The forty days it was taking for the Gravity Room to travel left Tora isolated, but it was what she needed. She needed to feel like herself again after over a year of being someone else, even if she was without her mother, she could spend most of the time binder-free and not worry about anything. Especially as soon as she disabled the camera surveillance system from the rebuilt compound when she was inside. Sure she left it on and the alarm connected to her watch whenever she left, but she wasn't going to leave any traces of her freedom to this timeline. The Time Machine was charging as intended, the computer said it was almost half-full. At least she had a few weeks to let her body relax and feel safe, as this alternative version of her home felt familiar, its peace felt just at her reach…
Before they landed, and when Gohan was asleep, Krillin eventually asked Bulma about her health. He was worried about her, and he tried being delicate about it, but he was the most aware of everyone else's comfort of the entire gang. After denying at first, Bulma saw how the monk knew and she eventually confessed.
"The planet is dying.. Many of us have lived in terrible conditions for decades," she whispered. "I've also smoked for twenty years," she quietly laughed off, holding back some tears. "That probably hasn't helped, but many of us have.. afflictions."
She didn't go into details, but briefly explained the state of the planet, of food, pollution meant that nothing and nobody had been healthy for a while. The relentless Cyborgs attacked anything that could give them respite. Anytime they would rebuild something, it would be struck down, until society collapsed and earthlings stopped trying. Nature was taking over, but it was far from good, with all of the industries broken down and nobody to manage waste or other harmful chemicals anymore. Many streams had run out of fish, as Krillin and Gohan had remarked when they did a little tour when the Briefs were catching up. All was doomed, regardless of their win against the monsters.
This was the reason why Bulma had planned to go to the past, as after three years of the planet unable to recover, that was the last option they had to truly save their world. The planet didn't recover on its own, much to their chagrin, and while she hid she was sick, Bulma wasn't going to just go down without a fight. Plan A was going back to the past, but to a more recent past, with Trunks, to get medical supplies as well as agro-science tools to be able to fix it before it was truly beyond repair.
Plan A never resisted contact with the field, Bulma should have known her own mantra, but how could have she planned around a random monster showing up, killing her son and stealing the Time Machine? Bulma, who had been sent into hiding the moment Trunks felt something, witnessed it all, and in a desperate act of vengeance, used her watch to screw up the coordinates. She was supposed to be piloting it, which is why she was wearing the watch to begin with. She apologized for causing so much grief to Krillin, Gohan, and their timeline by doing so, but the two past versions of her friends hugged her worries away.
The wishes were re-discussed. Assuming Dende accepted becoming their new guardian and reactivated Earth's Dragon Balls, they would first resurrect Trunks, then heal the planet and its inhabitants (including her), and then be transported back. Despite knowing using one wish for Trunks alone was inefficient, after all, Shenron could resurrect him, neither of the three thought it was a wrong choice. Bulma needed him alive before heading home.
Tora's explorations of 787's world continued mostly through the radio. She only left Capsule Corp when absolutely necessary; to let her power flow every now and then, to practice with her sword at ungodly hours, once to retrieve Android 16 and finish destroying the sublab, and to get some food and other supplies. By the end of June, she changed her patch a little before her watch reminded her of it. She appreciated how her watch counted time flow for some reminders regardless of the world she was in, it worked perfectly fine in the Room of Spirit and Time, it kept accurate information about her actual biological age, all while accurately telling her the date of wherever she was when synchronizing with the satellites. Eighteen and four months early July.
The radio gave praise once more to the Golden Warrior who had finally destroyed the Cyborgs at the end of 784, and still called for him to get the recognition he deserved. She appreciated how this world's Trunks hadn't come forward about his feat concerning the Cyborgs, as much as she didn't want the publicity once she actually succeeded herself. 'It may have been two and a half years, but we are still thankful and wish to express our gratitude to him, so please, if you hear us, Golden Warrior, show yourself!' the stern and assertive voice on the radio spoke. A voice Tora recognized.
"Oh, that sounds like Devil," she laughed quietly.
The woman had visibly become a leader of sorts, from what she could gather from the different radio reports. Not surprising, considering how great of a leader she was in her own world. Tora admired Videl Satan's qualities to handle her community, all while making sure things were fair and safe for everyone and not hesitating to have an iron hand in a velvet glove. Central City survivors were in her image; resilient, tough, unwilling to give up, and suddenly, Tora wondered whether Mika and Syowa had survived in this world... or in hers. She doubted it, from a purely statistical point of view it was very unlikely, and if they did survive, these people weren't the ones she met. Meeting alternative versions would only anchor her further in 767, so she locked away those thoughts.
