Chapter 10
It's a Kodak Moment
Quote: "Being a good fiend is like being a photographer: You have to search for the right moment." -Vegeta
Part 1
Chi-Chi and Bulma rolled on their sides laughing.
"Oh poor Trunks," laughed Bulma. "He looked like he was going to faint every time that Ginger girl grabbed him."
"Yeah," said Chi-Chi. "And what about the others? Now that was funny all those Go's."
Both women broke out in hysterical laughter. Crono was watching them with amusement when two portals opened up, and the two groups returned from their adventures.
"Gohan! Goten!" shouted Chi-Chi, and she went over to her sons. "So, did you have fun?" She was obviously trying hard not to laugh.
"Mom, did you watch us?" asked Goten eyeing the big TVs.
Chi-Chi giggled into her hand.
"Mom, stop that! It wasn't funny! I got bitten several times!"
"Well, we'll just have to take you to the doctor's when we get back to our time and dimension," said Chi-Chi. Gohan sweat dropped.
"Yeah," said Goshin, "but the real funny part is Gohan's named after Grandpa Gohan, who named Gokku after him!" Both Goshin and Chi-Chi looked each other in the eyes before bursting out in laughter.
"Mom!" protested Gohan.
Bulma rubbed Trunks in the ribs. Unfortunately for Trunks it was his bruised side. "That's my boy, Mr. Lady Killer," she teased.
"No! You saw all that?!" shouted Trunks
Just then two blurs ran by and slammed into Trunks.
"Trunks-chan!" chorused two female voices.
"Ahhhhh!" shouted Trunks and tried to free himself from the two hyperactive girls. Gogeta and Pan just held onto him tighter and giggled more.
"Oww! Don't touch the side! Ahhh! Don't touch me there!" protested Trunks.
The dragon ball crew laughed at the embarrassed Trunks.
Gohan scooped up Pan and Goshin pried Gogeta off of Trunks.
"Just kill me now and get it over with," mumbled Trunks on the ground.
Goten laughed and helped him up.
"Crono, can I please have my clothes back," Trunks pointed to his face, "and if it's not too much trouble can you return my hair and eyes back to their normal shape and color?"
Crono grinned at him and snapped his fingers. Trunks' clothes returned to a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt, and sneakers. His hair fell back down, changing from black to purple, and his eyes became sky blue. Veggi's clothes changed back to her red sleeveless leather outfit and her hair became purple again. Carrot's hair fell down to his shoulder blades and his clothes changed to his blue sleeveless trench coat and black shirt and pants.
Trunks sighed and ran a hand threw his silky hair. "Thanks." Trunks took a step and fell on his face, he looked back at his tail. "Crono!"
"You didn't say anything about the tail," protested the god. Trunks growled at him.
Crono laughed and snapped his fingers. A pair of scissors appeared in his hand. Trunks sweat dropped and scrambled to his feet. Crono snapped the scissors a few time and Trunks took off for the hills. Crono laughed again and snapped his fingers again. Trunks appeared in front of him in midstep, and before the demi-Saiya-jin could move Crono snipped his tail off. Trunks yipped and fell on his face again. "Thanks," he mumbled into the grass.
Bra-san shook her head; the rest of the dragon ball crew sweat-dropped.
"No problem," said Crono.
"Looks like everyone's back to normal," said Chi-Chi.
"I kind of liked looking like Vegeta," said Carrot.
"Yeah, but if you'd gone back to our time, everyone would have mistaken you for him. They probably would have made you be emperor," said Veggi.
"Hey, that doesn't sound too bad," said Carrot.
"What a minute!" shouted Bulma. "Where's Vegeta?! Where's Gokku?!" Everyone glanced around, but the two were nowhere to be seen. At once everyone turned and glared at Crono. The god of time sweat-dropped and took a step back.
"Crono," said Blue lady, "don't you think you should stop playing around and go back to running time?"
The god of time looked disappointed. "But I was having fun, Bra-chan."
"Crono!" shouted everyone.
