Chapter 88 Welcome Home

The flight across the sky was filled with wonder for both Petra and Gohan, the two of them watching the world pass beneath them. The differences between their world were stark, and Petra was blown away at just how similar and yet completely different they were.

"I've never seen so many cities so big… and the mountains, they look like they go on forever."

Gohan laughed as he saw them, nostalgia filling his body. "My dad and I used to run up and down the hills, some of them go so high they break through the clouds." He shut his eyes as he savoured the memory. "I would dance through those clouds as a child, sometimes riding on Nimbus like we are now."

"You used to wear that cute little outfit that your mother made for you," Goku shouted, flying easily alongside them, "the one that held the four-star dragonball on it."

"Haha, in retrospect that was probably not a safe idea." His uncle had kidnapped Gohan to hurt his father, but it had also put the knowledge of the dragonballs out to Vegeta and Nappa. Had someone known about the dragonballs beforehand, then Gohan would have been quite the target, and too young to defend himself. Though, given his latent power had existed even back then, woe was whoever tried to take it.

Gohan turned his eyes away from the mountains and towards the cities as they passed. They'd been rebuilt and expanded by the looks of them, each of them growing well and truly across the land like tendrils of roads and buildings. Yet so high up, even the vast cities seemed small.

"The rebuilding went well I see." Gohan mused to his father, who nodded in affirmation.

"We used the dragonballs to wish everyone back and undo the damage that Cell did. Cities, villages, mountains, anything he destroyed was brought back. After that, there was a big population boom apparently and everywhere started growing."

"I guess everyone was happy once Cell was gone."

"Oh yeah, there were celebrations all over the planet. There's even a new holiday every year." Goku scratched at his head as he tried to remember what it was called. "Was it Cell Day? That doesn't sound right…"

"You mean you don't know Mr Son?" Petra asked him, still watching the land below them.

"Oh no, I spent all my time out in the woods. Chi-Chi used to keep up to date through Bulma on all that kind of stuff, but they don't talk much since you disappeared."

"Dad… Mom, how is she? Really?"

Goku turned his head in shame at Gohan's question. In spite of whatever Gohan himself had said, Goku would forever blame himself for what happened and the pain that had been caused because of it. The pain to Gohan, to himself, and to his mother. "She's tough, you know that. But you being gone it… things have been hard for a long time. Now that you're back though, oh man this is going to change things."

Goku seemed to reflexively pick up the pace, and Gohan pushed Nimbus to do the same. The lurch in acceleration had Petra falling further into his arms as he supported her. It seemed that no matter what sight Gohan showed her, there was nothing in any world that could beat the comfort of his embrace. She snuggled deep into his arms and shut her eyes, savouring the moment before they dipped through the sky and began their descent towards his home.

Petra's senses may not have been as powerful as Gohan's, but they were strong enough to sense the presence of several figures as they approached. It seemed they too could sense their arrival, as two of them were waiting for them when they finally came into view.

There were only two of them visible, the other two they could sense being inside of the surprisingly humble and modest home. She didn't recognise them from how Gohan had described his family, though the smallest boy was obviously family. He was the closest thing to a tiny Goku as she could have ever imagined, and his jumping and excitement matched his father identically.

When Goku and the others had filled them all in on what they had been up to since Gohan's disappearance including up to their rescue, Goku had gleefully told him about his little brother, with Gohan likewise eager to meet him. The woman next to him wasn't familiar to Gohan or Petra, though Goku showed instant familiarity as he waved at her, and she stood protectively at Goten's side. She was around their age, and from her pose, she could have convincingly called herself Goten's big sister were it not for her lack of spiky hair.

"Dad!" Goten soared out of from the woman's side, slamming headfirst into his father, who laughed as he held him and descended to the ground.

Gohan held Petra as the two leapt from Nimbus, hovering down to the ground as the girl took her first steps over to greet them. She seemed surprisingly nervous as she approached, holding out her hand to shake Gohans.

"Um, hi. I'm Videl, you must be Gohan. You're really back?"

Gohan smiled and shook her hand politely, though still didn't understand who she was on a grander scale. "I am, it's nice to meet you Videl. I take it you know my family?"

"I do! I do. I'm actually a student of your father, and I suppose occasionally a babysitter for Goten."

Gohan snapped his fingers as recognition hit him. "Right! Videl. My dad mentioned you. Thank you for helping them, I really appreciate it."

"Oh, it's nothing." She blushed, tucking away a strand of hair behind her ear in a way that Petra instantly didn't like. "I should be thanking you after all, I mean you saved the world from Cell!"

"Oh, right. It was nothing, really." Videl couldn't believe his humbleness, but Petra almost felt like elbowing her man. His humility was charming, but he really needed to learn to take better credit for the things he had done.

