Chapitre 87: Chapter 87 Crossing The Threshold
The first knocking at the door had signalled the return of Gohan. The reunion between Mrs Jaeger and her adoptive son had been emotional to say the least. Two children gone, one returned, and a daughter who held herself to blame for the death of one. The conversations had been long, the tears had been shed aplenty, and apologies had been given and accepted.
It had been hard for her to hear of her sons passing. Carla had once been able to brace herself for the possibility of his death, that in their fight against the Titans he would one day been lost. But that fight had seemed to be won two years ago, and with Gohan's incredible strength had secured peace for their nation for eternity. The news of the danger posed by Cell hadn't reached her in time before the news of Eren's death alongside Gohan's. It had been a loss that had hurt her intently, so much so that Hannes had been worried she may lose the baby, but she had persevered, and been reassured of the baby's good health. When Gohan had returned from the dead, she hadn't been able to fathom it, but seeing him in the flesh had been such a wave of reassurance.
But Eren was still gone, and in spite of Gohan's promise the hurt hadn't dimmed. When Mikasa told her what had happened, of Eren's plan and her involvement in it, the young girl had clearly expected hatred, and anger. Carla had felt it, truly. But not for Mikasa. Her anger and hatred toward that being known as Cell had never been stronger, and she had been so very thankful that Gohan had killed him for good. But for Mikasa, she felt only a shared grief.
Her son was dead, and her daughter had known it was coming. But it had been her son's choice, a choice to put the world and the future before anything other, even before himself. She had never known pride to hurt so much.
"Mrs Jaeger, when we go back to my world, I want you to come with us. We can bring you to Dende, he's a friend and… he can heal your legs." Gohan's words were full of hope, and Carla couldn't hide how quickly she touched her legs. She still felt them, the nerves were intact, but her crippling had been a part of her life for so long she had almost forgotten just what it was like to walk around her home, instead of being stuck in her chair.
Hannes liked to help sometimes, to lift her into his arms and carry her around. Those times were sweet, romantic, but painful, and she could only endure the joy of her original height for a brief period of time before she needed to be set down again.
"I… I would like that, Gohan. And I would like to see your mother too and tell her how proud she must be of the son that she raised." She cupped his face in hers, and he blushed under the praise. What a sweet boy he was, no matter what he accomplished he was always so humble. She turned her eyes towards the man's father, who was looking at the two of them with both a sense of pride, and his own deep shame. By his side stood the green man, one who had given them quite the fright when they'd seen him, but who Gohan had quickly identified as Piccolo. "You must be very proud of your son too hm?"
"I am! I am…" He said it quickly, almost racing to reassure his son before the shame crept back into his voice. "I just… Thank you, for looking after my son. There's nothing I could ever do to repay you."
"No repayment would ever be needed, and Gohan has already done so much more for us than I ever thought possible. I am a mother, you are a father, this is just what we do."
Though the words were meant as reassuring, Carla couldn't have missed the flinch of pain in his face, nor the anger directed to him from the green man. His façade seemed crack, and he took a step towards his son.
"I don't think I'm much of a father. Gohan… I know we haven't had much chance to talk about what happened, but Cell… the fight. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have sent you into that fight. It was my responsibility, and if I hadn't done that, then you… you wouldn't have been gone from us for all this time. I'm so sorry, I-"
"It's okay dad." His words took him by surprise, and he spoke again, cutting off the sudden rise in anger as Piccolo began to bark.
"Gohan, he-"
"Really Piccolo, it's okay. I know what you were trying to do, to prepare me for what I needed to be. I'm sorry that I wasn't responsible with my power at the time."
"No Gohan." His dad pushed on, even though Gohan looked to continue. "It was wrong of me. No matter how strong you were, you were a child. My child. Cell was my responsibility, and I shouldn't have pushed you. You shouldn't have been sent here by him."
"I needed to be. These people, this world, it needed me here to save them. I know that the years have been hard for you dad, not a day has gone by where I haven't missed you all. But regardless of any of that, good things happened. Not that I think there was anything to forgive dad but, I forgive you. No matter what happened, me being here has saved lives. And we're going to save a lot more when we bring the dragonballs here."
His dad choked, holding back tears as Gohan embraced him. Piccolo watched on unsure, his own feelings still very clouded. He had spent seven years hating Goku for that he had done, and despite Gohan's own admittance of forgiveness and understanding, Piccolo knew it would be a long time before he came to let go of any of the anger he held. But when Gohan reached out and pulled him into the hug as well, he didn't fight back, holding him tightly as he felt the reassurance of his presence.
Gohan was here. He was real. He was safe.
"Are we going to stand around cuddling all day or are we going to leave? Watching all this makes me feel ready to puke." Vegeta snarled, though there was a mirth behind his expression that he couldn't hide.
Gohan smirked at seeing it, and quickly the mirth disappeared. Rather than wait for Vegeta to grumble more, Gohan quickly began to get everyone to move. Mrs Jaeger and Hannes would be coming along with them, and with the amount of people that they were potentially going to be bringing the machine was going to be heavily cramped. But Gohan was sure about whom he wanted to come.
