Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z/GT or any of its character. That's all Akira Toriyama baby. HOWEVER...Setsuna, Hazama, and Eris Nozomi are products of MY imagination. Ya wanna use 'em...you gotta ask!

Author's Note: This ~~~~~ ( denotes a change in narrators. This ^^^^^^ ( denotes a change in tense. Also a minor note Setsuna, Hazama, and Eris are brothers and sister, Eris being the oldest and Setsuna the youngest. Ages are as thus: Trunks-27, Goten-26, Eris-24, Hazama-20, Bra-17, Pan-16, Setsuna-17, Uubu-19, Marron-23. Everyone else is generally old...hee hee.

Journeys to the Past

It has been one week to the day since I last flew somewhere that wasn't surrounded by water. I had spent the first few days of my summer vacation at Kame House helping Eris make repairs. Well to be more accurate, Eris was making the repairs; I was playing Mahjong with Marron all day. I almost feel sorry for the lot of them. I couldn't bear that kind of isolation. Not that ocean doesn't just thrill me, I would just miss the sight and the smell of tierra firma. I zip through the trees of the heavily wooded Mountain Area. The air up here is quite chilly. I probably should have stopped and put my shirt back on before I left the island, but once again I let my eagerness get in the way of any logical pattern of thinking. I must be sight to the people on the ground: my blue ponytail in disarray, my two size too big orange gi pants, and an electric purple bikini top. I pause in midair. I'm pretty sure Pan lives around here somewhere. I've ridden home with her after school, but I always fall asleep on the way there. The only thing that I remember is the fact that she lives right next door to her grandmother and uncle: a fact that is of little assistance right now. There is no way that I'm going to find the Son's residence at this rate. I close my eyes and try to focus on Pan's ki. It's faint. It's nowhere near here. I'd wager she's in West Capital. At Capsule Corp. Eating. With Trunks. Yep that's his ki I feel. Lucky chick. I let myself fall to the ground, mulling over the fact that I just wasted two hours of my life. One of these day I am going to convince Son Pan to get a cell phone. I lay back against the cool grass and inhale. The rich soil. The blossoming flowers. The air. A hint of atmosphere. It smells like rain. It smells like home. I close my eyes. I can almost see the palace. Images of the friends I left behind become vivid. Then I see her. My mom. Mi madre. I feel weak all of a sudden. I can't move. It's too painful. It hurts too much.

It's about to rain. Hard. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twenty-six. I am twenty-six years old and this place is all I know. This house. These people. This life. My life is boring. Well, at least as boring as a life that a demi-Sayian can lead. I still live with my mother. I feel obligated to. She's been abandoned too many times. I know Gohan lives right next door, and yet....I feel that I'm supposed to stay. He has his own family to care for. Me on the other hand...Besides, my mom would have a nervous break-down if I lived on my own. She almost didn't want to leave me here by myself this afternoon. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"I'll be gone this afternoon Goten." "All right kaa-san." "I'll be at Capsule Corp. if you need me." "Okay." "Gohan, Videl , and Pan are going to West Capital too." "That's fine kaa-san." "Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" "Hai." "Trunks hasn't seen you in a while." "I know. I just need some peace and quiet." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

She looked so sad. But at least I've got the house to myself. I can pretend that I'm living in a classy bachelor pad. In the middle of nowhere.

Its too quiet in here. I think I might just take a walk in woods. I go to the closet. There are too many jackets in here for a two-person household. I can barely fit my own coat in there. Half of these once belonged to Gohan. Two of them are tou-san's. There not much use to him now. I asked kaa-san if I could give them to Hazama so they could at least be put to good use. I thought she was going to kill me. I pull out a blue windbreaker and head out the door. It's starting to rain.
I miss these walks. I used to take them all the time with Trunks. That is before Capsule Corp became his life. I'd be lucky to say hi to him nowadays. Unless, of course, I make an appointment first. Funny how life works out. We swore to each other that nothing would stand between our friendship. It's easy to make promises like that when you're eight. Maybe I should have gone to CC with kaa-san. I miss him. A lot.
It's pouring down now. Not that I mind. It's energizing. Like taking a shower in the outdoors. I pause for a moment and tilt my head towards the sky. I'm getting soaked. I love it. So cool. So refreshing.
I'm not alone.
I can sense some else. It's faint. I can barely feel it. It seems so familiar, but I can't place the signature. I follow the fading energy through the woods. It leads to a part of the forest I haven't been to since I was a child.
She looks like a wood sprite. The rain drips down on her skin making it shine. Her pants cling to her legs. Damn she's beautiful. Tacky, but beautiful. I step over the bushes and walk over to where she lay. Her breathing is soft and slow. Almost as if she doesn't even notice the rain pelting against her cheeks.
"Setsuna?" I murmur softly. Her lids flutter open revealing those shimmering green orbs. "Are you all right?"

