Kai Goten knew a trip to Earth would be an emotional one for Kress, and a bit for him, since he'd be able to see his father again, and maybe meet the mother he never knew.

He never expected to run into the mother he did know…

"M-mom?" he breathed as he saw her there, her blue hair cut short, distracted look in her eyes as she kept watch over three different projects, even as she turned to look at them. She even smelled the way he remembered. He swallowed.

"Oh, hello, may I help you with…" she said, as her eyes caught Prince Tarble. Her eyes went wide, and he quickly stepped forward to introduce himself.

"Hello, I'm sorry for the intrusion, I'm Tarble, are you Vegeta's mate?" he asked, keeping his expression as friendly as possible.

Bulma blinked at that. "Uh… yeah. Do… you know Vegeta?" she asked, still a bit shocked.

Prince Tarble nodded, smirking. "Yes, he's my older brother," he said, his eyes bright.

Bulma's eyes widened again. "Oh, yes, that's right! Vegeta did tell me once that he had a brother! Well, it's nice to meet you!" she said, smiling. "I… take it Vegeta knows you're here?" she asked, knowing her husband would not have let another Saiyan enter the house without confronting him first. Unless it was Goku or one of his sons, of course. Though Goku visiting was a rare enough thing… he wasn't really the visiting type.

"Yes, we spoke to him just now," Prince Tarble said. "We actually came to see you," he explained, and glanced at Kai Goten, who was still staring at Bulma.

Bulma's eyes turned to him, and she frowned. "You seem familiar. Do I know you?" she asked, her eyes going to his waist, probably looking for a tail.

Kai Goten nodded, then swallowed. "Well… in our universe you do," he said softly. "Or at least, you did. You're Bulma Briefs," he said, with a half-grin. "You raised me when I was little."

Bulma's eyebrow shot up, then she smiled. "Oh, I get it. You're from Kress's universe, aren't you?" she asked. Kai Goten nodded. "He told me that the Earth was destroyed in that universe," she said. "So, who are you?"

Kai Goten grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Um, my name's Goten," he said, wondering if she knew this universe's version of him. He knew there was one, his father and brother had known who he was, last time he was here.

Bulma's eyes went wide yet again. "Goten? That's you, all grown up?" she asked, approaching him, looking over his clothes, touching the white streak in his hair. "Goodness, you've changed. How old are you now? 16? 18?" she asked, frowning. "With you Saiyans, it's hard to tell, you age so much more slowly than humans do…"

Kai Goten frowned. "I'm not… sure, actually," he said. "Maybe Gohan knows?"

"You don't know how old you are?" Bulma asked, scowling. "Goten, you're just as bad as your father! If I raised you, I'm sure I taught you how to count!" she said, hands on her hips.

"Well, sure, you taught both of us to-" Kai Goten swallowed, and took a deep breath. "What I mean is, you taught me how to count, but I've been in Otherworld most of my life, so I don't really know how much time has passed. Time doesn't feel the same outside the Living World," he tried to explain.

"Otherworld? Oh, Goten… you didn't die, did you?" she asked, concerned.

Kai Goten shook his head. "No, no, Mom, don't worry… I mean, Bulma… I was just in Otherworld to receive special training, that's all," he said, gesturing towards his outfit.

Bulma was distracted again, though, her eyes narrowed. "You said 'both of us'. Who-"

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, as two children ran into the room, laughing. "Tag! YOU'RE it!" one of the children said, a boy with spiky black hair, who made Kai Goten's breath catch. The other was a purple-haired boy, who was scowling at the other one.

"No fair, Goten! Mom's lab is base, you can't tag me here!" he yelled indignantly.

"I tagged you before you came into the lab, Trunks! It counts!" Goten insisted.

"Fine! TAG!" Trunks replied, hitting Goten on top of the head with a smirk.

"Not fair, Trunks, we're on BASE!" Goten yelled.

