Lavender Time

Part Three

When Goten first woke up he didn't know where he was. He wasn't sleeping on the soft futon in his room, nor was it Trunks' large king sized mattress. He blinked blearily at his surroundings, taking in the empty spot beside him, and the dirty boxes tucked into the corner of the room. The strange surroundings caused his heart leapt into his throat and his body to shoot up, fully alert. Large black eyes took in the room again, his mind reeling. Images from the other day came back to him slowly, with a haze that made the memories almost dream like.

Running into the Elssyian soldiers, waking up in the future Capsule Corp, meeting future Trunks and Bulma. He was sleeping in one of their small guest rooms.

He was stuck in the future for at least five months.

With a heavy sigh Goten allowed his body give out, and he fell back onto the mattress with a soft thump. He thought about his mother, how she must be tearing her hair out in worry. He wondered how Trunks was reacting to him being gone for so long. How would everyone react when he returned in months?

There's nothing I can do, he reminded himself, rubbing his cheek against the rough pillow. The only thing there was to do was to make the best of the situation. Closing his eyes tightly, the young saiyan tried to push all thoughts of his own world aside.

A low rumble from his stomach filled the room, causing Goten to consider when his last meal had been. The answer was that he couldn't remember. His stomach let out another unhappy noise, and Goten whined with it. He needed food, he just hoped he would be able to find the kitchen in this new capsule corp.

He lucked out. As Goten quietly closed his bedroom door behind him the smell of toast and eggs wafted through the hallways. The young saiyan nearly collapsed in happiness as the smell of food hit him. His nose directed him through the building. As he neared the kitchen the soft clatter of dishes could be heard, along with low voices talking. The next turn he took led him directly into a dimly lit kitchen. A small plastic table where a platter of toast and eggs sat was in the middle of the room, and Mirai Trunks sitting in a cheap plastic chair. Bulma stood by the counter, humming softly as she washed something under warm water.

As he stood in the doorway taking in everything Mirai's eyes caught sight of him and the older man gave a friendly wave. "Morning."

Bulma turned at the greeting and flashed a friendly smile, "Morning Goten. Help yourself to the food. Sorry if it isn't the greatest, its all I can do in these conditions."

"It smells fine." Goten beamed, stalking over to the open chair besides Trunks and grabbing a plate. He went to work scooping up eggs and piling pieces of toast onto his the platter. Bulma laughed from her place by the sink.

"I thought some breakfast would wake you up. This trick works on all saiyan men I've found."

"Mother..." Trunks breathed, a soft blush tinting his cheeks as he turned his attention to his food.

Goten smiled at no one in particular, as he happily chewed on a piece of toast.

"So what are you boys going to do today?" Bulma asked, skillfully switching the subject. She dried her hands on her old stripped apron. Her blues eyes looked at the two saiyans sitting at the table with quiet interest.

Goten's chewing slowed and his face dropped. The question was a simple reminder of the world he had dropped into. Mirai pushed himself away from the table, obviously finished with his meal. Goten's black eyes watched his the older saiyan licked his lips and whipped his face. The expression Mirai wore was surreal to see. His ice blue eyes were narrowed in intense concentration that he'd never seen before. "I've been thinking about everything and Goten…" blue eyes came up to meet coal black, "are you still willing to help?"

"Of course," Goten replied automatically, his body buzzing with so much energy it nearly made him dizzy. Danger and death filled the air of the future world, and his saiyan instincts were definitely reacting to it. Just the mention of fighting gave Goten a rush he hadn't felt since Maijin Buu.

"I'm going to help if you want me to or not." He stated, hoping the sincerity in his voice reached Mirai.

A small smile broke out on the older man's face as he nodded, and from the other side of the room Goten heard Bulma's voice whisper, "That's Goku's son alright." He felt his body react to the remark, but managed not to show his discomfort on his face. He wanted Mirai to see him as the man who was willing to help because he was willing and able, not because of the ties he had to his father.
"Good, then today we'll have our first spar."


The area Trunks picked to spar was a barren wasteland. Large red platues speckled the area, giving the land more dynamics. Goten landed on one of the rocks and Trunks landed on one opposite of him. The wind whipped at both their hair, throwing Trunnks' long lavender locks back and forth without a care. "Alright Goten, does this look good? This place doesn't have much animals and no people live nearby."

"Its great." Goten agreed, giving the area another look.

"Good, I don't want you holding back. Give me everything you've got." the smile that tugged at Trunks' lips was one Goten had seen nearly a hundred times. He was excited for battle, cocky even. "You seemed powerful against the foot soldiers, but you definitely need some polishing."

