~~The Future~~
Goku paced back and fourth in his son's living room. It had been about an hour since the disappearance of his daughter and her friends and he was a complete wreck. He didn't know if she was lying dead somewhere in the city or what. He couldn't understand why she could have been hurt. She proved to be able to take care of herself in the city, yet he still didn't approve of it. He liked to keep tabs on her at all times for she seemed to get herself in more trouble then either of his sons did. Even Goten wasn't as rambunctious as Usagi. He had looked all over the city with his teleportation method too. He didn't have a direct energy to concentrate on, so he just teleported to random places that she may have been. She hadn't been anywhere in site.
Goten, who had been called shortly after the disappearance of the kids, watched his father as he lay on the sofa. He had never seen him this worried in his life. He didn't know that he was capable of being this worried. "Dad calm down, it's only been an hour. She's gotta be out there somewhere."
Goku stopped his pacing and looked to his son. He didn't understand how he could be so calm in a situation like this. Usagi, Ami, and Mamoru's energy had mysteriously disappeared and he didn't seem worried about it at all. "Goten, I can't calm down. Someone's energy doesn't just go away all of a sudden if nothing is wrong. Maybe if you had kids of your own you'd understand where I was coming from."
Goten sighed. He hated the fact that just because he never had kids, he never knew what it was like to parent. He had taken care of Pan for Gohan many times and had taken care of his sister a few times. He knew enough about kids. And besides, this was Usagi they were talking about. She was his sister. He worried about her, but he didn't see this as too big of a deal. He knew how kids played games and figured that she was probably trying to trick everyone into thinking that she was gone. "She has a low energy to begin with. Maybe she just lowered it all the way. You know, she loves to play games with our heads."
"Don't be ridiculous. For one, no one can lower their energy all the way to being gone. We've already established that. And two, even if that was possible, she would know better then to do that." Goku walked to the door. He could feel Piccolo coming for the house. He hoped that he had found something. "Something is wrong, Goten. I know there is. I can feel it in my bones. Now why don't you go out into the mountains and search for them? I've already checked at home, she isn't there, but they may have gone out into the woods and something might have happened there." He didn't even want to think about what could have happened in that scenario.
Goten sat up. He didn't see the point to searching. He was certain that Usagi was just playing a game. He used to play all sorts of games. She had learned most of her antics from him anyways. "Yeah sure, fine, whatever." He pushed himself up off the blue sofa and began to walk to the sliding glass door. "I'll be back later." He didn't think that they were in any immediate danger. They had, after all, only been missing for an hour. 'Gees, what could have happened? Usagi is the strongest out of the entire group. Mamoru is almost as strong as her, although she has greatly surpassed him from what the differences used to be. They can protect Ami.'
Goku busted the door open and ran out to meet Piccolo, who was landing in the front yard. His face didn't say much about what he was thinking. "Did you find anything? Anything at all?"
Piccolo shook his head. "No. I went and talked to Haruka and Michiru. They haven't seen him since school on Friday. Gohan is checking to see if they went to the arcade or any of their other usual hangouts. I just don't understand why Mamoru would have left. He doesn't exactly like hanging around with Usagi. I don't see why he would have gone anywhere with her. He can't stand her for more then about ten minutes. No offense, Goku."
Goku was disappointed. He hoped that Piccolo had at least found something that belonged to them. "Usagi took her bag with her. She changed into her GI because her cloths that she came her in are in Pan's room. I don't know what she was thinking when she left but she obviously had fighting in mind, which can't be a good thing." He grabbed his arms and tried to produce warmth on them as it started to snow again. "I just sent Goten to the mountains to look for them there. Oh boy, this is just going to make Ami's mother love me even more. She already thinks I'm a bad father to Usagi."
"Yeah, well, Mamoru is going to get it when I get my hands on him. I though I trained him with better discipline than this. But I guess I need to enforce the rules a little bit more."
"Don't be so hard on him. You shouldn't always discipline a kid. They cooperate much more if you don't yell as much. But with this one, I'm going to over look that. Usagi has put herself and Ami in danger and who knows where they are. She's going to have to learn that she can't do that."
Piccolo was a little surprised by Goku's reply. He had never heard him say anything about punishing any of his kids. "Goku, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I'm mad at her for leaving. I'm not at the fact that she left without telling me, well, it upsets me that she left without telling me, but I'm mostly mad the fact that she put herself into danger and obviously had something happen to all three of them. When I find her, she may find herself in a little bit of trouble."
"Goku don't come down too hard on her. She doesn't need that from you and Chi-Chi. You know Chi-Chi will go nuts when she finds out."
"I'm not going to tell Chi-Chi if I don't have to. She doesn't need to know everything. If she did, Usagi would probably be somewhere in an all girls' boarding school in Switzerland. Either that or I would be deaf from her yelling at me. I take a lot of abuse from her for Usagi. I'm not going to go off on her, I'm just going to sit her down and tell her that she needs to stop just thinking that she can do whatever she wants."
Piccolo still couldn't believe that this was Goku he was talking to. He was actually sounding like a true parent. 'I guess nearly seventy years on the planet changes a person's attitude. It's about time the man grew up.'
~*~*~
Chi-Chi sat in Bulma's office and stared at the blueprints of the time pad. Bulma had just explained how it generally worked and she felt a little better about sending her daughter to a different time for a couple of hours the next day. She knew that with Bulma there, there wasn't much that could go wrong. "Bulma, will you promise me that you will get my baby back to me safe and sound?"
Bulma knew that it was risky to try and take one of Chi-Chi's kids, but she had faith in her invention. Two of the smartest minds had made it. "Don't worry Chi-Chi. Nothing is going to happen. You know how it works now. You know that Usagi will not age any due to time distorter, or time field that the wrist bands produce. Nothing will go wrong. I just have to give it one more good look at tonight with Ami to make sure it won't blow up in our faces and leave us stranded in time." She giggled. "But what are the chances of that happening? As long as I look at it tonight, we won't have anything to worry about anything." She bent down and pulled out a small machine of some sort. It looked like a part of a car for it was completely made of metal and had wires sticking out of it with all ends. "I also have to put this stabilizer in it that I just got yesterday to ensure that it will work properly. But I can't do that until Ami gets here after she and Usagi are done studying."
Chi-Chi didn't know anything about machines and how they worked so she just took Bulma's word for it. She trusted that she wouldn't let anything bad happen to any of the girls. "Speaking of those two, I want to call Gohan's and see how the studying is going. You know, I want to see if Goku is actually making them study."
Bulma put the stabilizer down on her desk and pushed away a pile of papers to reveal a phone under them. "Go ahead and call. This is a private phone so it's not hooked into any of the other offices."
"Thanks Bulma." She picked up the phone and dialed the number to her son's home phone number. She didn't think that anyone would answer it except Usagi. The men were there strictly for fighting and would probably be outside. Chi-Chi let the phone ring for about thirty seconds before anyone picked up.
