Warning: lots of feels ahead.
Peridot sat curled up in the corner of the barn rocking back and forth in fetal position. She couldn't believe she had done that. She called her diamond a clod right to her face! She was a traitor! An outcast! No...she was worse! She was an enemy of the empire now! She could never set foot on another gem controlled planet again! There could be wanted transmissions sent to ships all across the galaxy by now. If anyone found her anywhere in the gem empire, she could be killed on the spot.
Peridot's eyes widened as she realised something: Earth was technicality PART of the gem empire! Peridot curled up in a ball and began crying. What was she going to do? What if somebody decide to come to earth and look for her? What if Yellow Diamond sent someone after her? What if Yellow Diamond sent some of Frieza's men after her?! What if she sent the entire ginyu force after her?! Peridot resigned herself as she continued her break down. She was doomed.
As she continued to wipe tears out from under her visor, she heard a voice call to her. "Peridot?" the high pitched voice called, "Peridot! Where are you? Bulma needs your help." It was Gohan.
"Leave me alone!" she snapped, hoping the tiny Saiyan would just go away. That did not work however, as Gohan crawled up into the space she was hiding in.
He looked at her curiously, arching an eyebrow at her and cocking his head to the side. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, scooting a bit closer to her.
Peridot looked away from him. "Yes, now go away. I need to be alone," she said. She didn't want to be around others right now. She just wanted to curl up and hide away from her fear and slight shame.
"Are you sure?" he asked, "You don't look ok. Is there something on your mind?"
"I-I…" she started, "I'm scared ok?" "I'm scared of Yellow Diamond. I'm scared of what she might do to me! Do you know what they do to gems that talk back to her?! Terrible, terrible things! I could be shattered! And yet I felt so free doing so..." "I mean I don't want to go back. I don't regret chosen to stay on Earth, but at the same time I REGRET EVERYTHING!" she cried breaking down again. She hid her face in her hands as she sobbed. Gohan looked at her sympathetically before wrapping his arms around her and giving her a comforting squeeze.
"Hey," he said, "It's gonna be ok. You've got my dad, Uncle Raditz, Mr. Piccolo, Mr Vegeta, Steven, and I looking out for you."
Peridot gave him an odd look. "No offense, but what can you do?" she questioned, "I mean, you're not nearly as strong as the others, let alone strong enough to take on Yellow Diamond."
"I'll get stronger then," he said confidently, "And when I do, I'll make sure that no bad guy comes close to hurting you or this planet."
"Really? You'd do that?" she asked. Gohan nodded at her. "Wow…" she said with a small smile, "Thanks."
…..
Peridot growled in frustration as she glared at the object on the shelf. She stretched her her arm as far as she could and stood on her toes, and yet it managed to elude her grasp. She huffed in annoyance and looked down in embarrassment. Curse her current stature. It was times like this that she wished she still had her limb enhancers.
"Hey Peridot," she heard a voice call. She turned to see Gohan enter her work space. The eight year old half Saiyan was just returning from a training session. "What's new with you?" he asked.
Peridot smiled as an idea came to mind. "Ah Gohan!" she said, "Excellent timing. I am in need of you assistance.
The half Saiyan cocked his head at her. "Oh really?" he asked, "What do you need?"
Peridot pointed to the tool on the shelf. "This drill is ever so slightly out of my radius," she explained, "I need you to allow me to sit on your-" However, she was not able to finish as Gohan simply walked over and reached up to grab the tool from the shelf. Peridot blinked in surprise before a revelation washed over her. "Gohan?" she said.
"Yeah?"
"Please explain to me how you managed to succeed my height by several inches."
The half Saiyan looked at her in confusion. "Um...I ate healthy food and got enough sleep?" he said, "I dunno, that's just what happens to a kid as they get older. They grown up. All organic life does that."
Peridot gave him a baffled expression. "All of it?!" she questioned in shock.
"Yeah, I used to be much smaller before I met you," Gohan explained, "And my dad was about your height when he was my age."
"You're kidding me!" she responded, annoyance clear in her voice, "That's just not fair! Why do you get to maintain constant growth while I'm stuck at this stature?!"
Gohan chuckled. "It's not so bad," he said, "Look at it this way, now you'll be surrounded by a bunch of big, tough strong guys all the time. No one will want to mess with you!"
Peridot tapped her chin thoughtfully and grinned. "I guess you do have a point," she said, "though I'd hardly call you and Steven tough. You two could barely hurt a fly."
Gohan rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "You got me there!" he chirped.
….
