“Strap in, everyone. It may get a little bumpy.” Bulma cautioned over her shoulder. There were rows of chairs behind her pilot seat, almost like a movie theater, and everyone was strapping themselves in a seat.

The seating arrangements were obviously stirring up some trouble. Vejiita refused to be seated near anyone, especially the jinzouningen who he seemed to be heavily suspicious of. Juuhachi-gou nearly blasted the chair that Kuririn decided to sit in next to her, and Yamucha kept moving around like he couldn’t decipher which chair was the most comfortable for him. Gohan and Videl quietly sat down next to one another on the left side, watching the squabbling going on around them with wide eyes.

If this is what the entire trip is going to be like….maybe I should have stayed home. Gohan thought wearily, then looked over at Goten and Trunks, who were seated next to them.

They could barely sit still, and had taken on the appearance of the two little boys that they had once been, with big grins on their faces and their hair disheveled and in their faces. As if to pump everyone up, they began some sort of a little cheer.

“Who’s going into outer space?” Trunks asked, looking around the space ship.

“We are!” Goten yelled in triumph.

“Who’s going to beat the tar out of some Saiya-jins?” Trunks asked.

“We are!” Goten answered, this time punching at the sky with his fists.

“Who’s going to come home like heroes?” Trunks grinned, his voice getting even louder.

“We are!!” Goten yelled.

“Who’s going to shut the hell up?” Vejiita threatened darkly, from behind them.

“WE ARE!” Goten screamed, then paused and blinked. “Wait, what?”

Trunks buried his head in his hands. “Goten….”

Vejiita crossed his arms and gave a satisfied smirk. His eyes traveled to the front of the ship, and landed on Bulma, who was looking back at him with an angry expression on her pretty face.

“Vejiita, try to act your age.” She scolded, and rolled her large blue eyes.

Before she turned around, she shook her head and smiled coyly at him, and Gohan could see the love in her eyes.

They are the oddest couple…. He thought, looking back at Vejiita, who was still smirking up at Bulma.

Gohan couldn’t see exactly what Bulma was doing up there, frantically pushing buttons while letting out various exclamations of frustration, but he could tell that it looked very complicated, and that Bulma a little nervous. She still had the baseball cap on her head, but during her frustration, it had been turned almost sideways, and the ponytail had long since come loose. With careful fingers, she pushed a combination of buttons, and then backed away from the control panel, looking satisfied.

He remembered their trip to Namek long ago, and how excited he felt to finally be free of Earth’s restrictions and his mother’s constant nagging. Scared, of course, he couldn’t argue that he hadn’t felt absolute fear when they took off into the vast expansion of space. But it was met quickly with determination. He wanted Piccolo back, and going to Namek was the only way it was going to be done.

With a glance over his shoulder, he saw Piccolo sitting behind him, looking out of place in a seat belt, with his hands over the arm rests casually. He smiled at him and Piccolo looked the other direction, but he knew that Piccolo was feeling excited about the trip into space too. Gohan thought Piccolo had been acting a little more strange than usual lately, and he guessed it was out of guilt. He had tried his hardest and failed at protecting ChiChi, and Gohan knew that it was really bothering Piccolo.

Now that he thought about it, almost everyone on this trip seemed to have something bothering them. His father of course, was not himself at all, and had barely even smiled the entire time; Kuririn looked like he hadn’t slept in days, and kept staring at Juuhachi-gou mournfully. Juuhachi-gou appeared to be ready to kill the next person who so much as spoke a word to her; Vejiita was sulking again; Yamucha was clearly suffering through something that he wasn’t ready to share with everyone; and Videl….

He gazed over at her, next to him in her seat. Her eyes were glazed over with tears, but she was staring straight ahead out the window of the space ship, looking determined. Gohan reached over and grasped her hand, holding it tightly.

“It will be all right.” He whispered kindly, and gave her a reassuring smile.

