A/N: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Piccolo didn't know what to say. Sure he comprehended Goku's reasons, which mind you were very valid, as there was no way of telling just how much stress the half Saiyan could take before he actually loses his mind, but what if none of them have the power to defeat Cell? If Vegeta couldn't touch him and Gohan, who he had thought would have a best chance of handling Cell prior to reached his final form, isn't going to participate, then who will take him on next? Surely not the Saiyan before him, as he had just expressed that Gohan was levels ahead of him in power and that after the dramatic battle with his son, which had nearly resulted in him arriving in front of the gates of King Yama, he hadn't been able to make much progress in increasing his strength.

"So if that's your decision, which I doubt Gohan would follow through with it, what is going to be your next course of action? While you were gone, Cell had oddly enough spared Vegeta, Trunks, Krillin and even the female Android, stating that we should expect to hear from him soon in local broadcast stations."

Goku instantly became alarmed, "What?! If he's going to do that, then he will undoubtedly hurt more innocent people!"

"But what choice do we have? Cell had warned Trunks to stay clear from him or there will be consequences." Piccolo said, a scowl written on his face.

Goku's body shook, anger coursing through his veins. Letting a breath out, he was able to calm down. "Do you have an idea what he's planning?"

Piccolo nodded. "Yes. Since I'm merged with Kami, I was able see it from here."

Goku raises his eyebrows. "You mean Trunks and the other haven't returned?"

"They're on their way as we speak."

Goku sighed. "Look let's wait for the others so I can tell you all about what I plan to do next." Piccolo nodded and as they both made the turn from behind the Lookout, Goku continued. " And Piccolo, Gohan doesn't remember the first time he lost control and...it would break him if does."

"You do know that there is a possibility that he will regain his lost memories right?"

Goku grimaced. "Yeah, but there is a chance he won't. In the Time Chamber, more than two months had passed and he still recalls nothing after the argument we had before we fought."

Piccolo silently honored his request.

Facing the Music

While heading towards the others, Goku at long last let his mind to briefly ponder on the Saiyan Princess, who he had regretfully ignored when he had returned. It isn't that he lost his affections for her; it's that he didn't want to show his affections towards her with Gohan nearby. Yes Gohan had acknowledged that he and his mother would never be together again, however he realized that he'd feel uncomfortable for quite some time, as seeing his dad with Bra rather than his mother in such romantic circumstances looked abnormal to him. In any case, that isn't the main reason why he had avoided her. No, it was because now that he knew his true feelings for her, he feared that if he told her how he felt, she'd reject him. He knew it was stupid, seeing as how...affectionate she is with him, but still the mere thought of the half Saiyan laughing in his face, saying that how could she love an idiotic brute like him terrified him; more than when he first felt Frieza's power level back on Namek. And where did this sudden feeling of insecurity come from? He's never been one to lack confidence. He was known for always being the optimistic, the kind of person who looked terror in its eyes and consistently overcome it; yet here he was, petrified over something that isn't likely to happen since, well Bra's actions just haven't demonstrated nothing other than adoration. Also, unlike Chi-Chi, the Saiyan Princess didn't think he was stupid. Sure there were times that he deserved to be insulted, as even he knew that he was rather careless at times and tended to act without fully exploring the situation before he dealt with it.

Bra...

Why did he feel like even if he happened to make a blunder, that most would consider to be idiotic, she wouldn't judge him by it? It really doesn't make sense, as while he has feelings for her, he honestly doesn't know her personally, any better than he knew Chi-Chi in their first year as husband and wife. So far, he's basing his feelings off only physical attraction and from the manner in which his stomach fluttered upon just saying her name. That must obviously mean something because, well Chi-Chi hadn't ever brought such emotional response from him.

The full Saiyan shook his head, stopping his train of thoughts when he noticed a certain green haired heiress talking animatedly with her time traveling son. With his head lowered meekly, Goku could see that Trunks was desperately trying hard to fight off the blush rushing to his cheeks as his mother was fussing over his scuffed up appearance. Looking a bit to the right he saw Krillin sitting on the floor, slouched on his side, using his elbow as support. The former monk seemed rather tired, but that instantly changed when he spotted him from a distance, his eyes now beaming with excitement.

"Hey Goku! I'm surprised to see you out so early! Didn't you still have about six more months left to train?" He paused when he took note that Gohan was nowhere to be seen. "Uhhh where's Gohan?"