"Hello?"
Chi-Chi was surprised to hear Goku on the other line. She thought that he would be fighting. He sounded out of breath and figured that he had just taken a break or something. "Hello? Goku?"
Goku froze. He wasn't expecting Chi-Chi to call. He hadn't found the kids yet and was definitely not ready to tell Chi-Chi that he had lost them. "Oh, hi Chi-Chi." He looked over to Piccolo and pointed to the kitchen table.
Piccolo got a puzzled look on his face. "What?"
Goku continued to point at the table as he took the phone away from his face. "Make some noise to make it sound like someone is studying. You know, tap a pencil or close a book, or even slam a book on the table, Usagi has a habit of doing that." He whispered so his wife wouldn't hear.
"Goku, is Usagi studying?" Chi-Chi knew that was a stupid question to ask. She knew very well what the answer would be. But it didn't really mater for she was getting ready to leave anyways. She would soon see for herself.
"Uhh…yes. She's studying. She's been studying all day." Goku had a hint of nervousness in his voice that was very detectable.
"Goku, if you're lying to me…"
"No. I'm not lying. I'm just tired. I just took a break." He looked over to Piccolo as he slammed a book shut and then dropped it on the floor. "See Chi-Chi? Usagi is even trying to show me how much she hates studying by throwing her book on the floor."
Chi-Chi was a bit skeptical about her husband's story. He still sounded too unsure of himself. "Well, I'm coming over now to pick up Ami. I'll take Usagi with me to drop Ami off at Bulma's. So have her ready Goku."
At that moment, Gohan came barreling into the house. "Dad, I couldn't find them. Did Piccolo have any luck?"
Goku waved at Gohan to shut up. "What Chi-Chi? No! You don't have to hurry down here. Chi-Chi please calm down. What? Who was Gohan talking about? No he wasn't talking about Usagi. She's here with me. I'm looking at her right now. Gohan was looking for Pan and Videl. We can't find them and need to know where…Chi-Chi? Are you there?"
"Of course I'm here Goku! You're lying to me aren't you? Answer me!"
"Chi-Chi? I can't hear you. There's too much static on the line. Speak louder." That was the wrong thing to say to Chi-Chi.
"I AM TALKING LOUD! I AM COMING RIGHT DOWN THERE SO I CAN GET USAGI BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE LYING TO ME!"
Goku pulled the phone away form his ear and could still hear her loud and clear. Even Gohan and Piccolo could make out everything that she said. Once she stopped yelling Goku put the phone up to his ear again. "Chi-Chi? Are you still there? I can't hear you. Look, I'll call you later. There is just TOO much static to make out a word you're saying."
"Goku I know you're…" Chi-Chi heard a click and then a dial tone. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. "That bastard hung up on me. There was no static." She looked to Bulma. "I know something's up and I'm going to get to the bottom of this."
Bulma leaned against the wall. What she had just witnessed was nothing new to her. She had seen Goku lie to Chi-Chi before. She had also seen what happened when he did too. Someone usually ended up getting hurt and it wasn't Chi-Chi. "I take it you're leaving then?"
"Yes. Goku doesn't take Usagi's schooling seriously. That's why her brain is all mush."
~*~*~
Goku slowly put the phone down. He had no idea what he was going to do. He looked to Gohan. "You're mother is coming."
"You didn't tell her I take it. That's why you hung up on her like that?" Gohan walked into the dining room. "You guys haven't found anything yet."
"No. Your Goku isn't going to tell Chi-Chi unless it is really necessary. He's taking a risk by doing that. Maybe you should just tell her. It would produce a lot less confusion." Piccolo stood up from the table. "I think she deserves to know anyways. We should also tell Ami's mother."
"I agree dad. We shouldn't keep secrets."
"Do you know what your mother will do to me when she finds out I lost them?" He looked back to the phone and debated on whether or not her wanted to call Chi-Chi back and tell her the truth.
~*~*~
~~The Past~~
It had been about two and a half months since Usagi and the rest of her friends arrived in the past. Not much had happened except the fact that they wished that Goku would never get the heart virus. The Dragon granted the wish and there really was nothing for them to worry about. Usagi had full filled what she came to the past to do. Now all she needed to do was wait for the Dragon Balls to become useful again and use them to get back home. One thing still lingered in the back of her head though. She wanted to know why she had been successful in saving her father, but if time really did go in circles, why had she never gone back into the past in the future. That was one question that she would probably never find out. She tried to ask her father, but he didn't understand the whole concept of time circling itself, when he was the one who told her in the first place. She noticed a lot of things different about her father from the past and her father in the future, her real father. The past version of him seemed to be a lot more like a kid. Kind of like her. Which in itself scared her. He didn't really act like the future version of herself. All those little comments from the people she loved most about his maturity surprising them now made sense to her. While she liked playing with the past version of him, she liked his future self more. But there were still many things about both of them that were no doubt the same.
She sat on the sofa with her feet on the coffee table as a footrest while watching cartoons on TV. Ami and Rei sat on the floor doing their homework. Although they were in the past, they didn't let their studies fall behind. It was a way to get ahead of their classes. Well, Ami was already ahead. But Rei was definitely getting ahead. Usagi still didn't care about schoolwork and pretty much spent the past two and a half months sitting around while rotting her brain with TV. "Why are you guys doing work? We don't have to. When we get back, only a day will have passed."
"They are doing their work, young lady, because they don't want to become dumb." Chi-Chi dropped a pile of books onto the sofa next to her daughter. "Now get to work. No child of mine is going to be lazy. I'm sure that your mother doesn't want you to waste a year not studying. I would know because your mother is me."
"But mom, I don't want to study. You don't really make me study that much." She looked at all the books. Studying was probably the one thing that scared her the most. That and spiders. She looked up to her mother. "I'm not lazy. Normally I fight with daddy all the ti…"
"How many times have I told you? Gohan is fighting but you are not. I don't want you getting yourself hurt while you are under my care. I may have changed in the future, but you are not in your own time and I am acting as your mother now. So, no. You're not fighting. Now get to studying."
"But that's not fair. I always fight. I don't know half the stuff in those books anyways. So I guess I can't study after all."
"Usagi, if you let me, I'll teach you. You know I can."
Usagi looked over to Ami and frowned. "Ami…don't ruin this for me. I don't want to study." She looked back up at her mother. "Uh-oh. Something tells me I should not have said that in front of you."
Chi-Chi crossed her arms. "Something tells me you're right Usagi. Now hit the books. You're behind the others." She turned around and walked out of the room.
Usagi pushed the books away like she had for the past couple of months. "Whatever." She repositioned herself into a more comfortable position on the sofa and looked back at the TV. She didn't want to study. She wanted to fight with everyone else. They were all preparing for the androids while she was stuck at home.
