"This could be better," Goten commented mildly as his widened, bloodshot eyes blearily took in the ruins of the city that surrounded them.  The buildings were literally crumbling to the streets even as they watched, broken bricks tumbling down to the ground nearby with an ominous clatter.

"It could be worse," Trunks replied quietly.

"How?!" Goten demanded, raising one eyebrow at his friend sardonically.

"Whoever did this could still be here."

"Oh.  Right."  Goten scrutinized the wreck of a city more closely, searching for any signs of a large ki signature in the area.  /Nothing.  Nothing at all.  If there is something out there, then I can't sense it./  "Did you want to try and find somewhere a little more hospitable?" he suggested, gesturing at the dimensional transporter Trunks still held in his hands.

Trunks tapped a few buttons, changing the display, before answering his friend.  "Not if we don't have to.  This could do with some time to recharge - in case we really do land in a tight situation next time..."

Goten shrugged.  /Staying in one place is fine by me,/ he thought, lifting one hand to rub at his aching forehead.

"Are you alright?" The concern in Trunks' voice made him wince away as he tried to cover the flush spreading through his cheeks.

"I'll be alright," Goten assured him.  /Yeah, as soon as I can get rid of this hangover.  I'm never getting drunk again./

"One of us will need to guard the transporter while it recharges.  How about you stay put while I look for some food for us?"

"Food?"  His stomach rebelled at the thought.  /For once./

"Uhn," Trunks grinned sheepishly.  "I'm kind of hungry."

Goten blinked at him.  /Trunks?  Hungry?/  Try as he might, he couldn't remember the last time he'd put the two together in his mind.  /I've always had to shove food down his throat to keep him from starving himself to death!  What happened?/

"I'll set it up before I go.  You don't have to do anything - just make sure nothing damages it."

"Uhn," Goten grunted dubiously.  "Maybe you'd better stay instead."

"I think I got a little more sleep last night than you did," Trunks smiled wryly.  "What were you doing with Hiei anyway?  I was starting to get worried..."

Somehow or other his embarrassment and fear of Trunks finding out just what had occurred managed to cancel each other out, leaving his skin its normal colour as opposed to deep red or pallid white.  /Or so I can hope!/  "Nothing, really," he muttered, unable to look his friend in the eyes.

Trunks frowned slightly, then shrugged it off.  Goten silently whispered a prayer of thanks to whatever god was watching over them as the lavender haired boy focused his attention on his invention.  "You might want to find someplace comfortable to wait," Trunks informed him distractedly as he manipulated the transporter, setting it to recharge.  "This might take a while to get back to full power."

/'Someplace comfortable'?  Around here?  Not likely!/  Nevertheless, Goten started scanning the area.  Out of simple curiosity, he tried matching the shells of the buildings around them with the ones he remembered from their homeworld.  "And I don't have to do anything with the transporter?"

"Just keep it in the light," came the reply as Trunks finished his adjustments and handed the device over.  "Direct sunlight is best, but any light will do, really."

"Right."

"I won't be long," Trunks promised as he lifted himself into the air.

"Trunks, wait!" Goten called out sharply, startling Trunks into stopping.

"Nani?!" he asked, turning back to face him.

"Do you have any idea of how... uh... 'close' this is to our dimension?"

Trunks blinked.  "Not a clue.  That last world was pretty different from ours, and I think we made a similar jump to get here, but it's hard to tell...  We could be just about anywhere.  Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," Goten lied, hastily glancing away from the faded lettering on the side of a half-collapsed building that spelled out 'CA-S--E C--P'.

Trunks' blue eyes narrowed for a moment, while Goten grinned sunnily up at him, doing his best to ignore the glaring sunlight behind him that made his headache worse.

"I'll be back in an hour or two at most," Trunks said at last.  "Don't go too far."  Goten shook his head, immediately regretting the action but refusing to show it, and waved goodbye as he took off into the sky.

/Great./  He made his way slowly over to a reasonably sturdy-looking wall and leaned his back against it, sliding down until he was sitting on the ground.  He stared at the transporter for a few minutes, sighing as the energy gage didn't appear to alter in the slightest.  /I hate waiting.  I wish something would happen.../

The wall collapsed.

He lay flat on his back for quite some time, uncaring of the bricks and dust that covered him, while the blinding light of the sun painted the insides of his eyelids bright red.

It was just one of those days.

It took him a surprisingly long time to find what he wanted.  He hadn't ever thought a world could be so bereft of life as this one obviously was.

/It must have been fairly recent, though.  No more than a dozen years or so at most, judging by the state of what's left.../

There were people around, of that he was certain; but they were scattered and dispersed seemingly at random into tiny communities throughout the countryside.  The cities were all completely silent.