Goku grinned, also happy to see his long time best friend. "Oh, I told him to go to his mother's for a while. I figured since he's basically been training for six months non-stop, he deserves a break. Anyhow, where's Vegeta?"

"Oh you knew how Vegeta is. During the trip back here, he had regained consciousness and immediately took off, probably to go brooding somewhere about his bruised pride."

"Hey there buster! You have some explaining to do!" Bulma shouted, Trunks sighing with relief when she finally gave him breathing room and instead chose her next target; Goku.

Goku recoiled, his turquoise eyes broadening as he watched Bulma literally stomp her way towards him, her face burning with rage.

Her right hand maintaining a secure hold on her infant son, she gave the full Saiyan a surprisingly hard shove back. "How could you do that to her?! And also if you're going to do it, why not in private you dolt!"

Goku was lost, his head tilting to the side. "Geez, what did I do Bulma?"

Bulma snorted, shaking her head as she should have been expecting such an answer.

"I don't know, use your head! Who isn't here that was when you returned?" She snapped, her free hand now connected with her hip.

Instead of answering correctly, having instantly figured out who she was referring to, he stupidly did exactly what his mental debate had been about.

"Uhh Vegeta?"

The angry woman rolled her eyes, knowing what game the Saiyan was playing. "You know Goku, sometimes I think you play dumb to get out of most of your problems."

The Earth raised Saiyan surrendered. "Yeah, I know who. But what does Bra leaving have to do with me?"

"Gee I don't know, maybe it has to do with you pretty much saying that you are going to get back together with Chi-Chi in front of everyone! Surely you couldn't have-"

"Uhhh Bulma, aren't you forgetting just who is here that wasn't-"

"Ohhh he would have eventually found out anyways!" Bulma hollered back, waving her hand in dismissal at Yamcha.

As Trunks eyeballed his mother and Goku confusingly, Bulma continued. "Anyways, you need to go and talk to her because I have a hunch that what you said isn't what it sounded like!"

"You're right! It isn't! I never said that I was getting together back with Chi-Chi! I just said that I was going to talk to her and see where things go from-" He froze, his brain suddenly filled with understanding. "Kami! I didn't mean it that way!"

Bulma huffed, thrusting her baby into the arms of the closest person next her, which happened to be the former bandit.

Her other hand now free, she grasped the full Saiyan's by the front of his orange gi and pulled him down to her level, her face just inches from his.

"Listen here bucko, you better go fix this right NOW! Even if I didn't give birth to her, she's still technically my daughter! So get your head out of your butt and go find her! Bra's feelings for you are only becoming stronger, so make sure that next time you watch what you say in front of others!" Having said what she wanted to, she pushed Goku back, nearly causing him to fall on his ass.

Goku was dumbfounded, his mouth agape while eying his longtime friend march towards Yamcha, muttering a thanks after taking baby Trunks back into her arms.

Upon noticing the Saiyan just staring at her, she exploded. "What the hell are you waiting for!? Go!"

Goku jumped into action, pressing two fingers against his forehead, frantically scanning for the Saiyan Princess's ki signature. His panic elevated when he couldn't lock on it. "I can't find it! I can't find her ki!"

"What?! What do you mean you can't find her! Try harder!" Bulma shrieked, slightly worried.

And he did, he widened his senses, desperately trying to locate her, but to no avail. "Darn it! Why-"

"Will you both stop this non-sense!?" Piccolo jeered, his ability to tolerate their pointless bickering reaching its limit. "Think, if you can't lock onto her ki, it means that she is masking it. She obviously wants to be left alone, so why don't you just do that and inform us of your plans."

Both Goku and Bulma were able to put some of their worries to rest as Piccolo was most likely correct on his theory. Seeing that Goku still seemed to be in distress, the Namek growled to get his attention.

"How about this Goku, you tell us of your plans and once that's done, you can go look for her normally since your Instant Transmission can't aid you in that task." Piccolo suggested.

Bulma's rounded eyes widened as something that Bra said dawned on her. "Wait! She said she was going home! So she's most likely at Capsule Corp!"

Goku would have shot into the sky if it wasn't for the Namek demanding for him to stand still.

"As you recall me stating, Bra is upset with you. Bulma, after we are done here, maybe you should check on her and Goku could go perhaps later."