"Usagi, your mom is right." Ami leaned over to the TV. "You need to study. So come on. Let's go. I'll help you with something."
"What are you doing Ami? I was watching that." She reached over to the table for the remote, but didn't get to it in time. Rei grabbed it before she could. "Rei come on. You aren't going to make me study are you?"
"Yes. Now get down here." She put the remote under her notebook. "Your mom wants you to study now do it." Rei didn't really like studying herself, but she didn't mind doing it either. It was a nice alternative from fighting all the time and she learned quite a few interesting facts from all of Gohan's old books.
Usagi sat down to the table. "You guys. This is NOT fair. You know I hate studying." She looked over to Ami. "You owe me big time." She couldn't believe it. She was complaining about her mother making her study for her two-week vacation and her she was, having to study for a year. But she wouldn't really study. She would just pretend to. She had become very good at just letting her mind wander.
~*~*~
~~The Future~~
Chi-Chi arrived at Gohan's about an hour after she left. Traffic had been heavy and roads were clogged up from people driving extra slow due to ice on the road. Had there been no one on the road, Chi-Chi would have ignored the ice and raced to her son's house. She didn't care. She should have known better then to let Usagi go with Goku.
She kicked the door in without even knocking first. She was fuming mad. Goku always had to ruin their kids' education. "GOKU!" She stiffly walked into the house to see her husband, son, and Piccolo all sitting in the living room looking as scared as ever. "Where is Usagi!" She put her hands to her waist and began tapping her foot out of frustration. "Well?"
Goku looked to Gohan and Piccolo for relief, but it was pretty obvious that they were going to leave it totally up to him. "Chi-Chi, don't get mad when I tell you this." He paused. Just that statement seemed to set his wife off even more. "I kind of lost the kids."
Chi-Chi didn't say anything for a moment. She fought herself to stay calm but it just wasn't happening. It wasn't possible. "You what?! How in the hell do you loose kids? That's impossible! Of course I am talking to you! You lose everything." She turned to Piccolo and Gohan who looked as if they were trying to hide. "And you two! How the hell did you lose the kids? You all can sense each other's energy signatures, am I not right? So please enlighten me on how you lost a couple of eight year olds?!"
Gohan looked to father in confusion. He wasn't supposed to be brought into this. His dad was supposed to take the fall for it as he had always done. Goku knew the routine. "Chi-Chi, calm down. We don't know what happened but we can't sense them anymore. We can't even find Mamoru. Goten is currently out looking for them in the mountains."
"So you lied to me! Goku you should know better then to lie to me! Especially about something like this! You told me that you were looking at her at that moment. What is wrong with you!? Did you think that I would just not find out? Is that it? Did you think that you could come home without your daughter and just expect me to not notice? I've got news for you GOKU! That wouldn't have happened! Now you get out of here and go look for her!"
Goku took a step closer. He knew it was risky but he needed to calm her down. At her age, she could easily give herself a heart attack, with or without the Dragon Balls making her age slower. "Chi-Chi, please, calm down. We've looked all over for them and can't find them anywhere. We won't stop looking."
"Damn straight you won't stop looking! Now we have Ami to worry about too! Oh god, we're going to be sued because you guys couldn't keep track of a couple of eight year olds." She turned around and picked up the TV remote that sat on a small table by the sofa. Just thinking about the situation made her angrier. "What the hell was I thinking? Letting you take Usagi like that!" She turned around and threw the TV remote at her husband's head. At this point, she was so angry that she didn't even know what she was doing. She couldn't see straight.
"Whoa I guess this is a bad time." Goten had just walked into the room when the TV remote was hurled at his father's head.
Chi-Chi turned to her son. "Goten, did you find anything?"
Goten didn't want to tell his mother. She knew that she would lash out at him if he did. She was already to the point of throwing objects. "I did, but I didn't. I went to Rei's temple too, instead of just going to the mountains. I guess they were there earlier today and left with Rei. Rei's grandfather hadn't seen them since."
"What? Rei is gone too?" She turned to her husband. "Why didn't you feel Rei's energy gone too?"
"I wasn't checking for hers. Here I'll check now." He concentrated and scanned for her energy, but could not find anything at all. "Yeah, she's gone too."
Everyone was startle by the sudden ringing of the telephone. Chi-Chi waited for someone to answer it. "Is anyone going to answer it?" No one moved. They had been too afraid to. "Well fine then. I'll answer it." She walked over to the phone and picked it up just as it was going into the answering machine. "Hello?"
"Chi-Chi? You ARE there. I was beginning to get worried. It's been about an hour and twenty minutes since you left. I thought you might have been in a wreck or something." Bulma had been expecting Ami to meet her about forty minutes before that.
"I'm here alright Bulma. But I don't think Ami will be coming over any time soon. The men lost the kids and can't find them. They can't sense their energy. Isn't that great?" She glared back at the room filled with her husband, sons, and Piccolo, whom she already nearly hated.
"What? They lost the kids and can't sense them? How is that possible, unless they're…whoa never mind. I'm not going to even go in that direction." Bulma knew what would happen if she mentioned the possibility that they were dead. Chi-Chi would have gone ballistic and then had probably killed Goku. But that was the only thing she could think of that would be causing their energy to go away. "So Ami is missing with Usagi?"
"And Mamoru. That stupid pig of a boy probably got Usagi to leave." Chi-Chi hated Mamoru as much as he despised her.
Bulma heard something stirring in the hallway behind her room as she sat on her bed. "Just a minute Chi-Chi." She covered the receiver up with her hand. "Vejita! What are you doing down there?" He was obviously trying to hide something from her. The hallway was pitch black.
"Nothing you need to know about woman!" Vejita quickly shoved something into the hall closet and closed it. "Why don't you learn to mind your own business?" He walked into the room and frowned. "Can you not talk on the phone all the time. Your damn ear is going to be attached to that thing one of these days. You're acting just like the girl did. Always talking on the phone. Only you had better not be talking to any other men or I'll kill them. And you better not be talking to Kakorrotto!" He shuddered just by hearing that name.
"Shut up Vejita. This is important. Usagi, Ami, and Mamoru are missing. No one knows where they may be."
Vejita sat down on the bed. "I saw Kakorrotto's brat today. She seemed to be hiding something."
Bulma's eyes widened. "What?" She pulled the phone up to her mouth again. "Chi-Chi, Vejita says that he saw Usagi today. Ok, I'll ask." She pulled the phone away again. "When and where?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. You think I pay attention to where I see people I hate?"
"Just tell me. I know you know. You supposedly have a great memory." Bulma was getting really agitated with Vejita's stubbornness.
"Fine. I saw her just outside your office. She said that Ami had permission to show her and a couple and her friends something that you guys have been working on or something."
"What?! Thanks Vejita." She pulled the phone back up so she could talk to Chi-Chi. "I think I know what happened. Vejita said that he saw her outside my office today. He said that Ami was going to show her the project we've been working on, meaning, the time device. Chi-Chi, I think they jump in time."
