A/N: OH DEAR GOD. So much crap this past month. My birthday, Pokemon White 2, work, my boyfriend had surgery. Ugh, it's been busy. So sorry about how long this took. I'm gonna be working on the next one today so hopefully it'll be out tomorrow. Thanks for the reviews, guys! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or anything affiliated with it.

-MalRev

The Ties That Bind

4

My resident sleeping pill was gone when I woke up the next morning. I enjoyed having my first rested morning to myself and took a nice hot shower before making my way out to the kitchen for breakfast. Normally I skipped it altogether or made a few pieces of toast but it was a special occasion and I had a few hours before work. I hummed happily as I took out eggs and pancake mix, keeping an eye on Peter as he roamed around the raw ingredients. He wouldn't hesitate to take a bite if I turned my back and he was so small he could hide easily until my temper wasn't as dangerous.

The phone rang while I was making eggs and I answered with a distinct chirp in my tone—did I sound too happy? Not only had I finally slept a full night for the first time in forever but my death sentence from the doctor didn't matter anymore. Now I had my entire life to look forward to instead of a few more miserable, sleepless years. It came at a small price, too. Being happy was all I knew.

Erin laughed on the other end. "I'm guessing you slept again last night. Everything was fine with that guy? You seemed sincere when you texted me so I figured I'd let it go and call back later on. Oddly enough you were fast asleep by that time. I told you sex helps you sleep but you never believed me until now! Did you take a picture of him? What'd be look like? How did you two meet? Are you dating? Is he married or single? No married guys, Nome."

"Jesus, I wasn't expecting twenty questions. Come over and have breakfast with me. I'll explain everything and Peter might let you share part of his pancake."

"Okay, fine. I don't know why you're such a morning person. I've been working at this job with you for almost two years and I still can't get used to rolling out of bed at such an ungodly hour. Tell Peter he better not hog all the syrup!"

We hung up and I went back to making breakfast. When it was done, I set out plates for Erin and me and put a little bit of egg in Peter's dish. He meowed happily as my best friend walked in the door without bothering to knock. Her chest was heaving and I rolled my eyes when she plopped down in a chair and started shoveling food in her face. Of course she ran over to see the new man I had met but when I told her some stranger broke into my house she took her sweet time.

I picked at my pancakes, thinking of where Goku could have gone on his lonesome. He'd survived a few days in my world without any help so he could probably take care of himself. Maybe he went back home to see his wife and friends. They'd be happy he could finally get some rest and we had figured out a solution to both of our problems. But his wife wouldn't be so thrilled that her husband slept beside a stranger from a different dimension who found him mildly attractive. Erin reached across the table to snatch a hash brown off my plate and shove it in her mouth.

"You look down for having such a good night," she said.

"I wouldn't call having a married guy in my bed 'good.' But the sleeping thing was a plus."

"If he's as hot as I'm imagining then who cares? Have your fun and send him on his way. You should consider opening your own bakery, this is delicious."

Sitting there with my perfectly normal friend made me realize there was no way I could tell her the truth. Either she wouldn't believe me or she would and she'd get dragged into the mess. It was disheartening to know the secret was a burden I had to bear alone but things would be easier that way. Erin didn't understand the circumstances. She didn't know how it felt to never sleep at night. What felt like a load off my shoulders would just weigh her down to my level.

I took my dishes to the sink and rinsed them off to be cleaned later. "Goku isn't from here. I think he came from somewhere up north, maybe Canada. He's really nice. Maybe you two can meet some time. I think he went home to uh… see his wife."

"How could I not see that coming? Of course you'd fall for a foreign guy! What line of work is he in? Does he have any kids? I hope I can meet him soon."

"He didn't really say. We met kind of suddenly yesterday and I don't want to press him for answers. What we have is supposed to be low-key and only mentioned when necessary. Neither of us wants word getting out about anything, you know? It's easier this way."

"Alright, my lips are sealed." Erin took a sip of her apple juice, watching me like a hawk.

The rest of the day was likewise uneventful. Work went by slowly and I had to keep fending off Erin's relentless questions until I was finally set free at two. Even then she insisted on coming home with me in the off chance that Goku was there to greet me. I sincerely had my doubts that he would hang around in my reality if he didn't need to but I had seen stranger things before. We picked up a few subs on the way back to bring home for dinner and I intended on setting two aside for Goku's enormous appetite. Upon reaching my apartment I noticed the door was slightly ajar. Nervous, I slowly pushed it open.