They both seemed to find that reasonable enough; Piccolo signed, glad that that was over with.

Goku chuckled slightly. "And you said that you didn't understand emotions."

The Namekian grunted. "Goku, get to it."

"Well the plan is just something Bra suggested. She said that in her reality, when you merged with Kami, they too lost the Dragon Balls. So in order to restore them, they went to the new planet Namek to get one of the Namekians to become the new Guardian of Earth."

"Interesting…the new Guardian…it was Dende wasn't it?"

"Wow! How did you know?" Goku was stunned.

"After I was revived back on Namek, I had happened to cross path by a Namekian who called himself Nail. He had been chosen by Elder Guru's to be his bodyguard since he was the strongest warrior there. Since he had been beaten to near death by Frieza and I needed more strength to fight him, Nail and I did a merger. Nail knew Dende because Elder Guru believed that Dende was gifted and that he would make an excellent Guardian one day."

Goku nodded understandingly. He was surprised to learn that Kami was the second person he had merged with. "So that's how you became powerful enough to withstand Frieza for a while."

Piccolo smirked. "You know, if Kami and I had somehow managed to merge prior to arriving on Namek, I would have beaten Frieza in his final form with no problem."

"I don't doubt that. You held your own against the Androids before Cell made his appearance."

Seeing that things were heading into small talk territory, Piccolo steered the conversation back on track. "Okay Goku, do you happen to have an idea where New Namek's location is?"

"Unfortunately no, it's just too far away and I don't even know what direction to look in. However I'm sure I can Instant Transmission to King Kai's and ask him to point me in the right direction."

"This is fantastic!" Bulma exclaimed, her eyes beaming. "Hear that Chiaotzu, Tien will be brought back before you know it!"

Chiaotzu gave a small smile, pleased at the turn of events.

"Hey guys remember what Bra and I found in Dr. Gero's lab?" Yamcha said, wanting to feel important.

The late doctor's name being spoken snapped the half Saiyan out of his stupor, as half his mind had been caught up on the fact that he had just discovered that Goku and his sister are really a thing. "Wait, why did you both go back to his lab? I thought my sister destroyed it!"

Yamcha frowned when Piccolo decided to speak for him.

"She did, but there was a lower bunker which wasn't harmed in the explosion. Anyways, I had suggested that at least two of us should go to Gero's lab to kill the Cell from this timeline."

Trunks looked horrified. "Shit!"

Piccolo nearly rolled his eyes at the Saiyan's outburst. "Relax Trunks, it was still inside a test tube, so they took it out with no problem. However, that's not all they found in their visit. Upon further investigation, they had found a vial which contains a virus that Gero had created as a failsafe against Cell just in case he were to rebel. Alongside the vial was a note which described how to inject it into Cell as well as list the ingredients he used to make the compound."

"That's great! Now we have a backup plan in case none of us can physical beat Cell!" Trunk said, his look of dismay being replaced with new found hope.

"But there is a drawback. The virus was only intended to be injected in Cell while in his first form."

"Well that blows…" Krillin mumbled.

"And that's where I come in guys!" Bulma exclaimed happily. "As Piccolo said, all the compounds are listed on the note, so all I need to do is collect them all and try to somehow increase the potency of the virus. It won't be easy, but it's nothing I can't handle!" She finished with a confident wink.

"Alright guys…I got something else to say and I already told Piccolo." Goku originally wasn't going to say anything concerning Gohan, but he reconsidered; he turned to Trunks. "So is what Piccolo said right? That Cell is now leagues ahead of Vegeta in power?"

Trunks's shoulders drooped. "Yeah, he took him out without much effort."

Goku ran a hand through his light blonde hair. "If that's the case, then I probably don't have much of a chance either, because I'm probably not much stronger than Vegeta."

"But what about Gohan? Mom told me that you said Gohan's lack of control over his wild transformation hadn't improved at all while the both of you were training. So why can't you take Gohan back in the Time Chamber and try fix that?"

"That's the thing, I tried to help Gohan and believe me when I say I tried, I really really did try. But each time he transformed, all he managed to do is hurt himself and-" Goku cut himself off before he said too much. "Look it doesn't matter, just know that Gohan will not be fighting Cell."

This obviously came as a shock to everyone, excluding the Namek as he had already been informed.