"WHAT!? THEY DID WHAT!?" Chi-Chi could have nearly dropped the phone and passed out right then and there. The only thing that kept her from doing that, was the need to get the kids back. "Bulma, I have to tell the guys."
"Wait, you must not be misinformed. As much as I hate to tell you this, I must. They might not be okay. You see, that stabilizer I was talking about was not in it when they used it. Obviously, I was able to show it to you. Without that, their chances for that thing working all the way are very slim. It could very well malfunction." Chi-Chi actually did drop the phone that time. That was a little bit more information then she actually wanted to hear. "Chi-Chi? Chi-Chi?" There was no answer, only the sound of Chi-Chi yelling about something again in the background. "Poor girl." She hung up the phone.
"I'll KILL HER! SHE IS GOING TO BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HER!" She jumped to her feet and clenched her fists.
Goku knew that something horrible, but not too horrible had happened. Judging by his wife's reaction, he guessed that the kids were all right. "Chi-Chi, tell us what Bulma said."
Chi-Chi stopped yelling just long enough to get a clean picture of her husband's face in her mind. "Well, it seems as though Usagi lied to Vejita and told him that Ami was allowed to show her a new time machine that she and Bulma were making. Well, you can pretty much guess what she did. And to make things worse, that thing wasn't totally safe. It wasn't completely finished. But also, one day here counts as one year in another time. Luckily they won't age due to this device that Bulma made, but I'm going to ring Usagi's neck when I see her again! She has really crossed the line with this one."
"You're going to ring Usagi's neck? Mamoru is going to get it even worse then that kid. He knows what happens when he disobeys me." Piccolo stood up and walked to the door. "Tell me when you figure out a way to get them back, if you figure out a way."
Goku didn't have much to say to Piccolo. He was dealing with his own problem. Chi-Chi was right. Usagi had crossed the line this time. She had not only left the house without his permission, which alone put her into danger, but she had gone to another time. Something in which they had never even discussed before. He couldn't believe that he had lied to Vejita though. He had never taught her to lie and he didn't understand why she would start now. "I think I know what time she went to too. The other day she asked me about Trunks and what would happen to the past if our Trunks didn't go and save everyone. Well, she seemed really interested in going back to save me from that virus. I'm pretty positive she went back in time for that."
"She what? Dad, she'll be killed if she stays to fight the androids and Cell. We all nearly were." Gohan vividly remembered the day that the fight with Cell. He didn't want to, but he did. It was stuck in his memory for good. That was the day that all hell broke loose. Everything before that day was just child's play, although, it was pretty intense fighting.
"I know, she has two more days to get out of there safely or I'm afraid something might happen to her. She may try to fight them. You guys know Usagi and her persistence. Well, now look at where her persistence has gotten her." Goku had no idea what he was going to do when his daughter returned home. He knew he wouldn't over react like his wife, but he had to put his foot down on this one. While she was gone, he would hope for her safety. He would worry about a punishment after he knew that she was safe.
"I hope that the time machine didn't malfunction like Bulma said it might." That was the one thing that worried Chi-Chi the most. She didn't know what she would do if her daughter were stranded in the past.
~*~*~
~~The Past~~
Ok, one half hour in the future, equals one month in the past just so you know. At least it does in my story.
It had been a full year since the kids arrived in the past. Usagi continued to fight her mother about studying. She didn't learn very much and was grounded almost all the time because of it. Mamoru had learned a lot from his father. He learned that you get much more satisfaction from people if you are nice to them, yet, he still didn't like Usagi. He was making much more progress though.
Anyways, Goku, Chi-Chi, Gohan, Piccolo, Ami, Rei, Usagi, and Mamoru all stood in the woods with the Dragon Balls placed out in front of them. Usagi was so excited that she could hardly contain herself. She enjoyed living with her parents and brother from the past, but she was ready to go home. She was ready to see her real parents and brotherS. The ones who had memories of past events with her. She couldn't wait to see Minako and Makoto to tell them about everything that she had done. "Come on, come on, let's go, let's go."
Ami laughed. She had learned so much from Usagi in the past year. She had learned that sometimes it's better to listen to your heart then to always listen to what your brain and the people around tell you. She learned pretty much how Usagi worked and could appreciate her a little more because of it. "Hold your horses Usagi. We'll get home soon enough."
Usagi looked to her parents and then to Gohan and smiled. "It was really fun living with you guys. Thanks for letting us live with you."
"Well, I couldn't let my own daughter fend for herself now could I? Even if you are a bit lazy, I still love you." Chi-Chi bent down and hugged her daughter.
"Laziness is the key to happiness mom." She giggled as she pulled away from her mother. She had actually worked some of her magic on her mother even. She had lightened her up and molded her to be a bit more like her mother from the future. She was a bit more understanding with the small things.
"Do you really have to leave Usagi? I'm going to miss having you around."
Usagi looked to her father. She was going to miss him too. She had grown to love his child like personality. She would soon miss him all together for when she returned home, she was certain that her life would be a living hell. "Yes daddy. I have to go."
Mamoru just shook hands with his father. Both of them were too proud to hug or exchange words of love. Even in the future, they had never really talked about their feelings towards one another, but they both knew what the other felt. "I guess you'll see me in a few years then."
"Yeah kid. It was fun having you around. I'll miss you, but you won't miss me. You'll see me everyday. Just remember what I taught you alright?"
"Definitely."
Usagi turned back to the Dragon Balls. "I guess it's now or never. You can call the Dragon now."
"Eternal Dragon. Please rise! We require your presence." Goku stood back a ways from the Balls and pulled back Usagi and Rei. He knew that they Dragon would require space.
A whitish smoke trail emerged from the seven balls on the ground as the sky went from bright blue, to pitch black. "What is your wish? Make it quick."
Usagi looked back to her father, who nodded at her to proceed. She turned back to the Dragon. "Eternal Dragon, we wish for you to send me, Rei, Ami, and Mamoru back to the future, where we came from!"
The Dragon's eyes turned red and stayed red for a few seconds and then died out. "I am not able to full fill your wish. It is beyond my power. Please choose another one."
(Ok, that's it for this part. So, what do you think? Is it good or bad? Please review and tell me. Thanks. Oh yeah, my teachers have decided that it's time to overload me with stupid, and I emphasize STUPID, anyways, they have given me all these stupid reports and final projects since I only have about a month and some odd days left of school. _ So therefore my updating will have to suffer. Not too bad though. Instead of one chapter a night, it will probably one chapter every other night. Not too much up a hit, right? Anyways, this will probably go on until the last couple of weeks of June when the work slows down to a complete halt. ^.^ I will probably be able to get them out everyday on the weekends though. I should probably go now. I have to go do research. Yippee. Bye for now. ^_^)
Goku paced back and fourth in his son's living room. It had been about an hour since the disappearance of his daughter and her friends and he was a complete wreck. He didn't know if she was lying dead somewhere in the city or what. He couldn't understand why she could have been hurt. She proved to be able to take care of herself in the city, yet he still didn't approve of it. He liked to keep tabs on her at all times for she seemed to get herself in more trouble then either of his sons did. Even Goten wasn't as rambunctious as Usagi. He had looked all over the city with his teleportation method too. He didn't have a direct energy to concentrate on, so he just teleported to random places that she may have been. She hadn't been anywhere in site.
