Dragon Ball © Akira Toriyama, Shuheisha, Inc.


Chapter 25: Different Timelines


How many times did they hope the warriors would make it back alive without any casualties? Every day, they wished that they could stand in front of their door and said, "Gotcha!". How they wished they could show the same vibrancy Yamcha showed upon seeing them back alive, especially with the knowledge that no casualties occurred.

Despite calling himself useless, Yamcha guarded Goku since the heart illness occurred and calmed the panicking Chichi. ("Oh, aren't you the guys from the future? What!? You're Goku's daughter and you're Vegeta's son!?" Yamcha screamed).

Krillin suggested that they had to move really fast from the house since there was a high chance the androids were heading to their house as they spoke. Since they never store anything important in the house, it didn't take them long to pack the essentials and put them into the plane Bulma gave to Krillin prior to the battle.

Tenten was watching her father sleeping with hands entwined together. "Otō-san…" she whispered while holding his hand. "It's me, Tenten—the one from the future. I'm back, Otō-san. But we… failed to stop the androids' resurrection…" Tenten took her father's hand and rested her forehead on it. "I don't want to be selfish, but we really need you right now, Otō-san, so please… wake up soon, okay?"

Yamcha then came with Krillin to bring her father while Trunks brought his futon so they could lay him on the plane. While her mother was busy pointing at things that needed to be brought, Tenten was ordered to bring the twins to the plane. Carrying them in both arms, Tenten couldn't stop looking at both of the babies simultaneously—overwhelmed by the strange sensation the babies were emitting.

"How do you feel cradling yourself and your twin brother?" Trunks mockingly asked.

"Well, how did you feel with yours?"

Trunks chortled, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, weird. I know."

"And, not only that." Tenten chuckled. "I've forgotten about how small a baby can be. They're so… light and…" Tenten bit her bottom lip as the joy surged through her centre. "…pure; so full of hopes and promises. Do babies always give you these kinds of feelings?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it…" Trunks smiled in amazement himself. "So innocent… I never know that I need to see this once in a while… After all the destructions we see in the future."

"Right? Here, take one." Tenten passed her baby self to Trunks, who was very rigid and tense when holding the baby. The baby was staring right into his eyes as if she was studying the man before her.

"Hello there, little lady." Trunks gently pinched her cheek, feeling the meltdown when the baby giggled in response. It had been a while since he felt something so warm in his chest, sending his mind cloud nine. He couldn't believe that she used to be so innocent back then.

"What are you two doing there? If you want to make babies this isn't the right time to do so!" Krillin shouted from the plane.

"W-we aren't!" Trunks shouted with a face as red as a boiling lobster, shocking the two babies who ended up crying. "H-hey! I'm sorry! Don't cry, don't cry!"

"Then hurry up! We don't have all day!" Krillin waved his hand inwardly.

"Coming!" Tenten still giggled by Trunks' spontaneous response. "Well, at least it seems that you'd be a good father."

Warmth radiated from his face. He looked down to baby Tenten who was looking at him with curious eyes. If Tenten were to have a daughter, she might be looking like her baby self and him holding her like this would make him look like the father.

"Well, I'm glad to know you think so…"

"Huh?" Tenten raised an eyebrow.

"L-let's go to the plane! We have to move fast! Come on!" Trunks put his other arm behind her back as he pushed her forward to the plane. She glanced at him for a moment before shrugging.

Chichi came out of the plane and waved her hand afar, welcoming Gohan who just returned from sending Bulma home and told him to get inside the plane fast. After making sure Goku and the baby crib were safe and secured by the belt, the plane embarked on the safest place in their mind—the Kame House. The plane couldn't bring them as fast as they did fly, but it was better to move without using Ki because the android could detect Ki.

Tenten sat beside the baby crib all the time, still amazed by the presence of babies, especially since it was her baby-self along with Goten—sleeping with hands holding onto each other.

"Goten…" she whispered as she lovingly stroked Goten's chubby cheek with her knuckle. "How I wish this cuteness will stay forever but you're growing up an ass…" She chuckled when Goten grunted as if giving his disapproval. "I really hope you don't leave me, just like what your future self did…"

"Ou…"

"I miss you, Goten…" She kissed Goten's cheek, smiling when he simpered in his sleep. After tucking the blanket close to the babies' chins, Tenten turned around and smiled even wider at the knowledge that her family members were all alive and in the same place.

It felt like a dream and almost unreal.

It was the glorious moment she had been looking forward to all her life.

A soft touch on her shoulder snapped her from her train of thought. Of all the empty spaces, Trunks chose to sit close beside her. "Goten looks silly when he's a baby, doesn't he?" he said with a soft smile.

"Better than the mean-looking baby that scowls too much," she smoothly retorted.

"It's in the genes. I can't do anything about that."

"Don't blame the gene. You can tape your forehead so it doesn't crease."

He chuckled in response. "Try to be in my shoes and see if you—hey! Stop that!" Tenten put her index finger on his forehead and he had to hold her back by putting both hands on her shoulders.

"I'm helping you so you can stop scowling too much, duh!" she said without remorse.

"Did you see how mean she was? Don't grow up like that, okay?" Trunks said to baby Tenten.

Tenten approached the crib and whispered, "Don't say 'yes' when he asks you out in the future." Tenten gloriously smirked at him.

"No, don't listen to her! N-never mind what I said," Trunks quickly said as he bowed in defeat to her, earning a chuckle from her.

