Chapter Eight - Meeting on the Lookout

"Mom!" Gohan called as he touched down outside his house once more.

A second later Chi-Chi and Yamcha came out of the house quickly, a worried expression on the woman's face. It faded as soon as she saw Gohan was alright, but then returned when she saw the girl in the shredded clothes in his arms. "Oh, what happened to her?" she asked hurrying over.

"Not sure. She was in the pod that crashed." he said "Dende's healed up her physical injuries but she's still drained. I thought..."

"Yes, of course, bring her in Gohan." Chi-Chi said turning and leading the way back into the house. She led Gohan back to her room and had him lay the girl down on her bed. She then pulled the covers up over the girl who instantly pulled them closer and then rolled onto her side mumbling. "Poor thing looks like she's been through hell."

Gohan nodded and sighed. "Mirai and Bulma are working on where she came from." he said. "Other than that there isn't much we can do right now. I just hope this isn't the start of more problems, not with this Reiketsukan stuff starting too."

"Well, come on, let's let her rest." Chi-Chi said pushing Gohan from the room.

As he emerged into the hall again he saw Yamcha still standing there. "So she just came down and passed out then?" he asked.

Gohan nodded. "It's a good thing I was out there. Without help she'd not have survived... I just wish I knew who she was and what was going on. Anyway, I think I'm going to get some sleep, I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Actually." Chi-Chi said walking into the room. "I think you taking one day off wouldn't hurt and I'll probably need the help." Chi-Chi said.

"You sure?" Gohan asked. His mom nodded. "Ok."

"Well, see you later." Yamcha said waving and leaving.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Wednesday, April 7th. Son Home.

"So who do you think she is?" Goten asked as his brother sat up in bed rubbing his eyes.

"Huh? Goten? What time is it?"

"It's seven. So, who do you think she is?" he pressed again. "I was in my room but I saw you bring her in and I looked in mom's room and saw her too. So, who do you think she is?"

Gohan stretched, yawned, and rubbed his eyes before answering. "I don't know Goten. I really don't have a clue."

"Do you think she's an alien?"

Gohan laughed. "I don't know, she could be. But so are you, you know."

Goten rolled his eyes. "It's not the same thing!"

"Sure, whatever you say." He threw the covers off and climbed to his feet. As he got dressed Goten took off into the halls and straight for the kitchen. A few mintues later Gohan joined him to find breakfast waiting, though not nearly as much as normal. Gohan figured his mom hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and probably spent most of the night and morning keeping an eye on the mystery girl. "How's she doing?" he asked taking a seat and grabbing some of the food.

"She seems to be okay. Keeps mumbling stuff in her sleep though." Chi-Chi replied with a sigh. "She seems to be having nightmares."

The rest of breakfast passed by in silence and after a bit Goten finished and then took off to play outside. Gohan picked at his food slower than usual and had only eaten about half as much as usual when he suddenly felt a wildly fluctuating power inside the house. "What the..." he breathed looking back toward his mother's room. That's where the power was coming from and it was jumping back and forth between about the level of Roshi and the level of Goten.

He put down the last bite of his pancake and moved back toward her room, Chi-Chi right behind him. Reaching the door he pushed it open a little and looked inside. The girl was tossing and turning in the bed mumbling something. Chi-Chi opened the door all the way and pushed passed him moving over closer to the bed. "Oh, poor thing must be having a really ba..."

She was cut off by a scream and then the girl sat up straight breathing heavily and soaked in sweat. Her power jumped up to about Goten's level and held steady there for a second before dropping back down again. The girl's wide eyes slowly returned to normal as she relaxed some. "How are you feeling?" Gohan asked walking up beside his mom. As soon as he spoke her power leapt back up again. "It's ok, you're safe here."

She looked up at him first and then around at the room evidently confused. "You crashed last night." Gohan explained. "Your Space Pod came in really fast and was totally destroyed, you were almost killed..."

"So I managed to get away after all..." she said softly. Looking down she found what was left of her body suit completely shredded but no signs of her injuries. "What the..."

"You were in really bad shape so we had Dende heal you." Gohan said. "So you're back in perfect condition."

She blinked a few times and then looked up at Gohan and Chi-Chi again. "I... Thank-you. For helping me. But... you shouldn't have. It'll only cause you more trouble later."

Gohan raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, we're kind of used to trouble around here."

She nodded slowly as if that made perfect sense and turned her head. Her eyes widened instantly as she saw the trees and wildlife outside the window. "Where... where am I?" she asked, obviously shocked about something.

"Umm, this is Earth."

"EARTH!?" she cried, turning to look back at the other two in the room again. "But... but that's not... it can't be! Earth... Earth was..."

"Was what?" Gohan asked confused.

"It was destroyed..." she said softly. "I barely managed to get away..."

"Oh, poor thing must be all mixed up." Chi-Chi said. "I'll go and get her some breakfast."

"My name is Gohan, by the way. So, what's yours?" Gohan asked as his mother left.

"Huh? Oh... I... I'm Tamanegi but most people just call me Tama." She leaned closer to the window to get a better look around. "This is... really Earth?"

Gohan nodded. "Yeah, it is."

He turned and looked as his mom came back in with a tray carrying a plate of pancakes and a glass of juice. "Here you are, eat up." Chi-Chi said handing the tray over.

"Oh... tha-thank-you." Tama said taking it. She looked down at the food for a moment, her mind still running through everything and trying to figure it out. "I still... don't get it." she said at last. "This can't be... can't be Earth. It's... it was... and I should be in the Fringes..."