This was a mistake. A huge, horrible mistake. Peridot shook as she stared up as the this they hovered above them. They had gone looking for them, hoping to end things peacefully by talking things out (Steven's idea). It's not like they had many other options, what with most of the Z fighters being dead, so Peridot and Gohan had agreed. But things had not gone as expected at all. They had been ambushed and beaten by the cybernetic twins, and it didn't look like they were planning to expand their assault any time soon.
"Please stop!" Steven pleaded, "We don't want to fight you!"
"Then why did you come looking for us?" Android 18 asked.
"We wanted to end this peacefully," Steven said, "I don't care what Gero told you, but you don't have to do this. He's dead! You aren't bound by his commands." "This world is an irreplaceable, beautiful place. If you stopped destroying it, maybe you could find a place to live here in peace!" he continued, "This world is your home just as much as it is mine and everyone else living here. Can't we figure out a way to share it?"
The androids were silent for a few moments before sharing a look with each other. A bead of sweat trickled down Steven's forehead. After another pause, they turned back to him with mirrored sly smirks. "Sure," android 17 said, "We can learn to share."
Steven blinked in surprise as Gohan and Peridot shared confused looks. "R-really?" he asked in disbelief.
"Of course!" the android continued, "Let's just all be pals. In fact, let's start it with a game of catch." A ball of ki energy started forming in the androids hand. Steven's eyes widened before steeling as he prepared to summon a shield. However, the android wasn't aiming for him. Android 17 fire the ki blast...right at Peridot. The small green gem froze in shock as the energy came hurdling towards her.
"NOOO!" Steven cried, before jumping in the way of the blast. he managed to muster up enough energy to form a bubble around them, but the energy was too strong. It popped the bubble on contact and hit the half gem dead on. A huge explosion resounded. Peridot and Gohan had to look away as the bright light from the the explosion hurt their eyes. As the smoke cleared, their eyes searched for Steven. When they saw him, he was standing...with a gaping hole where his gem should have been.
"STEVEN!" the two cried as his body fell to the ground. They scrambled over to him. "Please Stay with us!" Peridot whispered as they did so. They turned him over, only to find his eyes were already glazed over.
"No…" Peridot squeaked gripping the dead body, "Nonononono no!" Gohan stared at the body in shock. "This can't be happening…" Peridot said sniffling, "he can't be...Steven!" with that she broke down in tears.
"Steven…" Gohan whispered, still frozen in shock. His closest friend, his cousin, now lay dead before him. His hands trembled as a spectrum of violent emotions flooded through him: Pain, guilt, sorrow, anger, hatred, loss, rage...but there was something else. Something burning deep in his soul that was slowly bubbling up to the surface.
Before he could figure out what it was, however, Andriod 18 suddenly swooped down and grabbed Peridot by the neck. The gem squeaked as she tried to squirm out of the cyborg's grip. "Awww, poor thing…" she tutted, "You miss your friend. How about I put you out of your misery? I've been needing a new necklace anyways. One to go with those blue bracelets I made awhile back." Peridot squeaked as 18 lifted a hand to the gem's forehead.
"NO!" Gohan yelled. With that, the burning inside Gohan boiled over and flooded his whole energy pulsed through his veins as he was consumed by a golden aura. The three inorganic beings present stared at him in awe as energy swirled around him. His hair flashed gold before staying that way, standing on end. His eyes glowed teal as he looked upon the mechanic murderers with pure rage. The androids didn't know what to do, as they wre frozen in shock from the transformation.
This gave Gohan enough time to fly up knee Android 18 in the stomach. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" he roared. The android let go of the gem and was sent flying into a mountain. Gohan caught the shaking gem in his arms.
"My sister!" 17 cried, before turning his angry gaze on the half Saiyan. "You'll pay for that!" he growled, launching himself at Gohan. but the half Saiyan simply used his free hand to grab and stop the android in his tracks. His head slowly turned to half robotic teen with a death glare plastered on his face. The android's eyes widened before the smaller fighter kicked him in the crotch and flung him in the same direction as his twin sister.
Peridot watched this all with wide eyes, shaking like a chihuahua. Gohan then floated to the ground and set her down next to Steven's body. "Wait here," he growled.
"Wha-what?!" Peridot stuttered, "Where are you going?!"
"To finish them off!" he hissed, about to take off.
"No!" she shouted, grabbing him before he could. He turned to her with a glower of rage, and peridot gulped for continuing. "Are you insane?! You'll get killed, even if you caught them off guard!" she reasoned, "We already lost Steven! None of us want to lose you too!"
"But-" he started.
