Chapter 3 - Time to Go Back

There was complete silence in the room for quite some time while people tried to digest what they'd just learned. Vegeta was fuming – that much Gohan could tell. But luckily, at the moment anyway, Vegeta was too upset to move. Gohan worried if the man had gone into shock or was having an aneurysm.

Goten was quite confused by the movie. The boy wasn't really old enough to fully understand it, and he was working with his limited Son intelligence. He couldn't figure out how Trunks could have a sister, or how Trunks was only Bulma's son, especially since he knew – or at least he thought he knew – that Vegeta was Trunks' dad. He was pretty sure he'd heard him call Trunks "son" once or twice. And why did Mr. Vegeta have that weird hair cut and those funny clothes on? He was sure that it was funny, but he could tell Vegeta was already upset, so he thought maybe he could laugh about it later. And who was that big kid who looked like Trunks? He didn't seem to act a whole lot like Trunks… And what did the movie have to do with him? He wasn't even in it!

Goku, needless to say, was just as confused, though his confusion wasn't as specific as Goten's. Not to mention that seeing all that food in the movie had made him really hungry…

Mirai just stood back and watched. The looks on their faces were amusing, but he was mostly concerned with his father. Once he finally snapped out of it… Well, this room was way too small for any of them to make it out without getting blasted.

Bulma was just as confused. Actually, it was more shock than anything else that kept her silent. The blue-haired genius was very slowly putting things together. Now… Trunks is my son, and he's the boy from the future and he's a Saiyan… And Vegeta has a daughter, who looks just like me… And Gohan was supposed to bring that girl's parents and brother and Goku here… So that means… "OH MY GOD! I MARRIED VEGETA!"

Although wincing from her shriek – she had no idea how much that hurt his sensitive Saiyan years – Trunks put a comforting hand on Bulma's shoulder. "Calm down Mom." She didn't seem to respond, her mouth was hanging open and she was staring wide eyed at Vegeta's back. Trunks sighed and turned back to Gohan. He happened to understand the whole situation since he wasn't really distracted by the news of the wedding (I mean, did it really even effect him?). And he realized the problems that the others hadn't even had time to consider yet.

He left his mother's side – she was starting to shake – and side-stepped Goku to get to Gohan. "Gohan… What are you going to do now? I mean, you can't just return us to our own times… Not if we're all from different ones." And how are you going to do it if Dad blows this thing up?

Gohan nodded, and was about to reply when there was a loud BANG. When the smoke cleared, the group could see a small crater where Goten had been standing two seconds ago. Goten was hovering a couple feet in the air, looking at the spot on the ground. "Gee, Uncle Vegeta, you could've hit me!" he said, finally looking up at the older Saiyan.

Vegeta snarled – he had always hated being called that. Why the hell would he want Kakkarott's children thinking of him as family? "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT CALLING ME THAT, BRAT?" and then he lunged. Goten narrowly dodged Vegeta's fist, which only managed to infuriate him even more.

A chase began around the small room, Vegeta charging at Goten faster than most of them could follow, Goten waiting until the last microsecond to dash out of the way. One or two of Vegeta's missed punches left craters in the floor.

The ridiculous thing was that Goten seemed to be having fun. "Can't catch me!" he yelled, bouncing off the walls, at most only a few feet from Vegeta's grasp at any given time.

"ARGH, QUIET BOY!" Vegeta boomed, finally powering up to Super Saiyan. The fact that this little runt was so easily able to dodge him annoyed him to no end.

"VEGETA!" Gohan yelled, grabbing his little brother from the air and walking over to Goku. "WERE YOU NOT LISTENING TO BULLA! She'd KILL me if anything happens to Goten! Then my mother will wish me back so that SHE can kill me! I really don't need that, Vegeta!" He thrust the squirming boy over to their father. "Take care of him, okay?"

Vegeta scowled and crossed his arms in front of him. That pose always meant trouble. "I have the right to prevent my daughter from marrying that baka or anyone else for that matter."

Gohan thought about how to best approach this. Threatening bruit force was useless – they both knew Vegeta could snap him like a twig if he tried. But Gohan knew Vegeta's weaknesses and right now, he was totally willing to exploit them. So he smiled an evil grin that shocked most of the people in the room. "Go ahead and kill him, Vegeta. I won't stop you." Vegeta was surprised to by this, but prepared to do just that. He wasn't going to worry about why the boy was giving him that look. "BUT," Gohan added as Vegeta took a step forward, "I suggest you think about the consequences first."

