. Gohan went to go get Gokku and
Vegeta so they could start their mission, but froze when he entered the nursery. Bulma and Chi-Chi were dressing their husbands up in Trunks' old clothes and snapping pictures.
"What are you two doing?!" said Gohan, picking up his father. Chi-Chi took a picture of them together.
"Chi-Chi and I were thinking about how we can never get them to dress nice.
So..." she said, waving a cute bunny suit that had been one of Bra's
Halloween costumes.
"Bulma-san, Mom, please," said Gohan, freeing his father from the cute sailor suit he wore. "They would never forgive you if they found out.
Besides, we're leaving now." He went to Vegeta, who was dressed in a blue pair of pajamas, complete with built in booties.
"You're no fun," said Bulma, snapping another picture of Gohan with both boys before he fled with them. "Let's go watch," said Bulma, getting up from the floor.
Chi-Chi nodded and the two hurried after Gohan.
Everyone had gathered outside to watch.
"Listen up. There is more you have to do then just dropping Gokku and
Vegeta off," said Crono. He turned to Gohan's Groups. "Nall's men killed Gohan, Gokku's grandpa. You're first task is to make sure that doesn't happen. Second, do not let him know who you are. That might change the future. Third, at least one of Nall's men must return to Nall with the past version of Gokku."
"But," said Goshin, interrupting Crono, "if we just stop Nall's men from taking Gokku in the first place, then none of this will have happened."
"That's correct, but…." Crono turned to look at the chibi Gokku being held by Gohan. "What will you do with him?"
"What?" said Goten, turning to look at his infant father. The boy had a scowl on his face, and was trying to pull free of Gohan's grip. "If we stop Nall's men back in the past, won't he just disappear?"
"No," said Crono. "Nothing just disappears. Just because you fix the past doesn't mean this did not happen. Gokku and Vegeta will still exist."
"I see," said Gohan. He winced as Gokku sank his teeth into his arm. "Ow!
Why are you biting me? Ow!"
Crono chuckled. "It would seen our two Saiya-jins have regained their memories completely. Gokku was a rather wild child before he hit his head."
"No kidding," said Gohan, nearly losing his hold on the baby.
"Vegeta's being a good boy," said Bulma, taking a peek at the chibi Prince, whom Trunks was holding; he was asleep.
"Vegeta was sweet when he was little. It was years of training and abuse from Freiza that made him the way he was," said Crono.
"That's terrible," said Chi-Chi. "Is it right to send him back to that?"
Crono shrugged. "It's not your place to decide really, unless you're willing to change the past and not return him."
"We can't do that," said Trunks. "If we do, I sure won't be around for very long."
"Same for Veggi and me," said Carrot. "Not to mention Gogeta and Bra."
"Vegeta's past isn't all dark," said Crono. "His mother was a real nice person and his father wasn't half bad. You know things turn out all right in the end."
"I guess you're right," said Bulma. "I just hate to think of what the Saiya-jins did to their children, shipping them off to other planets to destroy them. It's barbaric. And that Freiza guy was just a monster."
"You think that, but if they hadn't shipped them away, Gokku never would have come to your planet. In some cases the Saiya-jin did good things, but it usually wasn't by choice," said Crono. "You have to remember that there's a scale; for good to exist there has to be evil. It is the way of life. Even I can't change that."
There was a moment of silence that was rudely interrupted by an "Ow!".
"I don't mean to be rude, but could we hurry this up a little, before dad chews my arm off? Ow!" said Gohan.
Crono nodded and turned to Trunks' group. "You're going to have a little more trouble. Since the Saiya-jins were a warrior race, when Nall's men showed up they of course fought back. You're going to have to make sure that none of the Saiya-jins are killed, especially King Vegeta and Celleris, Vegeta's mother. Again, don't let anyone know who you are, and try and hide your powers."
"That's not going to be easy," said Trunks. "You want us to protect everyone and hide our powers? That's impossible!"
"Not completely impossible," said Veggi. "The Saiya-jins can't read ki like us. They have to use their scouters."
"So all we have to do is take out their scouters," said Carrot.
"And how are we going to do that?" asked Trunks. "If we raise our ki to do it, they'll know we're really strange, and they might not take kindly to having them shot off."
"You'll think of something," said Crono. He tapped the ground with his staff and two portals opened in front of the group. "Be careful," he said.
Everyone waved good-bye as the teens entered the portal and vanished.
"I hope they'll be okay," said Chi-Chi in a worried voice.
"Crono," said Bulma, "you said we could watch."
Crono smiled and tapped the ground again. Two giant big-screen TV's appeared and began playing the scenes of the two groups. Bulma looked behind her to see a couch had also appeared.
"Not exactly what I thought you were going to do," said Bulma sitting down.
Bra and Chi-Chi took a seat as well. Piccolo went off to meditate, though he was still within range in case something happened. Crono snapped his fingers and a bowl of popcorn appeared in his hand. He took some and handed it to
Chi-Chi, then snapped his fingers again and a lazy chair appeared behind him. Crono sank down in it with a sigh.
Bulma blinked at the relaxed god and stuffed some popcorn into her mouth as she turned to watch the screen.