Mrs Jaeger, Hannes, and Mikasa were of course coming along, he was very eager to introduce to his mom his somewhat adoptive family. Petra too, his mother would have many, many, questions for his first girlfriend. Queen Historia and Ymir would be coming, in part to organise the supplies that would be needed but also in part a political measure, as she would likely be meeting with King Furry. Six extra people would make the trip very cramped, and as much as he wished he could, he couldn't really bring his other comrades.
Armin, Jean, Sasha, Mina, there were so many names of people that he wished he could share his world with, but alas the restrictions prevented it. Both Erwin and Pixis would have had very pertinent insights as well, but they would need to remain and coordinate with the global relief efforts along with General Calvi. Though communications were still limited, current reports indicated that he was now the highest-ranking member remaining of the military and would need to assume total command of all that was left.
A shame really, but of course understandable.
He did at least get a brief window into their technology as he looked over the time machine along with a crowd of other high-ranking officials, looking over many of the buttons and dials in wonder as Trunks explained how the machine worked alongside the two Androids.
"So, you two are made of metal?" Pixis questioned, doing an admirable job of trying to subtly probe their origins.
"Metal and flesh old timer." 17 answered, with 18 busy talking to her husband as they prepared to leave. "You know how a skeleton works? Organs? Just imagine those, but some of them are metal. Technically we're cyborgs, not androids, but the name kind of stuck."
"Fascinating." He turned to Erwin in a shared wonder. "I'm afraid I'm a little too old to know even half of the questions I should be asking. If Hange were here, she would know, I'm sure."
"She would." Erwin agreed. "But if what Gohan has said is true, then soon she'll be back, along with everyone else we've ever lost."
Pixis was quiet as he looked to Erwin, considering his words. "How many… how many do you think you'll remember?"
"The one's I lost?" Pixis nodded. Erwin sighed, considering it deeply, and remembering all the years where he had personally commanded the Scouts. "I don't know. When I started, I swore I'd remember every one of them who died. I couldn't keep them alive, I knew that, but I thought at least I could remember them. But… there was too many. The names, the faces, they all blurred in my mind. I have a list in my office, I read them sometimes. During those times I remember, but others…"
Pixis grunted an understanding. "I'm sure there was such a record somewhere for the Garrison. I never paid the attention I should have, not to the people themselves. Just numbers on paper, and a cause of death. For such a long time, it was all so predictable. Killed by criminals, suicides, training accidents, disease… Then came Shiganshina, Trost, and Ragako. Titan's killing Garrison soldiers was something so previously unheard of, we had so many years of peace. Then the numbers were too many to count. But there are those I remember, those I trusted and knew well, so many I called friend. To see them again… I don't know if I could believe it."
"It all seems impossible, too good to be true. But it's Gohan. If anyone could do it, it would be him."
The two officers saw the man in question coming towards them. He was surrounded by an entourage of various figures. The one who stood out amongst them the most was of course the big green alien, though the three eyed Tien drew a lot of attention for the same reason. The most well-dressed among them by far was of course the Queen herself. Erwin and Pixis both bowed as she approached, raising their heads only after her acknowledgement. By her side was as always, her ever vigilant wife who was dressed as subtly as royal garbs allowed.
Erwin would have never imagined such a scene when he first saw them at the ceremony to join the scouts, but in the years since her ascension to the throne he had never once doubted her ability to lead. It had taken training, but Historia Reiss had shown herself to be a woman of steel and backbone in all matters, which included her preparation to travel.
The machine itself was rather scary to many, and it's futuristic design that they could not understand was unnerving even to the Queen, who hid her wide eyes well as she studied it. Reassurance came in the form of Gohan and his near eagerness to hop inside and look around, leaping out with an excitement that was as calming as it was adorable. It was hard to remember sometimes, but Gohan was in many aspects very young.
"Petra, you have to see this, the time machine's been expanded out using a centrifugal chamber. It doesn't wrap around the ship now, it projects a field out from within. This is incredible!"
Petra nodded numbly. The words were simple jargon to her, but she could assume it was a big deal, and the one called Trunks grinned in pride at Gohan's joy. She looked him over, considering all she knew of him. For all that he seemed among the most normal of Gohan's companions, he still seemed bizarre. Blue, almost purple hair, a half breed alien like Gohan, and a time traveller from the future to top it off. If it weren't for the alien standing nearby herself, she would have thought him to be one of the strangest people she'd ever heard of. Not that it seemed to bother any of his fangirls, as the time traveller had become immediately a source of infatuation amongst much of the female population.
He didn't draw her attention like the other girls for obvious reasons, but even had she cared it would have been impossible to not be focusing on the intense gaze that was locked onto her. Piccolo may have been quiet, but his stare was almost deafening. She knew what he was doing, and she had seen that kind of look many times before through her career, from those who doubted that she was strong enough for the position she held.
He was sizing her up.
"So…" He finally spoke, voice gruff but she refused to let herself be intimidated. "You and Gohan are a couple."
"Yeeeep." She popped the P as she looked around at anywhere but him. It wasn't that he intimidated her, honest, it was just that in the flesh an alien was a lot to take in. "Been together for two years now."