"Ah, all right," the god of time smiled. "This should be interesting." The entity of time slammed his staff down on the ground twice.
"What did he mean by that?" asked Trunks. Standing next to him, Goten shrugged.
A portal opened up and two yelling figures landed in a heap in front of them.
Gokku sat up. "What?! Where?! How!? Where am I? Vegeta?" The Saiya-jin looked down to see he was sitting on the Saiya-jin prince.
"Kakarot!" shouted the prince. Gokku soon found himself flying. "Get off!"
Gokku landed on his butt. "How dare you use me like some kind of door mat!" He grabbed Gokku and started shaking him.
"Hey, wait Vegeta-san. Don't fight," shouted Goshin over Gokku yips. Vegeta stopped his strangling to glance around.
"You!" he growled once he spotted Carrot. Trunks and Goten both grabbed one of his arms as he started towards Carrot.
"Wait Dad! Wait!" shouted Trunks in vain. Both teens were slowly being pulled foreword.
"Oh, man! He's pissed!" shouted Veggi.
"Who are you?" Gokku asked Goshin, still on his butt. Goshin stared down at the calm Saiya-jin and sighed.
The commotion was stopped when a booming laugh filled the air. Everyone turned to look at Crono.
"What are you laughing at, you fruitcake!" shouted Vegeta and started dragging Trunks and Goten towards Crono.
"Now I remember!" shouted Gokku, hitting his hand into his palm. "You're those guys that attacked us earlier."
"Now you remember," Goshin sighed.
The madness was broken again by a very loud shout of, "GRANDPA!" Vegeta was sent tumbling head over heels as a blue-haired little girl slammed into him.
"Ahhhhh! What is it!" shouted Vegeta, trying in vain to get Gogeta off of him.
"Daddy!" shouted Bra, and she soon joined Gogeta in her mobbing of Vegeta.
The Saiya-jin prince manage to break free and was off in a flash, with two squealing girls on his heels.
"That should keep him busy for awhile," said Crono. Everyone else sweat-dropped.
"Um, who are you?" asked Gokku, still on the ground.
"I'm Crono," said the deity of time.
"Oh, I'm Gokku." Gokku got up and shook Crono's hand. "Um, where are we? I mean that looks like Bulma's house, but I don't remember her having a jungle in her backyard."
"It's a long story," said Crono.
A loud thump was heard and then the sound of Vegeta cursing. Everyone looked to see Vegeta flat on his stomach, face in the grass, with a giggling girl on each leg.
"That's it! You're dead!" shouted Vegeta. He rolled over and began forming a ki blast in his hand.
"Wait Dad!" shouted Trunks. He ran over and pinned Vegeta's arm behind his back.
"Let go right now, or I'll do the same to you!" shouted Vegeta. Goten rushed over and between the two boys and the two girls they were able to hold him still.
"Crono," said Blue Lady. "Why didn't you inform them of what was going on before you brought them here?"
Crono looked innocently in another direction.
"Of course," sighed Carrot.
"It was more fun for him this way," Veggi sighed.
Vegeta stopped his struggling and stared at Blue lady. He glanced down at Bra, who was still hugging his leg, and back at Blue lady.
"You're...." Vegeta was confused. "...Bra," he breathed.
Emotion flashed in front of Blue lady's face, but she managed to contain it.
"You can let him go now," she said quietly.
Trunks and Goten glanced at each other then released Vegeta's arms.
"Gogeta," said Trunks. The girl lifted her head to look at him. "You can play with grandpa later. You come sit with me now, okay?" Gogeta looked back at Vegeta, then relented and climbed into Trunks arms.
Vegeta stood up and picked up Bra. He then walked over to Crono and Blue Lady. Bulma walked over to them and grabbed Vegeta's arm.