Seeing how the androids have been activated from their dormant states, they discussed how to defeat the androids. Gohan asked if they did destroy the androids in the past, would it change the one in the future. Trunks said that the time machine wasn't perfect so even if they did defeat the androids in the present timeline, the one on his own would still exist.

"W-wait a second! Then even if Goku defeated the androids here, wouldn't they still exist in your future?"

"That's true, Krillin-san."

"Then what's the point of you coming to the past?" Yamcha asked.

"My mother said that what the androids have done to us is horrible so she wants a peaceful future where they've been destroyed. But our main agenda is to find their weakness. Maybe we can find that when watching their fight with Goku, or even bring him to the future." Trunks' eyes fell to the ground. "But I've come to the past slightly different from the one I knew. The timing of Goku-san's illness was different… There are three androids and they're much stronger…"

"But why is it different?" Gohan asked.

"I don't know… What changed? Is it because we used the time machine before? Or defeating Frieza ourselves? I'm…"

"Don't worry about it. Goku would've died if you hadn't come. I'm thankful for that. Everything will work for the best, I'm sure of it!" Chichi assured him.

"Yeah, Tō-san will figure out something when he's awake! He can even do the Instant Transmission!" Gohan said. "The babies are alive thanks to that!"

"The babies are alive? What do you mean, Onii-san?" Tenten asked.

"I had an accident when I was pregnant with you two. Thanks to that ability, we were all saved. Although you almost died in the accident, Sweetie. You didn't breathe when they took you out."

Tenten flitted her eyes to Trunks who shared the same confusion.

"Wait. Is it different too?" Chichi asked.

"Y-yeah. There weren't any problems when we were born… I almost died in this timeline, huh?" Tenten was furrowing her eyebrows incredulously while putting her chin on her palm. "Instant Transmission…" She craned her head up then shifted her gaze at Trunks. "My brother never mentioned Otō-san learning Instant Transmission in the future. He had learnt the skill one year prior to our first trip. I think the history has been altered even before our first arrival in this timeline!"

"That's not possible. Who else can make a trip to the past without the machine? Ours is the only one that exists."

"Someone who also has it…" Tenten muttered. Most of them widened their eyes, silently screaming the impossibility but they all knew that if Trunks and Tenten could come from the future, someone else could also.

Recalling that he had to update Bulma about their current situation, Krillin called Bulma—telling Trunks that he disliked it because his mother was blunt and didn't hold back whenever she spoke. Trunks laughed, telling him that she remained the same in the future.

"Krillin!? You finally decided to call! Where are you calling from!? I called Chichi and Goku's and nobody answered! Hey! Is my grownup future son there!? I really need to talk with him! It's an emergency!" They were all startled when Bulma's voice blared inside the plane.

"Yeah, he's here. Go ahead and talk. We're on speakerphone," he curtly replied.

"A few days ago, our company got a call from a farmer out in the west. He was hiking and came across some weird abandoned vehicle. He was going to take it home. But he couldn't figure out how to operate it so he called us to see if we could help. But we couldn't figure out what model it was over the phone, I said it didn't even sound like ours, but the guy said it has the Capsule Corp. logo on it. So, we told him to send us a picture…"

Bulma took a sharp breath before continuing, "I just got it and I was floored! It was Trunks's time machine and it's wrecked!"

The news had drained colours from both Trunks and Tenten's faces. Trunks never looked so panicked and Tenten's hands were trembling when she took out the palette she used to carry the capsule. Both sighed in relief when she made sure that they still had it.

"Yeah, that's what I thought… So that isn't the one he found, I thought it was weird because moss and stuff are growing on it and it looks really old. How many time machines did I build in the future?"

"How many? You were barely able to make one…"

"Weird… This is definitely the same thing. I've seen you in it before, you know. Say, do you have a fax machine there? I'll send you the picture."

It didn't take long until the machine spewed the picture. Trunks and Tenten scrutinised the picture and couldn't not gasp—recognizing their very own time machine had lost its glory and wrecked. They stood rooted, feeling the chill down to their bone marrow.

"Bulma-san, do you know where it's located?"

"Not its precise location but I think it's somewhere in the western 1050 district. Are you going there?"

"Yes. We have to see it with our own eyes…" Trunks replied.

"Then I'll go too. It's not that far. See you there!" Bulma said before she hung the phone up.

"Um…, maybe I could help. Can I come?" Gohan asked.

Tenten smiled at him and nodded in response. "Of course, Onii-san. Thank you."

"G-Gohan! Tenten!" Chichi immediately stood up. "You can't go anywhere! It's dangerous!"

"Okā-san, we're just checking things out. Don't worry," Tenten assured her.

Ox King put his hands on her shoulders. "Chichi, it's okay. Let them go."

Chichi simply nodded. "Okay… but please be careful."

Tenten bowed at her family once before jumping off the plane, following Trunks and Gohan. Since she left the plane, Trunks noticed that her face was growing paler than ever. Trunks knew exactly what she was worried about.

"…What if the timeline changed… and the androids aren't what we should worry about?"


AN: To anyone reading this story, I hope you're all doing fine. The pandemic isn't even over but another war is starting and it starts to affect things in our life. The situation kind of remind me of this story as I picture Trunks and Tenten as victims of wars where things we enjoy daily suddenly become luxuries.

Stay safe and healthy wherever you are! It will cheer me a bit if you greet me through review! (I really mean it as I want to hear your voice!) =D

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