She returned the smile, and leaned her head on his shoulder, sighing. “I love you so much, Gohan.”

“That’s what they all say.” He joked, and she laughed a little, playfully hitting him in the side of the head.

The ship began to shake slightly, as the engines began to start up, and Gohan felt the excitement creeping into his chest. This was it!

“Here we go!” Bulma suddenly shouted in triumph, and was met with several cheers from her passengers, especially Goten and Trunks, who appeared to be the most excited about going into space.

It hovered slightly above the ground, and then suddenly they were moving so fast that his head was thrown back against the seat, barely able to move. Videl let out a little squeal as they accelerated in speed, and were pressed harder against their chairs.

Through the window, the world once so solid in color seemed to swirl and melt into one giant mix of colors, and he couldn’t tell which way was up or down, or sideways. Turbulence like nothing he had ever felt before began, and they were jiggled around in their seats. Gohan almost kissed his seat belt, thankful that he had it on, and watched the faces around him contort in tension.

There was a bright burst of white, and then the color suddenly turned black, and streaks of stars shot past them like fireflies, moving so fast that they seemed to be in slow motion. The engines quieted, the turbulence stopped, and all seemed to be still. Everyone was silent then, staring up through the windows in wonderment as the stars continued to sail past.

Bulma voice floated over the room once more, this time quieter, almost a whisper. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in out space.”

Goten and Trunks cheered again, and grinned at each other in excitement, unbuckling their seat belts. They rushed to the window and looked out as Earth became more and more distant, looking like a huge glinting jewel in a sea of black and tiny diamonds.

“It’s pretty.” Goten said; a glaring understatement of the grand scene before them.

Gohan remembered what it was like to be that young, and how excited he would be if he were their age once more. And someday, he wanted to bring Pan into space, hopefully for a good cause, and let her see how beautiful the Earth looked from a distance.

“Hopefully we’ll return to it, eh?” Bulma said then, winking at him as she slid out of the pilot’s seat, pushing a few buttons that Gohan guessed put the ship into autopilot. “We’ve got a lot of time before we even near Sukuashi, so why don’t you all make yourselves comfortable?”

Gokuu looked up at her while unbuckling his seat belt. “How long, Bulma-san?”

She smiled. “I am not sure, but just for you Son-kun, I’ll try to get there as fast as I can. I’m guessing at least a couple of days, but I have to take into consideration any complications that could hold us back.”

Undoing his seat belt also, Gohan stood up with Videl at his side. “Arigatou Bulma. You’re doing a wonderful thing for us.”

She blinked in surprise. “Well you’re welcome, Gohan. Just remember how thankful you are when you taste my cooking.”

She shot a glance at Vejiita. “I bet someone is going to be sorry that they didn’t invite Tayhei along.”

Vejiita snorted in disdain.

Bulma continued, her eyes growing a bit misty. “Without ChiChi to do all of that wonderful cooking for us, I think we just may have to starve.”

Gokuu frowned at her. “ChiChi did more than just cook.”

Again, she blinked in surprise. And so did everyone else in the room. That was just one line you never expected to hear out of Son Gokuu’s mouth.

Vejiita smirked, sensing Gokuu’s unease about the subject. “Hai, she did her fair share of bitching too.”

Gokuu’s eyes narrowed into a glare, and Gohan thought that his father might actually attack Vejiita, who seemed to be ready for it, but instead, Gokuu turned away from him. Without so much as another word, Gokuu began walking away and out of the room, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, his eyes still glaring. His anger at that moment was almost tangible, and Gohan knew that it wouldn’t last long, but for right now, it was not a good idea to be around him.

Everyone stared after him for a moment, and then Bulma cleared her throat. “Don’t you think someone should go after him? Anyone volunteer?”

Trunks raised his eyebrows. “Not for a million zeni.”

“Speaking of….” Goten began. “You still owe me, Trunks.”

Chapter 18
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