"Polishing huh?" Goten cocked his head to the side but his lips tugged into a excited smile. His body slipped into a easy fighting stance, as his eyes narrowed on the man in front of him. "All right, but remember you asked for it."

His energy sparked at his finger tips and feet. The rock Goten stood on groaned as his power climbed to its peak. With a loud cry Goten charged, his hand came up to throw the first punch. Trunks easily blocked the blow, then raised his knee to block another. The lavender haired man's smile broke into a out right grin, identical to the look on Goten's own face.

"Try this." The black haired teen hissed, feeling the energy collect at his finger tips. Before the ki ball grew to dangerous, he threw it towards Trunks' left leg. The half saiyan dodged to the right, where Goten suddenly appeared, his next attack ready.

Gohan's youngest brother threw his knee, and landed a blow against his opponent's ribs. A chocked sound escaped Mirai as the attack pushed him back. Goten didn't leave time to recover as the young half saiyan threw another punch and another after that. Both made rough contact against Mirai's skin, but the older man held his guard up.

Pulling back, Goten could feel his lungs gasping for air. A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek as he watched Mirai carefully. The purple haired man wasn't breathing nearly as hard, and once Mirai lowered his defense Goten could see the sleek smile that graced his features. "Not bad Goten. You might want to try a little harder though."

Black eyes narrowed at the taunt, and Goten obediently powered up before attacking again. He threw a rapid succession of punches and kicks, all either block or avoided by Mirai. None of the blows landed on the man's vital parts Goten noticed, and he own movements were quickly slowing down. He threw another desperate punch, this time however, instead of dodging Mirai easily snaked his own arm under Goten's. Effectively trapping the limb. Goten sucked in a sharp breathe of air as his situation dawned on him, and Mirai smiled.

In a quick motion, Mirai twisted the arm, moving Goten's body in front of his own. The younger man growled in the back of his throat while Mirai's soft chuckle filled his ears. The younger man desperately tried to get out of the grip to no avail.

"Okay okay I yield. Let go Trunks." he yelped. The words spilled out of his mouth before he knew what he was doing. so many times in the past Trunks had bested him in a sparring match, but this wasn't Trunks. Not his Trunks anyway. This was Mirai. A different man, yet so similar in many ways.

The grip loosened enough for Goten to get free. His mix up seemed to go unnoticed to the other saiyan as Mirai tilted his head at Goten's direction. "The Elyssians aren't going to be as forgiving as me you know."

"I know," Goten snapped, hardly able to keep the annoyance out of his voice, "I've been in a real fight before."

Mirai had no response to the sudden comment. His quietness caused Goten to feel ashamed at his behavior, his face heated and he averted his eyes. So childish, he chided himself, I can't believe I snapped about something so stupid.

A hand suddenly landed on his head, jerking the teen out of his thoughts. Fingers could be felt ruffling his dark locks gently while Mirai sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you Goten." then softer, "You're so different from Gohan."

Eyes till down cast, Goten ignored the last words. "No I'm sorry. You'd think I'd be used to you beating my ass."

Mirai laughed, "I have been doing this a long time. Even longer then your Trunks."

The words caught Goten slightly off guard, although they were true he was finding it difficult to decipher the future Trunks from the one in his own timeline.

Swallowing his shame, Goten couldn't think of anything to say in response. Mirai was quiet as well, his hand still laying on top of his head in a fond gesture. Eventually though, the older man put them both out of their misery, "How about we head home. I bet you're starved."

The mention of food made Goten brighten, "I could go for a hamburger."

The soft unoffensive chuckle came again, "You really are just like Goku."

Those words- Those words-were the only ones he thought he would never hear coming from Trunks, and even though Goten knew Mirai wasn't comparable to his Trunks they still stung. He managed to bite his lip in time, and shake off his irritation. A smile was forced into place before Mirai could notice any reaction from his words.

He changed the subject, from his father to a topic closer to home. "Mirai?" he started, breathing still uneven from the earlier exercise. The older boy paused in his cool down stretching to look at him. Elegant lavender eye brows raised in interest.

Goten swallowed, the words dying to come out yet he was fearful of the answer. He knew the future was a unpleasant place, where all the friends and family he knew in his time were long dead. But still, "I was wondering... if you knew anything about my mother."

Mirai seemed generally surprised by the question, "Chichi?"

Goten could only nod. He couldn't ask if she was alive or not, the words were suddenly stuck in his throat. A memory of his mother killed by Maijin Buu appeared in his mind's eye. Mirai's silence wasn't making him feel any better. He could handle his father being dead, even Gohan, they were fighters, but his mother...