Goten, who had been called shortly after the disappearance of the kids, watched his father as he lay on the sofa. He had never seen him this worried in his life. He didn't know that he was capable of being this worried. "Dad calm down, it's only been an hour. She's gotta be out there somewhere."
Goku stopped his pacing and looked to his son. He didn't understand how he could be so calm in a situation like this. Usagi, Ami, and Mamoru's energy had mysteriously disappeared and he didn't seem worried about it at all. "Goten, I can't calm down. Someone's energy doesn't just go away all of a sudden if nothing is wrong. Maybe if you had kids of your own you'd understand where I was coming from."
Goten sighed. He hated the fact that just because he never had kids, he never knew what it was like to parent. He had taken care of Pan for Gohan many times and had taken care of his sister a few times. He knew enough about kids. And besides, this was Usagi they were talking about. She was his sister. He worried about her, but he didn't see this as too big of a deal. He knew how kids played games and figured that she was probably trying to trick everyone into thinking that she was gone. "She has a low energy to begin with. Maybe she just lowered it all the way. You know, she loves to play games with our heads."
"Don't be ridiculous. For one, no one can lower their energy all the way to being gone. We've already established that. And two, even if that was possible, she would know better then to do that." Goku walked to the door. He could feel Piccolo coming for the house. He hoped that he had found something. "Something is wrong, Goten. I know there is. I can feel it in my bones. Now why don't you go out into the mountains and search for them? I've already checked at home, she isn't there, but they may have gone out into the woods and something might have happened there." He didn't even want to think about what could have happened in that scenario.
Goten sat up. He didn't see the point to searching. He was certain that Usagi was just playing a game. He used to play all sorts of games. She had learned most of her antics from him anyways. "Yeah sure, fine, whatever." He pushed himself up off the blue sofa and began to walk to the sliding glass door. "I'll be back later." He didn't think that they were in any immediate danger. They had, after all, only been missing for an hour. 'Gees, what could have happened? Usagi is the strongest out of the entire group. Mamoru is almost as strong as her, although she has greatly surpassed him from what the differences used to be. They can protect Ami.'
Goku busted the door open and ran out to meet Piccolo, who was landing in the front yard. His face didn't say much about what he was thinking. "Did you find anything? Anything at all?"
Piccolo shook his head. "No. I went and talked to Haruka and Michiru. They haven't seen him since school on Friday. Gohan is checking to see if they went to the arcade or any of their other usual hangouts. I just don't understand why Mamoru would have left. He doesn't exactly like hanging around with Usagi. I don't see why he would have gone anywhere with her. He can't stand her for more then about ten minutes. No offense, Goku."
Goku was disappointed. He hoped that Piccolo had at least found something that belonged to them. "Usagi took her bag with her. She changed into her GI because her cloths that she came her in are in Pan's room. I don't know what she was thinking when she left but she obviously had fighting in mind, which can't be a good thing." He grabbed his arms and tried to produce warmth on them as it started to snow again. "I just sent Goten to the mountains to look for them there. Oh boy, this is just going to make Ami's mother love me even more. She already thinks I'm a bad father to Usagi."
"Yeah, well, Mamoru is going to get it when I get my hands on him. I though I trained him with better discipline than this. But I guess I need to enforce the rules a little bit more."
"Don't be so hard on him. You shouldn't always discipline a kid. They cooperate much more if you don't yell as much. But with this one, I'm going to over look that. Usagi has put herself and Ami in danger and who knows where they are. She's going to have to learn that she can't do that."
Piccolo was a little surprised by Goku's reply. He had never heard him say anything about punishing any of his kids. "Goku, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I'm mad at her for leaving. I'm not at the fact that she left without telling me, well, it upsets me that she left without telling me, but I'm mostly mad the fact that she put herself into danger and obviously had something happen to all three of them. When I find her, she may find herself in a little bit of trouble."
"Goku don't come down too hard on her. She doesn't need that from you and Chi-Chi. You know Chi-Chi will go nuts when she finds out."
"I'm not going to tell Chi-Chi if I don't have to. She doesn't need to know everything. If she did, Usagi would probably be somewhere in an all girls' boarding school in Switzerland. Either that or I would be deaf from her yelling at me. I take a lot of abuse from her for Usagi. I'm not going to go off on her, I'm just going to sit her down and tell her that she needs to stop just thinking that she can do whatever she wants."
Piccolo still couldn't believe that this was Goku he was talking to. He was actually sounding like a true parent. 'I guess nearly seventy years on the planet changes a person's attitude. It's about time the man grew up.'
~*~*~
Chi-Chi sat in Bulma's office and stared at the blueprints of the time pad. Bulma had just explained how it generally worked and she felt a little better about sending her daughter to a different time for a couple of hours the next day. She knew that with Bulma there, there wasn't much that could go wrong. "Bulma, will you promise me that you will get my baby back to me safe and sound?"
Bulma knew that it was risky to try and take one of Chi-Chi's kids, but she had faith in her invention. Two of the smartest minds had made it. "Don't worry Chi-Chi. Nothing is going to happen. You know how it works now. You know that Usagi will not age any due to time distorter, or time field that the wrist bands produce. Nothing will go wrong. I just have to give it one more good look at tonight with Ami to make sure it won't blow up in our faces and leave us stranded in time." She giggled. "But what are the chances of that happening? As long as I look at it tonight, we won't have anything to worry about anything." She bent down and pulled out a small machine of some sort. It looked like a part of a car for it was completely made of metal and had wires sticking out of it with all ends. "I also have to put this stabilizer in it that I just got yesterday to ensure that it will work properly. But I can't do that until Ami gets here after she and Usagi are done studying."
Chi-Chi didn't know anything about machines and how they worked so she just took Bulma's word for it. She trusted that she wouldn't let anything bad happen to any of the girls. "Speaking of those two, I want to call Gohan's and see how the studying is going. You know, I want to see if Goku is actually making them study."
Bulma put the stabilizer down on her desk and pushed away a pile of papers to reveal a phone under them. "Go ahead and call. This is a private phone so it's not hooked into any of the other offices."
"Thanks Bulma." She picked up the phone and dialed the number to her son's home phone number. She didn't think that anyone would answer it except Usagi. The men were there strictly for fighting and would probably be outside. Chi-Chi let the phone ring for about thirty seconds before anyone picked up.
