Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Another Time ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Another Time

By Karete-chan

Chapter 10: Out of the frying pan…

Kat sat with her back propped against the trunk of a large tree. She held a torch in one hand as she silently flipped through the pages of a magazine. She wasn't really reading the material; instead she was periodically testing the air for any changing scents and sounds from the building upwind of her. Also the breeze was making it hard for her to hold the pages still.

Sighing she turned the torch off and closed her eyes. Her sensitive ears picked up every little sound as the soft breeze moved through the grass and birds shifted in their sleep in the branches above her. Her senses told her that nearly all of them were there. Piccolo being the exception and Juuhachi-gou thinking it was crass to attend a party for a boy who's world her other self had destroyed. And of course there was herself. Never mind how stupid she felt sitting out here in the dark reading a dumb-arse girls magazine, there was no way in hell that she was going into that building. Sure she could be mature and apologize in front of everyone but she wasn't going to. No way, uh uh. Besides, Kat had already made her decision. And that was that with her; once she had made up her mind she plunged head first into it. It was one of the reasons she ended up in messes like this in the first place.

She tested the air again. In order for this to work she was going to have to time it perfectly; too early and she'd get caught; too late and she'd miss her chance. Kat peered out from behind the large tree. From here she had a perfect view of the backdoor of Capsule Corp. All the lights in the place were blazing and shadows moved across the curtained windows. Turning back again she closed her eyes and sighed. How much longer was she going to have to wait?

Her mind drifted. Bulma and Gohan's unhappy faces flashed past on their way to making her feel guilty. No, she reminded herself, she couldn't go back. One more day with pitiful looks being cast her way or being tormented by Vegeta. She couldn't stand it. Besides, they didn't really want her there; she was only in their way. Kat cringed as she remembered what Bulma had said to her before she'd left.

Nothing but trouble! Sometimes I think Vegeta's right about you!

No. She would most definitely not be going back.

Her ears pricked up as a noise interrupted her thoughts. Poking her head out from around the tree again she saw Bulma and Gohan step out onto the back porch. Trunks followed them soon after. As quietly as she could she sunk down lower to the ground and hoisted her bag over her shoulder.

She couldn't quite hear what they were saying but enough words were catching the wind to tell her that Trunks was about to leave. That and Bulma's scent had gone from being content to being sad. As Kat lay there she wondered if the other two could smell it at all. She knew that Gohan didn't have quite the nose she did but he was standing much closer to the blue-haired human so he must have been able to smell something, even if he didn't know what it was.

Kat watched as Bulma and Gohan went back inside. Trunks watched them until the door had closed then walked away from the house towards the outlying fields. She lowered her ki to practically nothing and crept after him, trying to keep herself hidden in the tree line. He stopped just inside the field nearest to her. A gust of wind blew sharply for a minute and Kat barely heard the crack. The tree branch fell neatly where she had just been standing, creating a nice dent in the ground. Her head whipped around to find Trunks and her heart began beating double time as she found him staring straight at her.

She froze where she stood, feeling like the biggest fool. Then he turned back to what he was doing. He…didn't see me? She sighed and almost gave herself away again as the smoke from the popped capsule wafted over her making her gag.

Kat recovered in time to see Trunks climb inside the time machine and the dome click shut. Silently thanking Kami that he faced away from her, she darted from the trees. She swung her bag in front of her as she ran and managed to grab a hold of one of the landing struts just as the machine took to the air. The time machine dipped a little her way as her weight put it off balance. Kat looked up and confirmed that Trunks wouldn't be able to see her short of opening the dome. Then a sudden bright light blinded her and she spent the next few minutes blinking at whiteness.

When her vision finally cleared the sight that met her eyes almost gave her a headache. Coloured lights flashed at her from every direction so she forced herself to stare at the underbelly of the time machine. It left her to block out the immense roaring in her ears. If I end up deaf after this I can't say I didn't deserve it.

The cold was the next thing she noticed so she raised her ki to keep it out. She figured that it was too late for Trunks to turn back now, even if he did notice her. Leaning her head against the cold metal she wondered if Trunks had heating in the one-person machine. Probably has a CD-player too. Suddenly there was another blinding flash and Kat found herself now looking at a very pockmarked dirt ground.

