A/N: This is a new record. Lol. I got over my little writer's block and all the creativity is leaking out of my brain. Thanks for the reviews, guys! :D I'm so glad people like this story. I was worried nobody would read it.

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

-MalRev

The Ties That Bind

7

Wherever I was, it was cold.

Stone walls were all around me suggesting I was in some sort of castle. It wasn't hard to guess I was in another painfully vivid dream—I rubbed the goose bumps away from my arms and shivered. There was no way I'd escape until I saw the entire thing through, for better or worse. Maybe this time it'd have a pleasant ending rather than the terrifying one I always experienced. I looked around the little room I was in and picked up a blanket to wrap myself in before pushing open a heavy wooden door.

Two creatures were sitting in front of a fire, watching it quietly. I had a feeling they didn't know I was hanging around so I hid behind my door and watched them curiously. They weren't human—one had horns curving out of his skull and the other (which appeared to be female) had pointed ears. From what I could see they both had glowing red eyes and fangs curving from their mouths. Demons? I'd seen a lot of strange things throughout my sleepless life but these were a first.

The female one scooped up a wine glass and admired the golden liquid within, smiling vaguely. "Everything is going according to plan, Scoria. We've almost connected our world with theirs. Soon they will both belong to us and all will tremble at our power. It took quite a while for Goku to find her energy again but he's always been a curious soul."

"Patience, Fiamme. A few more years makes no difference to us."

The sound of Scoria's voice made my skin crawl. He had his clawed hands clasped neatly before him like a perfect gentleman, gazing quietly at the flickering flames. Whatever plans they were discussing only meant bad things for Earth. How did they know about Goku and I? Did they have any idea what happened between us? I wanted to know more but I really wanted to wake up and never see their faces again. But I knew that wasn't gonna happen.

"I just can't wait to crush them," Fiamme said. "You've been teasing me with this for so long. How do we know when it's the right moment to strike?"

"When our worlds are connected."

"But they already are, Scoria. Oh, you're such a scoundrel!"

Scoria's eyes suddenly flickered to me and I froze. He smiled.

"We need a catalyst."

Whoever was sleeping beside me woke up with a gasp that was even louder than mine. I winced and immediately fell back, crippled by the beginnings of a hangover. My bedroom was still dark and Peter was curled up at the foot of the bed, one eye open to study me curiously. As I struggled to catch my breath I realized it had been Goku sleeping beside me and he was equally as shaken by the nightmare. We were connected to one another and in turn connected to someone else. Someone dangerous.

Goku collapsed beside me, his broad chest heaving. "You had the same vision?"

"Yes. It wasn't an accident, though. Whoever it was did it deliberately to scare us." I looked around, mildly disappointed that Craig was nowhere to be seen. Had he bailed on me? Did I puke on him? Or did we have sex while Goku was sitting in the living room?

"Don't worry, I brought you home after you fainted in the middle of the dance floor," Goku said. "Craig insisted on taking you back but I wouldn't let him. I never will. Anyway, you've been passed out for a few hours so I finally decided to go to bed myself. Lo and behold, we both have the same nightmare. I wonder if it's gonna happen every night like the last one because I really need to sleep."

"Oh. Well sorry to inconvenience you like that. It won't happen again, sir."

"Don't be so grouchy, Nome. We just saw two demon people talking about crushing both of our worlds. I think we both have some research to do instead of arguing about your boy troubles."

I scowled when Goku got out of bed without even glancing at me. "Boy troubles? Excuse me? I don't have any boy troubles. You're the one causing me problems. Everything was fine before you showed up and demanded to sleep in my bed. How about you sleep on the floor from now on, hm? You're really hot so you make me sweat like crazy."

"Thank you very much for the compliment."

We walked out to the kitchen with Peter right behind us, hoping he would get some cheese. I angrily got myself a glass of water from the sink and drank it without looking away from Goku as he helped himself to a bag of pretzels. He smiled at me and leaned on the counter, munching on his snack like he didn't have a care in the world. We had both just had the same vision about demons destroying our planets and he was more concerned with making stupid jabs about my man troubles.

I tapped my nails on the counter, trying to rein in my irritation. So what if he had a point? I was torn between two men right now. Technically three if you wanted to count Goku but since when was he in the equation? He was married. That left Vic and Craig, who were both pretty nice. Vic was kind of awkward and older but Craig could have been a closeted clingy, obsessive boyfriend who might try to kill my family if I chose them over him. He was also attractive and young. Why couldn't they all just be completely normal and sane?

"We're going to my world," Goku said, finishing up the rest of the pretzels. "My other son and wife probably miss me as much as I miss them so I'd like to spend next week there. I've already talked to your boss—Vic was his name?—and he's more than happy to accommodate your hectic schedule. When we come back you're free to do whatever you want for the next week, whether it's hanging around an old guy or getting drunk at a shady club."

"I am not going anywhere. Craig and I need to catch up at dinner. Besides, I need to apologize for being such an irresponsible date last night."

"Craig can wait. We'll go back to sleep and head there in the morning so I can see my family again. I've been pretty accommodating for you; it would be polite for you to do the same."

"Aren't we gonna discuss the vision we both had?" I asked when he started to walk away.

Goku shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about it. I've never heard of Fiamme or Scoria and I have no clue where they could possibly be. Probably somewhere in my world but I didn't detect an energy signature I could trace back to the source. Gotta tell ya, I haven't felt that afraid since I fought Frieza on planet Namek. Anywho, let's go back to sleep so you're refreshed for our trip."

It was true that there was nothing we could do but I still hated to sit around ignorantly, hoping for something to happen. What did they mean by our worlds connecting? They already had. Goku and I met, we knew each other's histories and people from Goku's realm had come to mine. Maybe the more we went back and forth the bigger a hole we would rip between our dimensions until they merged into one. Yet I couldn't get Scoria's last glance at me out of my head. It was especially eerie.

After we were nestled back in bed and I had closed my eyes, I heard Goku laughing beside me. He was lying on his back with his arms behind his head, clearly without a care in the world. When he noticed my inquiring expression he shook his head and gestured around the dark room.

"It's all too strange, isn't it?" Goku asked. "A man and woman from two very different worlds with two completely opposing personalities become tethered together by a freak accident and are forced to live together or risk death. It's like trying to make sand stick to water. Why us? Why this kind of situation? Making us sleep together every night, only letting me sense your energy in this place… maybe I'm thinking too much. It could all be coincidence."

"It's just the price we pay for ripping a hole through two dimensions. No big deal."

My sleeping partner didn't respond. I turned away and shut my eyes again, desperately hoping I wouldn't be confronted by the freaky demon pair drinking champagne in their cold dungeon. Tomorrow I'd be meeting Goku's wife, who was probably a supermodel, and his youngest son. Absolutely no pressure. None at all.