AN: It is ever my goal to get people attached to fanfic characters.

Hah!

Like Yamcha would go down with an itty bitty explosion!

Hah.

The Next Dimension Over

Chapter Fifty-five

Bulma had more than a few things to say to Yamcha. She also had a few slaps to deliver before she finally burst into tears and clung to the poor rattled man. Pu'ar had a loud scolding for all of them. At least they weren't all smacked. She'd healed up enough today, extra injuries would just be unfair.

The day had been too long for all of them. Somewhere out there, the red haired soldier - last known remnant of the Red Ribbon Army - would be escaping with the three dragonballs. But...they had the radar, and he wouldn't be able to outrun the Nimbus cloud for very long even with a negligibly longer head start.

This time, she made no attempt to stay up the rest of the day and night while the others rested. She still found herself staring up at the ceiling of the bedroom for a while, though. Somehow, they'd managed to escape that situation without any real and lasting injuries. No one died, and Yamcha had only sprained something. But she'd had to burn through so much reserve chakra, and...over some cheap trick.

Honestly, she'd thought she'd started taking things more seriously. It would be easy to blame the fact that she had Bulma with her, or that she'd had to go back for Yamcha...but...was it really true?

She ran her hands over her face and sighed. If she hadn't held back, the man would never have survived long enough to try to deploy his weapon, and then nothing would have gone wrong. She didn't even need to attack with her full strength. Worrying about how it looked...when a civilian went onto the battlefield, it was expected they would see terrible things. Worrying about what they might see could get them, and everyone else, killed. She knew that. It wasn't an excuse.

Could it be she'd been distracted? Thinking about the year ahead of her, whether to wait or to expect the small child to wait?

She knew better than to let thoughts about...anything, but especially the future distract her in battle, but...maybe she had been.

Goku flopped down next to her, and after a moment gave her a suspicious look. "...You're not gonna hit me for sleeping next to you, are you?"

She frowned up at him. "I told you. It was your fault for grabbing a girl while she wasn't properly dressed. I didn't do it for no reason!"

He huffed, still bristling a bit, but laid down next to her anyway after a few more moments of sulking.

He was quiet long enough she almost thought he'd fallen asleep.

"There were multiple of you."

She blinked, and glanced over at him, where his face turned up to watch her with curiosity. "Um...while we were looking for Yamcha?"

He nodded. "How'd you have so many of you?"

"It's...a technique."

"With that thing you do?" He made a face and huffed. "I wanna do it, too."

She frowned slightly, and turned her attention back to the ceiling. If she'd be here for a year...maybe...

Well, he wouldn't be able to do very much with it. Developing and strengthening a chakra network took years, not part of one. She certainly wouldn't be able to teach him anything complicated. But...maybe it would be something to do. Something that would keep her connected to home while she waited.

"Well..." She bit her lip. "I could. But...first, you have to get the bell."

He brightened then, as if he hadn't been sulking at all. "Okay then! Next time I'm gonna get it for sure!"

(*)

"I just don't get it." Bulma tugged at her hair in frustration and sat back in the seat.

"Isn't it broken?" Goku frowned and leaned over the table at the device in her hand.

"No! Look..." She leaned forward and pointed at the curved green screen. "See, here are our three. Earlier, I saw the other three dragonballs heading away from us, and now they're not here at all. No matter what distance."

"Are you sure?" Yamcha crossed his arms, looking down at it. "That explosion was pretty bad, and you guys got caught in the tail end of it, right? What if something got damaged in it?"

"It isn't though, that's what I'm saying." She huffed. "It's a little damaged on the outside, but there's nothing broken or damaged that would have any kind of effect on the inside!"

Sakura...didn't really know much about the radar thing at all. Goku knew more than her about it, probably, and he looked just as stumped as everyone else. Bulma, who'd repaired it before, was confused. That was...strange. "Can we get another?"

"No, I-" She trailed off suddenly, eyes widening a moment. "...I...left a spare one with Krillin."

"With Krillin?" Yamcha blinked, straightening slightly. "When did you do that?"

"When we got back from the pirate cove, I'd been carrying an extra one in case, and I thought it would be better if someone else had it instead, in case I lost this one. But then he backed out of coming with to the next one..."

"So if we go see Krillin, he can get us the other one!" Goku beamed in excitement. "Let's go then! Maybe he'll agree to come with this time?"

She spoke before either of the other two in the room could. "He wouldn't be able to ride the cloud, would he?" She was fairly certain he'd said multiple times before that he couldn't. She was also fairly certain he'd still have no interest in traveling with them on their quest. But...maybe he'd change his mind if it was about something he actually cared about.

"Well...there are three of those watches." Yamcha shrugged. "If we could get that prototype away from Muten Roshi, Krillin could use that one."

Bulma glanced between all of them, lips pursed in distaste. "...Well, if there's a chance we can get that watch back from that dumb pervert...it's at least worth trying. If not, then we'll have to go back home and I can build a completely new one instead. But it'll take longer."

"That's okay!" Goku thumped his chest. "As long as I have these dragonballs, it doesn't matter where the other ones are! The Red Ribbon Army still won't be able to get any wishes!"