"Vegeta, this is Crono, the force of time, and this," she said gesturing at Blue Lady. "Is Blue Lady, also Bra, from the future." She turned to point at Veggi and Carrot. "Those two are our grandkids by Bra and Uub. Their names are Veggi and Carrot. They're 18 and twins." She turned to Goshin. "This is Goshin. He's Gokku's grandkid, Goten and Marron's son. He's 19 and he's not a super Saiya-jin even if he looks like one." Goshin silently fumed. "And that cute little girl over there," Bulma said pointing her finger at Gogeta, "is your hero-worshiping granddaughter, Gogeta. She's also Gokku's great granddaughter, Pan and Trunks' daughter. She's 10 and a level five super Saiya-jin."
"What!" shouted Vegeta. "Make sense, woman. You expect me to believe that little girl is a super Saiya-jin level FIVE! That's ridiculous! Next thing you'll be telling me you're the Queen of the universe!"
"Empress actually, and only 2/3 of the universe," beamed Bulma.
Vegeta slapped a hand across his face. "Calm down. This has to been the weirdest dream I've ever had. Must have been something I ate. Lets see, did Bulma try some of her home cooking again?"
"Hey!" shouted Bulma, and she bonked him on the head. "You big jerk! I've been worried sick about you for the past two days, and when I finally get you back to your old self you insult my cooking! I should have keep the nicer one!"
"What the hell are you talking about! I just saw you a moment ago! Make sense you stupid woman!"
"Stupid woman!?"
Both growled in the others face. Bra giggled in-between them, then gave them both a kiss on the cheek. Vegeta drew back to wipe his cheek and Bulma turned her back to him muttering under her breath. Everyone else sweat-dropped.
"Alright, let's say this is real," said Vegeta. "What did we miss?"
The dragon ball crew took turns explaining all that had happen, past, present, and future.
"So, we're dead in your future," said Gokku. He was already starting to forget some of the long story.
"Unfortunately, yes," said Goshin. "Blue la-, I mean Bra-sama is empress now with Uub."
"How did we die? You didn't tell us that," said Vegeta.
"Um...." said Goshin looking uncomfortable.
"Gokku killed you," snapped Veggi.
"Veggi," warned Bra-sama.
"It's true!" shouted back Veggi.
"Kakarot...." said Vegeta. Both Saiya-jins turned and looked at each other.
"Um, sorry," said Gokku sheepishly.
"Sorry!" roared Vegeta. A dog pile formed on top of the prince as everyone tried to hold him down.
"Don't worry father," said Bra-san. "It was a Yarummen battle."
Vegeta stopped and stared at Bra-san. "Double death."
Bra nodded.
"Wait a minute!" shouted Veggi. "What's a Yarummen battle?! What do you mean double death?!"
"Yarummen is the Saiya-jin word for double death. In other words, we killed each other," said Vegeta. He looked at Bra-san. "when did you learn Saiya-jin?"
"It was the language we used to send messages during the war. Worked pretty well. It was hard to listen to and pick out words with so many growls."
Vegeta shrugged and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"That's it!" fumed Veggi. "You don't care that he killed you!?"
"I killed him," replied Vegeta.
Veggi was slightly taken aback by the answer. "But, you were too important to die in a meaningless battle. Being Saiya-jin you could have easily lived to be 200 years old without aging a great deal!"
Vegeta snorted. "Why would I want to do that?"
Veggi looked confused and frustrated. "Why wouldn't you?!"
"Simple: Kakarot and I are Saiya-jins, the last. The most honorable death for any Saiya-jin is to be killed by their offspring." Trunks, Goten, and Gohan looked ill at the idea. "Since my son would most likely never give me that honor, being killed by another Saiya-jin is the next best thing."
"That's sick," said Chi-Chi. "Where's the honor in that?!"
"You wouldn't understand human. The average life span for a Saiya-jin is 45 years. Kakarot and I are both in our 50s now, and by the sound of your story either one of us is going to die any time soon."
"Yes, your point would be?" questioned Carrot.
"Any Saiya-jin would prefer a death in battle over living to a insane number of years and dying in their bed. Personally I don't know how you humans can stomach growing old like you do. Better to die doing what you love then being a weak creature that has to depend on others."