"But Goku, if Trunks is right about Cell planning some kind of tournament, then Gohan might be the only one that could take on Cell! You've seen how crazy strong your son is!" Yamcha argued, refusing to believe that he had heard Goku say…such an unlike-Goku thing.

Trunks shook his head in disbelief. "My mother has always spoken so highly of you! She said that even when the situation seems grim, not once did the mere thought of giving up cross your mind! One thing that she couldn't stress enough was your inability to give up on others! So I can't believe what I'm hearing! Worse is that this is your son that you're quitting-

"WELL I'M NOT THIS IDEALISTIC HERO YOU ALL SEEM TO MAKE ME OUT TO BE!" Something in Goku had cracked, sets of stunned eyes becoming witness to the full Saiyan's awesome power as his golden aura came to life and shattered the floor he stood on, briefly blinding everyone present.

"Goku…what has happened to you?" Bulma's voice quivered, the unadulterated fury boiling in the Super Saiyan's eyes making her shake since well she has never seen her friend worked up like this before.

Goku blinked almost as if he was seeing for the first time, his mind racing uncontrollably when he realized that for a split second there, he had actually thought of harming the time traveler. What the…hell is wrong with me. He swallowed the thick lump suddenly lodged in his throat and did a mental countdown from ten to reclaim tranquility.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered, his aura dimming until it was gone, his eyes drooping shamefully.

"Look, I'm going to King Kai's so he could help me find Namek and when I return I'll try to talk things out with Bra and see if she still wants me to go inside the Time Chamber with her. If not, well then one of you has to go in with her because I don't want her to have to spend a year alone in there. If she choices to go with any one of you, I'll still be giving it one more shot in there. I don't know how, but I WILL find a way to get stronger in order to defeat Cell. I refuse to let anyone else get hurt because of me. Dr. Gero had created these Androids to kill me right? Well let's see just who kills who…"

Goku's violent statement didn't settle well with the others.

The Saiyan waited to hear if anyone would object to him practically stating that he would take on the Bio-Android alone. When they didn't, Goku gave them a weak apologetic smile, knowing that he was acting completely out of character by their standards.

"Alrighty then…I'll be back soon…make sure you all keep a look out for Cell. Piccolo has already told me that Cell is going to broadcast something to the public." Putting two fingers to his forehead, the others watched him materialize out of view.

"So…is anyone going to tell me just how Goku and my sister are uhhh, you know, romantically involved with each other?"

Not wanting to stay around to listen to any more of this sentimental nonsense, the Namekian walked out of the picture, probably to go meditate in a quiet spot.

The remaining Z-Gang exchanged glances, silently asking just who was going to be the one to explain things to the lavender haired Saiyan.

They all then looked at Yamcha. The former bandit waved his hands in refusal, but the others continued to stare. With growl, he threw his hands in defeat.

"Fine, but I will not be the one to break the news to Vegeta, because he is going to find out sooner or later!"

DBZDBZDBZDBZxxxxxxxxxDBZDBZDBZDBZ

Bra, who was clad in a long white shirt which touched her black pair of sweatpants, sniffled loudly as she scooped a huge glob of ice cream with her spoon, shoving it into her mouth. Unfortunately, plain chocolate was the only type of ice cream there was…no she had no choice but to either head out and buy cookies and cream like she had original wanted, or settle for what her mother had in the freezer; she obviously chose the latter, as she was just too upset to even get out of bed.

A knock on her door caused her to jump, as she had been really into the movie, Twilight…which was very strange to say the least. She hated these types of films, but that was probably due to the fact that she has never felt a broken heart before. Now that she has, she could kind of relate to Bella.

"Bra? Can you open the door?"

The half Saiyan sighed. "Not now mom, kinda busy with something."

A snort was heard through the door. "Yeah, watching Twilight from what I can hear. Which one?"

Bra shrugged. "I don't know and don't care."

"Is it the one with the wolf?"

"I really don't want to talk mom! Go away!"

"Oh! Is it the one that Bella is a vampire?"

"Thanks for the spoiler!" Bra sneered, her brow twitching with annoyance

"...Bra just let me in! The thing with you and Goku was just a-"

"Don't wanna hear it!"

Mistake she mentally added, her eyes slightly watering.

"But it's-"

Bra muscles tightened when she suddenly felt Goku's energy signature...and unfortunately, he was right on the other side of her door.

