I also have two sidestories up on my page, now, at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3226/fanfics.htm

Disclaimer: The characters portrayed within are not mine, but the
property of Akira Toriyama and a whole lot of other people who are not

me, but who have a lot more money than me, so please don't sue me!

What Friends Are For - Part 7
By Rhionae


The world around him seemed to grind to a halt as his brother prepared
to kill his best friend.

Vegeta appeared to be frozen with indecision, incapable of choosing
which child to save.  Bulma did not even see the danger to her
could-be son.  Goku watched his son with a helpless sadness in his
eyes.

"*NO!*"

He moved, faster than he had ever moved before, flashing into Super
Saiyajin -

- and beyond it.  He met his brother�s strike - first equaling it,
then overcoming it - and drove him back, away from Trunks.

"Goten!"  Gohan landed several meters from Trunks, and turned to face
his furious younger brother.

"*How could you*"

"We don�t have much of a choice, Goten!  We can�t control him, and he
won�t listen to reason�"

"I don�t care!  I won�t let you touch him!"  He altered his stance to
a defensive posture, ready to defend his friend from *anyone*.

"Goten?"  The soft query caught his attention like nothing else
could.  He spun around.

"Trunks?"

Trunks� pale hair was falling in cascades out of its stiff Super
Saiyajin style.  His blue eyes were wide as he blinked in confusion,
before focusing on the strange dimensional transporter that Goten
still held in one hand.

"You idiot!" He shrieked, horrified.  "That one isn�t functioning
properly yet!  And it�s for time travel too, so you could have ended
up any *time* as well as any *place*, baka!"

Goten looked down at the device.  <Good thing I didn�t know that
before!>

Trunks calmed a little - enough to stare in puzzlement at the sight
of  Bra, whom he was carrying on his hip.  He looked up from her only
to see the looks of wary uncertainty on the faces of all those around
him.  Except for Goten.

"We�re not in our world."  His tone was flat, as he gazed desperately
into Goten�s dark eyes.

"No, we�re not."

"Oh."

"Hey, are you going to let my sister go, now?"  The other Trunks asked
tentatively, as he moved slowly towards them from the doorway, Goten a
step or two behind him.

"Let her go?"  Trunks repeated blankly, staring at him.

"Yeah, you know, you were gonna kill - oof!"  This world�s Goten
gasped as his version of Trunks elbowed him in the stomach.

"Baka!  Don�t *say* it!"

"Hey, he�s all right  now," Goten grumbled.  "He�s not crazy anymore,
so�"

"Shut up!  Some friend you are!"

Wide blue eyes started to glaze over.

"Trunks?"  Goten gazed intently at *his* Trunks, ignoring both their
immature counterparts.

"I�m okay," came the soft reply.

"Great," Vegeta complained sourly.  "He listens to that precious
friend of his over his own father."

"Well, you�re not really his father, are you?"  Goku commented,
cheerful once more.  "Just a substitute."

"Hmm, like the reflection in a mirror," Bulma added, thoughtfully as
she watched over her children.  "It�s never really you, but it�s the
closest you can get�"

A surge of ki, a gust of wind -

- and Trunks was a Super Saiyajin once more.  One hand gripped Bra�s
neck tightly, ready to break it in an instant.  Bra�s own tiny hands
pulled at his, to no avail.

<Why?  Was it something somebody said?>

"Mirrors can be shattered, Okaasan,"  Trunks was sporting a mad grin,
that twisted his face almost beyond recognition.  "Want to see me
break Otousan?"  He held his free hand up against Bra�s cheek,
caressing for a moment with his palm, before dragging his fingernails
down it.  Bra screamed as the four red streaks of broken flesh began
to bleed.  Bulma was horror-stricken once more; Vegeta stood
motionless, his fists clenched so tightly that his own fingernails
were drawing blood from his palms.

Trunks smirked.  "I guess that�s a start."

The other Trunks and Goten had exchanged a single glance before
backing away hastily, not wanting to be the cause of more pain for Bra
should Trunks take offense at their close proximity to him.

"*Trunks*, don�t do this, please,"  Goten appealed.  Yet again Trunks
was ignoring him.  <It�s like he doesn�t *want* to know I�m here -
why?>

"Goten, he�s not going to listen,"  Gohan told him quietly, a touch of
sorrow evident in his voice.  "We don�t have a choice.  There�s no
other way to stop him."

Goten closed his eyes, and remembered: camping trips studying training
adventures school days sparring sharing arguing teasing comforting
joys fears sorrows�

His entire life with Trunks.  His entire life.

<I�m *not* going to give up!  There *is* another way!  It�s going to
hurt Niichan� but he�s strong.  He has Videl and Pan now.  He won�t
give up for their sakes.  Just as I won�t give up for Trunk�s sake.>
He turned to see his friend press his lips to Bra�s bloody cheek, and
smile menacingly at her parents.  <Somewhere behind that �Vegeta�
personality is the best friend I�ve ever had.  I just have to find him
again, and set him free�>

He brushed off Gohan�s warnings, moving to stand behind *his* Trunks.
Vegeta and Bulma stared over Trunks� shoulder at him, unable to fathom
what he was doing, desperately hoping that whatever he did, Bra would
be safe.

He slipped his arms around Trunks� painfully thin waist, pulling him
back against his own body.

