Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are all the property of Akira Toriyama, Funimation, Toei, and other rich people I can't really name right now. I'm just borrowing them for a while, but I promise I'll return them back as good as new when I'm done. However, I do own the original characters that will be showing up in this story.

Warnings: Listen, this is an AU Vegeta/Juuhachi-gou fic, which means the two will be intimately involved with each other. There will be adult situations, but nothing graphic. Plus, my original character Koji will take the place of Mirai Trunks and Chibi Trunks because Trunks doesn't exist in this story. Though Mirai Koji will have Mirai Trunks' personality and Chibi Koji will have Chibi Trunks'. So, if the idea of the Saiyajin Prince and the Jinzouningen (who's really just a tweaked up human and not really a robot) together seriously bothers you, then just don't read it. But for the ones who are all for it, enjoy! On to the story now...

Chapter One: Beginning in an Ending

By: Dajira

All was quiet in the Heavenly Realm. Mr. Popo stood out on the courtyard alongside the new God of Earth, Dende, quietly observing the group of visitors they had received on that late afternoon. After their long and grueling battle against Cell, it came as no surprise to the djinn that the Z-Warriors would show up; in fact, he had been expecting them. While the evil android was defeated, victory hadn't come without casualties; during the battle, Son Goku had made the ultimate sacrifice again when he teleported himself and an extremely desperate devolved Cell off the planet before he could finish self-destructing. So he had known they would come to use the new Dragonballs to wish for Goku's life to be restored, along with the other people who died because of Cell. But what he hadn't predicted was for the group to bring along the Jinzouningen, Juuhachi-gou, with them. To be honest, it left him feeling pretty discomfited.

He wasn't the only one.

Not everyone had been fond of Kuririn's decision to save Juuhachi-gou and bring her back with them to recover. Especially Vegeta; the prince had told him she-well, rather it, to be more precise- should be destroyed since she was still their enemy. When Kuririn had adamantly refused, Vegeta had disgustedly backed down, calling him pathetic. Although he could care less about Vegeta's opinion, Kuririn would hate to hear what any of the others would think of him if they were to find out the reason he saved Juuhachi-gou was because he had somehow fallen in love with her.

Even now he was keeping vigil over her, staring down at the unmoving woman with a look of utter concern; he was the only one who appeared genuinely worried about her well-being. Standing a short distance away was Koji, Vegeta's mysterious red-haired son from the future; thanks to Dende's healing powers, he was fully recovered after suffering a near-fatal injury at the hands of a revived and powered-up Perfect Cell. Oddly mixed emotions played across his young, harsh face as he regarded the woman. They ranged from fury to hatred to…confused regret. If any of the others had noticed, except for one other person there, they wouldn't have understood the reason why he looked at her with such conflict in his eyes.

Gohan was surveying the woman with a look of someone waiting for something to happen already and see how things played out from there. Dende was regarding her with an expression unnaturally solemn for someone of his young age, jumbled in with a little pity and uneasiness. As for the rest, however, they were fixing her with equally distrustful, cold looks; they were prepared for the chance that she would start attacking them as soon as she awoke.

Then it happened. Within the next moment, cat-tilted eyes flew wide open, and Juuhachi-gou sat up lightning quick. Kuririn, Dende, and Koji had hastily backpedaled a few steps away from her, caught completely off guard by her sudden recovery. Even the ones who had been preparing themselves for this had been startled a bit. Everybody braced themselves, waiting to see what Juuhachi-gou would do.

Juuhachi-gou didn't even realize that she was sitting amid her enemies at first, too busy gaping down at herself in complete bewilderment. What was going on here? The last thing she remembered was being caught by Cell and absorbed through his tail...And now she was somehow free again! How was she even able to escape?

Suddenly, Juuhachi-gou finally became aware that she wasn't alone, and she froze in place when she looked up. Upon seeing her enemies staring back at her, her eyes widened in a mix of surprise and panic. Then her face transmuted into fierce defiance. If they were trying to kill her, she wasn't about to go out without a fight. With a low determined growl, she quickly and smoothly rolled over onto her feet, clenching her fists and taking a fighting pose. All the Warriors, except for Kuririn, fell back into battle stances as well, and Popo stood protectively in front of a now nervous-looking Dende.

Looking on in concern, Kuririn knew he had to do something fast before things got out of hand.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Waving his hands imploringly, Kuririn slowly approached her like one would a wild, dangerous animal. In a soothing tone, he said, "Chill, no one here is going to hurt you. It's all right."

Over where he stood by himself against one of the pillars, Vegeta frowned contemptuously at the bald human. *Speak for yourself, you pitiful fool. You may not have the balls to dismantle that machine, but I do and will just as soon as it gives me a reason to!*

Juuhachi-gou didn't seem too convinced by Kuririn's words. She gave him the same murderous glare she was giving everyone else.

"Where the hell am I?" she demanded, speaking for the first time.

"You're in the Heavenly Realm," Kuririn explained gently. "Don't worry, you're safe now. Cell won't be bothering you or anyone else anymore."

"What do you mean?" Juuhachi-gou asked, looking mystified.

"Cell was destroyed by Gohan here, though prior to doing so he managed to free you," Piccolo told her, pointing at the preteen. "You owe him a great deal of gratitude, and Kuririn as well."

"Oh, um...I didn't do nearly as much as Gohan here did," Kuririn replied shyly.

"Yeah, that's right! Gohan has become EXTREMELY strong!" Yamucha emphasized while putting quite the distance between himself and the cyborg. "So, you better not try anything, or you'll be sorry!"

"I don't think she can hear you back there," Tienshinhan called, smirking wryly. "Why don't you come closer?"

"Shut up!"

Juuhachi-gou paid no attention to them, her eyes fixed on Gohan. Sizing him up, it was just too unbelievable to her that he was the one who killed Cell. The child of Son Goku had been the last person she had expected to accomplish such a feat; she was surprised that Goku himself wasn't the one who did it since Gero had always considered him to be their most dangerous foe. Juuhachi-gou thought back to when she and her brother had individually tried to take on Cell and how impotent they had been against the bio-android, then how Juuroku-gou was shown to be on par with Cell before he too became no match for him after Juunana-gou was consumed. The idea that the young boy could do what the three of them and even his father couldn't do just left her utterly stunned.