"Hello?"
Chi-Chi was surprised to hear Goku on the other line. She thought that he would be fighting. He sounded out of breath and figured that he had just taken a break or something. "Hello? Goku?"
Goku froze. He wasn't expecting Chi-Chi to call. He hadn't found the kids yet and was definitely not ready to tell Chi-Chi that he had lost them. "Oh, hi Chi-Chi." He looked over to Piccolo and pointed to the kitchen table.
Piccolo got a puzzled look on his face. "What?"
Goku continued to point at the table as he took the phone away from his face. "Make some noise to make it sound like someone is studying. You know, tap a pencil or close a book, or even slam a book on the table, Usagi has a habit of doing that." He whispered so his wife wouldn't hear.
"Goku, is Usagi studying?" Chi-Chi knew that was a stupid question to ask. She knew very well what the answer would be. But it didn't really mater for she was getting ready to leave anyways. She would soon see for herself.
"Uhh…yes. She's studying. She's been studying all day." Goku had a hint of nervousness in his voice that was very detectable.
"Goku, if you're lying to me…"
"No. I'm not lying. I'm just tired. I just took a break." He looked over to Piccolo as he slammed a book shut and then dropped it on the floor. "See Chi-Chi? Usagi is even trying to show me how much she hates studying by throwing her book on the floor."
Chi-Chi was a bit skeptical about her husband's story. He still sounded too unsure of himself. "Well, I'm coming over now to pick up Ami. I'll take Usagi with me to drop Ami off at Bulma's. So have her ready Goku."
At that moment, Gohan came barreling into the house. "Dad, I couldn't find them. Did Piccolo have any luck?"
Goku waved at Gohan to shut up. "What Chi-Chi? No! You don't have to hurry down here. Chi-Chi please calm down. What? Who was Gohan talking about? No he wasn't talking about Usagi. She's here with me. I'm looking at her right now. Gohan was looking for Pan and Videl. We can't find them and need to know where…Chi-Chi? Are you there?"
"Of course I'm here Goku! You're lying to me aren't you? Answer me!"
"Chi-Chi? I can't hear you. There's too much static on the line. Speak louder." That was the wrong thing to say to Chi-Chi.
"I AM TALKING LOUD! I AM COMING RIGHT DOWN THERE SO I CAN GET USAGI BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE LYING TO ME!"
Goku pulled the phone away form his ear and could still hear her loud and clear. Even Gohan and Piccolo could make out everything that she said. Once she stopped yelling Goku put the phone up to his ear again. "Chi-Chi? Are you still there? I can't hear you. Look, I'll call you later. There is just TOO much static to make out a word you're saying."
"Goku I know you're…" Chi-Chi heard a click and then a dial tone. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. "That bastard hung up on me. There was no static." She looked to Bulma. "I know something's up and I'm going to get to the bottom of this."
Bulma leaned against the wall. What she had just witnessed was nothing new to her. She had seen Goku lie to Chi-Chi before. She had also seen what happened when he did too. Someone usually ended up getting hurt and it wasn't Chi-Chi. "I take it you're leaving then?"
"Yes. Goku doesn't take Usagi's schooling seriously. That's why her brain is all mush."
~*~*~
Goku slowly put the phone down. He had no idea what he was going to do. He looked to Gohan. "You're mother is coming."
"You didn't tell her I take it. That's why you hung up on her like that?" Gohan walked into the dining room. "You guys haven't found anything yet."
"No. Your Goku isn't going to tell Chi-Chi unless it is really necessary. He's taking a risk by doing that. Maybe you should just tell her. It would produce a lot less confusion." Piccolo stood up from the table. "I think she deserves to know anyways. We should also tell Ami's mother."
"I agree dad. We shouldn't keep secrets."
"Do you know what your mother will do to me when she finds out I lost them?" He looked back to the phone and debated on whether or not her wanted to call Chi-Chi back and tell her the truth.
~*~*~
~~The Past~~
It had been about two and a half months since Usagi and the rest of her friends arrived in the past. Not much had happened except the fact that they wished that Goku would never get the heart virus. The Dragon granted the wish and there really was nothing for them to worry about. Usagi had full filled what she came to the past to do. Now all she needed to do was wait for the Dragon Balls to become useful again and use them to get back home. One thing still lingered in the back of her head though. She wanted to know why she had been successful in saving her father, but if time really did go in circles, why had she never gone back into the past in the future. That was one question that she would probably never find out. She tried to ask her father, but he didn't understand the whole concept of time circling itself, when he was the one who told her in the first place. She noticed a lot of things different about her father from the past and her father in the future, her real father. The past version of him seemed to be a lot more like a kid. Kind of like her. Which in itself scared her. He didn't really act like the future version of herself. All those little comments from the people she loved most about his maturity surprising them now made sense to her. While she liked playing with the past version of him, she liked his future self more. But there were still many things about both of them that were no doubt the same.
She sat on the sofa with her feet on the coffee table as a footrest while watching cartoons on TV. Ami and Rei sat on the floor doing their homework. Although they were in the past, they didn't let their studies fall behind. It was a way to get ahead of their classes. Well, Ami was already ahead. But Rei was definitely getting ahead. Usagi still didn't care about schoolwork and pretty much spent the past two and a half months sitting around while rotting her brain with TV. "Why are you guys doing work? We don't have to. When we get back, only a day will have passed."
"They are doing their work, young lady, because they don't want to become dumb." Chi-Chi dropped a pile of books onto the sofa next to her daughter. "Now get to work. No child of mine is going to be lazy. I'm sure that your mother doesn't want you to waste a year not studying. I would know because your mother is me."
"But mom, I don't want to study. You don't really make me study that much." She looked at all the books. Studying was probably the one thing that scared her the most. That and spiders. She looked up to her mother. "I'm not lazy. Normally I fight with daddy all the ti…"
"How many times have I told you? Gohan is fighting but you are not. I don't want you getting yourself hurt while you are under my care. I may have changed in the future, but you are not in your own time and I am acting as your mother now. So, no. You're not fighting. Now get to studying."
"But that's not fair. I always fight. I don't know half the stuff in those books anyways. So I guess I can't study after all."
"Usagi, if you let me, I'll teach you. You know I can."
Usagi looked over to Ami and frowned. "Ami…don't ruin this for me. I don't want to study." She looked back up at her mother. "Uh-oh. Something tells me I should not have said that in front of you."
Chi-Chi crossed her arms. "Something tells me you're right Usagi. Now hit the books. You're behind the others." She turned around and walked out of the room.
Usagi pushed the books away like she had for the past couple of months. "Whatever." She repositioned herself into a more comfortable position on the sofa and looked back at the TV. She didn't want to study. She wanted to fight with everyone else. They were all preparing for the androids while she was stuck at home.