She focused more on the fact that she was going to meet this world's Trunks, who had achieved peace despite his death. She had stated to Cell she (and he) didn't care about reaping the fruits of peace, but that didn't mean they should refuse and let themselves be killed. She wanted to tell him how Cell had been dealt with, find out what he did in his time travels, his experiences, the differences between her and him, and piece the final puzzle together. Another difference she noted the more she looked at the pictures was that this Trunks usually wore lighter clothes, and didn't cover as much as Tora did. Short sleeves, tank tops, actual shorts, and even bare chested in a couple of photos from the previous summer. She couldn't judge from the photos for sure, but she was fairly confident his frame was similar to her own, at least when compared to how he stood by his mother or held her. His confident and kind smile with that version of Bulma on those framed pictures taken after his return from his second trip always caught her eye. She wanted it for herself, to see herself relaxed too, her mother happy and in broad daylight, fearless as well. She knew her world wouldn't suddenly be fixed once the Cyborgs were dealt with, there was still much to do in 787 so there was no reason for it to be any different for her 784, and yet...
"Why am I so nervous?" she wondered out loud as the final days approached. She paced, restless, slept even less than usual, hugged the sword tight more often and found herself doubting. Would he want to come back? Perhaps this world's Bulma was right. Did she dream or project a 'he's waiting for me' desire?
The spaceship landed, and that was the last check-in given to Tora before the ship would need to return to its capsule form. The trio shared their plan for the wishes with Tora. Bulma requested her alternative son not be made aware of her personal health situation, and Krillin and Gohan only accepted because her own Trunks wasn't aware of it either.
The story with omitted details was just that the planet was not recovering, which Tora probably knew already, and that many people were sick because of it, and fixing that would be their second wish. When told about it, Tora expressed understanding as it had been what she had been feeling for a couple of weeks already and couldn't exactly pin-point, all while saying it was a little different from her world. She wasn't the best at ki-sensing to notice people's health, but it all made sense when explicitly said out loud. She accepted the plan, agreeing it was the wisest choice, and said she would be out in order to meet her older-self and reassure him before they were transported back.
The trio set foot on New Namek, which was an exact replica of their previous homeworld, but in a different solar system, much further away. A last 'ok' was given to Tora to indicate they had landed and would be unreachable for a little while, the ship was converted back into capsule, and Bulma on a hover scooter, Krillin and Gohan flew to meet the nearest life forms they felt.
The Namekians recognized their three Earthling friends, even if it had been over twenty years, and gladly welcomed them and led them to Moori, who had been the Elder for all this time. They had so much to catch up to. A brief explanation of what happened on Earth later, and that these versions of Krillin and Gohan weren't the ones from this timeline, the mood was more gloomy. They all wished this had been a friendly visit, but alas it wasn't the case.
"And so, apart from me and my son Trunks, all of them died. Son-kun from an illness, then everyone else from these Cyborgs that terrorized the planet. With Gohan-kun's death, our only hope was my son to go to the past, give Son-kun medicine to fight the virus as we discovered a cure a few years afterwards, and perhaps find a flaw in the Cyborgs. They managed to deal with the Cyborgs in that timeline, and when he came back, Trunks destroyed them. That was about three years ago, and we started rebuilding, but I noticed the planet was still dying and couldn't recover on its own, the people weren't healing, so we decided to go back to the past once more to gather some supplies… but a monster who had been slaughtering some of our communities showed up, killed my baby, and stole the Time Machine."
"Fate sure likes to test your strength, dear Bulma-san," Moori was empathetic and offered comfort.
The idea of time travel baffled the Namekians, including Dende, who was so happy to see his childhood friend, but the fact that it was possible wasn't to be doubted. This Gohan was ten years old, and should have been thirty. This grown up version of Dende didn't know much about Earthling growth patterns, but he got the gist of it as clearly, this Gohan was far too young to be a full adult. Despite this world's Krillin and Gohan being dead, Dende had already accepted going back to Earth with Bulma and taking over the Guardian role. He longed for the blue planet, and it would be a way to honor Piccolo and Nail, Goku, Gohan, Krillin… and everyone else. The planet needed a guardian, and this guardian was meant to be him.
"With the Cyborgs, we had no supplies to make a spaceship, believe me, I tried, I tried fixing it, I tried getting the coordinates, I tried finding a flaw, but-" Bulma sobbed. She had wanted to save Gohan too, and everyone, but the relentless attacks of the first year ate all her resources, and without the lab, and without the ability to get the coordinates or anything else from Kaio-sama… Moori put a hand on Bulma's shoulder to reassure her, there was no use having regrets or looking back.
"You are here now."
"Yes, thanks to another me, actually," Bulma dried up her tears and smiled.
Krillin and Gohan explained as briefly as possible how they come from another timeline, and it was another, younger Trunks who more or less planned this trip, by using the stolen Time Machine. And that other Trunks was on Earth, making sure everything was safe and sound, and charging the Time Machine to be able to take Krillin and Gohan home. The Namekians found it all odd and strange, but considering Gohan's apparent age being far too similar to the Gohan they met over fifty Namekian years ago…
"So you would like to use our Dragon Balls to wish your son back and heal Earth?"
"If that isn't too much to ask for…"
The Elder glanced over at the other few Namekians present, who all gave their approval.
"Earthlings are our allies, please gather them."