Kat glanced around. It was still dark in this future world but even so she could make out that the field, minus the grass, was almost exactly the same. Her feet touched the dirt before the machine landed and she dashed for the trees. When she felt she was hidden sufficiently she turned back to watch Trunks. He gave no indication that he knew that she was there and when he packed away the machine and walked off, Kat decided he wasn't just pretending.

Once again she followed Trunks as he walked. In the darkness Kat's keen eyes could see the damage that had been done to the domed building of Capsule Corporation. Just like in the other world most of the lights were blazing but Kat's ears picked up the faint sound of a generator. Trunks opened the door and went inside.

She sat in the dark for a while just watching the building. Then she reached into her bag, pulled out a capsule and popped it. Her jet bike appeared and she jumped on and headed off towards the city, locating it by the kami-awful smell it seemed to have in this world. She looked up at the night sky. The stars were still the same. She smiled to herself. Yes. This was the right decision.

*****

The screen door banged shut behind him. "Kaasan! I'm back!" he called.

"Trunks?" came the reply. "I expected you back days ago!"

He followed the voice up the stairs. "Something came up," he said. "So I hung around a little longer. Why?" he asked as he entered the room. "Did you miss me?"

Bulma turned from her desk, frowning at her son's smirk. "Yes. I also wanted help with patching the roof. I can't lift those sheets of metal on my own you know. And," she continued, "because the roof wasn't patched I now have a flooded lab that has to be cleaned and a generator that has to be repaired."

"Welcome home son," Trunks said. "How was your trip? Did you have a nice time? Was the weather good? How is everyone?"

"Ha, ha," Bulma muttered as she got up and hugged him. "Of course I want to know how the trip was. I just worried that something might have gone wrong."

Trunks felt a stab of guilt at this. "I'm sorry kaasan."

She pushed away from him and headed downstairs. "No. You needed your holiday. You deserved it. Besides," she said turning to grin at him. "I have a surprise for you."

"Not another blind date?" he asked warily.

"No, no," she said, waving her hand at him. "Much better than that."

"Oh? So what is it?"

"You'll never guess. I have to admit that I had a little help but…"

Trunks stood so suddenly that he knocked his chair over. He dashed to the window and looked outside. Nothing but darkness greeted him. He could feel his heart racing as he concentrated and scanned the area again.

Nothing.

"Trunks? Trunks are you okay? Is there something out there?"

He turned back to his mother's concerned face.

"I thought I felt something," he answered glancing out the window again. "But it was nothing."

Bulma eyed her son carefully. "You don't look like it was nothing. You've gone all pale." She paused. "Was it a person?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," she said lightly, turning back to make the tea. "It was probably just those young hooligans again. They've been hanging around for a couple of weeks." She put a cup down in front of him. "Yep, hooligans. That's what it was."

Trunks looked at his mother's smiling face, knowing full well that she was not to be trusted when she smiled like that.

"Yeah," he agreed softly. "Hooligans." She's such a bad liar. I don't know what you're planning kaasan but I know what I felt. I have to see Dende next free chance I get.

*****

Dende stood on the edge of the compound and smiled. He had been keeping track of the flying craft for a while now as it slowly made its ascent towards him. It was slightly amusing for the young Namek-jin since it had been a good while since anyone had come to visit. He watched as the craft finally broke through the cloud cover below him and frowned. It was spewing smoke from its small engine, yet the driver kept urging the thing onward.

As in neared the lip of the compound the craft suddenly shuddered to a halt. His ears picked up the faint sound of someone swearing before the small craft exploded. He sighed and shook his head in sympathy for the person inside. The next instant a hand was flung over the edge. Dende took an involuntary step backward as the hand pulled up the person behind it.

The dark-haired girl froze as she spotted his feet, then seemed to shake herself and mutter some thing that sounded like, "oh yeah, future."

He gazed down at her as she looked up.

"Konbonwa, Dende-sama," she said grinning.

Despite his surprise at her using his real name and the fact that she had survived the destruction of her craft, the Guardian of Chikyuu-sei smiled back at her. "Anything I can help you with today, child?"

"Yes," she answered as she climbed over the edge and stood up. "Well, not you as such. I was hoping I could speak to Mr. Popo."