It was one of these villages that he had chosen to inquire at for the possibilities of food.  Meat was easy enough to come by; there were plenty of wild animals roaming the area.  He'd already made a snack of one of them.  Items such as vegetables, fruit and milk were another matter.  So he decided to ask.

They all stared at him.

He'd carefully landed some distance from the village, covering the remaining distance on foot so as to avoid any concerns they might have over his ability to fly.  It didn't seem to have helped much.

/And if they're like this when I just walk in, they probably would have run screaming from me if I'd flown!/

He walked slowly through the village, the people all freezing in place as they caught sight of him.  Only their eyes moved, following his path, until he had passed them by.  Behind him he could hear a sea of sibilant whisperings that increased with every step he took - as did his sense of unease.

/I hate being around people - what am I doing here?!/

"Did you want something, boyo?"

He spun around at the sound of that harsh voice.  It belonged to a small, grey-haired old woman, leaning heavily on a wooden staff that was taller than she herself.  Several paces behind her was a younger woman with a frightened expression, who seemed caught between stepping between himself and the old lady and keeping the toddling child at her knees back away from them all.

"I was hoping...  I'm very strong...  Is there anything I can help with, in exchange for food?"  He felt like a lost little child, flushing helplessly under the old lady's straightforward gaze, and could only hope that he'd made some sense.  /Why am I here, talking to these people?  I can't talk to people!  Goten's the one who's always so friendly - nobody's going to want to help me - nobody should help me - why should they? I'm nothing to them, nothing at all - /

"Can you chop wood?"

He blinked, then nodded slowly.

"Our woodcutter broke his leg recently, so we're getting a little low on fuel," the old lady informed him briskly.  "The children have been collecting deadwood, but it won't keep for long.  My grandson Garro is watching over them.  We'll see how much you're worth with what you bring back."

"Grandmother!" the young woman behind her hissed, her eyes showing her concern as the old lady pointed him towards where the children would be.  The old lady brushed her anxious granddaughter off with a quick motion of her staff.  Trunks bowed his head, nodding briefly before walking in the direction indicated as swiftly as he dared.

/I promised Goten I wouldn't be long - but how much trouble can chopping wood be?/

Finding the children certainly wasn't any great difficulty - their laughter could be heard from quite a distance away, and there seemed to be as much fun and games as work going on.  He stood in the shadow of a broad old tree trunk, just watching them run around, calling to one another as they picked up bundles of sticks and carried them back to a rickety wagon.

/They all seem so happy...  So different from their parents.../

A soft tug at the cloth of his pants startled him, dragging his attention away from the children.  Innocent brown eyes looked up at him expectantly.

"Who are you?" the child wanted to know.

"Tansy!  Come back over here!"

The little girl took one glance, then darted back to hang on the hand of what looked to be the oldest boy in the group, perhaps twelve or thirteen years of age.

"You're Garro?" Trunks asked tentatively, receiving a short, suspicious nod in reply.  "Your grandmother told me to chop wood."

Garro stared back at him evenly for a long moment, then gestured to a tree behind him.  "You can start with that one.  I'll get you an axe," he said, then turned around and headed back towards the wagon.  Trunks walked over to the designated tree and pulled it out of the ground, roots and all.

"How big did you want the pieces?" he inquired.

Axe forgotten in his hand, Garro looked on in awe.

It had been an hour before he'd seriously considered moving, and then only because it was a little too warm for his taste.  /At least this thing seems to be working,/ he noted, the indicator telling him that the power reserves were indeed increasing.  Having had enough of the sun in his face, he started to wander through the streets and buildings, trying to find any sign of what had caused such devastation.

Capsule Corp. was an obvious place to start.

It seemed to have seen the thick of the action, that much was certain.  Craters were rife in the blocks surrounding Capsule Corp. - and of the main building less than a quarter remained upright, the rest reduced to twisted piles of metal and concrete.  Cautiously he examined the remnants, which proved to be mostly offices, with a couple of guestrooms still intact also.

/At least we don't have to sleep on the ground tonight./

He was a little surprised that these rooms were fairly intact, considering the myriad of looted shops he had passed by.  It wasn't that there weren't any useful items left - the rooms were still fully furnished.  The blankets at the very least would come in handy, as would the water tanks - /Not that I'm complaining about them being here, just waiting for us.../  One thing the rooms did not contain, however, was a clue to the origins of the destruction.  That, it seemed, would remain a mystery.

Having determined that the remaining structure would not be toppling down overnight - /Unlike that blasted wall!/ - he went outside to wait for Trunks to return.  The transporter had not yet fully recharged, so he searched for a suitable place to stretch out in the sunshine once more.  A rockfall some metres away diverted his attention momentarily, but it was the brief sense of a presence that made him freeze in position.