"Usagi, your mom is right." Ami leaned over to the TV. "You need to study. So come on. Let's go. I'll help you with something."
"What are you doing Ami? I was watching that." She reached over to the table for the remote, but didn't get to it in time. Rei grabbed it before she could. "Rei come on. You aren't going to make me study are you?"
"Yes. Now get down here." She put the remote under her notebook. "Your mom wants you to study now do it." Rei didn't really like studying herself, but she didn't mind doing it either. It was a nice alternative from fighting all the time and she learned quite a few interesting facts from all of Gohan's old books.
Usagi sat down to the table. "You guys. This is NOT fair. You know I hate studying." She looked over to Ami. "You owe me big time." She couldn't believe it. She was complaining about her mother making her study for her two-week vacation and her she was, having to study for a year. But she wouldn't really study. She would just pretend to. She had become very good at just letting her mind wander.
~*~*~
~~The Future~~
Chi-Chi arrived at Gohan's about an hour after she left. Traffic had been heavy and roads were clogged up from people driving extra slow due to ice on the road. Had there been no one on the road, Chi-Chi would have ignored the ice and raced to her son's house. She didn't care. She should have known better then to let Usagi go with Goku.
She kicked the door in without even knocking first. She was fuming mad. Goku always had to ruin their kids' education. "GOKU!" She stiffly walked into the house to see her husband, son, and Piccolo all sitting in the living room looking as scared as ever. "Where is Usagi!" She put her hands to her waist and began tapping her foot out of frustration. "Well?"
Goku looked to Gohan and Piccolo for relief, but it was pretty obvious that they were going to leave it totally up to him. "Chi-Chi, don't get mad when I tell you this." He paused. Just that statement seemed to set his wife off even more. "I kind of lost the kids."
Chi-Chi didn't say anything for a moment. She fought herself to stay calm but it just wasn't happening. It wasn't possible. "You what?! How in the hell do you loose kids? That's impossible! Of course I am talking to you! You lose everything." She turned to Piccolo and Gohan who looked as if they were trying to hide. "And you two! How the hell did you lose the kids? You all can sense each other's energy signatures, am I not right? So please enlighten me on how you lost a couple of eight year olds?!"
Gohan looked to father in confusion. He wasn't supposed to be brought into this. His dad was supposed to take the fall for it as he had always done. Goku knew the routine. "Chi-Chi, calm down. We don't know what happened but we can't sense them anymore. We can't even find Mamoru. Goten is currently out looking for them in the mountains."
"So you lied to me! Goku you should know better then to lie to me! Especially about something like this! You told me that you were looking at her at that moment. What is wrong with you!? Did you think that I would just not find out? Is that it? Did you think that you could come home without your daughter and just expect me to not notice? I've got news for you GOKU! That wouldn't have happened! Now you get out of here and go look for her!"
Goku took a step closer. He knew it was risky but he needed to calm her down. At her age, she could easily give herself a heart attack, with or without the Dragon Balls making her age slower. "Chi-Chi, please, calm down. We've looked all over for them and can't find them anywhere. We won't stop looking."
"Damn straight you won't stop looking! Now we have Ami to worry about too! Oh god, we're going to be sued because you guys couldn't keep track of a couple of eight year olds." She turned around and picked up the TV remote that sat on a small table by the sofa. Just thinking about the situation made her angrier. "What the hell was I thinking? Letting you take Usagi like that!" She turned around and threw the TV remote at her husband's head. At this point, she was so angry that she didn't even know what she was doing. She couldn't see straight.
"Whoa I guess this is a bad time." Goten had just walked into the room when the TV remote was hurled at his father's head.
Chi-Chi turned to her son. "Goten, did you find anything?"
Goten didn't want to tell his mother. She knew that she would lash out at him if he did. She was already to the point of throwing objects. "I did, but I didn't. I went to Rei's temple too, instead of just going to the mountains. I guess they were there earlier today and left with Rei. Rei's grandfather hadn't seen them since."
"What? Rei is gone too?" She turned to her husband. "Why didn't you feel Rei's energy gone too?"
"I wasn't checking for hers. Here I'll check now." He concentrated and scanned for her energy, but could not find anything at all. "Yeah, she's gone too."
Everyone was startle by the sudden ringing of the telephone. Chi-Chi waited for someone to answer it. "Is anyone going to answer it?" No one moved. They had been too afraid to. "Well fine then. I'll answer it." She walked over to the phone and picked it up just as it was going into the answering machine. "Hello?"
"Chi-Chi? You ARE there. I was beginning to get worried. It's been about an hour and twenty minutes since you left. I thought you might have been in a wreck or something." Bulma had been expecting Ami to meet her about forty minutes before that.
"I'm here alright Bulma. But I don't think Ami will be coming over any time soon. The men lost the kids and can't find them. They can't sense their energy. Isn't that great?" She glared back at the room filled with her husband, sons, and Piccolo, whom she already nearly hated.
"What? They lost the kids and can't sense them? How is that possible, unless they're…whoa never mind. I'm not going to even go in that direction." Bulma knew what would happen if she mentioned the possibility that they were dead. Chi-Chi would have gone ballistic and then had probably killed Goku. But that was the only thing she could think of that would be causing their energy to go away. "So Ami is missing with Usagi?"
"And Mamoru. That stupid pig of a boy probably got Usagi to leave." Chi-Chi hated Mamoru as much as he despised her.
Bulma heard something stirring in the hallway behind her room as she sat on her bed. "Just a minute Chi-Chi." She covered the receiver up with her hand. "Vejita! What are you doing down there?" He was obviously trying to hide something from her. The hallway was pitch black.
"Nothing you need to know about woman!" Vejita quickly shoved something into the hall closet and closed it. "Why don't you learn to mind your own business?" He walked into the room and frowned. "Can you not talk on the phone all the time. Your damn ear is going to be attached to that thing one of these days. You're acting just like the girl did. Always talking on the phone. Only you had better not be talking to any other men or I'll kill them. And you better not be talking to Kakorrotto!" He shuddered just by hearing that name.
"Shut up Vejita. This is important. Usagi, Ami, and Mamoru are missing. No one knows where they may be."
Vejita sat down on the bed. "I saw Kakorrotto's brat today. She seemed to be hiding something."
Bulma's eyes widened. "What?" She pulled the phone up to her mouth again. "Chi-Chi, Vejita says that he saw Usagi today. Ok, I'll ask." She pulled the phone away again. "When and where?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. You think I pay attention to where I see people I hate?"
"Just tell me. I know you know. You supposedly have a great memory." Bulma was getting really agitated with Vejita's stubbornness.
"Fine. I saw her just outside your office. She said that Ami had permission to show her and a couple and her friends something that you guys have been working on or something."
"What?! Thanks Vejita." She pulled the phone back up so she could talk to Chi-Chi. "I think I know what happened. Vejita said that he saw her outside my office today. He said that Ami was going to show her the project we've been working on, meaning, the time device. Chi-Chi, I think they jump in time."