"At this point..." Yamcha shook his head, lips quirking into a small smile. "From what I've heard, it's not the Red Ribbon Army anymore, it's the Red Ribbon Soldier."

(*)

He frowned up at the group in front of him. If he frowned hard enough, maybe they'd disappear again. Because he sure didn't miss them. He stopped missing them about the moment they appeared. They were loud, demanding, and for some reason he couldn't figure out, Sakura was wearing a shirt that said 'Bulma' on it.

Why?

What was Goku saying about cats?

They fought the Red Ribbon Army?!

"How did searching for the dragonballs require you to fight a whole army?" He was trying to ignore them out of existence, but that just...slipped out.

The tall guy, Yamcha, answered first. "A whole army had the dragonballs and didn't agree to hand them over when we asked nicely."

Sakura, who hung back the furthest in the group, gave a small shrug. "We didn't ever ask them."

"They wouldn't have agreed so it doesn't matter!"

...Honestly, he regretted even less not going with them now than before. And he only kind of regretted not going when he started to get bored. So there.

"The point is, in the middle of the chaos, someone ran away with the dragonballs we were trying to get, and now my radar isn't functioning right." Bulma held out a hand toward him. As if he, for some crazy reason, were carrying the thing on him right then. "Give me back the one I lent you."

"I remember you saying you were giving it to me."

"I thought you were coming with us!"

He scoffed. Honestly, that just proved the woman hadn't paid any attention to him at all. He'd definitely never said or done anything to indicate he'd be going along with the crazy team of...crazies, except to look for treasure. Which he found. Despite all of their doubts.

"Okay...say that I still had the thing with me..." He did. Somewhere. He didn't go out of his way to throw it away, anyway. "Why would I go and give it to you? If you've got a whole army fighting you, then I'd be a target."

Well, not that he couldn't handle it. He was also just as awesome a martial artist as all of them. But they weren't even considering that, were they? Self-absorbed jerks. Wish absorbed jerks. That's what they were.

"What army?" Yamcha looked way too smug about himself, and Pu'ar - that cat thing - brightened somewhat, looking up at him.

"We destroyed the whole thing!" Goku grinned, puffing out his chest proudly. "A few people ran away, but we beat everyone else."

He stared blankly up at the group of people, processing Goku's words.

Destroyed...the whole thing?

"Y...you what?"

(*)

Krillin was somewhat more richly dressed than the last time she'd seen him. The colors in his clothes were vibrant, the fabric smooth looking and shimmery, and the hems crisp and precise. The style of clothing looked more like a formal civilian suit than the loose fitting clothes he usually wore. Undoubtedly, the difference was due to the treasure he'd recovered.

He looked at her with as much suspicion and confusion as he ever did. That, at least, seemed not to have changed.

The old man hadn't said much since they arrived, wandering off into the house when Krillin walked out to talk to them, but when Goku announced their defeat of the Red Ribbon Army, the old man reappeared, expression unexpectedly...surprised.

"You three defeated the Red Ribbon Army all by yourselves?"

"Excuse you, I was there, too!" Bulma huffed, and planted her hands on her hips. "We wouldn't have found the dragonballs in all that mess if I wasn't there!"

Krillin gave the woman a flat look. "I thought you said you lost them?"

"After the bomb went off?"

"The bomb?" The old man cut in again, more alarmed than before.

"We're getting off the subject." She waved her hand. The less they focused on...that...the better.

"So..." Krillin frowned and looked between each of them with a certain sense of nervousness in his expression. "You guys beat the Red Ribbon Army?"

Yamcha nodded. "That's what we said."

"The three of you are stronger than I expected." Roshi huffed. "Goku particularly. Your strength has grown quite quickly."

Krillin glanced back at the older man. "...More than at the tournament?"

"Well, I got lots of training!" Goku beamed. "We found this huge tower and climbed it, and up top was a cat named Korin!"

"Korin...?" The old man blinked.

"Yeah! We stayed up there until we got the water!"

"All of you?" The old man's mouth formed a line, as he looked over each of them.

He shook his head. "Sakura didn't want to."

"What water are you talking about?" Krillin shook his head quickly, annoyance and confusion flickering across his face. "What cat?"

The old man settled his hands over his cane, and he turned his attention to the smaller one. "Weren't you raised in a monastery? You weren't taught about Korin?"

Krillin's expression drooped slightly, and he shuffled his feet. "Yeah...well, they didn't teach a lotta things."

"It's a tall tower and on the top is an annoying old cat who will fight you for special water." Those people from that tournament were people he knew in the past. Considering his age, they came from the same place he was referring to. It seemed better to just get it over with than dwell on the subject any longer.

"Ordinarily, the process takes years. To think you got it in only days..." The old man shook his head and wandered back into the house, muttering about being left behind.

Krillin was quiet for a few moments, crossing his arms and staring down at the ground. In fact, he didn't say anything at all until someone finally spoke again. Bulma, sounding very impatient.

"Now that we're caught up, will you just give me the radar?"

He stayed quiet and unmoving for a few more moments, until Bulma started forward toward him, radiating irritation.

"Okay, okay. I'll go find it for you." He took a step back, giving Bulma a wary look, before continuing. "But in exchange, I'm gonna go with you for the rest of the way."