/Nani?!/  He scanned the area minutely, but was unable to pick it up again.  /I was sure.../  Frowning a little, he decided to delay relaxing until he'd explored a little more.  /I know I felt something.  Maybe whoever it is lives here?/  He hadn't seen any signs of an inhabitant, however...

He climbed carefully over the rubble in the direction in which he has sensed the presence, pausing for a moment on the crest of debris as he tried to take his bearings.  /The lab area 's completely trashed...  Trunks' room is probably buried somewhere under that heap - if this world had a Trunks, that is.../

It was an intriguing question - but he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.  If a Trunks had been born in this world, then what had happened to all the fighters that they were so familiar with?  Apart from the Saiyajin, there were also Piccolo, Kurilin, Yamucha - surely they wouldn't have just sat back and watch Bulma's home be torn apart?

/Heh.  This is beginning to sound like Mirai no Trunks' timeline.  Only without Mirai no Trunks./  Another thought made him breathe in sharply.  /Jinzouningen have no ki - they could have done this - they could still be here - /

He slipped one hand into his pocket, fingering his spherical ki-shield.  He drew it out into the open and stared at it.  There in his hands was yet another possibility.  /Too many questions, and not an answer in sight./  Sighing, he glanced at the device in his other hand.  Still not fully charged.  He shoved them both into his pockets, then continued onwards, keeping to the shadows this time rather than remaining out in the open.

He hadn't gone far when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye.  Ever so casually he began working his way back towards that region.  /Probably just a rat, but you never know.../  The blurred sight of a small figure dashing out from behind a pillar and down a darkened hole quickly disabused him of that notion.  /Maybe it's a dog - unless the rats around here are real monsters...  Whatever it is, though, it's fast!/  Driven by curiosity to see what could well be the only living thing in the city other than himself, he flew across the short distance to the hole, and peered inside.

/What the - ?!/

Lit by numerous openings in the ruined ceiling above, the hole open up into what looked to have been a living room area, complete with couches and coffee table - although they were currently in a very sad state.  Now, however, it was almost a museum, dozens of different objects arrayed in a very deliberate manner.

In amazement, Goten squeezed himself through the crack, and walked slowly amongst the items on display, leaning down to examine them on occasion.  A number of the things he recognized as Bulma's inventions, which Trunks had shown him over the years.  Other items included clothing, books, various pieces of computers and other mechanistic contraptions, an old crib...  He touched the bars, running his fingers down them, then reached for the pale blue teddy bear that had been so carefully tucked in under the bunny-print blanket -

He blinked at the surge of ki that filled the air as he picked the stuffed toy up.  Slowly, he turned around, peering into the shadows at the other end of the room.  Nothing - until he searched the darkness under an old desk.

Holding his empty hand out, palm-up, he gradually inched his way closer to the table.  Only when he was crouched down right in front of it was he able to make out an outline of the form cowered beneath the desk.

A child.

"Hey there," Goten crooned softly, not wanting to startle the little one.  "I'm not going to hurt you..."  He reached out to touch the child, to draw it into the light.

It bit him.  Hard.

"OW!!!"  He clutched his wounded hand to his breast, dropping the toy and rocking back from the vicious little demon - who snatched up the fallen teddy bear and darted through another crack in the wall and out of sight.

Goten rolled his eyes and let himself fall flat on his back.

/This just isn't my day./

The old lady had been quite appreciative of the wagonloads full of firewood he'd been able to supply her with, and provided enough fresh produce to last a normal family a week.  /It'll probably last us a couple of days,/ he smiled ruefully as he lugged the bags of food, and the wild pig he'd picked up in the forest, back to the city.  He slowed down as he neared the area where he'd left Goten, taking a moment to locate his friend's ki.

"Okaeri," Goten called out sardonically to him from an intact doorway, barely waiting for him to enter the office-like room before making a grab for the food.

"What's up with you?" Trunks wondered at his strangely sullen mood.  "Didn't the rest do you any good?"  Goten held up a bandaged hand in reply.

"He bit me."

"Who bit you?!"

"Some kid I stumbled across.  At least, I assume it was a kid.  The teethmarks look human rather than animal, but that's about the only difference I could see."

"Where is he now?" Trunks wanted to know.  Goten shrugged, more concerned with the contents of the bags he had brought back.

"I lost him.  Were you really planning on cooking any of this stuff?"

"You're that hungry?" Trunks grinned.  Goten pulled a sour face.

"I missed breakfast, remember?"  He held up the pig, then glanced at Trunks speculatively.

"Go for it," Trunks shrugged.  "I had a snack earlier."

Goten's dark eyes contemplated him for a brief moment, before focussing on the pig.  It wasn't long before the aroma of freshly ki-roasted pork was wafting through the air, the office having been transformed into a kind of kitchen cum dining room.  Trunks chuckled at the sight of Goten scrupulously stripping the bones of meat, while he gnawed on an uncooked carrot.