"WHAT!? THEY DID WHAT!?" Chi-Chi could have nearly dropped the phone and passed out right then and there. The only thing that kept her from doing that, was the need to get the kids back. "Bulma, I have to tell the guys."
"Wait, you must not be misinformed. As much as I hate to tell you this, I must. They might not be okay. You see, that stabilizer I was talking about was not in it when they used it. Obviously, I was able to show it to you. Without that, their chances for that thing working all the way are very slim. It could very well malfunction." Chi-Chi actually did drop the phone that time. That was a little bit more information then she actually wanted to hear. "Chi-Chi? Chi-Chi?" There was no answer, only the sound of Chi-Chi yelling about something again in the background. "Poor girl." She hung up the phone.
"I'll KILL HER! SHE IS GOING TO BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HER!" She jumped to her feet and clenched her fists.
Goku knew that something horrible, but not too horrible had happened. Judging by his wife's reaction, he guessed that the kids were all right. "Chi-Chi, tell us what Bulma said."
Chi-Chi stopped yelling just long enough to get a clean picture of her husband's face in her mind. "Well, it seems as though Usagi lied to Vejita and told him that Ami was allowed to show her a new time machine that she and Bulma were making. Well, you can pretty much guess what she did. And to make things worse, that thing wasn't totally safe. It wasn't completely finished. But also, one day here counts as one year in another time. Luckily they won't age due to this device that Bulma made, but I'm going to ring Usagi's neck when I see her again! She has really crossed the line with this one."
"You're going to ring Usagi's neck? Mamoru is going to get it even worse then that kid. He knows what happens when he disobeys me." Piccolo stood up and walked to the door. "Tell me when you figure out a way to get them back, if you figure out a way."
Goku didn't have much to say to Piccolo. He was dealing with his own problem. Chi-Chi was right. Usagi had crossed the line this time. She had not only left the house without his permission, which alone put her into danger, but she had gone to another time. Something in which they had never even discussed before. He couldn't believe that he had lied to Vejita though. He had never taught her to lie and he didn't understand why she would start now. "I think I know what time she went to too. The other day she asked me about Trunks and what would happen to the past if our Trunks didn't go and save everyone. Well, she seemed really interested in going back to save me from that virus. I'm pretty positive she went back in time for that."
"She what? Dad, she'll be killed if she stays to fight the androids and Cell. We all nearly were." Gohan vividly remembered the day that the fight with Cell. He didn't want to, but he did. It was stuck in his memory for good. That was the day that all hell broke loose. Everything before that day was just child's play, although, it was pretty intense fighting.
"I know, she has two more days to get out of there safely or I'm afraid something might happen to her. She may try to fight them. You guys know Usagi and her persistence. Well, now look at where her persistence has gotten her." Goku had no idea what he was going to do when his daughter returned home. He knew he wouldn't over react like his wife, but he had to put his foot down on this one. While she was gone, he would hope for her safety. He would worry about a punishment after he knew that she was safe.
"I hope that the time machine didn't malfunction like Bulma said it might." That was the one thing that worried Chi-Chi the most. She didn't know what she would do if her daughter were stranded in the past.
~*~*~
~~The Past~~
Ok, one half hour in the future, equals one month in the past just so you know. At least it does in my story.
It had been a full year since the kids arrived in the past. Usagi continued to fight her mother about studying. She didn't learn very much and was grounded almost all the time because of it. Mamoru had learned a lot from his father. He learned that you get much more satisfaction from people if you are nice to them, yet, he still didn't like Usagi. He was making much more progress though.
Anyways, Goku, Chi-Chi, Gohan, Piccolo, Ami, Rei, Usagi, and Mamoru all stood in the woods with the Dragon Balls placed out in front of them. Usagi was so excited that she could hardly contain herself. She enjoyed living with her parents and brother from the past, but she was ready to go home. She was ready to see her real parents and brotherS. The ones who had memories of past events with her. She couldn't wait to see Minako and Makoto to tell them about everything that she had done. "Come on, come on, let's go, let's go."
Ami laughed. She had learned so much from Usagi in the past year. She had learned that sometimes it's better to listen to your heart then to always listen to what your brain and the people around tell you. She learned pretty much how Usagi worked and could appreciate her a little more because of it. "Hold your horses Usagi. We'll get home soon enough."
Usagi looked to her parents and then to Gohan and smiled. "It was really fun living with you guys. Thanks for letting us live with you."
"Well, I couldn't let my own daughter fend for herself now could I? Even if you are a bit lazy, I still love you." Chi-Chi bent down and hugged her daughter.
"Laziness is the key to happiness mom." She giggled as she pulled away from her mother. She had actually worked some of her magic on her mother even. She had lightened her up and molded her to be a bit more like her mother from the future. She was a bit more understanding with the small things.
"Do you really have to leave Usagi? I'm going to miss having you around."
Usagi looked to her father. She was going to miss him too. She had grown to love his child like personality. She would soon miss him all together for when she returned home, she was certain that her life would be a living hell. "Yes daddy. I have to go."
Mamoru just shook hands with his father. Both of them were too proud to hug or exchange words of love. Even in the future, they had never really talked about their feelings towards one another, but they both knew what the other felt. "I guess you'll see me in a few years then."
"Yeah kid. It was fun having you around. I'll miss you, but you won't miss me. You'll see me everyday. Just remember what I taught you alright?"
"Definitely."
Usagi turned back to the Dragon Balls. "I guess it's now or never. You can call the Dragon now."
"Eternal Dragon. Please rise! We require your presence." Goku stood back a ways from the Balls and pulled back Usagi and Rei. He knew that they Dragon would require space.
A whitish smoke trail emerged from the seven balls on the ground as the sky went from bright blue, to pitch black. "What is your wish? Make it quick."
Usagi looked back to her father, who nodded at her to proceed. She turned back to the Dragon. "Eternal Dragon, we wish for you to send me, Rei, Ami, and Mamoru back to the future, where we came from!"
The Dragon's eyes turned red and stayed red for a few seconds and then died out. "I am not able to full fill your wish. It is beyond my power. Please choose another one."
(Ok, that's it for this part. So, what do you think? Is it good or bad? Please review and tell me. Thanks. Oh yeah, my teachers have decided that it's time to overload me with stupid, and I emphasize STUPID, anyways, they have given me all these stupid reports and final projects since I only have about a month and some odd days left of school. _ So therefore my updating will have to suffer. Not too bad though. Instead of one chapter a night, it will probably one chapter every other night. Not too much up a hit, right? Anyways, this will probably go on until the last couple of weeks of June when the work slows down to a complete halt. ^.^ I will probably be able to get them out everyday on the weekends though. I should probably go now. I have to go do research. Yippee. Bye for now. ^_^)