Chapter 6: There's Always Hope

The pair stayed out much later than what either of them had originally intended. The sun sank completely by the time they returned the boat to the dock, and they spent an extra hour lying out underneath the night stars.

To Gohan's surprise, everyone was still wide awake when they returned. "There you two are, I was thinking I'd have to go out and find you," the Ox King exclaimed.

"Sorry we wanted to stay behind for a minute to view the stars," Gohan nervously explained, conveniently leaving out the details about their kiss.

"No need to say sorry, son. I'm just glad you guys were able to spend some time alone together. I trust you were a perfect gentleman," Chichi winked at her son, making Gohan immediately shy.

"Is that Gohan I hear?" A blue-haired woman emerged from the bathroom. She wore oversized messy coveralls, and her hair was pulled back in a messy low ponytail. "Long time no see, pal. I swear you look more and more like your father every day."

Bulma came up and gave Gohan a strong hug, "I feel like you put on more muscle every time I see you, too." The blue-haired woman turned her attention to Videl, looking her up and down, "And this must be Videl. Nice to meet you, dear. I'm Bulma, a long-time friend of the family."

"Nice to meet you too," Videl held out her hand for a handshake, suddenly nervous about her attire again.

"You guys look good, just got back from a nice date, I see."

"I was just showing Videl around. She's never really been outside the city."

"Oh, just showing her around the area, huh?" Bulma winked at Chichi to give her approval of her influence, "I've heard that line before."

Feeling the increasing nervousness in Videl's energy, Gohan tried to take the attention away from their apparent first date, "So Bulm,a what were you doing so far out in the mountains?"

"I was excavating for a new material for an invention I'm working on, and the only place I could get it was deep in the mountain range."

"What are you working on this time?" Chichi asked while setting out cups for tea.

Bulma sat down and took a small sip of the hot tea before answering, "A Time Machine."

Bulma could feel the heaviness in the air, and if she were in a room full of scientists, she might've entertained the idea that she was crazy. "I know it sounds crazy," she continued. "But I've been workshopping the idea for a while, and I think it might be possible. It's a long shot, but I don't think we have anything to lose."

"How are you gonna do that?" Videl was curious about the scientist's theory. Concerned about the validity of it, but if there was a way to stop the android,s she was ready to hear it."You can't go backwards in time, right?"

"You're right, you can't go backwards in time. The 2nd law of thermodynamics has never been proven wrong, but I think there might be a way." Bulma pulled out a piece of paper and started drawing some figures. "Gohan, if you remember our trip to Namek, in a normal spaceship that would've taken us a million years. But Piccolo's Namekian ship was able to create a wormhole between the two planets, shrinking the distance from light years to months while still keeping the relativity of time.

"Right, we still aged normally while we were in space," Gohan said, sitting down, looking over the paper.

"Exactly, we were still able to keep relative time, 6 months in space was still equal to 6 months on Earth." Bulma drew a straight line on the page and continued explaining. "This is the time right now, one straight line. We're here at point A, and the past is here at point B. If I'm able to shrink the distance between these two points, we might be able to go back days, months, or even years into the past." Bulma focused on her drawing, scrunching the paper back and forth to reassure herself of her theory. "Maybe we could destroy the androids and save everyone…"

Gohan's heart stopped at the idea of being able to save everyone. He'd have a chance to see his father and friends again. They'd be able to save thousands of innocent lives. It seemed far-fetched, but right now any sliver of hope does. "If we go to the past, though, wouldn't that change things in the future? Like if you bump into someone accidentally, it could cause another person to cease to exist.

Bulma furrowed her eyebrows, thinking about how to answer this question. "I've thought about this multiple times. And there's a possibility. If time is truly linear, then that could happen. If I go back in time and destroy the dragon radar, then maybe you and Trunks wouldn't have been born." Bulma swallowed at the thought of losing her family, "But that would create a paradox, because how else would my future self know to come back and destroy the radar? My future would've been completely different if I hadn't gone searching for them in the first place."

"It would just be a continual loop maybe," Trunks thought out loud.