"What's so funny?" Goten asked as he licked his fingers clean.

"You never change."

Goten gazed steadily at him for a long moment, his eyes boring deep into Trunks' own.  "You have."

"What - what do you mean?" Trunks stammered uneasily.

"Where did you get all this stuff from?" Goten waved at the bags of perishables Trunks had carried in.

"A village, not too far from here."

"They just gave it to you?"

"I asked!  I chopped some wood for them!  What's wrong with that?!"  /What does he think I did?  Killed them all and just took it?!  Does he think that's how I am?/

"Nothing," Goten assured him, waiting for him to calm down a little before continuing.  "But before we - left - home, you hadn't willingly spoken to anyone apart from my family in years.  You even hid that one time Kurilin came around with Marron and Noimi, remember?"

Trunks fixed his gaze firmly on a corner of the room.  "So?"  /I don't like strangers - I've never liked strangers - /

"You wouldn't have done this before yesterday."

Trunks glanced up into his eyes - but looked away after an instant.

"What happened?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."  His mutter was barely audible.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Goten burst out, pushing himself out of his chair and pacing the floor, stopping to stand behind Trunks.  "Why don't you talk to me?"

/Why don't I talk to you?  You wouldn't want to hear what I have to say.../

"Trunks, we've been friends forever - and yet you still won't tell me what's going on in your head!"  He knelt down before Trunks' chair, taking his hands in his own, his voice softer, but still intense.  "It hurts, did you know that?  It hurts when you shut me out."

/I don't mean to hurt you - I don't want to hurt you!/  His mouth worked soundlessly, the words caught in his throat as he drowned in the anguished dark eyes before him.

After several long, tense moments, Goten bowed his head, releasing Trunks' hands as he stood up.  "Fine.  I can handle it.  Just talk to someone, please?"

/Who would I talk to apart from you?/

Goten moved over to the window, sighing as he looked out on the ruined city.  "Maybe we should have stayed in that other world for a little longer," he said softly.  "You could have spent a little more time with him, then..."

"Him who?"  Goten's head snapped around.  His voice was finally working again, finally.  Surprisingly, he could see Goten flushing as he turned back to the window.

"The red head," came the muttered reply.

/Red head?  Kurama?!/  His eyes widened in shock as the blood drained from his face.  "How did you - ?"

"I was worried about you.  I woke up and you weren't there, so I followed your ki."

"Oh."  /He followed me.  He must have seen - /  The blood was flowing back to his cheeks in a rush, burning his face with its searing heat.  /Wait a minute./  "You were with Hiei this morning," Trunks stated slowly, thoughtfully.

"He followed Kurama," Goten informed him, his face still flushed.

"Followed Kurama," Trunks repeated slowly, causing Goten to look up in concern - only to see Trunks smiling happily.  "So," he murmured.  "At least they have a chance together..."

"You mean Kurama really liked Hiei?  And not you?" Goten asked unthinkingly.

"Of course," Trunks blinked.  "It was obvious!  Why would he like me like that?!"

"Then why did you - " He broke off, his blush returning full force.

"We were - "  He stopped, but it was too late to retract the words completely.  He pressed on instead.  "He was just lonely..."  He bowed his head, drawing one knee up and letting his cheek rest against it, his lavender hair curtaining his face.

"He had Hiei," Goten said quietly.

"He didn't know that."

"Just like - "  The soft voice paused, long enough for Goten to step away from the window, and back next to his chair.  "You didn't know - "  Gentle fingers brushed his long hair away from his face, but he shut his eyes, closing off his vision; warm palms cupped his cheeks, forcing his face upwards -  "You have me?"

He didn't dare open his eyes - he knew he'd just drown, be washed away -

"Trunks, look at me, please?"

He could deny that voice nothing - nothing at all...

"I - you - you can't - "

"Why can't I?"  Goten was leaning towards him, ever so slowly -

"You shouldn't - "

"Why not?"  Dark eyes had captured his soul, throwing his mind into confusion -

"You deserve better - "

"No, I don't."  His warm breath was caressing his lips already, in preparation for the moment -

Goten stumbled backwards, his hands rubbing at his head.  "Ite!"

"Goten?" He sat up straight, reaching out to steady his companion.  "Daijoubu?"

"Hai," Goten muttered, then stared.  Following his gaze, Trunks found a small, grimy figure barely recognizable as a human child glaring at Goten, an armful of rocks held against his body, with one in hand ready to -

"Hey!" Goten dodged the missile as it was thrown.  "Stop that, you little brat!"

The child hissed, baring his teeth in a snarl, and threw another rock.

"Damn it!"  Goten lunged forward, but the waif skittered out of reach, dropping his ammunition as he ran.  The teenage pursuer almost lost his balance as he stumbled over the abandoned rocks, but was soon hot on the chase.