Speaking of Juunana-gou and Juuroku-gou, just where exactly were they now? Was Gohan able to free her brother, too? What about Juuroku-gou? The last thing she remembered was him telling her to go with Kuririn when Cell had found them. Had Cell finished him off after he got her? Juuhachi-gou shivered inwardly at the thought. Just thinking about the nature-loving android being destroyed at Cell's hands- with the very same power he had gotten from absorbing her- made her feel something she had never felt since she was turned into a Jinzouningen: guilt.

Juuhachi-gou started to ask Kuririn what had happened to them, but then for the first time since she awoke, she noticed Vegeta on the other side of the courtyard. Rage and hatred swelled up within her instantly as the sight of him made her remember why she was in this dilemma to begin with. She would never forgive or forget how he had practically given her to Cell on a silver platter just because he wanted a better fight.

"You...BASTARD!" she screamed wrathfully, fists clenching. "DIE!"

Before Vegeta or any of the others could even register her move, Juuhachi-gou crossed the gap between the two of them and rammed her right fist viciously into the Saiyajin's face. The brunt of the punch sent him smashing into the pillar he had been standing in front of, and next into the pillar behind that one. Juuhachi-gou went after him, having every intention of killing him this time.

Surprised by what had just happened, the others immediately followed after the action. As soon as they arrived, Vegeta morphed into a Super Saiyajin, and two of the bystanders thought this was bad. After training intensely in the Room of Spirit and Time twice, Vegeta had grown massively stronger than the Jinzouningen since their last encounter. He could effortlessly kill her now...which was why Koji had to stop this.

He couldn't let his father kill her. In spite of his feelings toward the Artificial Humans, particularly Juuhachi-gou, he was actually starting to think that this world's version deserved to live. If she was half the terror her future self was back in his own era, she would have killed them all a long time ago. The Juuhachi-gou he knew also would have started firing at them all as soon as she woke up. Besides that, no matter how much he hated it, she was still...

It seemed that Vegeta had grown fed-up with the scuffle, as he easily avoided another punch and hit her with a side kick. Juuhachi-gou nearly collided into the middle of the palace wall, but her cybernetic reflexes kicked in at the last moment, allowing her to stop herself in time. Gazing over at Vegeta, she found herself slipping into a state of astonishment. Back when she and Vegeta had first fought on the mountain highway, despite his strength far exceeding Gero's data on him, he still couldn't do a thing to her. However, as he hovered powerfully before her now, she was reminded of the easy time Vegeta had while fighting Second Form Cell, someone who had terrified her. She knew there was no way she could win against him like before, but her pride refused to let her admit defeat. So she glared back at the Saiyajin in rebellious anger instead.

Thrusting a hand forward and folding his thumb across his palm, Vegeta gathered power for a Big Bang Attack. "Playtime is over with, you puppet. Now I'll send you to the trash heap where you belong!"

It seemed Vegeta was about to do just that...then Koji appeared between them unexpectedly and transformed. Both Vegeta and Juuhachi-gou stared at the warrior from the future in equal bewilderment.

"Koji!? What in the hell do you think you're doing!?" Vegeta demanded. "Move out of the way!"

"I can't do that, Father!" Koji answered, looking very determined.

*Again…Again this boy tries to protect me,* Juuhachi-gou noted, confused. She reflected on how similar this scene was to the time Koji fought both Cell and Vegeta trying to protect her from the former. She knew the reason he only acted in her defense then was to simply prevent Cell from reaching his Perfect Form, but why now? And didn't he just call Vegeta his 'Father'? So why wasn't he helping Vegeta destroy her instead? Just who was this boy- this 'Koji'?

Below, some of the others were also wondering about Koji's interference, considering his history with the Jinzouningen back in his own time. Although, one among them did know the reason behind Koji's sudden protectiveness of Juuhachi-gou. He watched the whole scene with quiet interest.

"Moron, step aside!" Vegeta ordered. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but either you move or you can suffer the same fate as that mannequin behind you!" A sphere of ki still floated before his gloved hand, just waiting to be unleashed.

Koji didn't budge, his eyes closing. He knew he had better think of something quick, Vegeta looked like he might actually go through with his words if he didn't. *Well, there might be one way out of this for the both of us, and it just might work...I hope.*

When he reopened his eyes, the enigmatic warrior shouted something very unexpected.

"Father…I won't allow you to kill Mother!"

"WHAT!?" Came the general outcry of shock.

On either side of Koji, Vegeta and Juuhachi-gou stared at him in identical disbelief. Vegeta was so taken aback by this, that he reabsorbed the energy for his attack back into his body.

"W-w-wait just a minute!" Juuhachi-gou spluttered furiously behind him, shaking her head. "What did you just call me!?"

Before he could answer, Vegeta bridged the space between them in an instant to unceremoniously grab him by the collar.

"Is this some kind of sick joke of yours, boy?" Vegeta snarled in the young man's face, giving him a sharp shake. "If so, I am not amused!"

"It's no joke!" Koji replied seriously. He glanced at Juuhachi-gou, then looked his father directly in the eye. "As ashamed of the fact as I am, it's true. My birth Mother is Juuhachi-gou. That's why I could never answer you or the others whenever you asked who she was."

Vegeta glared at the youth for a time, and then he threw the same look at Juuhachi-gou, who appeared very confounded.

"I can't believe this!" Gohan exclaimed.

"N-no way!" Yamucha said in disbelief.

"All this time the mystery mother was actually one of the Artificial Humans!" Tienshinhan said, just as boggled. "But come to think of it, I've always thought Koji kind of favor them."

As the others discussed this eye-opening shocker, they never noticed the distraught expression decorating Kuririn's face. He gaped up at Vegeta and Juuhachi-gou and Koji with his mouth hanging open. *Just my dumb luck. I would have to fall for the mother of Vegeta's son!*

"So, he finally confesses," Piccolo remarked, smirking.

