"Wait. Start over, from the very beginning."

Goten pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course Trunks wasn't home. In his place was his dumb kid sister. Well, not so much a kid anymore but definitely young enough to count as one.

"Why do you have to be so dense, Bra!? How many times do I have to repeat myself!?"

The blue-haired girl had cowered in her seat at the kitchen table, fearful of the man now standing above her. This wasn't the Goten she was use to. Not even his face looked the same as it did just a second ago. His black brows were furrowed to create a dark demeanor, and his eyes were glowing red underneath the irises. Bra considered letting out a scream for her father to come out of his gravity room, but Goten went back to 'normal' before she could act.

"Bra..." he fell back on his chair and held his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Bra! This is what I was talking about... I've kept it to myself for so long and I just need to tell somebody. It's been going on for years."

The daughter of Vegeta and Bulma mimicked his pose, and resting her chin in her palms as her elbows rested on the table. She had overheard her brother telling her mom about Goten's 'outbursts' but had never experienced it until now.

"Okay. You can tell me. You just have to start from the very, very, very beginning! What the heck kind of story teller starts with the ending first!? That's lame!"

The young man across the table gave her a lazy smile. He closed the notebook that he tried showing her earlier. "You're right, I'm sorry. But you're going to have to listen to me this time, okay? This all started years before you were even born."

"Stop laughing, Goten! It isn't funny!"

The younger brother was rolling on the floor after having bouts of laughter. Chi-Chi had Gohan sat in a chair, cutting his hair for his first day of school with actual people his age. Prior to this trim, Gohan's hair had grown unevenly to his waist thanks to his father's haircut in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

"There's just one stubborn bang that won't stand up!" Chi-Chi huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "I've tried and tried! I guess you can blame your father for that one."

Goten got playfully kicked by his brother as the hero walked past him. While he was checking himself out in the mirror to make sure his mother hadn't secretly given him a bowlcut again, Goten got up and took his place in the chair.

"Isn't it going to be the same as always, Mama?"

"Yes, sir!"

The boy kicked his legs back and forth as his mother trimmed some of his messy spikes. Unlike Gohan, he got his hair cut once a week so it wouldn't grow out. He was thoroughly convinced his hair was like this by nature, but Gohan told him in secret that his mama just wanted to be reminded of Dad. So, he never complained. Besides, it was awesome!

Much, much better than Trunks' lavender bowl for hair!

"All done, Goten! Go look in the mirror and make sure you like it!"

The youngest son of Goku slid off the high-top chair and scowled at his older brother blocking the mirror in the living room still. "Still, Gohan!? Your hair isn't going anywhere, silly!"

Gohan frowned as he repeatedly tried making his one bang stand up as straight as his other spikes, but each time it flopped right back down on his forehead. Sighing, he lifted up Goten so he could look in the highly placed mirror. "How do you like it, bro? Gosh... I can't believe how much you look like Dad. You remind me of him too, especially with that little laugh of yours!"

Goten blinked at his reflection, trying his hardest to imagine an older version of himself in place of the child he was looking at. He pouted, unable to see anything except himself. "It's good, Mama. Thank you!"

The brothers helped Chi-Chi sweep the black hair off the floor and put the mini barbershop away. Knowing how fast Gohan's hair grew, they would just need to whip it out again next week. The dinner plates had been licked clean and washed cleaner, the nightly news report watched, and the morning birds' songs had been replaced by the hooting of owls.

"Make sure you go wash your hair, bro!" Gohan called out before Goten could dive into bed. He had just gotten out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his neck and scrubbing the skin. Tired-eyed, the younger brother had crept out of bed to look up at his brother hanging out in the bathroom doorway.

"How come?"

"If you have hair in your ears, you'll be itchy and uncomfortable all night. Remember last time?"

Goten's squinted eyes turned wide. Last time he was itchy, he woke up in the middle of the night and beated on Gohan in fear of him being covered in bed begs. "I'll shower I'll shower I'll shower!"

The older Son boy laughed and moved out of the way for his brother who so desperately wanted in. The sound of the chuckling had disappeared from Goten's ears as soon as he shut the door and turned on the water.

Curious to look at his reflection again, Goten had to stand on the step stool to look at himself in the mirror. He frowned when he was unable to see anything.

"GOHAN! THE MIRROR IS COVERED IN CONSTIPATION!"

"...What?" came the voice from the other side of the door.

"IT'S ALL FOGGED UP!"

"Ohh. It's 'con-den-sation', Goten. Just turn on the vent!"

Goten mumbled under his breath. He hated the vent, it was much too noisy. Instead, he used his wrist that was still covered by his long-sleeved navy shirt to wipe enough of the fog away to reveal his face.