The child was remarkably fast.

/How the hell can he keep ahead of us?/ Trunks wondered as he joined in the pursuit, weaving amidst the broken buildings and through large cracks in walls, floors and ceilings...  /He's just a little kid!/

A large crash just ahead of him caused him to halt as debris came tumbling down.

"Goten!"

"I'm fine," came the wheezed reply, accompanied by a few coughs.  "He pulled it down on me on purpose!"

Trunks frowned, remaining motionless while Goten started to push the rubble off of himself.  /A very faint ki - there !/  He darted forward, just in time to glimpse the child ducking down yet another hole.  It was a tight fit, but Trunks squeezed determinedly through, and into a kind of tunnel beyond.

Forming a small ki ball to light the way, he crawled for several meters - then the tunnel divided.  /Now what?!/  Glancing this way and that, he chose one at random and continued on - until the next divide.  /Great./

"Trunks?" Goten's voice sounded rather muffled.  "Where are you?"

"On my way to being lost!" he yelled back down the way he had come.  "There isn't any room to turn around in here, so I'm just going to keep on going."  /And hope I get somewhere.../

It didn't take as long as he had feared.  The very next divide led him into a - relatively - open area, with some surprising contents.  /Or perhaps, not so surprising,/ he conceded as he touched the patchy face of a stuffed rabbit with tentative fingers, and glanced around at the myriad of toys that literally covered the room.

There wasn't enough room for him to stand, so he settled for a crouch as he scanned the room carefully, noting the pile of blankets wrapped around a blue teddy bear in one corner - and the scowling face of a little boy peering out from behind an overturned toybox.  Filth-ridden, clothed in oversized rags, the child must have been living alone for some time...

"Trunks?"  Goten's head poked through the opening from the tunnel.

"Shhh!!!  Don't scare him!" Trunks chastened him.  Goten's expression was slightly incredulous, but grew more serious as he caught the glare the child directed at him - a glare that was meant to mask the fear that was making his slight frame tremble...

"It's alright," Trunks soothed.  "We're not going to hurt you."  He started to crawl towards the boy, but halted as the boy edged away.  Trunks offered one hand, open palmed, to the child.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Goten warned in a low voice.  Trunks and the child both glared at him; he held up his hands defensively.

"Baah."

The two teenagers stared at the boy, then at each other, confused.  Cautiously, the child moved out from behind the box, and over to Trunks, stopping just within arm's reach.  He peered at him for several moments, before daringly reaching out to touch Trunks' long, lavender hair.

"Mah?" he questioned, looking hopefully up into Trunks' eyes, dirty fingers stroking the long, thin strands of Trunks' hair.

"Hello," Trunks managed awkwardly, unsure of what to do.  The child drew away once more, scampering over to what Trunks assumed must be his bed, and rummaging around in the darkened corner.

"Ma!" the boy declared, triumphantly producing something from the blankets, then glancing expectantly at Trunks.  Obligingly the young half-Saiyajin crawled over to the child - and gasped in shock as he saw the prized possession.

A tattered photo of a family: mother, grandparents and baby.

His family.

He stared up into the boy's bright blue eyes for a long moment in wordless shock.

"Trunks?" Goten called to him softly, concerned.  "What is it?"

Trunks looked blankly back at his friend.

"The boy...  He's me!"

Goten leaned against the doorframe, observing Chibi Trunks as he rapidly devoured everything green that Trunks had brought back from the village.  He'd crinkled up his nose at the other coloured foodstuffs, refusing to touch them other than to shove them away.

"I wonder what he's been living on that he can afford to be so picky," Goten mused.  Chibi Trunks looked up at the sound of his voice, and screwed his face up at him.

"The feeling's mutual," Goten assured him, rubbing at his head with his bandaged hand.  Chibi Trunks snorted and went back to munching on his beans - after making sure that his teddy bear was still safe at his side.

/I don't think he's ever going to forgive me for picking that bear up,/ Goten sighed, letting his head drop back so that he was looking up at the ceiling.  /It's just a bear, for crying out loud!/

On the floor in front of him, Chibi Trunks abandoned the last of the beans and picked up the teddy bear.  Climbing onto a padded lounge chair he curled up on his side, with one arm wrapped around the bear, and a thumb in his mouth.

/But maybe - he doesn't have anyone else.  Poor kid.  I always had my brother; Trunks always had me./  He entered the room, picking up a blanket from the pile he'd accumulated earlier in the day, and moved to place it over the small boy.

Chibi Trunks took one look at him and bolted out the door, bear and all.

/Shit./

After three previous dashes for freedom, however, Goten had become somewhat accustomed to seizing the small, wriggling figure that had a nasty tendency to bite, kick, scratch and punch at every opportunity.