The Namekians dispersed to go to the different villages, and each villager elder was happy to lend their precious possessions. They owed the Earthlings, and especially Bulma, and when they found out she came with grief, the entirety of the planet's inhabitants gathered to be there not only for her, but also in the memory of the friends that helped them and killed Freeza.
Tora took half an hour to change, unable to decide exactly on what to wear and how to meet Trunks, even if she had thought about it for weeks. She settled on a long sleeve blue shirt, her windbreaker and some straight jeans, with the binder on. She tied her hair low, looked at herself in the mirror and clipped her sword in place before going to meet her.. alternate older self. Tora stepped out of Capsule Corp after making sure all was safe and sound, the cameras on, the watch connected, and flew high. It was hot, but the higher atmosphere made the temperature more bearable, for that mid July afternoon.
Before they summoned Porunga, Moori approached the three visitors discussing the wishes.
"You know, since our stay, we actually shifted Porunga's powers a little. We made sure to remove his ability to grant immortality or immense powers, so if another Freeza finds us there won't be issues... But we also made other changes. You said the monster that killed your son killed many people, didn't you, Bulma-san?"
"Yes, we believe he did, entire bunkers communities in a few days…"
"Well instead of just wishing Trunks back, you can wish everyone who died back, up to five Namekian years. Excluding natural illness and evil people."
"That's possible?" Gohan was ecstatic. Moori and other elders confirmed.
Porunga couldn't bring anyone who died over five Namekian years ago, which was, in earthling terms, about one year and nine months. This meant no one killed by the Cyborgs could be brought back. Bulma thought she misremembered, she thought it was four Namekian years, but the Elder confirmed that was actually the right information, and the extra year was another of their changes. Yet, that was almost two years worth of lost lives they could claim back from accidents or murders, and Bulma knew those were still common with the dying planet, and perhaps, if Porunga considered the afflictions affecting her kin to be unnatural deaths…
"It will 'consume' two wishes, however. That means you will either need to find another way to heal Earth and its inhabitants.."
"Or use the spaceship to come back instead of being transported directly, which means another few weeks of waiting," Krillin finished the trail of thought.
Bulma glanced back at her traveling companions. She pondered the options, between her selfish desire to be reunited with her only loved one, and the greater needs of her planet. Then she gave a quick thought about the feasibility. Fuel was a little tight for a round-trip, but it was enough, and 767's Bulma had packed enough supplies for two half-Saiyans to travel with her, which meant there was more than enough food for the round trip.
"I want to see my son as soon as he is back, but… Would you stand me in close quarters for another month and a half?"
Gohan and Krillin laughed wholeheartedly and nodded. Of course they'd fly back together. Dende approved the sentiment as well. After all, he wasn't sure he could revive Shenron, and some wishes had more priority over others. Wishing back more people as soon as possible was the best course of action.
"Tora-san and you said the Time Machine would take about three months to charge, so we aren't in a hurry, are we, Krillin-san?"
"Sure aren't!" The monk approved. "And Trunks- I mean, Tora, he'll understand and manage on his own with Trunks, probably."
The plan was to call Tora as soon as they were ready to take off, and inform him they would come back the old-fashioned way. Surely leaving both Trunkses alone on Earth for a few weeks wouldn't cause any issues.
"Bulma-san, do you remember how Porunga understands your language since our stay in your home? Would you like to do the honors?" Dende asked, after the Namekian Dragon appeared and asked for the wishes for which he was summoned.
Bulma accepted the offer with a confident nod and approached Porunga, her pain would be over. And so, the first wish was spoken by Bulma, after everyone approved her speaking the wish. After all, this was her world, her planet, her son, her everything.
"I wish you to bring back all those who died on Earth over the past five Namekian years, except for evil people!" Her voice broke, but she held on.
Porunga's eyes glowed for a moment, indicated the wish had been granted, and asked for their second and last wish as many people had been revived. The second wish was to heal the planet, its fauna, its flora and its inhabitants- all of them including those not currently on the planet, from the ravages of the past twenty years.
Porunga granted the second wish, and after being thanked profusely, the Dragon disappeared and its orbs turned to stone.
Tora patiently waited, all senses extended to feel the moment any change would happen. She knew her allies would take some time between the moment they landed and the moment they made the wish, which was why she didn't particularly hurry when changing, but she was still impatient. She carried a radio with her, clipped inside her windbreaker with an earbud to let her listen to a music station with the occasional caller making a shallow request.
She first felt a sudden surge of life happening in West City below her. Then her senses started picking up more kis, until finally a strong one she couldn't quite recognize caught her attention. She didn't need to recognize it to know it was Trunks, it felt uncanny and it called for her with a force she never felt before.
She removed the earbud and put it away in a pocket, and promptly summoned the golden flames, the teal and the energy that chased away clouds, to make sure her ki would be the first thing her older doppelganger would pick up on. Which he did as his own ki rose and rushed in her direction the moment super Saiyan reached his own senses.