"What?" Vegeta asked. Consequences? Like how good it would feel squashing the little bug who had annoyed him the past three decades? The satisfaction he'd feel knowing he wouldn't have to be related to Kakkarott? The rest of the group seemed surprised too, but Mirai smirked, seeing where this was going.

"Well, Vegeta, there's Bulma. You know what she'll do to you once she finds out – and she will find out. She always finds out when you fuck up. I don't even need to mention the gravity room, food, or that horrible couch you'll have to sleep on for the rest of your life. And Bulma's a smart woman. I'm sure she'll figure out a hell of a lot more ways to make your life miserable." Some of the fight left Vegeta's eyes. Was that fear Gohan saw?

"And of course, there's my dad. The one over there might not be stronger than you, but the one in your time is. And he wouldn't hesitate to kill you if you killed his son." No one in the room really believed this part, and Vegeta was about to object when Gohan continued. "And of course, Vegeta, there's Bulla."

"What about her?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She was the reason he was doing this in the first place.

"You think Bulma has a bad temper? C'mon, you know how bad Bulla can be. Remember when she was three and sabotaged the gravity room when you refused to take her to the park? And when she was seven and cut your hair because you wouldn't let her have a sleepover?" Vegeta winced. He'd have never cut his beautiful hair in the first place if he wasn't trying to fix Bulla's little temper tantrum. "Vegeta, she's already dating Goten in your time. Once she finds out what you've done…" He didn't have to say it, Vegeta knew. His gravity room and hair would be only the first of the casualties.

Vegeta sighed, his shoulders slumped in defeat, and somewhat annoyed at not being able to kill the brat that would marry his daughter. "How long?" he asked.

"Until the wedding? Five years."

He sighed again. It'll be hard not to kill that brat if I have to wait five whole years, knowing what he's going to do…

Gohan smiled, but his victory was interrupted by Mirai. "Um, Gohan? What about the… the Trunks in your timeline? He seemed just as upset as Vegeta did… And he's not here, so what are you going to do about him?"

Gohan shrugged. "I don't think it'll be a problem. I mean, I think the only reason you… er… he over-reacted like that is because of Vegeta. If Vegeta doesn't do anything stupid, then Trunks won't either."

Vegeta walked over to Bulma, who was sitting on the floor with an unreadable expression on her face. She was holding her knees and shaking slightly back and forth. Does she EVER not overreact? he thought with annoyance (affection). "Up, Woman," he snapped.

That did the trick. Her eyes flew up to him, all thoughts of the future suddenly gone and only her perpetual annoyance with the Saiyan Prince on her mind. "DON'T CALL ME THAT, ASSHOLE!"

Everyone else in the room winced at the high-pitched scream. Vegeta just rolled his eyes and started to walk away. "Wait!" Bulma cried. He turned back to her, and she motioned for him to sit down next to her. He was aware that everyone was watching him, and he didn't want to give in to her so easily… But being temporarily stronger than Goku assured his superiority, even if he yielded to his mate, so he swallowed his pride and sat down.

"So… Bulla is… my daughter… ?"

"Hmph."

"So… we get married?"

Vegeta nodded slightly.

"Do you regret it?"

He didn't reply. They'd had this conversation enough times over the years and he didn't feel like hashing it out with an audience present. Instead, he stood up then picked her up. She was surprised by the firmness of his body, the muscles that encircled her, but also the gentleness of how he held her, making sure that he didn't hurt her. She could totally get used to this.

Vegeta carried her towards Gohan. "Get us back to our times," he snapped.

"Right..." Gohan said, annoyed at being ordered around. Been on this planet how many years and never learned the word "please"? Ass.

Some things never change, Mirai thought, sighing.

"Just let me talk to Goten, real quick," Gohan said, taking his brother from Goku. He placed the boy on the floor and kneeled next to him. "Do you understand what's happened?"

Goten shook his head.

"Well… maybe that's a good thing for now. But you'll probably remember that you did come here and a little bit of what you saw…" Then he winked at his younger brother. "You can explain why Vegeta and Trunks don't do anything stupid when you get married. But only explain it to the girl from the movie, okay?"

Goten nodded. "Okay, Gohan, I will."

"Promise?"

"I promise!"

If this were seven year old Trunks standing in front of him, there's no way he'd believe the kid. But Gohan knew his brother was too good-natured to lie about a promise. "Okay then," Gohan said, getting up and walking over to the control panel. He input a quick command. "I guess I'll be seeing you guys soon…"

AN: As epic as I could've made Bulma's freakout, I felt that it would probably distract too much from the rest of the story. Two more chapters.