Dende lent nonchalantly on his staff and raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he said, looking down at her, "and why is that?"

"Good to see you haven't changed much," she remarked lightly as her eyes scanned the meagre gardens. "You're still as nosy as ever."

"It comes with…"

"…the job description. I know." Stepping past him she headed towards the large domed building.

Dende frowned. "Child," he said without turning. "Why did you force your craft to come up here? You have no way of getting down."

"Getting down is no problem, I have anther ship. I would've flown but then Trunks would be able to find me."

Trunks? Dende thought. How does she know him? He turned as the girl broke into a jog.

"Mr. Popo!" she cried as the short man walked around the corner, watering can in hand.

The watering can fell to the ground, spilling its contents as Mr. Popo suddenly became rooted to the spot. "By Kami-sama," Dende heard him say. "Kat."

*****

Trunks wiped the sweat back from his forehead. They hadn't had a summer like this in years. He finished welding the last bit of metal into place then jumped of the roof and headed inside. It wasn't any better so he stuck his head in the refrigerator for a few moments.

He was just beginning to feel cool when the doorbell rang and Bulma yelled at him to get it. Grumbling he trudged towards the door and threw it open.

"Well, if I'm going to be greeted like this every time I'm definitely going to visit more often," the woman on the doorstep quipped as she took in Trunks' shirtless and dishevelled appearance.

His cheeks went pink. "Can I help you?"

"You must be Trunks but sadly, as much as I'd like to hang around with you, I was looking for Bulma."

"Sugi? Is that you?" Bulma called from inside somewhere.

"Hai Bulma-san!" she took a step past Trunks. "I know my way. Ja ne, Trunks!"

He watched her saunter off down the corridor. She better not be my surprise, he thought darkly. He really wasn't in the mood for another `fling' at the moment.

Spotting the shopping list on the table he saw his way out of the house for a while and a possible trip to Dende. Of course he might have to find a shirt first.

*****

Well if this wasn't hugely entertaining he didn't know what was. Could this planet throw up anything else at this one band of people? It seemed like all they ever did was fend off threats and meet long lost family members.

After hearing her story from Mr. Popo, Dende had felt obliged to offer the girl a place to stay. She'd quite happily declined, insisting that she'd found herself a nice little hovel down in the city and was quite happy to stay there until she had sorted out some financial stuff with the dodgy ship vendor and talked Trunks into letting her stay at Capsule Corp.

Dende smiled to himself. Ah yes, Trunks. He had known that something was bothering the man as soon as he'd appeared back in this world. It made things so much easier to know what it was. Dende felt almost certain that Trunks would welcome Kat's presence more than she would ever know.

Of course he would have to make some excuses to keep her around for another day or so, just until everything at Capsule Corp. was ready. It would be quite disastrous if she turned up too early. He knew he shouldn't be meddling in the affairs of the people he watched over, especially after the huge favour he'd asked, but in truth this wasn't meddling, this was helping friends and he could do that for as long as he wanted.

*****

The phone call came just as he was leaving the market. Trunks glared at the stray pack of dogs with malice as they eyed his bags of food eagerly. He found a park bench and set his things down to search for the cellular he knew he had on him somewhere.

He flipped open the phone to see his mother's number flashing on the screen.

"Hey Kassan. What's up?"

He heard her humph on the other end of the line. "Where are you?"

"At the market. Why?"

There was a scrabbling on the other end and he knew she had covered the mouthpiece with her hand. He sighed, no matter how many times he told her, she never remembered that he could still hear her. A gravely voice answered.

Trunks felt his heart skip a beat. There was a man, at his house, with his mother. Panic rose up inside him, and then suddenly stopped. What was he worrying about? That Sugi woman was there. The man was probably part of the team as well. Unless…had his mother fallen in love again? Was that his surprise? A stepfather?

Trunks felt suddenly cold.

"Trunks? Are you there?"

"I'm here," he answered stiffly.

"Can you come home now? Your surprise is ready."

Her words only seemed to confirm his suspicions. "Sure kassan. I'll be there soon." He hung up.

Lifting his bags, he took to the sky, all thoughts of seeing Dende gone from his mind.