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"Setsuna?" I can hear my name. It sounds so far away. I open my eyes. Goten? Where the hell did he come from? I silently kick myself for not being able to sense him. Vegeta would have field day if he ever found out I let someone sneak up on me.

"Are you all right?"
"Hai. I'm fine. Why?" "Well most people I know don't fall asleep in the middle of the woods during a downpour." "In all fairness, I was here before it started to rain." "Oh." The silence between us is deafening. He looks as if he was in deep thought. I probably interrupt his train of thought. I have a bad habit of doing that. He clears his throat.

"It's, uh, raining." Thanks Captain obvious.
"I noticed that too." He blushes furiously. I swear, he and Son-sensei are the most bashful men I have ever met.
"Don't you think you should get indoors or something?"
"The rain doesn't seem to be bothering you," It's blatantly obvious what he really wants. Subtlety is not lost on me. ", but if my presence is proving to be irritating I will gladly leave. I'm sure I fly to Satan City and find something to do at home."
I didn't mean to lay on that much guilt. It just comes out that way sometimes. I look into his eye. They weren't fixed on mine. I really should have put that shirt on before I left.
"I don't want you to leave. I was going to invite you back to my house."
Oh.
"Oh. Okay. I suppose that's much closer than Satan City." I laugh at my own pitiful attempt at a joke. Humor is not my forte.
"Yeah it's...uh, this way." He points to a winding path behind him. Goten faces about and walks into the forest. I pick my backpack and shoes off the ground and follow him. Not like I have anything else to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I have succeed in being a complete ass. Setsuna not only thinks that her presence is a burden on me, she probably thinks I'm a perv. I was making eye-to-chest contact. Then again she did have on a bikini...Self- Control. It's taking every once of will power I have to stop my self from turning around and staring at her. She's pretty. Damn. She's gorgeous. I can hear her light foot steps behind me. I should probably say something to her.
"So what are you doing out here?" Smooth Goten.
"I was hoping to run into Pan. I wanted to hang out with a real teenager." I can't help but laugh.
"And your experiences with fake teenagers have sucked I suppose." She snorts behind me.
"Iie. I've been at Kame House for the last six days. I've hung out with the world's most perverted pig, the world's oldest pervert, the world's oldest turtle, the world's most boring conversationalist, the world's most frightening homemaker, the world's most obnoxious Mahjong player, and the universe's most overbearing and overprotective handyman."
"Say that one more time again." She laughs this time. It's infectious. I can't help but laugh too. She walks faster until she's standing by my side.
"I've been at Kame House ever since the end of the school term. I wake up. I fly to Kame House with Eris. He fixes stuff. I play board games. I get bored," she pointed down to her bikini top, "I swim. I fly back to Satan City. Not exactly what I had in mind for a vacation."
Setsuna shoves her hands into her pockets and kicks the rocks out of her way. She had a very pensive look on her face. Like there was more bothering her than just a crappy start to a summer vacation. Several strands of her hand fall over her shoulder, shielding her profile from my sight. Too bad. If Trunks were here he'd brush them back himself. I, on the other hand, am not that bold.
Trunks has always been more forward than I when it came to women. That's why he always got the hot girls. I have never had that kind of luck with women. Sure, there was Paresu. That was fun while it lasted... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Goten, I don't think this is going to work."
"What! Why?" She sipped her tea quietly. She never even looked at me.
"Well, let's face it, we're, like, too different. I mean you, like, have so much stuff going on in your life with, like, your family and stuff. I mean it's just that I don't think I can handle what you're, like, going through." I wanted to slap the shit out of her
"So that's it then."
"Yeah. Basically."
"Fine." I stood up to leave. She had this puzzled expression on her face. The last serious relationship I had. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Is this it?" I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realize that we were standing in front of the house.
"Hai. This is it." Setsuna folded her hands over her chest.
"Then let's go in."