"Not nothing, you saved the world! They built statues in your honour, we have a public holiday every year remembering what you did, and they renamed a city after you!"

He blinked in surprise, momentarily dumbfounded. "What…?"

Before she could explain any further, Goku and Goten approached them, the youngest son smiling up brightly at Gohan. "So, you're my big brother?"

"Uh, yeah." Gohan knelt down to look the boy in the eye, returning the smile in kind. "I'm Gohan, it's nice to meet you Goten."

Goten hurled himself into his brother, wrapping his arms around his big brother's neck with a cheerful laugh. The two of them embraced tightly, lost to the world even as Petra saw Goku step through the front door of the house. Videl noticed it too, taking a step away from the pair of brothers as they all prepared for what was to come next.

The woman who stepped out of the door was not as Petra had imagined from Gohan's description. He had always described his mother's strength, her ferocity. Yet the woman who stepped outside seemed frail, almost hollow. She was thin, but there was a drain on her that was more than physical, the sign of an unending grief behind her eyes. Eyes that looked at Gohan with something more than disbelief. It seemed instantly she believed herself to be dreaming, and yet in spite of her own doubts, she didn't reject it and looked at him hoping he was real.

"Gohan…?"

He turned to her, and his smile faltered before it widened. Gohan had seen the wear on her form. Such exhaustion and sadness were impossible to ignore, but she was still there. His mother, standing before him once again, a mother he had not seen in seven years.

"Mom…" He didn't rush to embrace her, instead taking gentle steps towards her and slowly taking her hands in his. She looked at their embraced hands, mind slowly processing what she was feeling. Her fingers rubbed against his hands, and she released a weak gasp as realisation began to set in. One of her hands moved from his own and up to his face, touching it gently as she studied him.

She touched his face gingerly at first, fingers only brushing over his skin before quickly she was pressing harder. Gripping his skin, hands touching his jaw, his hair, his shoulders, everywhere as she realised it was really him.

"You're… you're actually back. You're- you…" Words failed her, and she embraced her son just as she became a sobbing and wailing mess. No longer tears of grief and loss, but of relief.

Her son was home.

Standing in the doorway, the ox-king watched with tears in his eyes as his daughter held his grandson. Her son was home, and now his daughter could be whole again.

Listening to the Eldians summarise their history had taken quite some time, but Bulma had been more than happy to spend the time listening to them, even if her son had complained about being bored before getting distracted sparring with his future counterpart. Children… But she was listening with rapt attention, her father too, taking down countless notes despite how everything was being recorded by their in-home surveillance. Those recordings would be reviewed a hundred times before the week was over, she was sure of it.

"-and so we are looking to source supplies for our world in advance of the dragon's wish."

Bulma nodded along as the Queen finished her summary, giving the same practised politeness she'd had to do whenever speaking with the King of her planet, or company shareholders. "Well, you've come to the right woman. Gohan wasn't exaggerating when he said I was the richest person on the planet here. Capsule Corp's resources can put together anything you want even at the scale you're after. We actually have an entire disaster relief division that stockpiles away long-life foods and emergency shelters. Granted, that alone won't cover the supply for billions of people, but it'll be a starting point. We'll set you up with everything you could need for improved farming, irrigation, pesticides, anything." She waved her hand at the details. Important in the longer term, but not for the immediate future. "But before any of that… Krillin. Are you guys sure that Gohan's wish could work? Dende did a lot of work to expand the dragons' power. Multiple resurrections are certainly possible, but the time-span?"

"It should be." Krillin assured the Eldians with a cheery smile. "King Kai said that all of those souls were trapped on the planet ever since the barrier went up. Technically, none of those people died before a short while ago."

"Sounds like a big gamble for a technicality, but I'll let you try and explain that to Shenron. Would be nice if we could check with King Kai himself, but some certain someone's forgot to bring him back." She narrowed her eyes at their sheepish expressions, before rolling her eyes and turning back to her Eldian visitors with a warm smile on her face. "I'll get the details later, it'll take some time to pull together but until then you have to tell me anything else I can do to help you." She reached out and took Carla's hands in hers to show her gratitude. "That boy is like a second son to me. Well, second aside from my future one… you know what I mean. Anything you would like, just name it. Whatever you want to take back to your world, you'll get, but while you're here the world is your oyster. Want to see the fanciest hotel in the world? Eat at the best restaurant? A whole day being pampered by the best masseurs in the world? I've got them all on standby, and trust me, I can vouch for their skills."

Though Carla made a show of waving off her politeness, Queen Historia nodded her head in gratitude. Something she had learned in her years as regent was the importance of not being too humble, and accepting the gifts that others offered you. "Such luxuries would be well appreciated Mrs Briefs, by all of us. Though I'm sure you understand that Mrs Jaeger would have some difficulties in such situations."