"Eh?" Gohan replied, him and the others turning to his mentor with expressions of surprise. "Did you know about this, Piccolo-san?"

"If you knew, Piccolo, why didn't you say anything?" Yamucha asked, almost accusingly.

"Because if I had, Koji's existence in this time would have been affected." Piccolo frowned. As an afterthought, he added, "If it hasn't already has been..."

"That's it! If you want to continue breathing," Vegeta barked, "you had better start explaining yourself! And fast!"

Roughly releasing Koji, he folded his arms and impatiently waited for him to begin. On the other side of Koji, Juuhachi-gou looked just as anxious to hear what he was about to say.

After regaining his aplomb, Koji took a deep breath to rally himself. He knew he certainly had no choice but to come clean now. "This is the whole truth...In my world, you two are my parents. I don't know all the details, but you originally met sometime in the year 765- presumably while Mother was still a human; as a result of that, I was born a year later." Koji grimaced. "This was supposed to have already happened, but it seems that due to Cell traveling here from a future even more distant than mine, the order of events was thrown off."

Koji then paused briefly in his tale to look meaningfully at Juuhachi-gou. "After you had me, you took me to Capsule Corp and left me with Father…but it was Bulma and her family who raised me. Then, a year and six months later, after Goku-san originally died from his heart virus, you and Juunana-gou started your assault on the world. The two of you not only killed half of the Earth's population, but also all of them below, including Father. That is why I came here to this timeline- to prevent a repeat of what happened in my time."

As Koji's tale came to a close, his blue eyes landed on his father, who naturally looked infuriated to hear about his own death again.

No one spoke a word for some time, fully digesting what Koji had told them. The silence continued to drag on out for several long moments.

"What kind of fool do you take me for!?" Juuhachi-gou exploded. Still scowling at Koji, she stabbed a finger in Vegeta's direction. "Time-traveling!? And me…w-with that eyesore over there!? No way!"

"Eyesore!?" Vegeta echoed, insulted.

Juuhachi-gou ignored him, her eyes still on their son. "I don't even know why you bothered to tell us all that useless babble. What, did you think the three of us would become one big happy family because of this? Well, forget it! I'm out of here!"

So saying, she turned around and flew away at top speed. Everyone watched her go until she vanished from all of their sights.

"Should we really let her go off like that?" Tienshinhan asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, you know the destruction she could cause if she wants to start terrorizing the planet!" Yamucha added.

"At the level the Saiyajin and I are on now, that's something we don't have to worry about," Piccolo replied with his usual confidence. "Besides, I think going on a rampage is the farthest thing from her mind right now."

"Pardon me," Mr. Popo broke in politely, approaching the Warriors who weren't airborne. "The Dragonballs are set up for Dende-sama to summon Shenron now."

"All right!" Gohan cheered enthusiastically. "Now we can wish back Dad!"

When Juuhachi-gou had left the Lookout, it was with no fixed destination in mind; she just wanted to get away from the Z-Senshi and that boy who claimed to be her and Vegeta's son from the future as fast as she could. She eventually came across a forest, where she found a log in the middle of a glen and took a seat. That's where she's been for hours now.

After everything that's happened to her, all the cyborg-turned woman wanted to do right now was to use this peacefully quiet place to clear her head. Juuhachi-gou knew she should be out searching for Juunana-gou and Juuroku-gou, but for now, she just wanted to be alone. Actually, this might be for the best, as she didn't want either of them to find out about her and Vegeta and their supposed son. While she knew Juuroku-gou would just take the news stoically, she knew that her brother would laugh his head off about it until she had to smack him to make him shut up.

Juuhachi-gou really didn't want to accept Koji's words as true. She really didn't want to be his mother, expressly considering who his father is. Unfortunately, whether she liked it or not, his story did explain some things. Even when she first saw him in Dr. Gero's laboratory, she had noticed a resemblance between the teenager and her brother. She noticed it again when he arrived with the others on the highway to help Vegeta. After she and Juunana-gou had subdued everyone but Kuririn, there was the eerie feeling that she should know him that he gave her, despite not having any information on him. Lastly, when he reappeared with Vegeta with longer hair, the sight of him made her think about her brother again. At the time, she assumed it was because she missed Juunana, who had been absorbed by Cell at that point. She had never imagined the truth behind it all would turn out to be what it was.

Juuhachi-gou shook her head in disgusted annoyance. She just couldn't believe any of this, or that she was thinking about it in the first place. Amazingly, she found the mere thought of her and Vegeta being lovers more revolting than being trapped inside Cell's innards.

*Honestly! What the hell could any version of me possibly see in any version of Vegeta, of all people!?* she raged. *That Juuhachi-gou, or whatever I was called when I was still human, was obviously malfunctioning!*

In spite of her feelings, she still couldn't help but to be a bit awed by the idea that, in another time, she actually had a child. Like Koji said, his real mother and Vegeta had to have met before Dr. Gero found her. Even if she were to ever entertain the idea of having children in this time, Juuhachi-gou knew that was impossible now.

Just as her thoughts began to take a dreary turn, her enhanced hearing picked up the sound of an odd noise, emanating somewhere in another part of the forest. Looking around, she watched a yellow object slowly drop out of the evening sky and touch down on the far side of the woodland.

*Hm, what do we have here?*

Juuhachi-gou stood. While what she just saw was probably nothing of real interest, going to see what it was would be better than just sitting there and driving herself insane thinking about Vegeta and their son. Cursorily ridding the thought of them from her mind, she walked off to check out the forest's new visitor.

The yellow object Juuhachi-gou saw was actually an airplane; tattooed to its side in bold black and white coloring was the Capsule Corp insignia with number '991' beneath it. A soft whine issued from the air vehicle as it made a smooth landing in the center of a small clearing. The plane was turned off, and its only occupant stepped outside. She appeared to be in her early thirties, quite attractive with her silky, aqua hair and her expressive, intelligent, blue eyes. She was dressed in a simple attire of a shirt and jeans, enhanced by a stylish blue jacket that had the Capsule Corp logo printed on the back.