"In other words, Father, a Saiya-jin's ego is too big to live that long," said Bra-san, hiding her smile behind her hand. Vegeta growled at her and Bra growled back. Vegeta looked slightly surprised. Then he smirked.
"I hope you don't learn that language any time soon," said Vegeta.
"What? Afraid I'll pick up some interesting cuss words, or is it the fact you tend to admit more stuff in that language."
Vegeta crossed his arms and said something in Saiya-jin. Bra-san face softened and she repeated the sentence but added a little on to the end.
"This is so touching," said Crono. Bra and Vegeta nearly jumped out of their skins.
"What you understand us?" shouted Vegeta.
"Of course I do," smiled Crono. "But don't feel embarrassed. I, after all, am time; I know everything."
Vegeta sighed, "I don't know what to think about all of this. What are your plans now?"
Crono was about to answer, but Bra-san cut him off. "We're going to restore the other dimension and return everyone home."
A loud growl sounded and everyone turned to look at Gokku, who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Um sorry. Do you think we could eat first?"
"Saiya-jins," muttered Chi-Chi, and she headed towards Capsule Corps.
"I'll help," said Bulma, and she hurried after the woman.
"Grandpa!"
"Daddy!"
"What?! No!"
Vegeta took off again with the two blue-haired girls close behind.
"Let's go see if we can find anything good on those giant TVs," said Goten to Trunks.
"Good idea. Hey Crono, what channels do you have?"
"Everyone from this dimension to the next," said the god of time.
"Cool," said both boys, and they ran over to the TVs.
Pan and Uub had disappeared inside the house to find something to play with, and Gohan went to go talk to Piccolo. Goshin, Carrot, and Veggi joined Trunks and Goten at the big screen TVs and Gokku went to see if he could get a "light" snack to hold him over till the food was ready.
Crono smiled and watched. He had to admit, he'd put this group through hell and back, and there was still much more in store for them.
"You're enjoying yourself a lot, aren't you Crono," asked Bra-san, who was still at his side. Crono sighed.
"It's times like this that I wish I wasn't time. Being alive seems so interesting."
"Oh, you have no idea," smiled Bra.
"Oh, I beg to differ. I am ti—" Crono's sentence was cut off by a flash and he turned to look at Bulma holding a camera.
"Don't mind me," she said cheerfully, and she went off to snap a few shots of the others.
"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" said Crono, not hiding the wonder in his voice.
Bra laughed softly into her hand. "And you're saying the mightily Crono didn't?"
Crono smiled and turned back to watching the others. "No Bra. I didn't."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Chi-Chi called everyone in to eat, and soon Saiya-jins sitting all around the table were scarfing down food at an alarming rate, Gokku taking in the most. Trunks and Goten's chop stick clashed as they tried to grab the same food item. The two battled passionately over it, till Trunks pointed out the window and shouted, "UFO!" Goten forgot the food and Trunks wasted no time in popping it in his mouth.
"Hey!" protested Goten. "You tricked me!"
"Wasn't that hard," smiled Trunks.
Bulma took another picture of the two as they started the fight again with a pork bun. "Say," she said, "where's Vegeta. He's not one to miss a meal."
Goshin finished slurping up some noodles and looked around. "Now that you mention it, Gogeta and chibi Bra aren't here either."
Everyone paused in their eating for a moment.
"They're in the living room," said Pan.
"They are? Then why didn't they come eat when we called them?" said Bulma, and she left for the living room. In the corner of the room Bra-san hid her smile behind her cup of tea.
Bulma entered the room and clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Draped over the couch like he had been shot was Vegeta. One leg dangled over the armrest, while the other was semi pulled up. His head rested on the other, with one arm hanging over the side of the couch touching the floor, and the other draped over his eyes. Only one word could describe Vegeta right then and it was "tired." Bulma could see why: Bra was snuggled between Vegeta and the couch, her head resting on his chest. Gogeta was laid out on one of Vegeta's legs, her arms circling his waist.