"BOYS!" Bulma yelled, causing both boys to stop their antics and glance up at her. "You will NOT play tag in the HOUSE!" she said, hands on her hips. "If you haven't noticed, we have guests. If you want to meet them, you will act civilized!" she threatened.

Both boys looked over at the two men. "Who are they?" Trunks asked, taking note of Prince Tarble's tail.

Bulma smirked. "Do you want to know?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Both boys nodded. "And will you act civilized in the house?" she asked. Both boys nodded again. She smiled. "Well, Trunks, this is your Uncle Tarble," she said, gesturing to the man in Saiyan armor. "And, Goten…" she said, gesturing to Kai Goten, "this is you from another reality. A future version of you," she said softly.

Both boys had eyes like dinner plates, and they rushed up to the newcomers, full of questions.

"You're really my uncle? Can you turn Super Saiyan?"

"You're what I look like when I'm grown up? Will my hair really be that color?"

"Boys," Bulma warned, and they both grinned sheepishly. "Why don't you let our guests settle in, and then I'm sure you can ask them whatever you want," she said.

The two nodded, looking at each other excitedly. Bulma looked at the two men. "Would you two like to stay for a while? We have plenty of rooms here," she said kindly.

Prince Tarble glanced at Kai Goten, who shrugged. "We really came to make a request, Bulma, but… something's come up that might take a while. Gohan… er, Kress is with us, too, and, well, father-"

"Wait… Kress was Gohan?" Bulma asked, scowling, her arms crossed. "Why didn't he tell me?" The two men shared a glance. "Wait… VEGETA!" she yelled, storming out of the room.

Prince Tarble glanced at Kai Goten. "What was that all about?" he asked.

Kai Goten raised an eyebrow. "Vegeta knew who Gohan was. If she didn't know, that means he didn't tell her," he said, but was interrupted by a pull on his pants leg. He looked down at the younger version of himself.

"Hey, older me, why are you dressed like that?" the younger boy asked.

Kai Goten smiled, kneeling down to speak to Little Goten at his level. "Because I'm a Kai," he said, conspiratorially.

Goten's eyes widened. "Will I be a Kai, when I grow up?" he asked, awed.

Kai Goten cocked his head. "Probably not," he said, and smiled reassuringly as the boy's face fell. "Goten, do you want to turn into a Super Saiyan one day?" he asked.

Goten smirked. "I can already turn Super Saiyan!" he bragged.

Kai Goten's smile widened. "That's awesome! It took me a long time before I could do it. I think I was twice as old as you!" Then he sighed. "When I became a Kai, I couldn't do it anymore," he said.

Goten frowned. "You can't? Why not?" he asked.

Kai Goten smiled again. "Because I'm not a Saiyan anymore, only Saiyans can turn Super Saiyan," he said, laughing. "Also, I have to stay outside of the Living World, and just watch other people live and do stuff." He leaned closer, and whispered, "To tell the truth, I'm not really supposed to be here, I'm sort of playing hooky," he confessed, with a smirk.

Goten giggled. "I won't tell," he promised quietly.

Kai Goten grinned.

Meanwhile, Trunks was asking Prince Tarble questions. "Uncle Tarble, where do you live? How come I've never seen you?" he asked.

Prince Tarble raised an eyebrow. "Well… I live far away, on a planet called Tech-Tech. But I'm not the same as your Uncle Tarble, I think… I'm from an alternate reality, so you probably have another Uncle Tarble somewhere in yours," he said.

Trunks frowned. "So… I have two Uncle Tarbles?" he asked.

Prince Tarble smirked. "You could say that," he said, his eyes bright as he looked his nephew over. "Have… you started training yet?" he asked, knowing full well that Vegeta, of all people, would insist on his son being trained well.

Trunks grinned. "Yeah! I can even go Super Saiyan!" he said.