"You may be a super saiyan but they already killed one of those! They can do it again!" she snapped, tears forming in her eyes, "And if you die then...then I don't know what I-we would do! Think of how Connie would feel! Think of how your uncle or Amethyst would feel! Think about how your MOTHER would feel!"
Gohan stared at her her, glaring as he tried to respond. Finally he lowered his head head and nodded. The glow of the power he exuded faded as he returned to normal. He then picked her and Steven's body up before flying home.
….
When they returned, the only noise that could be heard was that of mourning. Bulma and Chichi hung their heads and cried as bulma cradled her two year old, who didn't know what was going on. Connie had collapsed over Steven's body in a fit of tears, refusing to leave it for hours. Radditz and the other aliens had disappeared, either hiding away to cope or go on a rampage. Peridot herself had hidden away in one of the storage units in the darkest corner, staring blankly at the wall. She didn't know what to do next. Steven, her closest friend, the one who had shown her the beauty of earth, was now gone. Her body shook as she sobbed. Suddenly, the unit was filled with light. Peridot looked up to see Gohan standing in the doorway. His face was stoic as he walked up to her and sat down. He didn't look at her, he just stared at the corner.
"Hey," he finally said, "Are...you ok?"
Peridot blinked at him as he continued not to look at her. "Yeah," she said, "Are you?" He shrugged slightly, not moving his gaze. There was a beat of silence before she spoke again. "Thanks for saving me earlier," she said.
"It was nothing," he muttered.
She frowned at him. "It was not nothing! You saved my life from those monsters!" she said, "If you hadn't been there, I would have been dead too."
He shrugged. "I promised I'd protect you," he said simply.
"Well...I still appreciate it," she continued. Gohan nodded and she turned back to the corner. The two continued to sit and stare at the corner in silence.
….
Gohan had disappeared not long after that day. No one knew where he had gone. Peridot hadn't stopped worrying about him after that day, so when Ruba and Trunks had brought him home with them, she had been overjoyed…That is until he started training them. Training them wasn't the problem, but when he came back several hours after he was done training the two half saiyans beaten and bruised from trying to take down the androids, she had been furious...but she had kept for the most part quiet. She was just happy to have him back around and know he was still alive...that is until one day. The day that Trunks and Ruba had tagged along in one of his escapades and came back with him beaten and bruised like him...but they at least still had all their limbs.
If Peridot had a heart, she would have had a heart attack when she had seen him. She felt herself freeze in a mixture of fear and anger. Once she had overcome her shock, she had immediately set to work trying to save his life. After several blood transfusions from Trunks and Ru111122ba (thank Kai they had both been type O) and twenty four intensive hours of monitoring and surgery, he had been stabilized, and peridot let out a breath she had been holding that entire time.
Two days later he woke up. His gaze was blurry as he stirred, but as it cleared up, he saw Peridot sitting next to him at a work bench, working on something metal. "P-peridot?" he said, squinting at her.
"Good, you're awake," she said tersely, glancing over to him, "I'm almost finished."
"Finished with what?" he questioned. Memories suddenly came flooding back to him and he gasped, sitting straight up. "Peridot! Where are-" he started but was cut off.
"They're fine...which is more than I can say for you," she snapped, "Now hold still." She wheeled over to him with a metal arm in hand and several tools. she then exposed and unwrapped his stump. He swallowed slightly as he remember losing it. Geez that had been painful...but it certainly wasn't as painful as what was about to come. Peridot brought some kind of tool to the stump and Gohan screamed as it reopened the wound.
"Stop moving!" she hissed, "I need precision to attach your new limb enhancer to your nervous system!"
"Couldn't you get something to knock me out first?!" he snapped.
"Oh sure and where do you think I'm gonna find morphine when it stopped being produced after those monsters blew up the last hospital within a hundred miles of here?!" she retorted.
Gohan bowed his head and bit her lip as she began the process of attaching the arm. Twenty pain filled minutes later, it was done and she was washing her hands after setting him up for another blood transfusion. Gohan admired her work, opening and closing his mechanical palm. "Wow…" he whispered, "This is amazing! Thanks Peri!"
Peridot simply grumbled in response. Gohan sighed. "You're mad at me aren't you?" he said more than asked.
"Oh, give the man a prize!" she snapped, "At least some of that brain you used to have wasn't knocked out of you!"
Gohan frowned and rolled his eyes. "Ok, so why are you mad at me?"