"Four - nil, my way," he informed the shrieking, protesting bundle as he carted him back into the windowless room and returned to guarding the door.  It was a position he had been stuck in since Trunks had shooed them both out of his way, intent on tinkering with some strange object he had found hidden in Chibi Trunks' 'museum', which they had passed through on the way back to their temporary base.

/I really wish Trunks would hurry up./

From the way Chibi Trunks was glaring at him, the child was probably hoping for the same thing.

"You know," Goten spoke conversationally, "you could really do with a bath."

"He is a bit of a mess, isn't he," Trunks commented from behind him, startling him.  Chibi Trunks grinned in delight and ran over to Trunks, firmly attaching himself to his leg.  Bemusedly, Trunks patted his head, then winced at the filth that rubbed off onto his hand.  "Why don't you go clean him up?" he suggested mildly.

"Me?!" Goten's eyebrows almost hit his hairline.  "No way!  He hates me!"

"How could he hate you?  He doesn't even know you."

"He thinks I that want to steal his teddy bear!"  Trunks covered his mouth to repress a chuckle.   "It isn't funny," Goten told him flatly.

"I know," Trunks apologized.  "I just had an image of you as a teddy bear thief."

"Thanks a lot," replied Goten sourly.

"Well, you did have a penchant for stuffed animals when we were kids."  The look Goten directed at his friend was not a happy one.  "Gomen."

"Don't say you're sorry - say you'll bathe him!"

"I don't know how to bath a kid!" Trunks protested.  "Besides, that - component - I found...  I think I can make us another transporter with it."

"Really?"  That was a surprise indeed.  A second transporter would be a useful thing to have in case the first ever failed.

"Uhn.  Maybe.  I need time to work on it, though, and check it out..."

"Okay, okay," he sighed in defeat.  "But there isn't any running water here."

"There's a lake a few miles east of here."

"Great."  He looked down at the filthy child hanging on to Trunks' leg.  "Okay, kiddo, let's go."

It took them both ten minutes to pry Chibi Trunks' arms off of his older counterpart.

"You're an awful lot of trouble, did you know that?" Goten told the wailing, squirming child as he flew them both over to where Trunks had said the lake would be.  He'd gained a new appreciation for the difficulties that a parent faced in raising small children - and he'd only been looking after the boy for an hour.  /I wonder how Kaasan ever put up with me...  But then, I don't think I was ever quite this bad - /

His ruminations came to an abrupt halt as Chibi Trunks managed to kick him in a rather sensitive area.  Shocked by the sudden pain, he released his troublesome burden unthinkingly as he gasped for breath.  A high-pitched scream quickly informed him of the mistake he'd just made.

/Shit - he can't fly!/

The screeching only stopped when he had his arms firmly around the little boy, cradling him safely once more.

"There, there," Goten attempted to soothe the violently trembling child, whose expression was terror-stricken, valiantly ignoring his own, more personal pain.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop you..."  He rubbed Chibi Trunks back comfortingly.  A furious flash of blue eyes was all the warning he had before sharp teeth sank into the flesh of his arm, and tiny fingers dug deep into his back.  "Okay," he admitted, wincing.  "That one I deserved."  Chibi Trunks looked up at him briefly, and clamped his jaws down harder.  Sighing yet again, Goten resigned himself to a very painful afternoon.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't disappointed.

There was one positive point - the child simply adored splashing around in the shallows of the lake.  This did necessitate he follow him in, however, in order to strip him of the filthy rags he'd been wearing.

/There's no point in only going halfway,/ he reminded himself as he chased the boy through the water.  /Although I've already had a bath today.../  Only after swallowing a fair amount of the lake did the child permit him to remove the tattered clothes.  At that point, he could only stare.

"Daa!"

"Oh my..."

He wasn't sure he could do it.  The last time, he had had at his disposal his own workshop as well as the extensive resources of Capsule Corporation.

/This time it's just me, my toolkit, and one cybernetic brain.  At least this time I wasn't the one who killed the cyborg./  It begged the question of who had, however.  /Certainly not my counterpart - he can't be more than three or four years old at the most.  He could never have destroyed a cyborg - and certainly wouldn't have put the pieces in a cryogenic chamber afterwards!/  This world was turning out to be a very strange place indeed.

He stared contemplatively at the remains of Juuhachigou's head that were on the desk in front of him.  The organic part was a degrading mess, despite the cryogenic preservation attempt.  The cybernetic part however seemed to be mostly intact.

/And there's only one way to find out for sure.../

Ever so carefully, he began stripping the layers of tissue away from the metallic circuitry.  The outside appeared to be all right, despite some damage to some of the nerve-impulse adapters.  He wouldn't need all of them anyway.  It wasn't like he was ever going to try and re-implant the brain into a human and create his own cyborg...