Although the image was a bit blurry, it was better than the stupid vent. He turned his face to the side, checking out his profile and grinning. He loved the way his spikes stood up on their own without using any of that sticky stuff.

With everything looking up to snuff, Goten was prepared to get off the stool and wash all the little hairs out so he wouldn't beat up Gohan tonight. Before he could do so, a strange mark appeared on his cheek that hadn't been there before.

Slowly, the child raised his hand and touched it. He couldn't feel anything, but he traced the shape he saw on the mirror. It was like a giant, flesh colored 'X'. After removing his hand, the image of the mark had disappeared.

Goten shrugged.

It must have been that constipation.

"Hmm, nope. I don't see anything, little guy."

"Check again!"

Gohan sighed, but humored his brother anyway. His first day of high school was tomorrow, and he couldn't sleep anyway. He turned the light of his desk lamp back on again and examined Goten's face thoroughly.

"Oh, man..."

"What!?'

Gohan backed away from his brother and held his hand over his mouth after finding a shocking discover. "Yup. I see something."

"Tell me, tell me!" Goten sat up straight and held his blanket close to his chest. He watched with careful eyes as his brother removed his hand from his mouth and placed it on his hips.

"Two eyes, a nose, lips-"

Gohan dodged the pillow that was thrown at him, and soon the brother engaged in an all out war until their mother told them to quiet down. Still laughing from the exchange, Gohan fell onto his side of the bed and stared up at the ceiling with a smile.

"Can I tell you a secret, Goten?"

The little brother flipped over so he was now looking at his brother. He was still holding the blanket close to him, hoping the mark wouldn't reappear somehow. "It's gotta be a good one!"

"I'm a little nervous about school tomorrow," the older son continued a nervous, awkward laugh and tried counting the number of tiles on the ceiling. "It's the first time I'll be around people my age. I hope they won't think I'm strange... I really don't want to stick out-"

With Goten already snoring, Gohan shook his head and gave his brother a gentle noogie as he reached over to turn off the light.

BANG!

Goten flew out of bed as soon as he heard the noise, not even caring that he was dressed in his underwear only. On his feet, the child took on a protective stance as he eyed his surroundings. The room was pitch black thanks to the lack of street lights, and the poor boy couldn't see very well to find the lamp. A little bit of moonlight highlighted his brother's face, but no matter how hard Goten shook him, Gohan wouldn't wake up.

"Maybe Mama's up..."

That would make sense. That sound was an awful like the one she made when she dropped a bunch of pans.

Or perhaps it was that raccoon he kept feeding that Mama scolded him for.

Either way, if it were serious, Gohan would wake up in an instant.

Yawning once his heart rate returned to normal, Goten turned around to crawl back into bed but froze when he saw a shadowy figure moving towards him. It was advancing on him soundlessly, yet moved slowly. He could hear his heart beating in his ears like before, yet no scream could escape his lips. He couldn't move. He couldn't react.

The murky shape crept from the corner of his room where his bed was to the space he was standing in. It petrified him with the way it loomed over him. All that he could make out was a red headband that looked like it was bleeding.

It's just a nightmare, it's just a nightmare, it's just a nightmare...

He closed his eyes tightly, knowing that as soon as the monster touched him he would wake up and be eating breakfast with Mama and Gohan. Just like the mark he saw in the mirror, this wasn't real.

He reopened his eyes, hoping he was right. Instead, the monster reached a dark and shadowy hand out and touched his forehead. Finally finding his voice, Goten released a piercing scream from the unbearable pain the strike had caused him.

The child could feel himself falling backwards, expecting to land on the carpet but instead continued falling, falling, falling. Numerous stars that were much bigger and brighter than the ones at home surrounded him, and he tried to focus his blurry vision on the shapes that could only be identified as small planets. Once his fall had ended, he was stuck floating.

No nightmare had taken him this far before.

Trying to gain his vision back, Goten blinked rapidly until he was staring into the eyes of a bloodied, scarred man holding charging ki in his palm. He let out a scream, noticing this man was wearing the same headband as the monster in his room. He tried punching the stranger, but his fist went through him like a ghost or hologram. Trembling, Goten looked into the eyes of the man to see he wasn't even looking at him, but something behind him.

"FRIEZA!"

Instead of looking over his shoulder at the one named Frieza, Goten stared blankly at the man in front of him. He had the same haircut...

And that mark! That mark on his cheek!

What in the world was going on!?

"GOTEN! GOTEN! STOP!"

The child opened his eyes to find himself staring down at his bug-eyed brother. His small but powerful hands were wrapped around Gohan's neck, strangling him. Frightened by his action, Goten released his grip and backed away as quickly as he could.

Gohan coughed a couple of times and rubbed his sore neck, surprised at the strength his brother had while still stuck in a dream.