"Well, here I am," Bulma said, like one would say after arriving to an event they had been invited to.

She turned her head this way and that, trying to get a good look at the general vicinity. As far as her eye could see, there seemed to be nothing but trees and more trees, with some shrubbery and wild plants peeking out the ground here and there to break up the sameness. The reason she had come to this forest on the outskirts of town in the first place was because her father was doing an experiment on how plants reacted to high gravity, and he wanted to try it out on a particular wildflower that bloomed in this very area at this time of the year. When she asked her father why he was doing experiments with plants all of a sudden, he said he just simply wanted to try something different. She just never knew what that father of hers would do next.

Encapsulating her vehicle, she slipped the capsule inside her pocket. Before she started her little excursion into the forest, Bulma glanced up towards the sun, noticing how low it was hanging in the bluish-gold sky. *I better be quick about this, Yamucha would just worry to death. He's become that way ever since we got married.*

Bulma inwardly giggled at the thought of her husband as she struck down a forest trail. It still shocked her to this day (and also most of their friends) that after all the times the two of them had broken up only to make back up again, they had somehow wound up marrying each other after all. Experiencing death really does change a guy's perspective. After being wished back to life, Yamucha had told her he was a whole new man and that she wouldn't have to be suspicious of him seeing other women anymore, because he knew she was the only girl for him. What other girl but her would travel deep into outer space-moreover, to a planet while it was in the middle of being taken over by a horrible galactic warlord and his henchmen-just to bring him back to life? Shortly before all the Z-Senshi began their training for the coming of the Jinzouningen, he had taken her to a chapel and the two were wedded in private, with both her parents and Puar present. While it may not have been that big, fancy wedding she had always dreamed of having ever since she was a little girl, she was just happy to be married in the first place.

It was past experiences that made her predict that she might have to walk a length, which was why she had wisely picked out a pair of shoes that would be appropriate for this kind of thing. So focused on her task, Bulma had paid no attention to how much time had passed since she started. However, in the next moment, she did find herself taking notice of a faint yet unsettling sound that made her freeze in her tracks.

Bulma swiftly looked around, feeling slightly uneasy. She knew she had just heard something. It sounded like a soft grunt...more than one, actually. She stayed in the single spot for a little longer, looking this way and that, listening to see if she would hear the noise again. She heard nothing.

"Must've been my imagination," she concluded, shrugging her shoulders. Nevertheless, her instincts were telling her to pick up her pace instead of walking leisurely as she had been doing. Sure her father may have told her that this was where the plant he needed resided, but he hadn't bothered to tell her what other residents this forest may have.

Some time later, Bulma was now very certain that her imagination had been trying to get to her earlier when she had finally found the plant-a pretty, deep purple Lisianthus-close to a lake. Yes, that's it, her imagination was trying to play tricks on her just because she was in a big forest all alone. A nostalgic smile touched her lips as she started recalling the old days of her Dragonball Hunts with a young Goku, which had led them through all kinds of wildernesses. She and her wild friend had had some pretty crazy adventures back then, and it was because of meeting him that she had also met Yamucha.

Her cheerful expression melted into sadness as her mind lingered on Goku. She couldn't believe it, he was really gone for good this time. When Goku and the rest of the guys had first gone into that battle with Cell, she had initially handpicked him to be the one to take Cell down and save the day like he usually did. She never really expected it to be Gohan, nor had she expected Goku to die again so soon. She knew it was going to be tough for Chichi and Gohan to go on through life without him, but she knew they would manage; and so would she. She hoped she would be able to see him again some day, though not too soon.

Thinking she had better turn her mind back to her errand before the waterworks started again, Bulma pushed the subject of Goku far away from her mind. Reaching down, she carefully pulled the plant from out of the ground.

"It took me a while to find it, but this was pretty easy," Bulma said, looking pleased with herself. "Maybe I should do things like this all the time?" Bulma actually considered the idea. She shook her head, her mouth quirking into a wild grin. "Nah, it would be too boring if I always did simple stuff like this!"

Standing back up, Bulma took a second to stretch. Glancing upward, she saw that the sun was barely visible over the horizon now, and that the sky was caught between the ending of the evening and the beginning of night. She then checked her watch.

"Wow! I didn't notice that it was this late!" Bulma said in surprise. She also couldn't help but notice that the forest had darkened considerably since when she first arrived. She fought the urge to gulp. "I'd better get going."

Bulma had turned so she could take the capsule out of her other pocket and bring her aircraft back out. Then she looked out in front, and what she saw made her eyes widened in apprehension and her normally fair skin pale. In front of her, a small pack of wolves was neatly lined up, as if they'd all been politely waiting on her to finish what she was doing and most likely rip her into shreds for their dinner right after; at the middle, the pack separated, allowing a wolf bigger than all the others to stroll out in front. Bulma had no doubt that it was the leader of the group. The wolves then began to move slowly towards her as one, growling ravenously.

"Um, err nice doggies-I mean wolves!" she said, holding her hands up imploringly while slowly backing up toward the lake. She stopped when she felt the water touching the back of her shoes. The wolves continued to come forward, growling and regarding the beautiful genius like a delicious piece of meat. Then they all lunged at her simultaneously.

Bulma let out a scream of mortal terror and closed her eyes, waiting for her untimely death. As she stood there waiting, she could've sworn she heard collective whimpers, accompanied with a bright flash of light in front of her. Time passed, and when she hadn't felt sharp teeth piercing into her flesh, tearing her limb from limb, she cautiously reopened her eyes. She gasped in shock. Before her on the ground lay the charred remains of her would-be killers.

"Whuh-Wha...the...!?" she stammered, puzzled by the scene before her.

A hand descended on Bulma's right shoulder. Turning around at once, she shrieked and clumsily fell over on the ground when she saw the blue-eyed, blonde-haired woman standing behind her.

"Don't do that!" Bulma lashed out. Already on an emotional overload from yet another near-death experience, strange women appearing out of nowhere didn't exactly make things better.