Three men and one very small woman were standing in my living room, discussing something in whispers I couldn't pick up. The woman noticed Erin and me and jabbed the man to her right in the ribs, inclining her head sharply in my direction. Erin shut the door and sucked in a deep breath when Goku turned around to face me and smiled brightly. I waved a bit and tried to look away from the man who was now rubbing his ribcage—he looked a lot like Goku, but seemed to be around my age. How could Goku have a twenty year old child? He looked maybe five years older than me.

The last man turned and I took an involuntary step back when his black eyes locked on mine. He had a severe widow's peak and a cold scowl that told me he wasn't someone I wanted to mess with. Thankfully he didn't find me particularly interesting and turned around with an arrogant snort.

The woman glanced between Goku and me before striding forward to shake my hand, smiling warmly. She had blue eyes and black hair, setting her apart from the men. It felt like she would break my fingers when we shook and I grimaced to hide the pain radiating through my muscles. She seemed to notice and gasped before letting go.

"I'm sorry!" she said. "I'm so used to fighting that I don't know my own strength. My name is Videl and this is Vegeta. My boyfriend, Gohan, is hiding over in the corner. Come say hi, Gohan! She won't bite."

Gohan had spiky hair that didn't really match is father's, but their builds and eyes looked the same. He rubbed the back of his head and stepped forward to say hi, turning pink when Videl told him to speak up. They all looked like they didn't belong in my world. Their clothes were modern to a degree. But the way their hair and eyes were seemed to alien to be from any place I could think of. I half-expected Vegeta to say something but he remained still with his back facing us.

Erin was choking a little behind me. "Am… am I dreaming?"

"Sort of," Videl said. "Anyway, we all wanted to come through and meet you, Naomi. Goku was originally bringing Vegeta along but Gohan insisted that we come, too." She smiled over her shoulder at her boyfriend who nodded quickly in agreement. "Don't worry, we won't intrude and we'll leave around nightfall. Your world is so much different than ours!"

"World?" Erin echoed.

"She meant country," Goku said, trying to cover up Videl's gaffe. "We're all from the far east."

This seemed to surprise Erin even more and she stepped forward to scrutinize them. "Huh. Normally people from out there have kinda narrow eyes and are tiny. You're all… big. Except for Videl, of course. But you look foreign somehow. Maybe it's just me thinking too much."

It was true. That had been one of the first things I noticed about Goku—he looked like he was from another planet. Seeing a group of them in the same room reaffirmed that in my mind, but perhaps things were different in his reality. Videl was the exception. She was tiny, a bit smaller than me, and had a rare but not totally unnatural eye and hair color combination. I kind of worried about her being around gigantic alien men.

"Well we're not gonna be too far off," Goku said as an uncomfortable silence settled on the room. "Ready, Vegeta?"

The scowling man snorted disdainfully. "Of all the ridiculous things you've gotten yourself into, this is by far the worst, Kakarot."

There was really no time to ask what "Kakarot" meant. They all hurried from my apartment and were soon gone, leaving behind no trace of their existence. Erin sighed dreamily and plopped on the couch in my living room while I stood quietly near the wall. Had I inadvertently discovered a parallel dimension where aliens lived with incredible superpowers? Videl was abnormally strong, especially for a woman and something about the way they all looked really struck me as odd. How could Goku look so young and have a son roughly my age? It wasn't adding up.

Then again, why was I so concerned with the nitty-gritty details? Everything about our meeting defied logic so a few inconsistencies really didn't matter. If what Goku claimed was true than that meant the textbooks had to be rewritten; physicists had been wrong; wormholes could exist… Thinking of it made my head hurt. If I needed my questions answered I'd have plenty of time between bouncing around different realities. Odds are we'd be heading to his world within a few days. How would I explain what was going on to Vic? I'd be fired before I could bat an eye.

That also left me with the dilemma of meeting Goku's wife, who apparently wasn't in the mood to cross dimensions and see the strange woman her husband had met. I slumped dejectedly into my armchair while Erin hummed away happily, probably dreaming of the muscly men who had just been crammed in my apartment. Life was better when it was simple. All this talk about different realms was gonna drive me crazy. Never sleeping again seemed like a viable alternative.

"You look awfully upset," Erin said, turning over on her stomach to look at me. "They all seemed to like you so what's the big deal? Maybe Goku didn't even tell his wife. You know, if you decide you don't want him I'd love to step in and—"

"What about Ed?"

"Oh… duh. Maybe I could convince them to do a three way."

"You're so foul sometimes. Come on, let's go to the mall. I need something to keep my mind off all this nonsense."

I was unwilling to admit it, but a painful feeling of loneliness was building in my gut. It might have been better if Goku and I had stayed apart.