*****

The Capsule Corp. grounds looked different in the fading daylight. They were even more decrepit than she had first thought. Kat stared up at the immense structure. Mentally calculating how much material and how long it would take, to patch the building up again. Although, she thought as her eye caught a glint of new metal, someone has already started.

Setting her shoulders she revved her bike and drove in near the door. She smiled as she noticed that Bulma hadn't seen fit to change the little jingle of the doorbell even after twenty years although it didn't surprise her too much. She was surprised to hear lots of voices coming from inside. It almost sounded like they were having a party. A welcome home get together no doubt. Any bet this is why Dende told me to wait until today. I wonder if ChiChi is here? Her ears picked up the sound of shoes clicking on the front hall tiles.

Kat tried to put on her best `I'm-nice-so-please-don't-kill-me' look just in case it was Trunks that answered. The lock clicked and the door swung open.

"Hello?"

Kat gasped in shock. It was Bulma. A Bulma that were it not for the few lines under her eyes and around her mouth could have passed for the one she had just left a few days ago. The blue haired woman smiled at her. Kat had really expected her to be grey haired or something. "Bulma," she breathed.

The older woman's smile dropped and her features creased in confusion. "Can I help you miss?"

Kat panicked, she had come fully prepared for a shouting match with Trunks. Now she was dealing with a complete stranger whom she knew very well. What was the best way to handle Bulma? Directly. "Uh…I…er…I was wondering if I could speak to Trunks?"

Bulma gave her the once over and slowly a knowing smile made its way on to her lips. "Oh. I…see."

Kat felt her face tinge red. "Uh, no. That's not why I'm here. Uh, could you just tell him that his babysitter is here? He'll understand."

"Uh huh. Babysitter, right," Bulma said, smiling wryly at her.

Kat sighed. Bulma really could become fixed on an idea. "Please. I'll wait here."

"Okay." Bulma turned back into the house. "Kids these days. Don't tell their parents anything," she mumbled to herself. She disappeared around a corner and a few moments later Kat heard catcalls and whistles floating down the hall. The young girl shook her head. Bakas, she thought as Trunks came backing out of the room.

"I swear Kassan. I don't know what you're talking about." He turned to the door and the look of shock on his face was almost amusing. "Kat!"

Trying to suppress her grin she gave him a small wave. "Hi."

"So you don't know her but you know her name. That's convenient," Bulma commented dryly as she tried to look over Trunks' shoulder. He ignored her.

"How…? Did Dende tell you were we were?" he asked.

Kat looked back at him blankly. "Why would Dende need to tell me?"

Trunks opened his mouth to answer then paused as recognition flashed in his blue eyes. "Babysitter," he said softly, frowning at her. "What are you doing here?" he asked coldly.

"Well, I was in the neighbourhood and I thought, hey, who do I know that has lots of room in their house, where there is also someone I could spar with? Then I just happened to spot Capsule Corp. and this little light bulb just went off above my head, complete with little lines to show it was lit," Kat said jokingly.

Trunks' eyes narrowed even more. "How?"

Kat rolled her eyes. "How do you thi…" she stopped. Trunks and Bulma looked at her strangely for a moment then realized she was staring over their shoulder. Bulma turned around but Trunks already knew who was there; the rest of the party had joined them in the hall.

"Trunks you're being rude," Bulma said from behind him. "Introduce everybody. I'm dying to know who this girl is." She playfully slapped her son on the arm but before Trunks could speak Kat broke in.

"You said that they were dead," she said softly.

Trunks felt his frown fade as he looked at her face. "They were," he answered. Then before anyone could stop her, she'd pushed past Bulma and Trunks and stepped into the house.

"Gokou?" she asked of a tall man with wild black hair that stuck out in every direction.

Well there you go then. I bet no one saw that coming did they? Readers: oh no, Karete-chan that was the last thing we expected to happen.

Humph. So it was predictable, so what? I came up with the plot line three years ago and my brain no longer works well enough to come up with something better. Besides I like it this way.

Now. I would really appreciate some feedback on this. I haven't got much so far but what I have has been encouraging. Unfortunately lots of people have read this fic. Not all of you can agree with the reviews that are there. Please could I have a little more feedback, than `it was good, keep writing'? Most specifically I would like to know what you think of the plot and of Kat (and possibly how I portray the other characters).

This would be a great help.

Thank you.