Juuhachi-gou lifted an eyebrow at the other woman.

"Are you all right?" she asked tonelessly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You just really surprised me is all," Bulma answered, as she pulled herself back up to her feet. She brushed the dirt off her clothes, and then looked back up at the other woman curiously. "Hey, were you the one who just saved me?" She beamed gratefully. "Thank you so much! For a moment there, I really thought I was a goner! Oh! Where are my manners? My name is-"

"Bulma Briefs, friend to Son Goku. I know who you are," Juuhachi-gou said matter-of-factly. Then she spun around on her heel and started walking away. She left the blue-haired woman speechless and a bit perturbed.

How did this person know about her and Goku?

"Hey, where are you heading?" Bulma asked in spite of herself.

The question made Juuhachi-gou halt in her footsteps, and she wheeled halfway around to toss Bulma a narrow look. "Why does it matter to you?"

"Um..." Bulma faltered at the sharp tone. *Sheesh! She's a touchy sort, isn't she?*

Seeing that she had gotten Bulma too nervous to speak, Juuhachi-gou rolled her eyes and turned completely around to face the other woman.

"If you must know...I'm not really sure myself. I don't have any place to go to, or know anyone..." Immediately, Juuhachi-gou found herself wondering why she just said all of that. She brimmed with self-annoyance at how pathetic she had just sounded. The last thing she wanted or needed was anyone's pity, particularly from anyone associated with Goku.

Unluckily for her, Bulma did feel sympathy for her. If it wasn't for her, those wolves would have still been chewing on her carcass right about now. She felt she had to do something to repay her.

*And do something for her I shall!* Bulma decided, struck by inspiration. Aloud she said, "Well, you've got a friend now! I'd be more than happy to let you stay at my place!"

Juuhachi-gou stared wide-eyed at the human. "Are you serious?"

She couldn't believe it. An ally of Goku was actually willing to take her into her home? Should she accept? The mistrustful part of her wondered if maybe this was some sort of trap. Even if Kuririn was nice to her, she was sure that some of his friends wouldn't mind destroying her simply because she was one of Dr. Gero's creations. On the other hand, as she glanced around the gloomy forest, the idea of staying in a real house was very tempting. And though she didn't exactly sense any dishonesty in Bulma's voice, if this was some kind of trap, she could always use the fact that she saved Bulma's life to her advantage, or hold her hostage so she could make her escape.

Eventually, Juuhachi-gou answered, "All right, I accept your offer."

"Good! So it's settled, then," Bulma said jovially. Something then occurred to the blue-haired woman. "Hey, you seem to know who I am, but you haven't told me your name yet. I just have to know the name of the person who saved my life."

The question brought a positively wicked smile to Juuhachi-gou's face. She wondered if Bulma's offer would still hold after she told the other woman her moniker.

"It's Juuhachi-gou...friend."

Bulma gasped and gaped.

It was dinnertime back at Capsule Corporation, and currently, Mrs. Briefs was serving her family and their two houseguests dinner. However, one person at the dinner table was too concerned about a certain blue-haired wife of his to think about eating.

"It's getting really late," Yamucha said, glancing up at the clock. "Mrs. Briefs, did Bulma tell you where she was going before she left?"

"Now Yamucha, dear, I've told you before to call me 'Mother'," said the always-cheerful woman, as she sat down at the table between him and her husband.

"I sent Bulma to do an errand for me," Dr. Briefs clarified for him. "So don't worry, my boy, I'm sure she'll be back pretty soon."

On the other side of the table, Vegeta watched Yamucha as he ate in pure disdain. *Sentimental loser. You wouldn't catch me worrying myself over some woman...*

"I'm back everyone!" Bulma's voice preceded her entrance into the kitchen. Moments later, she came ambling into the room…followed behind by someone quite unanticipated. The scowl that was already on Vegeta's face deepened at once.

"What the hell is SHE doing here!?" he bellowed, rising out of his chair. He glared at Bulma's new guest with utmost abhorrence.

"Juu-Juuhachi-gou!?" Yamucha exclaimed, turning pale.

*Juuhachi-gou!* Koji uttered inwardly, staring at her in shock.

Juuhachi-gou's brows knitted together into a cold frown at the sight of Vegeta and Koji. She looked back at Bulma.

"You never said anything about THEM staying here with you as well!" she said in an accusatory tone.

Bulma quailed as she found herself trapped between the angry stares of Vegeta and Juuhachi-gou; she wanted to be somewhere far away from Capsule Corporation right now, off the planet even. Koji stared at the scene anxiously, dreading that another fight might break out between his parents. Both Dr. and Mrs. Briefs watched the scene in confusion while Yamucha did so in puzzled uneasiness, wondering why Juuhachi-gou was there in their house.

"Bulma, why exactly is she here?" Yamucha asked his wife, inspecting Juuhachi-gou warily.

"Well, while I was out I ran into a little bit of trouble with a pack of wolves," Bulma explained. "Lucky for me, Juuhachi-gou-san had been at the right place at the right time. And as thanks, I invited her to stay here because she had nowhere to live."

"You're Number 18, eh?" Dr. Briefs said thoughtfully. "That reminds me of Number 16."

Juuhachi-gou stared at the scientist in surprise. "You knew Juuroku-gou?"

"Yep. Bulma and I fixed him up good as new after that Cell guy injured him. What a nice fella he was!"

"So you're Koji-kun's mother," Mrs. Briefs spoke up jovially. "What a lovely young woman! Now I can see where Koji gets his eyes from."

Juuhachi-gou grimaced at the woman, not flattered by that comment at all. She started to make a sharp retort, but decided against it and turned to Bulma.

"On second thought, I can't accept your offer after all."

"Nonsense!" Bulma argued. "Now look, Juuhachi-gou-san, I told you that you could stay here, and I meant it!" Glaring deliberately at Vegeta, she added, "And some people will just have to deal with it!" So adamant behind her decision, Bulma didn't flinch at all at the stormy look Vegeta leveled on her.