Peridot glared at him. "Why am I mad? Why am I mad?!" she cried, "I'll tell you why! You disappear for over ten years without a trace! I thought you were dead! And then when you finally come back, you show up everyday with enough bruises that you look like Amethyst shapeshifted into you! And now this!" she gestured to his arm. "What are you, suicidal?!" she yelled, "Or do you just not care about the rest of us? Do you realise how much you scared Bulma and I? Your Uncle?! RUBA and TRUNKS?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
Gohan glared at her. "You don't get it. I have to protect the people of this world from them. No one else can, especially not after they paralyzed Raditz from the waist down," he said, "I have to do this. I have to protect you and mom and the rest of the world from them. I promised I would!"
"BUT WHO'S GONNA PROTECT YOU, YOU CLOD?!" she screeched. The room fell silent as she huffed. Once she composed herself she continued. "Listen to me and listen good, you are going to stay here and put whatever's left of that brain of yours to good use by helping us finish the time machine," she said, much more calmly, "You are not leaving the premise, and before you even start to help us, you are going to stay here and rest until you've fully recovered, got it?" When Gohan didn't respond, she continued. "Good. Now I am going to go tell the other's you're awake. If you move so much as an inch, I will fuse that new arm of yours to the bedpost until further notice," she threatened.
Gohan's mouth became a thin line before he sighed and smiled. "Fine," he said. Peridot nodded and gave him an "I'm watching you" look before leaving the room. The next morning, Peridot found his bed empty with only a piece of paper with "I'm sorry" written on it.
Peridot crinkled up the paper as she growled. "That stupid clod! Just what does he think he's doing?!" she muttered to herself as Trunks and Ruba went out searching for him. Peridot dropped the page as she felt a sinking feeling overwhelm her. "I hope he's ok…" she thought aloud.
…..
"That IDIOT!" Peridot hissed as tears streamed down her face. She had hid herself in the corner of her work room, still clutching the note in her hand. A few days later, Trunks and Ruba had found him...and brought his body back. When Peridot saw the mauled figure she used to call her friend, she froze. She felt so hollow and numb and cold, like she was a porcelain doll. And after a few moments of shock someone took a sledgehammer to that doll and she fell apart. It was like losing Steven all over again only somehow worse. She had seen this coming, she could have prevented it...if only she had stayed by his bedside that night, kept him from leaving. Peridot sobbed. It was too late now. It didn't matter. Nothing did anymore.
She didn't know how long she had spent in that darkened room. It could have been days. It could have been weeks. She didn't know. She didn't care. As far as she was concerned the world could be falling apart around her and she wouldn't know. She could just stay like this, immobile and collecting dust like the rock she was.
Bulma on the other hand, had other ideas. Peridot glared at the wall she was facing as the light streamed into the room. "Go. Away," she stated.
"Peridot, come on. I need your help," Bulma responded. Peridot turned to her. The old woman's eyes were red and puffy, though her face was stoic.
"Why?" she questioned, "what's the point?"
"Because we stop this from ever happening!" she exclaimed.
"No we can't," Peridot said hopelessly, "Gohan couldn't even stop them, and he was stronger than Vegeta or Piccolo ever were. If he couldn't nothing can."
Bulma frowned. She was right. Even if they went back to give them a heads up, there was no telling if that would be enough. Then an idea came to mind. "But we don't need to fight them," she stated. Peridot gave her a confused look.
"The past can change. If we warn them, they can track down the scientist that built them and stop him before he has the chance or wish them away with the dragon balls!" she said, "And we still have the medicine. If we save Goku, that could change everything."
Peridot's eyes. widened with realization. "We can still save them…" she whispered, "I can save him…"
Bulma nodded. Peridot turned back to the wall for a moment before getting up and grabbing her tools. A look of determination crossed her face as she marched passed Bulma and grabbed her hand.
"Hey!" the old woman started as she was dragged along, "Slow down! I can't move as fast as I used to!"
"Sorry, but we don't have time to lose," Peridot said, "They're getting closer every day. If we're going to do this, we have to start now." "Don't worry, Gohan," she thought as she marched to the lab with a purpose, "I'm going to protect you. I'm going to protect you, and Steven, and everyone else. I promise."
Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to get a new chapter up. There were a lot of set backs for this chapter. Plus I had a party to prepare for so that limited my time. Still, I really enjoyed writhg this chapter and I hope you like it too! I thought it would be fun to expand on the mirai timeline in this universe. On a much happier note, what did you guys think if of Same Old World? Or some of the Latest episodes of Dragon Ball Super? I gotta say, I loved the ep with Pan. Goku and Piccolo are adorable grandpas! Anyways, I hope you guys have a nice day! Let me know what you think!