Bulma waved away the concerns in a deliberate mirror of Carla's humbleness. "Don't worry about that, I sent Yamcha off earlier to go get that solved. He should be back soon."

"Landing now." Tien corrected, being able to sense the man as he landed outside the compound and was already walking through the front doors.

"I'm back!" Yamcha called out, stepping into view with a small bag in hand and a little green man by his side. Only little when compared to the giant known as Piccolo, as he was of similar size as the rest of them. "I've got Senzu beans and Dende with me."

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." He reached out his hand to the surprise of the Eldians, shaking Historia's hand politely with a smile. "My name's Dende, and I'm the guardian of Earth. Yamcha filled me in on who you all are. You must be Carla, the woman who needs healing?"

He walked straight towards her, who was still sitting in her wheelchair in shock at the new alien before her. This was all going to take some time for her to get used to, and all she could do was numbly nod her head in response.

Dende cracked his fingers as he stretched, reaching out to hover his hands over Carla's legs. "Alright, so you're going to feel a bit of a numbing sensation as this gets to work. I haven't done such a long-term injury before, so this might take me a little bit of extra time, but I can do this."

Rays of energy fell from his hands and over her legs, a mumbled gasp falling from her lips as she suddenly felt a change in her body. She wasn't feeling what he was doing to her, but the sudden numbing sensation had been more than what she had expected, as she hadn't realised the extent of her constant pain. For years after her legs had been crushed, she had been in agony, struggling to go even a single day without crying in some form or another. Since then, her years of pain had become just another part of her life and she had come to accept it. Accept it so much in fact, that she had forgotten just what it felt like to be without the pain.

As she watched the green man do his work, Mikasa tentatively reached out and held her hand for support. She felt awkward, unsure if she should be doing such a thing to a woman she was still convinced had every right to blame her for Eren's death, but Carla took her hand in hers gratefully and squeezed it tight. Hannes too watched in rapt interest, the soft and warm glow seeming rather inviting and comfortable, not at all how he'd imagined such healing must be like. He'd expected something more… dramatic.

After a few moments, he let the glow fade and pulled back his hands. Carla didn't react at first, before slowly she reached out with her hands to touch her legs. Her breathing faltered, and a shaky tear dripped down her cheek. "It… it doesn't hurt."

Locking her wheelchair, she began to move her legs little by little, Hannes and Mikasa instantly to her side as they prepared to help her.

"Your leg muscles will still be weak, they've atrophied after so many years of little use. Rehabilitation will take some time, but you can move around again now."

True to Dende's word, Carla used Mikasa and Hannes as support as she took her first hesitant steps out of the wheelchair. Her legs wobbled, even under the assistance of her family, but she gasped as she managed to finally stand under her own weight. "There's no pain." Her own words were spoken in disbelief, but it was true. A tear dripped down her cheek as once again she was able to stand, and a world of possibilities opened up before her. It also closed off a great many fears she had had. The risks of infection, how much damage the atrophy could do to her, not to mention childbirth. Bringing a second child into the world was scary enough given how dangerous Eren had been, even with Grisha by her side, but doing so with crushed legs could very well have been agonizing to the point of lethality.

Exhaustion hit her quickly, and her family set her back down in her wheelchair as she laughed and cried with them. Her hands ran up and down her legs and across her belly, a new level of safety having been achieved for her next child.

"I thank you Dende," Historia began, "on behalf of my people as their Queen, your assistance is gratefully appreciated."

"Oh, it's no worries." Dende insisted. "I'm the guardian of earth, and you're on earth after all. Besides, any friend of Gohan's is a friend of mine. Speaking of, he's at his home right?"

Bulma nodded, fiddling with a small tablet in her hands. "Right. Let's give him the night back with Chi-Chi. In the meantime, I have a lot to show you five. Dinner is on me, and I need to catch you up on our modern technology. You're all going to love television."

Krillin stood and rose with 18. "We should get going too, Roshi means well but he isn't the best babysitter in the world."

"If she stays there long enough her first words are going to be swears." 18 grumbled, though good-naturedly as she smiled at her husband.

"I need to pick up Chiaotzu as well." Tien acknowledged, likewise heading towards the door.

Piccolo grunted a farewell, and even though he didn't say, everyone knew he was off to look over Gohan. 17 said goodbye to leave with his sister, though he would be departing separately for his own home. Future Trunks and Vegeta were of course staying, leaving only Yamcha left in the room who didn't seem to have anywhere else to go. That was until Vegeta turned on his heels and narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Go home." It was all he needed to say before Yamcha gulped and said a polite goodbye. Some acknowledgements were made about plans to meet up again, but the Eldian guests would be staying with the Briefs much like the Namekian's had following the destruction of their planet.