Prince Tarble's eyes were wide. "Amazing! When… when our people were alive, the transformation, it was a matter of legend. Now it seems like everyone can do it but me," he said sadly.

"Aw, you'll get there, you just gotta train really hard, like my dad!" Trunks said proudly, a glint in his eye.

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"And he's just sitting outside, huh?" Gohan asked the voice on the phone, as Videl looked on, curiously. "Uh-huh. Yeah, sure thing, Mom, I can go talk to him. I can't guarantee it won't go like the last time, though… Oh. Uh… yeah, well… he came before, you see, and Dad and I had to… Mom?" Suddenly he pulled the phone away from his ear, and even Videl could hear Chichi yelling at Goku about something.

With a sigh, Gohan hung up, and looked at Videl. "Uh… you remember when I told you I met an alternate version of myself?" he asked.

Videl raised an eyebrow. "You mean, the one that tried to destroy the planet? Yeah, I remember."

"Well… he's back," Gohan said, sitting on the couch next to his new wife. "Father apparently had words with him, and now he's sitting outside our house, and Dad asked Mom to stay out of it, so…"

Videl smirked. "So she wants you to go talk to yourself, and figure out what the deal is?" she asked.

Gohan nodded. "He's really messed up, Videl. I… I can't really imagine what he's going through. Or… maybe I can, and that's what scares me," he said, swallowing. "I told you about my Uncle Raditz, right? How he kidnapped me, and tried to kill my dad? And how I came to train under Mr. Piccolo?" he asked.

Videl nodded. "Yeah. I still don't understand it all. Your father died in that battle, but then he came back to life, and more Saiyans came. To tell you the truth, Gohan, I'm kind of surprised you turned out to be so normal," she said, smiling wryly.

Gohan cast her a sideways glance. "All that stuff that happened to me, that's kind of why I turned out to be so normal. I've had my fill of danger and mayhem, enough to last five lifetimes. All I want is to settle down with you, and have a family, and live a nice, peaceful life for a change," he said, pulling her close. Then he sighed. "But, if you think I had it bad… try to imagine what it would have been like, if my Uncle had survived, and taken me with him? This other version of me, he's what I would have become, if that happened. His power… it's…" He swallowed hard. "He's never had a reason to hold it back. He never had Father teaching him right from wrong. He gave into it. The other version of my brother, he said that I almost destroyed the universe," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "I… do you remember me telling you about the Cell Games?" he asked darkly.

Videl frowned. "Oh, Gohan…" she said softly, holding him close. "You know that wasn't your fault," she said.

Gohan took a shaky breath. "The power inside me, it's not like father's, it's not like Vegeta's. It's alive. I stopped training after the Cell Games, because I had a taste of what that power would turn me into. I realized what it was doing, and I stopped. If I had stopped sooner…" he shook his head. "But, the point is, this version of me, he never had that experience. He never had reason to stop. I don't know everything about his life, but I know what I saw the last time he was here. He's out of control. I don't trust him, Videl. I don't trust him any more than I trust myself," he said softly, gazing into his wife's eyes. "If Dad has him sitting outside, it's because he's in trouble, probably for what he did last time. But… I just don't feel safe with him being there, alone, with Mom. If he loses his temper…"

Videl nodded, understanding. "Go, Gohan. Stay over there as long as you need to. If you're still there tomorrow, I'll swing by," she said, but Gohan shook his head.

"No, I don't want you anywhere near him. Just… stay here, and stay safe, okay? Promise?" he asked.

Videl sighed, then smiled. "Okay, Gohan. But at least call me, and let me know how it's going," she said.

Gohan nodded. "Of course," he said. Then, kissing his wife, he turned to the door.

"Oh, and Gohan? Tell your mother I said hello," Videl said.

Gohan frowned, thinking. "You know… maybe I can convince her to come up here to visit? That way, you can try to delay her, and I'll know she's safe?" he said.

Videl smirked at their ruse. "Sure! I'll help any way I can," she said.