/I wonder what Goten would think if he knew.../

That was the main reason he'd hustled them out of the room as soon as he'd recognized the cyborg parts in the freezer - he hadn't wanted Goten to know just what it was that made their transdimensional jaunts possible.  He hadn't wanted to remind him that he was responsible for the murder of Juunanagou, as well as countless other, defenseless humans.  Especially not after what had occurred before Chibi Trunks had interrupted.

/He was saying...  He said he cared, he said he was mine - I want that to be true so much, but I'm everything I shouldn't be, nothing like what he deserves.  He's so generous and thoughtful, always thinking of others before himself, always protecting me, sheltering me...  He sacrificed his life for me by using an unfinished dimensional transporter to take me away from the person who had wanted to kill me - his own brother!  How could I possibly ask him to love me when he's already done so much?  Too much.../

One by one he tested the myriad of organo-metallic adapters.  One by one, he reflected upon his memories of Goten.

In the playground, Goten telling off the brats who kept making fun of his hair colour, and blacking their eyes when they wouldn't stop...

An argument with his parents; running away to the woods, with Goten sneaking food for him right out from under Chichi's nose...

His mother's death; Goten staying always beside him, and holding him when he couldn't stop the tears...

His father; the bruises and the broken bones, which Goten bandaged up for him with never a word of reproach...

Goten standing between Gohan and himself, preventing the elder Son from killing him...

/Maybe that last wasn't such a good thing,/ he sighed bitterly.

Enough of the artificial synapses worked that there was a good possibility he could make the adaptations required to create the new transporter.  He lacked the computer facilities necessary to program such a device, but the basic setup could be worked on right there.

/I can't just transfer the information from the old transporter to the new,/ he mused, laying the partially functional device next to the one only now being assembled.  /They're different, just as Juunanagou and Juuhachigou were different; but very similar.../

He woke up alone.  No - not alone: there was somebody with him.  Something.  A corpse.  No longer living.  A cyborg, with glassy eyes staring sightless at the sky above.

Blood.  There was so much blood.  It was everywhere.  It soaked him to the skin.

He sorted through the potential casings he had picked out, choosing one that was both durable and compact.  Painstakingly he began to organize the various available components within its shell.  Not enough for a complete transporter, but a start, at least.  He could search for the rest in another, more hospitable world.

/That leaves us with the problem of Chibi Trunks.  We can't take him with us - he's too young, he won't be able to understand.  But we can't just leave him here.../

He recalled Garro's words, spoken just a few hours before:  "They're mostly orphans," he'd said, referring to the children who'd been put under his charge.  "Their families got killed in the cities.  These are the lucky ones, who've made it this far.  They work for their keep, and thee village keeps them all."

He'd refused to speak of what had happened in the cities.  So had the old woman.

"It's in the past," was her only answer.  "Let it lie."

He could understand that.  There were so many unpleasant things in his own past that he didn't want to remember - but some things he could no longer forget.  Kurama had helped to restore the memories of what he had done that he so regretted.  He knew now the futility of repressing his recollections of the past.  Uncertainty could be as sharp a blade as the truth.  He didn't mind its impartial edge, but he would spare Goten such pain if he could.

/I owe him so much.  He's the only reason I've stayed alive for so long.  He's the only reason I want to live - for him, no-one else, nothing else, just for him./

There was nothing else he could do now.  He'd put together as much of the device as was possible under the circumstances.  The rest would have to wait.

/Goten won't, though.  What should I do?/

He packed everything up, storing it all carefully in his carry-capsules, and headed back towards 'home'.  He was still a fair distance away when he heard the childish sobs echoing through the evening's twilight.

"Goten?  What on earth are you - "  He blinked at the sight that greeted him as he entered the room.  Goten had one knee on the crying child's back, using one hand to pin the child's arms, the other to wield a hairbrush.  From the number of tangles and snarls still visible in the lavender locks, it appeared that he'd only had a limited amount of success so far.

Sighing in relief, Goten removed his knee, and the small figure was clamped onto Trunks' leg in an instant.  /At least Goten found him some new clothes  - /  He stared.  "You put him in a dress?!"

"No," his friend corrected.  "I put her in a dress.  It was damned hard to find girls clothing around here, too, especially in her size."

"Her?  Are you sure?"  He received a glare in reply.

"I'm not that thick!  She's most definitely a girl!  I had to bathe her, remember?!"

"Okay, okay!  I'm sorry!"  Trunks blinked again as he looked down at the little girl clutching so happily at his pants.  "I just assumed..."

"Yeah, well, apparently this timeline's a little more different from ours than we thought."

"Bah!" the girl chimed in.

"Right."

They stood in silence for a minute.

"You want to finish brushing her hair?" Goten asked at last.  "Or do you want to hold her down while I do it?"