"Looks like we're going to be having another houseguest, dear," Dr. Briefs said to his wife, taking everything in stride like usual. "Well, I certainly don't mind. The more the merrier, I always say!"

"Welcome to our lovely household, Juuhachi-gou-san!" Mrs. Briefs said affably and hospitably, grabbing Juuhachi-gou's hand and pumping it vigorously. "Thank you so much for taking good care of our daughter!"

"Um, yes..." Juuhachi-gou replied, feeling very uncomfortable as the older woman shook her hand. She wasn't used to being greeted with such kindness. In an uncharacteristic streak of politeness, she added, "Thanks for letting me stay."

"Oh, no problem at all!" Mrs. Briefs said, finally releasing Juuhachi-gou's hand (much to the younger woman's relief).

"Did you get the flower for me, Bulma?" Dr. Briefs asked.

"I put it in your lab before we came up."

"Thank you."

As she glanced around, Juuhachi-gou found Koji watching her. Realizing that he had been caught staring, he blushed and quickly looked the other way. She frowned at him briefly, before she ignored him altogether.

Beside Bulma, Yamucha gave Juuhachi-gou an evaluating look. Naturally, Yamucha wasn't all that keen on living under the same roof with one of Dr. Gero's androids. Then again, they had Vegeta living with them, and his track record was far from great. As for Juuhachi-gou, though he had heard how evil and ruthless she'd been in Koji's timeline, he could admit he hadn't really seen or heard of this timeline's Juuhachi-gou doing anything terrible, other than breaking Vegeta's arm. Personally, he actually wouldn't qualify that as being too terrible. Plus, she did save his wife's life. Maybe she wasn't as bad as he made her out to be. Ironically enough, he could actually relate to that. He guessed even someone like Juuhachi-gou deserved a second chance, too.

Vegeta was obviously not thrilled by this prospect. So him, the artificial woman, and the seed of their future selves were actually living in the same household. As the warrior sat back down in his chair, seething, he thought it was pretty official for him now: he was in Hell. Again.

"So, that's what you do all day?" he asked Bulma disdainfully. "Go out and pick up every stray and bring it back here?"

Bulma scowled back at him. "If I remember correctly, YOU were a stray as well before I invited you here. So zip it!" As Bulma then turned back to Juuhachi-gou, her expression defrosted into a friendly mask. "Come with me Juuhachi-gou-san, let me show you your room."

"While you're doing that, I'll set a plate at the table for our new guest," Mrs. Briefs volunteered.

"No, thanks. I'm not really hungry," Juuhachi-gou told her, following Bulma out of the kitchen. She was surprised by herself again at the civility in her voice. It had been so long since she's been polite to somebody, and thanks to Dr. Gero she couldn't remember the last time. But she guessed it was due to the situation she was in that was making her act this way. They were being extremely kind to her by letting her stay at their home, after all.

Bulma led Juuhachi-gou to the second floor of Capsule Corporation where the rooms were kept. After a short journey through the compound, Bulma brought her new houseguest to a hallway lined on both sides with many closed doors. Bulma chose the third closed door on the left, and the two women went inside.

The room was very spacious inside, with a real comfortable feel to it. There wasn't many decorations, just a bed, a dresser, a full-length mirror in the corner, and a creme-colored lamp perched on a nightstand on either side of the bed; an inch away from the mirror was a door that obviously led to a closet, beside that was the window, and back beside Juuhachi-gou's bed there was another door, which Bulma informed her led into a bathroom; there was even a TV. Juuhachi-gou found that she really liked it. It was strange, but she was getting the feeling she might enjoy it there at Capsule Corporation. Even despite a certain other person living there as well.

"I'll leave you alone to get settled in," Bulma said. "If you need anything, just ask."

After Juuhachi-gou gave her a nod in response, Bulma walked out of the room. Left alone in her new dwellings, Juuhachi-gou walked over to her bed and took a seat on it.

"My very own bed," she murmured, still amazed by the fact that she had a roof over her head now- one that wasn't the roof of some mad scientist's dreary laboratory. "How long has it been since I last slept in one of these things?"

Of course, she couldn't remember that. For as much as she was able to recall, which sadly wasn't a lot, her bed had been the stasis pod designated with her name/number whenever she was forced to "sleep". Juuhachi-gou frowned spitefully at the memory. She used to hate it so much whenever Gero would deactivate her and her brother, treating them like toy robots with his damned controller whenever he thought they were getting out of hand. It had been another cold, hard reminder of what he had turned them into. But it all just made the memory of watching Juunana-gou decapitate their creator even sweeter. Even though she was just happy he was dead period, there was still a part of her that wished she had been the one to kill that demented old man.

Juuhachi-gou soon just moved the subject from her mind. The last thing she wanted to think about was Dr. Gero. Lying down, she instantly breathed a small sigh as her head made contact with the pillows; this was a very nice bed indeed. It had been a long day for her. She decided that tomorrow she would try to find Juunana-gou and Juuroku-gou. Due to other things distracting her, she hadn't been able to do it today. Since she really had nothing else to do, she decided going to sleep in her new bed wasn't all that bad of an idea, even if she really didn't need to. Her eyes closed as she turned over on her side, and she gradually drifted off.

As soon as he had finished his dinner, Vegeta summarily took refuge inside his Gravity Chamber in the backyard. Very upset by the current events that had taken place in his life, he really needed to vent out his frustrations right now; otherwise, he might just go insane and start killing everyone in sight.

*Yeah, and as soon as you do that, you'll have Kakarott's brat to contend with!* the sarcastic thought separated itself from the rest.

Vegeta bristled at that notion, his pride stung once again. The idea of him, the Saiyajin Prince, actually having to worry about some little half-breed punk, who was only born with such incredible power by dumb luck, was absolutely mortifying! It was bitterly ironic, really. It was just a short few days ago when Vegeta had been training hard just to catch up to Kakarott in power, but now he had to catch up to his brat.