Since Vegeta had no interest in doing so, it was left to Future Trunks to give the Eldians a tour of the compound as began to make some phone calls. Her first call was to some of her various staff managers, ordering an updated stocktake on their long-term supply storage and inventory, but the longest phone call was to perhaps the one person on the planet who could be called Bulma's equal in power. If one didn't consider Vegeta as one of Bulma's assets that was.

"King Furry, glad I could finally reach you." Bulma said, having been kept on hold for quite some time as the King's staff verified who she was and whether her call was important enough to bother the King.

"Mrs Briefs, it's been quite some time since last we spoke. Was there something you needed me for?" Straight to the point. Polite as the man was, and he was certainly very far in their debt, he was still a king after all, and very busy.

"I need a meeting sometime within a week. I've got a visiting queen from another universe who wishes to meet with you and discuss supplies for her planet. Standard items, but some very large quantities. Don't worry, Capsule Corp will be footing the bill for whatever they need."

"A visiting Queen?" He seemed momentarily surprised, before quickly dismissing it as the usual antics of both Capsule Corp and anything to do with the Z warriors. "I am surprised that I did not hear anything about her arrival, when did she land?"

"An hour or two ago, nothing to detect from outer space she came thanks to one of our machines, one we sent to retrieve Gohan. He's back."

There was silence as the King processed what she said. Following Cell's apparent publicised defeat, word had spread quickly and across the planet, with questions aplenty about who was responsible and how. Eventually, Gohan's name and disappearance had become well known, and the yearly celebrations of Cell's defeat became one of shared mourning for Gohan's apparent sacrifice. For many, it was the first time they had ever heard of Gohan or the others who had been present that day, but for King Furry he had known Goku well as the one who had saved him personally from King Piccolo's attack.

"This is wonderful news. We shall have to announce this to the world carefully, prepare for the sudden celebrations." Bulma nodded, having already imagining the chaos that would infest the populace. Their great saviour returned after seven years? They would go mad with joy. "This visiting Queen then, she has something to do with Gohan?"

"She and a few others. Gohan was sent to another planet in another universe. They know Gohan personally, and he's helping them rebuild from the damage that Cell caused there."

He held up a hand in understanding. "Say no more, I'll not have Capsule Corporation footing the bill solely for this endeavour, though I'm sure you could all afford it. We have a debt we owe to that young man, and I'll happily repay it by helping others he vouches for. I'll get some time made available within a few days and have one of my people send you the details, will her highness be staying with yourself in the meantime?"

"She'll be pampered to her heart's content and then some. Thank you King Furry."

When night had fallen, Gohan walked out of his house and hovered up onto the roof. The reunion had been long, filled with many tears and tales of his time on the other planet. Stories about his time spent fighting Titans, or living on his own, describing all his friends and comrades, and of course the surrogate family that had looked after him so much. His mother had been so proud of him, and Petra had been sure to put his heroics into context whenever he tried to instinctively downplay them. There had of course been his tale of Cell, his return to power, and Gohan's own death at his hand. The other reality of the Titans, where Eren and Ymir had awaited him. His return to life, and the fight against Cell for the fate of the world, and his eventual victory.

His father had given his own context about what had been happening on the Supreme Kai's world, how the Kai had trapped Gohan on the planet with Cell and hidden him from them. Afterwards, there had been food, rest, and more questions about what life had been like for them without him, and eventually, his mother had interrogated Petra to see if she was good enough for him. She had of course passed with flying colours. A mature, beautiful, and kind woman who was caring but had a strong backbone and a sense of justice. It likely helped that his mother wasn't on her A-game, and was still very emotional, but he'd known she would like Petra.

As he waited outside by himself, his thoughts didn't drift to the night's events, but rather somewhere else, even as he sensed Piccolo's arrival.

"You've been out here all night, aren't you cold?"

"You know I don't get cold." Piccolo's gruff voice was warm, amused yet caring. "Besides, you needed the time with them."

"You could have joined us you know?"

He looked away, uncomfortable with the idea. "I don't think it would have been very good for me to be there. I know what you said to your father, and that you forgive him, but…"

"I know. It'll take you time, I understand." He smiled at him, showing that he genuinely meant it. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Piccolo was quick to shake his head, but he was certain as he did so, not just saying it for Gohan's sake. "He's your father, and you're you. I knew you were always going to forgive him. In time, maybe I will too. It's just… time."

"Time seems to be all that we have now." Gohan mused, looking up at the stars. "No nations at war, no wondering if I'll ever be able to get home. Now I'm back, and now… now I'm wondering what's next."

"What are you thinking? You're a smart kid Gohan, don't tell me you don't already have something in mind."

Gohan smiled, but rather sadly. "I do. But… It's something bad Piccolo, it's going to hurt a lot of people."