"What the heck was that all about!? You kept screaming 'Frieza, Freiza!' over and over!" Gohan coughed again, and then blinked twice as his cowarding brother at the edge of the bed. "Come to think of it, how do you even know Frieza?"

"Please don't tell Mama!" Goten cried out once his brother had turned on the lamp. He saw the outcome of the strangling on Gohan's neck; two red marks on either side. "I don't want her worrying!"

Gohan looked at the full length mirror behind their bedroom door and shook his head. "Well, if she accuses me of having a hickey, I'm going to have to tell her bro."

"NO!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" the teenager winked at his brother, trying to convince him that there was nothing to worry about. "I don't even know what a hickey is. I have a turtleneck I can wear to school until it goes away or I can get my hands on a Senzu."

Goten's lower lip began trembling, and he held his arms out to his big brother for an apology hug. Gohan picked him up off the bed and held him for a minute, trying to calm him down.

"Don't cry, Goten. It was just a nightmare. You can tell me all about it during breakfast, alright?"

"I hurt you! The monster hurt me! My head hurts!"

Gohan gave his sniffling brother a pat on the back. "I told you, little guy. Nobody is going to hurt you now. I'll stay awake with you if you want. I don't need the sleep."

Sniff, sniff. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Believing that his brother was truly okay, Goten crawled off of him and sat on the edge of the bed. Gohan joined him after pulling out a photo album from the closet, and showed him old pictures of their father in his younger days. The laughter was enough to convince Gohan was his little brother was going to be alright, but the throbbing of his neck wasn't enough to convince himself.

Goten sat there in silence, save for the sound of his fingers tapping against the table top. The fifteen year old across from him gaped, no longer able to hold her face in her hands and was leaning across the table to get a closer look at him.

He raised an eyebrow as she stretched out a petite hand, and then yelped when she gave him a firm pull on the tilted spikes protruding from his forehead.

"Ow! What the heck was that for!?"

She blinked her aqua eyes, the ones she shared with her mother. Bra had seen Goten's father enough times to know what his hair looked like. "Why don't you guys share the same style, anymore? Are you mad at him or something?"

Goten chuckled, and gently removed her hand away from his black spikes. Out of everything he told the girl so far, that's what she took from it. "No, not one bit. I love my dad. It's just the older I get, the more and more I'm his twin. If we had the same hairstyle, nobody would be able to tell us apart."

"Ah," Bra nodded, but her eyes remained unlit. Her upper body was still laying on the table while her bottom supported her against the backboard of the chair. She bit her lower lip as if she were reflecting on his words from earlier. "You said... that one guy? He had the same hair too, right?"

Goten gave his best friend's sister a tormented smile, one that was weak and itched to continue his story. "Yup. You got it. I used to look exactly like him, too." His grandfather's looks, memories, visions, anything associated with that scarred face Saiyan lingered forever in the back of his mind. He couldn't even look at the color red without seeing a blood-covered bandanna.

"What's wrong?" Bra asked sensitively, as if her voice being any louder would cause the man inches away from her to snap.

The daughter of Vegeta remained silent as Goten looked away from her large eyes to something outside the window. Even though she could only see his profile, his eyes were consuming. She had no choice but to turn her head slightly, her curiosity trying to see what he was seeing.

From where they sat in the kitchen, the only view the window gave them was of a large oak tree.

Bra pouted. There was nothing riveting about that.

She brought her gaze back to Goten, rather, his hand on the table that was now a fist. It was trembling while one of his eyes twitched.

"Goten?"

The sight of the oak tree was provoking those memories he tried keeping tucked way, way back in his mind. He had the very same one outside his house, where Chi-Chi and him would train while Gohan was at school. It was teasing him with images of a younger mother and son fighting, laughing, until he hurt her.

Forcibly, he brought his attention back to the young girl he mistakenly had to hang out with today. He heard her take a sharp intake of air when he couldn't hide condemned eyes.

"Sorry. This next part of my story is kinda hard to get through, but I can handle it. Ready?"

Bra, seeing the agony reflecting somewhere deep in his dark orbs, gave her best mesmeric grin. "Sure! But can I tell you little secret to cheer you up first!?"

Her words were dripping with pure innocence that Goten couldn't help but return the expression. "It's gotta be a good secret, though! I'm giving you my whole life story here!"

"Sometimes, once my brother's hair starts getting super long, Mama uses a bowl to cut his hair."

"I knew it!"

A/N: Will be working alongside blue-hart throughout this story :-) that fabulous human being came up with the idea of Goten being Bardock's reincarnation and we just kinda went from there. I hope you're part of this journey, as well! Any ideas and advice and criticism are always, always welcome as I am a growing writer!