Trunks gasped in surprise, turning his head to see who had dared to
touch him -

Aquamarine eyes suddenly flickered blue; Trunks let go of Bra,
ignoring her as she ran to her parents.  Bulma hugged her tightly,
Vegeta touching her undamaged cheek lightly.  Trunks simply stared at
Goten, lost in the depths of his dark eyes, eyes that accepted him
without hesitation.

<Yes!  I can help him! I know I can!  But - not here�>

He looked back over his shoulder at his brother.

"I�m sorry Niichan."

Gohan�s puzzlement was apparent in his expression, but as Goten turned
back to Trunks he caught a glimmer of understanding, and apprehension
in his brother�s eyes.

"Goten, wait!"

<No, Niichan.  Not this time.>

He lifted the unfinished dimensional transporter in one hand, and once
more pressed the button.

Only this time he had no idea where, or *when*, they would end up.

Nor did he particularly care.

****************

He dozed in front of the small fire under the starry night sky, his
arms wrapped around Trunks as he willed his own energy into him.
Trunks had collapsed as soon as they had been transported to this
unknown world.  <I�m not surprised.  He barely eats enough to keep
himself alive, much less sustain himself in Super Saiyajin form.  How
he managed it�>  He sighed.

"Goten?"  Trunks� voice was weak and strained.

"Hmm?"

"Where are we?"

"No idea."  He blinked.

"Why not?"

"Remember this?"  He waved the dimensional transporter under Trunks�
nose.

"You didn�t!"

"I did."

A pause.

"But why?"

Goten heaved yet another sigh.  Trunks twisted out of his arms to sit
up shakily, facing him.  He gazed at Goten with no little trepidation
in his eyes.

"How much do you remember?"

"From when?"  Trunks asked, a bitter smile touching his lips.  "I
remember seeing you with that transporter, in the world where we
picked up Goku and Vegeta�  I was holding Bra, my parents were there,
so were Goku and Gohan, and our other selves�  But I don�t remember
how I got there; or how we got *here*, wherever �here� is."

"Do you have any idea about that?"  Goten inquired carefully, not
wanting to upset his friend.

Trunks hung his head.  "Uhn," he grunted.  "More than I want to."
Goten waited a moment, then lifted Trunk�s chin.

"Tell me."

Several minutes passed in silence.

"Ever since that time three years ago, I�ve been blanking out from
time to time.  I mean, I�d be somewhere, doing something, and then the
next thing I knew I was somewhere completely different.  And every
time I blanked out, something *bad* would happen."  He tilted his head
to look up at the multitide of stars shining brightly above them.  "I
didn�t connect the two at first; and when I *did*, I kept hoping that
I was wrong, and that this was all some horrible nightmare that one
day I could wake up from and forget about�"  He looked directly into
Goten�s eyes, pleading forgiveness.  "I was stupid.  I should have
asked for help.  But I didn�t want - "  He turned away once more, a
tear trailing down his cheek, glistening in the flickering light of
the fire.

"You didn�t want what?" Goten prompted gently.

"I didn�t want you and Gohan to hate me.  Especially you."

"Trunks, I could never hate you.  Get upset with you, yes.
Frustrated, infuriated and confused, yes.  But I couldn�t hate you."

"Even after I�ve killed so many people?"

"Did you *mean* to kill them?"

"No!  Of course not!"

"So I don�t hate you."

"I killed your mother, Goten."

A pause.  Goten froze.  Trunks didn�t dare move or speak.

"You - you were the one who - "  He couldn�t continue.

Trunks nodded wordlessly.

"Are you *sure*?"  Goten turned his narrowed gaze on him.

"Pretty sure."

"How do you *know*?"

"I blanked out about the right time.  And I was a bit annoyed at your
mother for not letting you stay with me."

Goten considered this.  "I don�t believe you did it."

"I did it.  I *know* I did it.  You should hate me."

"Fine. You did it."  He shrugged.  "I forgive you."

"You can�t."

"I just did."

"Baka!"

"Uh huh."

The stars traveled their celestial paths in silence.

"Even now that you�re lost in the midst of countless dimensions and
times, and all because of me?"

"Uh huh."

"Baka."

"Uh huh."

"Just what do you plan to do now?  We can�t go home, or even back to
that other world.  This transporter isn�t connected to my computer -
it doesn�t have access to the frequencies of the worlds I�ve already
been to.  And they�re a bit too complicated for me to remember. "

"How is this one different from the others?"

"It�s a complete unit, not just a remote.  It�s more powerful than the
others - it *was* able to bring the two of us here.  It has a built in
recharger - it can either use solar energy or our ki energy to
recharge.  I told you it can move between times as well as
dimensions."  Trunks shrugged.  "That�s about it."

"So, where would you like to go?"

"Nani?!"

"There are a lot of worlds out there, Trunks, just waiting for us to
come along and explore them!"  Goten grinned with excitement.  "It
should be lots of fun!"

Trunks stared at him in disbelief.  "Baka!"

Goten laughed.  After a moment, Trunks too began to smile.

"Just think of the adventures we can have!"

Trunks sobered.  "Not all the worlds are going to be nice to visit,
Goten."

Goten nodded solemnly in acknowledgment.  "I know.  But we can always
leave if we don�t like it - and maybe, just maybe, we can make a
difference."

"Uhn.  Maybe we can."

Goten lay down, curling up next to the fire.  "We should get some
sleep.  Tomorrow will be a long day."

"Uhn."  Trunks joined him, staring into the flames, letting them lull
him to sleep.

<Tomorrow will be a new day, and a new start - for us both.>

************

Rhionae
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3226/fanfics.htm