"Once you finish eating we can figure this out." Gohan said. "And maybe Mir..." he stopped as he heard the phone ringing and went into the living room to answer it. "Hello?"

"Oh, hey Gohan. It's Bulma."

"Hey, what'd you find?"

"This pod, or what's left if it, is amazing! I've never seen anything quite like it before. It's... it's simply incredible!"

"What's so amazing about it?"

"Well, for starters, I haven't got a clue what it's made from. I've never seen a material like this. It weighs almost nothing but it's about a million times stronger than anything I've invented. Then the computer systems are really advanced from what I can tell. There's not enough left of them to really get a feeling for those though. And the engine is... well, it's complicated to the point I can't figure it out. This is at least 500 years beyond anything I've made."

"Any ideas where she came from?"

"Not a clue. Is she awake yet?"

"Just woke up a little bit ago. She's either really confused or something weird is going on."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, when I told her she was on Earth she said it had been destroyed... I don't know, she could just be really mixed up..."

"Or, knowing us, it's something more." There was a moment of near silence as Bulma talked to someone else. "Ok, Gohan, Mirai says he's heading up to the Lookout and wants you to bring the girl. Apparently Piccolo and Dende want to talk to her."

"Alright."

By the time Gohan got back to his mom's room, Tama was halfway through her food and eating it pretty quickly. "Who was it dear?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Bulma." he replied. "The remains of that pod have her totally lost. It's too advanced even for her. She did say that Piccolo and Dende want to meet her." At this Tama looked up from her now empty plate at this, a slightly worried look on her face. "Oh, it's okay. They're not dangerous if you're not." Gohan said to her. "But they may be able to help us figure out what's going on."

"O-ok." she said nodding and then making to get out of bed.

"Hold on." Chi-Chi said. "You can't go anywhere in that, it's falling apart. I should have something around here that'll fit you. You, out." she said turning to Gohan. He nodded and left as Tama looked from her torn outfit to the cracked and shattered armor.

Gohan made his way through the house and outside into the sunlight. Turning his head skyward he let the morning warmth wash over him. With the birds chirping and the butterflies fluttering about everything seemed peaceful enough. His mind wandered back to the previous night and he was a little curious as to what Mrs. Solaria had made of the events. And then he remembered what Yamcha had told him the night before about Videl. Life was certainly more complicated these days.

"G-Gohan?" Tama's voice sounded nervously from behind him.

He turned and found her standing in the doorway to his house wearing an outfit he'd forgotten his mother had. It was the blue one with red trim she'd shown him a few years ago, the one she'd worn to the 23rd Budokai. "So, you ready to go then?" he asked her. She nodded. "Umm... well, you're certainly strong enough... can you fly?"

"Huh? Well, yes."

"Ok, follow me then." Gohan said lifting gently into the air and flying toward the Lookout at a fairly decent pace. He kept the pace slow since Tama was busy watching everything passing by underneath.

"This... can't be Earth." she said in disbelief. "Even... even ignoring what happened... this can't be... it's so green... so alive."

"Huh?"

Tama looked over to the young man with her and shook her head. "The Earth I know was a barren wasteland. Nothing but rock, dust, sand, and military compounds."

Gohan turned his gaze forward again as his mind worked over that and what Bulma told him. "Well... I suppose it's possible you came from the future..." he said at last. "Bulma did say the technology of your pod was at least five hundred years beyond what she could do."

"The... future? That's possible?"

"Well... considering how fast you were going. I suppose it is." Gohan replied. "I mean, time travel itself is certainly possible, a friend of mine who's here visiting at the moment is from the future."

She nodded slowly as she continued looking at the planet. It was a lot to take in... the possibility of time-travel, the possibility that she was in the past. Way in the past. "Wait... If... if I'm in the past then... then I could change things... I may have already changed them." She looked over to Gohan again. "Ummm... if this... is the past. Then... what about..."

"Your time?" Gohan asked. "Well, it's still there and just the same as it was before you left. You can't actually change the past, just create an alternate and different future."

"Oh." she sighed. There went that idea. "So... where are we going?"

"The Lookout. It's not much further. See that?" he nodded ahead and she looked up. In the distance she saw a tall thin tower reaching up high into the sky. "That's Korin Tower. The Lookout is floating up above it. We should probably start up now." He turned up into an incline and Tama followed suit. They made the rest of the trip in silence and then a moment later they landed gently on the edge of the Lookout.

"This place is... beautiful." she said looking around in awe.

"Piccolo! Dende! Mirai! We're here!" Gohan called. A moment later the three of them emerged from the shadows of the palace portion of the Lookout.

As Tama's gaze fell on them she gasped. "Nameks?" she asked suprised. "Wow... this must... really be the past."

"Guys, this is Tamanegi." he said.

"O-oh, Tama, please." she said, still rather nervous and confused.

"Hello Tama." Dende said bowing slightly. "My name is Dende and I am Guardian of this world. This is Piccolo and Mirai." he motioned to each of them in turn. "Mirai here has informed us of what he and his mother found but this is still puzzling."

"Yeah... tell me about it." Tama said glancing back down at the planet far below her.

"Do you remember anything?" Piccolo asked.

Tama nodded. "Everything. That's what doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe if you told us how you got here..." Mirai said.

"I'm not sure if that'll help but... it's a start I guess."