He re-evaluated that last thought. No, it wasn't Gohan he should be concerned about catching up to, the young boy wasn't his rival. He was just simply himself, although that wasn't to say he had no intention of not trying to reach the power of Gohan's Beyond Super Saiyajin transformation, if not surpass it, some day. It was Kakarott that was his concern, just like always.

*But Kakarott is dead, and he isn't coming back this time,* he reminded himself.

Vegeta paused, his eyes wide as the full impact of those words really hit him hard. Kakarott was gone for good, and as well as any chance of getting his revenge. Vegeta's face then contorted in rage, his fists clenched. Now he would never avenge himself against his rival. It wasn't right! Just like wasn't right that it was Kakarott who transformed first and gave Furiiza his first defeat!

*But in the end, the one who killed Furiiza was my son,* some part of his brain pointed out. In that one moment, he almost, almost smiled as a quick burst of pride surged through him at that thought.

Though he, along with all the rest of the Saiyajin in Hell, had been rooting for Kakarott to avenge them and kill Furiiza, it still didn't sit well with him that it had been his enemy who destroyed the bastard that had kept him in bondage for most of his life and not him. But now that he knew that it actually been his own son that had killed the Changeling, the prince had thought it was a very suitable end to Furiiza. And in some small way, he felt he'd finally got his vengeance against the dead warlord through his son. After all, the boy was his flesh and blood.

Then that brief moment of pride he felt for his son came to an end. In its place, anger returned tenfold as his thoughts suddenly turned back to the boy's mother. Admittedly, under normal circumstances, he might not have minded it being Juuhachi-gou; even he was aware of her beauty, so he could see how the Vegeta from that future Koji came from would be attracted to her. Nevertheless, he just couldn't forgive the Juuhachi-gou of this world for the humiliation she caused him during their fight a couple of weeks ago. If he had to be honest with himself, before Koji even said anything today, he once had a dark suspicion that she might be the boy's mother. It had happened while they were training inside the Room of Spirit and Time. In spite of the hair color and eyes, Koji had almost looked exactly like Juunana-gou when his hair had grown past his shoulders, with the exception of that naturally fierce Saiyajin expression on his face, and then there was the frighteningly similar way he brushed his hair out of his face like Juuhachi-gou did. Back then, Vegeta quickly discarded the notion as impossible. Not just because he didn't want the mother to be her of all people, but also because she was an android. Although, the boy did say she was originally human-

*Why should any of that matter to me?* he angrily cut himself off. *It doesn't matter to me! I won't be bewitched by some pretty face like that other Vegeta was. Especially not by that accursed Jinzouningen!*

Later that night, long after the rest of the household had turned in, Koji remained awake. He was sitting at the edge of the bed in the guest room he's slept in since his stay in Past Time, clad in a tank top and a pair of pants. As a matter of fact, this was the same room he slept in back in his own time. But now the young warrior couldn't sleep at all. Despite going to bed early enough, he seemed unable to close his eyes. When he had tossed and turned in his bed to the point that he got irritated, he ultimately decided to just get up until he could burn off some of his restless energy.

Self-consciously, he ran a hand through his freshly cut hair. Back at home whenever his hair started to grow, Bulma would cut it for him, so he got this world's Bulma to cut it back down to its original length.

Feeling the need to go outside, Koji opened his window and flew on up to the roof. As he sat down cross-legged, he closed his eyes to enjoy the night breeze blowing in his face. Even back in his own time, he always loved sitting out on the roof on nights like this. From when he was just a young boy, he would come out onto the roof whenever he was troubled by something or just needed to think.

When he reopened his eyes a moment later, his countenance hardened as he gazed up at the stars, looking toward tomorrow once again. Tomorrow he would be journeying back to his own world, where he hoped to finally free it from the grips of his borne mother and her brother now that he had a lot more power and experience to back him up.

His mother…Deep down, even after everything that's happened between them, a part of him had always felt uncomfortable with having to destroy his own mother- the one who gave him life. Even now, he still did. But what other choice did he have? She had to be stopped! They both did! Their reign of terror has lasted too long in his world; in two decades, what had once been a planet full of billions of lives had been downsized to just several tens of thousands because of them. Humanity was hanging by a mere thread back in the future, and, unless he did something, all the humans really would be exterminated. And he just couldn't let that happened. Even if she had cared enough about him to leave him with his Father and Bulma at Capsule Corp before she fully succumbed to Gero's programming; even if he did understood it wasn't her who killed his Father or Gohan; even if he had always noticed her hesitation to fight with him...and even if he knew in his heart that she was the one who took him to the hospital that time after the cyborgs had nearly beaten him to death in battle once. None of those things made up for all her sins.

*Besides, that thing is not my mother!* he reminded himself fiercely, the blood of his father flowing through stronger than ever at that juncture. *She may not have given me life, but my only mother will always be Bulma, and she's counting on me to be the one to stop the Jinzouningen! I can't let her down after everything she's done for me! I can't let any of the survivors down! Gohan-san is also counting on me!*

He was starting to think that maybe the reason behind his restlessness was because he was spending his last night in this era under the same roof with both his parents. When he was younger, he had often entertained fantasies of him living together with his parents- that was, him living with his father and the person his mother was when they met. However, that dream instantly shattered to pieces once he learned that his birth mother was one of the Jinzouningen who was trying to kill everyone and everything on their planet.

His eyes then turned earthward to the large sphere in the backyard. Koji sighed. Earlier, when his father had come out to train, he wished he could have joined him-to spar against him one last time before he left for good. But he didn't have the nerve to go try, as he knew from those cold looks Vegeta kept shooting his way at times ever since they left the Heavenly Realm earlier that his father wouldn't be very fond of his company right now. Well, at least he knew his father didn't completely detest him; he had heard from Kuririn about his father going into a fine fit of rage when Cell had nearly killed him. Koji still couldn't get over that. His father, who had never seemed to ever care about him beforehand, had really tried to avenge him; he could already imagine the look of surprise on his adopted mother's face when he got home and told her about it.

*It was a rough road, but I am glad I got the chance to finally know my Father,* he mused, smiling a bit.