"Whaahh! Goku! You really need to stop doing that!"

"Heh sorry!"

Bra felt her heart twist painfully as she could practically see the full Saiyan grinning sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Goku didn't even have to ask if she was inside the room; No, not because of her energy signature, as she has been masking it, but it has something to do with the freakish bond they have as of recently. He didn't know why, but during his fight with his son in the Time Chamber, when he had ascended, he swore he had felt the Saiyan Princess as if she were right there with him. It didn't hit him until later as he had been too focused on, you know, staying alive.

Back inside the room, the half Saiyan was already dressed with one leg over the window, her hair now in two long pigtails. I haven't worn my hair like this in a long time. Her mind briefly drifted to her past life. During her rebellious teenage days, when she felt like being a 'bad girl', she would occasionally tie her hair into two pigtails before taking off to some party. It was quite a childish look, but she figured that's why she wore her hair like that; because she wanted to be a brat. While her father didn't care much for what she did at the time, her mother most definitely did and boy did she just about go deaf when she returned home at unearthly hours, Bulma screaming at her so loudly that she swore her lungs would fly out of her mouth.

Hearing the full Saiyan call her name brought her back to the present. With a soft bite on her bottom lip, she swung her other leg over and leaped off the windowsill, leading as graciously as a cat on the grassy ground.

As she headed off to who knows where into the city, Goku's face fell in defeat as he felt a tug at his heart.

So did Bra.

DBZDBZDBZDBZxxxxxxxxxDBZDBZDBZDBZ

"So how did it go in there? Did you and your father at least do something other than train the entire year?" Chi-Chi asked tenderly, passing her son a large plate full of macadamia nut cookies as a treat after having his dinner.

With bright rounded eyes, Gohan devoured all the cookies in seconds, not daring to leave behind a crumb on the plate. "Uhhmmm not really…I mean that's the whole reason why we went inside the Time Chamber in the first place, to train."

Gohan's turquoise orbs rolled upwards went he felt a slender hand slip through his soft blonde hair. He then looked at his mother's face and was taken aback to see tears running down her cheeks, her watery gaze staring out of one of the many windows of his grandfather's castle.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

Chi-Chi sniffled, using her free hand to wipe away her tears. "You know…the blonde hair doesn't look so bad on you…"

A shattering sound caused Chi-Chi to return her focus on her son, who looked slightly alarmed.

"You…like my hair blonde?"

Chi-Chi nodded as she removed her hand from his head, giving him one final pat before standing up and heading to the kitchen to get a broom and pan to sweep the unintentional mess her son made.

"You aren't mad?"

"Should I be?"

"Ehh, you normally would have called me a delinquent and accuse me of being in some sort of gang at this point. I was actually surprised you didn't say anything up until now."

Chi-Chi laughed as she walked back into the living room, crouched down and began cleaning the shards of glass. "Well I kind of put together that your hair is blonde because you are a Super Saiyan now right? So that means it can turn back to normal…right?"

Gohan smiled and gulped when he saw the stern look that he was accustomed to. "Yeah…I'm still transformed because it's part of our training."

"So how did you transform?"

Her son froze, a look of sadness gracing his face. "Well-"

The gathered glass on the pan suddenly went airborne when Chi-Chi fell on her backside upon seeing a man with the same color hair as her son's materialize into view.

The black haired woman just stared at her ex-husband in shock as he calmingly talked to her son, urging him to go to the Lookout to greet an old friend. Understanding the seriousness of the situation, Gohan nodded, waved at his mom and broke into an excited run out of the living room, as he already knew who it was.

When a pair of turquoise orbs met a pair of charcoal ones, all went silent.

A/N: I know! The wait...and now more waiting! ^_^; Sorry, I just listen to my mind and it was just too distracted with other stuff to focus on the story. This chapter had been almost done for a while, I just finally finished it off yesterday and edited today.

Well anyways, today is a special day because you also get an update on my alternate version of this story, titled "Bound To Another Time."

Know that in that story, Bra is NOT paired with Goku and there will be a lot of changes throughout the story because of it. You will see a lot of the same materials in the chapters but then whoah! A curve ball hits you in the face! =P

Thanks for taking the time to adds and review!

Until next time, take care! =)

Later!

(Posted: 3/2/16)

~Gater~