A hand fell on his shoulder, jerking him out of dark thoughts. He looked up, seeing oddly familiar blue eyes and suddenly he felt a little better. Mirai graced him with a kind smile, "Chichi's still alive."

"Really?" Goten could hardly keep the relief out of his voice, his shoulders sagged and he felt his mouth pull into such a big smile it nearly hurt. "She still live on the mountain."

"As far as I know." Mirai answered sounding slightly unsure, Goten paused at the sudden unsureness in his friend's demeanor and Mirai explained, "I haven't been there in a while. Nearly seven years. I find it... a little awkward to face your mother ever since Gohan's death."

Oh... Goten thought dumbly, black eyes trained on the man in front of him. The next request he'd been playing with didn't seem appropriate anymore.

Luckily Mirai didn't have to be asked. The sadness that had seeped into his blue eyes disappeared in a flash and he gave Goten a reassuring smile. "You want to visit her?"

"Uh... well..." Goten couldn't help but laugh at the look Mirai was giving him. A confident smile, the same he always yielded to. "I would really appreciate it."

"Of course Goten." Mirai nodded, "There's nothing wrong with your request. When I came to your timeline it was my family who made me feel comfortable. Even if they weren't the same people I know here, they are my blood." tilting his head to the side, long lavender locks fell over Mirai's shoulder and some strands tumbled into his eyes.

The words worked magic on Goten. He smiled and diverted his eyes to his hands which quietly picked at the cloth of his pants.

They may be from a different timeline, but they are still the people I know and love. He told himself, They are my blood. He looked up at Mirai, and saw the young man he had once been. The Trunks Goten grew up with and loved. More mature, older even, but still he had the same affect on the young demi-saiyan.

"Thank you," Goten said, and he meant it.

"Anything," Mirai answered, and Goten could hear the sincerity in his voice. "Now how about we go home. Tomorrow, I'll go with you to see Chichi."


When the returned to the remains of Capsule Corp, a grand meal awaited them. Pieces of Steak, bits of steamed vegetables, bowls of rice. Even Mirai seemed generally confused by the collection. Bulma merely beamed at them, "If I remember right two saiyans can work up quite a appetite training." Neither complained, they all sat down at the small pull out table and had what Bulma jokingly called, "A family dinner."

It took a couple minutes for actual conversation to come. Goten's face was full of food and both Mirai and Bulma seemed content in watching him eat and smiling. When he slowed down enough Bulma asked him questions about his timeline. How his father was doing, how Vegeta was doing, the exciting adventures of the past years, and Goten politely answered all that he could. Both Mirai and Bulma seemed more surprise that Krillin had married 18 and started a family then they had been about his announcement that the Bulma in his timeline had a second child. Gohan was married and had a daughter, he told the two, and Bulma nearly had tears in her eyes at the thought. Mirai stared down at his plate, a soft smile on his face. Goten could feel though, that all this talk of his world was bringing the mood to a quiet melancholy he didn't like. It felt wrong to talk about his world when the people around him were in turmoil.

Swallowing the last bit of his rice Goten kindly dodged another question about his world and changed the topic. "About your world," he started, watching Bulma's intelligent blue eyes stare at him, "I asked Mirai today about my mother. I was hoping tomorrow I could see her."

"Oh Chichi!" Bulma nearly squealed in delight, "Kami it has been years since I've seen her. She still lives on Mount Paozu you know, and that is so far away."

"Is she okay up there?"

All by herself?

"Trunks was there a couple years ago, and she seemed to be doing well, especially after he told her of his adventures in the past." Goten spared a look at Mirai at the mention and again he saw the older man's face flush a little as he plucked a steamed vegetable with his fork and popped it in his mouth. "But Chichi will be even happier once she sees you." Bulma continued, "Oh maybe I should come with."

"If you don't mind Goten." Mirai added quietly from his place at the table.

Goten smiled, "Why would I mind. The more the merrier." he urged happily not missing the sparkle in both Bulma and Mirai's eyes.

They are still the same, rang through his mind as they continued with dinner, even in this crumbling world. They are my family.


Author's Note: I know! I finally updated. Long story short I wrote this chapter last fall and somehow lost it! So I had to rewrite the entire thing all over again- which normally wouldn't be so bad but it put up a bit of a fight and I also had a lot going on this past year. So finally, here is the next chapter and already I'm working on the third so I don't keep people waiting again. Sorry for any editing and grammar mistakes. I'm still betaless. Thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW! :)