Bulma raised up her camera and a snapped a shot of the three. She couldn't hide the smile on her face as Gogeta mumbled "grandpa" in her sleep."Too cute," she whispered softly at the three.
"Aren't they?" came a voice form behind. Bulma turned to see Bra-san standing in the doorway. Bra smiled sweetly at Bulma, then a little sadly."We have to go now. I came here to say good- bye."
"Then I should wake Vegeta up," said Bulma. She moved to do so, but was stopped by Bra.
"Don't; let them sleep."
Bulma smiled softly and nodded. She watched as Bra walked over to the three and knelt down beside them. Carefully she touched Vegeta's forehead and closed her eyes. The prince's eyebrows twitched, but he didn't wake. A soft blue light surrounded Bra and without opening her eyes she moved her hand to her younger selves' forehead and repeated the process with her. Both Bras sighed softly as the blue glow faded and Bra-san opened her eyes. She leaned down and kissed her father on the check, then scooped up Gogeta, who mumbled a bit.
"What did you do?" questioned Bulma as Bra-san walked towards her.
Bra-san smiled and gave Bulma a light kiss on the check. Bulma's eyes widened, and then the world went black.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 2
"Bulma. Bulma!"
Bulma was jarred awake. She turned around to see Chi-Chi.
"Bulma, are you asleep or something? You've been staring off into space forever now."
"Asleep?" said Bulma, running her hand through her hair.
"Yes, are you okay? Do you need to lay down?"
"No," said Bulma shaking her head. "I think I'll go sit down for a bit."
Bulma passed the window and looked out to see Piccolo and Gohan sparring outside. Gokku stood watching them with Pan and Uub. The lights were on in the gravity room and Bulma figured that Goten and Trunks were probably doing some training as well. That's strange. I don't see Vegeta any were, thought Bulma. She walked into the living room and her hand went up to her mouth to keep from laughing. Vegeta lay on the couch like he had been shot, with Bra fast a sleep next to him. She looked down at her own hand and saw she was holding a camera. Without another thought, she snapped a shot of the two.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Part 3
Blue lady sat quietly in her room, slowly turning the pages of a large, old book.
"Crono, when are you going to stop fooling around? You know the longer you're here the more screwed up time's going to get."
"You knew I was here?" questioned the god of time as he stepped out of the wall.
"I figured you'd show up sooner or later."
"How did you know?" asked Crono.
"Know what?" asked Bra, not taking her eyes off the book.
"Bra. Your mother; you knew she was going to take that picture. How did you know, when not even I knew?"
Bra smiled and pulled a piece of paper out of the book. "Is your ego that big Crono? Have to know everything, don't you?"
"I'm time."
Bra smiled and handed Crono the piece of paper.
"This is...!" said Crono, going wide-eyed.
"The same picture." She pulled another photo out of the book. "And this one was taken after we left." It was the picture of her young self and Vegeta asleep on the couch.
Crono laughed, "Of course! I should have known."
"I wasn't afraid when the dimensions started to shatter," said Bra.
"Oh, now who's got the big ego?"
Bra smiled and leaned her head onto her hand. "I wasn't afraid because I knew everything would work out fine. You see Crono, I was able to block out all of my family and friends' memories of our little visit, but I couldn't block myself, not completely. I remembered bits and pieces of it, and then my mother came home one day with these pictures. Everyone was so confused about them. They didn't know who Goshin, Veggi, Gogeta, Carrot, or me were, nor did they remember doing any of the stuff in the pictures. The baby shots of Gokku and Vegeta really freaked them out."
Bra smiled deeply. She held up the picture that Bulma had taken of her and Crono. "Too bad you don't show up on film."
Crono smiled and shook his head. "Don't have a body." He handed Bra back her picture.
"So, I hope you've had enough fun to last a long time," said Bra.
Crono nodded, then kissed Bra's hand. "Thank you and good-bye my lady." He melted away into thin air.
"Good bye, Crono."