Deciding he should head back in now, Koji stood back to his feet. Then he paused, listening to the sound of someone from inside the house sliding their window back...then nothing. Wondering who else was up, Koji started in the direction he heard the noise from when abruptly a lithe form shot out from below and touched down gently on the roof with him. Koji's eyes widened when he saw who it was.

Almost immediately, Juuhachi-gou knew she wasn't out there alone, and turned to stare directly at her son.

"I didn't expect to run into you up here," she said.

"Mother-I mean, Juuhachi-gou!" Koji rapidly corrected himself after the scowl on Juuhachi-gou's face hardened even more. "I was just leaving." On that note, Koji started to go back to his room again, when...

"Wait just a minute!" said Juuhachi-gou surprisingly. Amazed that she didn't want him to leave just yet, Koji stopped and turned back towards his mother. Out the corner of her eye, she was giving him a speculative look. There was a moment of pause. Then, Juuhachi-gou asked, "Were Juunana-gou and I really horrible killers back your world?"

Koji's expression set grimly at the question.

"Yes," he replied, after another pause. His voice had been low and hard.

"And you came here to find a way to destroy us." Juuhachi-gou had simply stated that, not accusing him at all.

"Yes," he answered bluntly again.

More silence passed between mother and son. Even if she wasn't like the woman who actually borne him, it was uncomfortable for him to be standing there talking to any Juuhachi-gou without remembering what she's put him and his world through.

"There's something that I must know," Koji said, surprising himself with his abrupt forwardness. Juuhachi-gou was still looking straight at him. "That time you and your brother defeated me, Father, and the others...why did you spare us? How come you two never desired to kill everyone and everything in sight like the other pair from my world? I was expecting you two to have this world in chaos just as soon as Dr. Gero activated you two, but you didn't. So, tell me why!"

"Because there would be no point to it," Juuhachi-gou said smugly. "Sure, we could have killed everyone and everything in sight like your mo-like the Juuhachi-gou and Juunana-gou of your time did, and there wouldn't have been a damn thing you, Vegeta or your friends could do about it. I didn't even want to fight Vegeta, but he challenged us first. Besides, someone needed to deflate that oversize ego of his! All we cared about was completing our mission in finding Goku and killing him."

"And what if you had succeeded in killing Goku?" Koji demanded, a sharp edge in his tone. "Would you and those other androids have gone on a killing spree after that?"

"No, we wouldn't!" Juuhachi-gou answered. Koji's eyes widened, taken aback by the acute emotion in her voice just then. "Just because my future self and her brother were cold-blooded murderers in your time doesn't mean we are over here, too! Especially not Juuroku-gou! If we were, do you really believe you'd be here talking to me right now when I could've killed you after I easily took you down in one hit?"

*That is true,* Koji realized, remembering that incident she spoke of. The Jinzouningen had them completely at their mercy, and could have destroyed them if they really wanted to, but they just flew off and left them there. *Maybe she's right. The Juuhachi-gou of this era isn't evil at all, but she's still not completely good...Just like Father.* Something like a smile softened Koji's face at that recognition. *Those two really are compatible, after all, regardless of what they say.*

Juuhachi-gou regarded him a moment longer before she finally looked away. Seeing she was done talking, he was about to return his room yet again...

"Koji." Koji stopped immediately and swiveled back to see what she wanted; she certainly had his attention now after calling him by his name. Juuhachi-gou turned to face him again, folding her arms across her chest. "I hope you know that you'll never be born in this age. I don't know what drew your parents together in your world, but it's not going to happen here. I detest Vegeta, and I will never forgive him for what he did to me!"

Koji stared back at her quietly for a long time. Then, finally, he looked resigned.

"It's okay," he said. "I've already accepted that. Goodnight...Juuhachi-gou-san."

This time, when Koji tried to head back inside, Juuhachi-gou didn't stop him. She stared at the spot he had been standing in a second ago a little bit longer, and then she looked out into the city.

"Never in a million years," she restated absolutely.

The next day, almost all of the gang had gathered outside behind Capsule Corporation to say goodbye to two friends.

The first was to Goku. A private memorial service had been held in honor of the late great hero. Even Vegeta was in attendance; of course, he kept his distance from the others, standing apart from them against a tree near the house.

Once the ceremony was done, it was time to say goodbye yet again-this time to Koji. As the brave warrior from the future was exchanging last words with his adopted mother and the others, this world's version of his birth mother made an unexpected appearance. When Juuhachi-gou showed up, it was originally with the intention of not being seen by anyone, which was why she remained by the corner of the building. For obvious reasons, she had missed Goku's funeral, however, in spite of herself, she had just been unable to watch her only child leave from inside the house.

Regrettably, Juuhachi-gou's cover was blown when Vegeta noticed her almost at once, and she noticed him as well. Following his goodbyes to everyone else, Koji had turned to attempt to do the same with his father. He was stunned to discover his mother was there as well, swapping hostile glares with Vegeta. The two soon realized he was watching them and looked his way in one motion.

"Father...Juuhachi-gou-san..." he began hesitantly.

His parents regarded him quietly for a long time.

Then, surprisingly, Vegeta threw him the "V" sign.

And even more amazingly, Juuhachi-gou said, "Good luck."

The half-Saiyajin stared back at his parents wide-eyed before breaking out into a huge smile. He threw them the' thumbs up' gesture.

"Sayonara, Tousan...Kaasan! Have a good life!" he told them.

Saying his goodbyes one last time, Koji made his way to his time machine. With the click of a few buttons, the young prince was on his way. He waved down at his parents, his adopted mother, and his friends until they became tiny specks to him. Soon enough, he had completely left the Past and was now making his way through Time once more. As Koji traveled back home, he wore a mask of cold determination on his face that would've made both his parents proud. This was it! When he got home, he was going to finally put an end to the Jinzouningen and their two decades of destruction. And when Mirai Cell shows up three years later, he was going to be in for quite a surprise. The once incurably bleak future he was returning to seemed a whole lot brighter already.

And hopefully, somehow, just maybe, he would have a future in the past some day as well.

To Be Continued