"I'll do it."  He crouched down, and was startled to find a pair of small but strong arms flung around his neck.

"Mama!" the girl cooed in his ear.

It was half an hour before Goten stopped laughing enough to help him with her hair.

She was asleep at last, teddy bear held securely in her arms as she lay on the couch wrapped in blankets.

"What I want to know," said Goten quietly as they watched the even rise and fall of her chest, "is who on earth gave her a blue teddy bear."

"What's wrong with blue?"

"For a girl?"

Trunks shrugged, and bent down to start cleaning up from the mess they had made during the day.

/Oh no you don't!  You're not getting out of it that easily!/

He moved behind Trunks as he straightened up, and pressed the front of his body against Trunks' back.  The long haired boy froze, allowing Goten to pluck the rubbish he'd been picking up out of his hands, tossing it to one side.

"Leave that," he whispered into his ear.  "It's not like we need to be tidy - we won't be staying long."

"Won't we?" Trunks challenged in clipped tones.  "What about her?  She doesn't have anyone else."

Goten shrugged, sliding his arms around Trunks' waist.  "I don't know.  Either we leave her with someone or take her with us."

"If we took her with us, we might be taking her into danger..."

"So, is there anyone here we could ask to take her?  What about that village you went to?"  He lifted one hand to sweep Trunks' hair to one side.

"Maybe.  But I don't like the thought of leaving her with strangers..."

"We only met her today..."  Goten lowered his head, brushing his lips against Trunks' neck.   Trunks flinched and tried to pull away, only to be restrained by Goten's well-muscled arms.

"Stop that!"

"Why?  Don't you like it?"  He started to slide his hands down the length of Trunks' body.

"Baka!" Trunks hissed, his own hands clamping around Goten's wrists.  "There's a little girl not two metres away from us!"

"She's fast asleep."

"And you're going to wake her up at this rate!"

"You're the one making all the noise.  I suppose there's one way I could stop that..."  He spun Trunks around to face him, pulling him against his own body, and sealing their mouths together in a slow, ardent kiss.  Several long moments passed before they parted, both breathing heavily.  Trunks bowed his head, glancing away to one side; Goten smirked as he kissed his forehead, one hand caressing Trunks' buttocks.

"You can't tell me you didn't enjoy that," he murmured, causing Trunks to blush.  Positioned as they were, bodies pressed tightly together, their mutual interest was quite obvious to both.

"Baka."

Goten smiled, lifting Trunks' chin with one hand.  His smile faded when he noticed the tears in his eyes.

"Trunks?"

"It's not that simple..."

"What's complicated about it?"  Goten queried softly.  "I love you."

Trunks' blue eyes widened beneath his frank gaze.

"Mama?"

They both froze, only their eyes moving as they turned their gazes to the couch where a little girl was rubbing at her own wide blue eyes.

"It's okay, little one."  Goten's arms fell limply to his sides as Trunks moved swiftly over to the couch, pulling the girl onto his lap, blankets and all.  "Hush now, go back to sleep."

Sinking down to the ground, Goten watched as her breathing settled once more into the evenness of sleep - and Trunks' as well.  Sighing, he drew a blanket over himself and let his mind drift as he tried to sleep on the cold, hard floor.  Alone.

/Damn it./

"Are you sure about this?"

"If you ask me that one more time, Goten, I'm going to hit you."  /Because every time you ask I have to make up my mind all over again./

They were almost at the village, Trunks towing a bright-eyed, bear-carrying little girl by the hand to keep her from running off to investigate the flowers and other fascinating things they passed by.

/You'll be seeing plenty of them soon enough, little one,/ he sighed, then glanced sharply at Goten.  For once the dark-eyed boy kept his silence.

The villagers didn't gawk as badly as they had the first time, for which Trunks was greatly thankful.  They did however keep a close watch on the trio as they made their way to the old lady's house.

She was waiting for them when they arrived.

Trunks explained the situation to her, informing her of how they'd found the child living alone in the city - and how they wouldn't be able to look after her themselves.

/It's for the best.  We could step into danger the very next dimension we go to.  She'll be safer here, in her own world./

The old woman nodded and took the girl by the hand, holding onto her with a grip that belied her age while Trunks and Goten walked out of the village and into the forest.  Wordlessly, Goten handed over the dimensional transporter.  Trunks made a few adjustments to the settings, determinedly ignoring the despairing wails coming from the direction of the village.

A few tense heartbeats, a desperate scream that rang in their ears, a flash of familiar green light - and it was over.

"Well," Goten stated calmly.  "That's that."

"Uhn."

There was a brief silence as they both stared at Trunks' feet.

"You know," Goten commented at last, "we really ought to name her something."

Trunks smiled slightly and scooped the tear-streaked, lavender-haired girl up from his feet and into his arms.  "Uhn.  I guess we should."