Bulma smiled at her son's inquisition, "Not quite, son. I think my second theory is much more likely—multiverse theory." Bulma paused, realizing the gravity of this theory. It's not the most ideal outcome, but there might still be some chance at winning. "Meaning if we go back, whatever we change won't actually have an effect on our future. We would instead be creating a completely new future instead."

"That doesn't make sense…" Videl chimed in confused, "How would it be creating a new future, but we wouldn't be affected by it?"

"The past we change, would have a new future for itself." Bulma drew a second line branching off her original line, "The past would diverge and go on to a new future while our timeline would continue on here."

"So," Gohan hesitated. "There's no way to bring anyone back?"

"If the multiverse theory is correct, then no, I don't think so…"

"Then what's the point of going back in time? We won't be able to save anyone!" Trunks cried out.

"The point is we'd be saving the future of countless innocent lives, even our own…" Gohan answered. He was also unsure about the validity of the time machine, or the merits of going back in time himself.

"It would also give us time," Bulma retorted. "As it stands now, none of us know anything about the androids. We don't know their weaknesses or who even created them. I can't even get close enough to study them to figure out what technology they're made of. Even if we don't change the past, maybe we can find out who created them. Figure out how to turn them off here. The longer we sit and do nothing, we're just losing time. At least in the past, we wouldn't be in such a rush."

The room was quiet as everyone thought about Bulma's words. Gohan looked over at Videl, and it hurt knowing that their time together here might not last long. But if there's a chance to save her in another lifetime, then he was willing to die trying for that chance. "Dad always told me you're the smartest person in the world. And if anyone could get us out of this mess, I think it's you, Bulma. If you think this is the right thing to do, then I'll do whatever I can to help.

Bulma smiled, reassured that at least one person in the room was willing to help, "Thanks, Gohan. I don't know if I'll succeed, but I know I have to try and do something."

The next day came too soon, forcing the Son household back to its original three-person size. Bulma and Trunks were the first to leave in the early morning to return to Capsule Corp. manor. Chichi managed to convince Videl to stay until after lunch.

Tears streamed down Chichi's face as she held onto Videl, reluctant to let her go. "Can't you stay just a little bit longer? It was so nice having you around."

"Sorry, Chichi. I have to check on my father and everyone at North City base camp. But I'll come visit soon, okay. I promise."

"You better, okay? We're family now. So don't ever feel like you're intruding."

"Yes, and please be safe while driving, okay? Give us a call as soon as you make it home okay." The Ox King tried to comfort Chichi. "We look forward to seeing you again."

Now, it was Gohan's turn to say his goodbyes. The two stood awkwardly in front of each other, unsure of what to say to each other. The Ox King picked up on their discomfort and ushered Chichi inside to give them some space.

"I'll walk you to your car."

The walk didn't feel long enough. They approached the driver's side door, and Videl turned to look directly at Gohan, pushing herself to say something, anything. "Thank you for everything."

"You don't have to thank me. If anything, I should be thanking you for saving me."

"No, thank you for giving me something to hope for. Out in the city, we're just surviving out there, living in fear constantly, but you have a home here. A beautiful home full of people who love you. I didn't think it was possible to have that feeling anymore." Videl could feel the tears welling in her eyes, but she wiped her eyes to keep them from flowing. "I'm scared. Really scared but if you really think Bulma can help, then I believe too. And I want the people at camp to believe too." Videl threw a light punch at Gohan's chest, "So don't go dying on me out there, okay?"

Gohan gives Videl a small smile as he cradles her fist in his hand. He brought her hand up to his lips and lightly kissed each individual finger. He continued kissing down her hand, going to her wrist, and he pulled her in closer into a hug. Landing one soft kiss on her cheek to stop a single tear from falling, a second kiss on her forehead for good luck, and the final kiss on her lips for faith.

The two pulled apart from each other, so Videl could get in the car. As the car engine started, Gohan knocked on the window to get her attention. "I almost forgot. My mom asked me to give this envelope to you." Gohan handed it to her through the window, and Videl opened it to see a note and the pictures inside from yesterday.

A group photo with everyone, one with her and Chichi, and the final one with her and Gohan.

Videl smiled at the pictures as tears started to form again, "Tell your mom I said thank you."

"Of Course." Gohan comes in for one final goodbye kiss, then Videl drives off into the distance back to base camp.