"Mhm. That whole time, you've been good to him? You never hurt him?" Geez, she'd heard her parents grill previous boyfriends of hers, but this was ridiculous.
"No, never hurt him."
"Never will?"
She turned to him, eyes narrowing as her mood grew worse. "Never. You got a problem? I know Gohan means a lot to you, but he means a lot to me too. And like it or not, he chose me. If you've got a problem with that, you're just going to have to accept that."
"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do if I don't accept that?"
He loomed over her, and the shadow he cast made her gulp slightly. He was bigger than her, stronger than her, and had a protective streak bigger than the former walls. "I'll make you accept it."
Her challenge had him laughing, one that rumbled deep within her own body and had her chuckling along nervously. His mirth seemed genuine however, and he slapped a hand down onto her shoulder. "You've got a backbone on you girl. That's good, you're going to need it when you meet Chi-Chi."
Oh. He'd been testing her for the real grilling, that wasn't very reassuring. Another friendly hand clapped onto her shoulder, and she turned to see his father beaming down at her with a friendly smile. "Don't worry Petra, Chi-Chi is going to love you."
Gohan had described his father as the strongest and most optimistic man he'd ever known, and she was swiftly coming to believe it as he helped her onboard the ship. She gave a final wave out of the door to her family, her mother and father amongst the crowd after they had said their goodbyes. Their meeting with Goku had been interesting, the two of them clearly not having expected the father of a world saviour to seem so… unceasingly nice and full of an almost childlike wonder.
They wouldn't be departing just yet, Historia had to give a farewell speech to her people as she promised to return with supplies in due time. It gave her plenty of time to find herself a spot to sit by Gohan, who held out his hand to hold with a smile. This may have been a one-of-a-kind adventure for her, but his excitement put her at ease quickly, as did the friendly greetings from his companions. There was a quick break into catching up with familiar people from Gohan, especially the metal people called 17 and 18 whom he seemed surprised had come along.
She tuned the words out, just enjoying the vibes. It was a level of peace she hadn't know for a long time, yet Gohan looked like he was truly home just for a moment. No invisible weight on his back from carrying the future of the Eldian people. Just a calm hope for the future.
When Historia entered with her wife and the door closed behind them, there was a subtle change in the atmosphere. A held breath as they knew what awaited them next, the travel back to their home. The ones in the ship looked at Historia mostly as if she was any other person, a trait that she had only ever seen in Gohan, everyone else in her world knew that Historia was a queen, something worthy of notice. The surprising exception to it all was Vegeta, the grumpy man who looked like he hadn't a nice word to say in his entire vocabulary and was constantly looking down on all of them. Even the one who was ostensibly even his time travelling son. But he didn't do the same to Historia. There was a grudging respect for her that he held, and she assumed it must have been from one royal to another.
Still, she had expected an apparent prince to wear something more ostentatious than training clothes.
"Alright, everyone seated?" There was a grunt of acknowledgements from them all to 17's question, though Mrs Jaeger looked slightly uncomfortable in her seat, rubbing at her legs to try and relieve some pain.
"Well then, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, put your tray tables up and relax and enjoy the ride."
18 rolled her eyes at her brothers' words, understanding why the newcomers all seemed confused. "It's a reference. Planes, rollercoasters, things you guys wouldn't know."
"Not yet. Who knows, maybe we can show them? I hear Son City had a new theme park opening up."
"Krillin, Carla can't ride with broken legs."
"Dende will fix that right up." The short man reached over and gave her a nudge. "Don't worry, we've all taken some really nasty injuries, and we've always gotten better. I mean, I've been thrown through mountains a bunch of times before."
Hannes and Carla exchanged nervous glances. "Have all of you really had such terrible injuries."
"Oh yeah. Heck, Frieza stabbed me through the chest on Namek, that might have been the worst."
"Nappa chopping off my arm for me." Spoke up Tien.
"Gero putting his hand through my chest when he thought I was Goku." Yamcha remembered.
"Er, I guess when Cell put a beam through my chest for me." Trunks added, though seeming unsure as the others immediately waved it off.
"Deaths don't count Trunks, otherwise I'd have said when Frieza blew me up." Krillin corrected, followed by a snort from Vegeta.
"A true shame I missed that moment, what a memory it would have made."
Krillin's only response was to laugh himself. "Yeah, you missed it because you were already dead."
Vegeta grumbled something under his breath before 18 spoke up in defence of her husband. "Hey Vegeta, remember that time I broke your arms? How does that rank in your worst injury list?"
The hissing and cursing that followed may have been colourful, but all Carla could notice was what they had discussed. "Died? How many of you have um… died?"
"Once, trying to kill Nappa on Earth." Tien chimed in.
"Same, but it was a Saibaman." Yamcha added.
"Killed by Cell shortly before Gohan beat him." Trunks reiterated.
"Twice actually, first Tambourine and then later Frieza. He blew me up." Krillin said, before receiving a comforting pat on the head from his wife.
"17 and I sort of died when Cell absorbed us, it's how 17 was able to come back after Cell took Gohan to your world."
"I guess even I've died once now." Gohan added, with more mirth than Carla felt the subject deserved. Though his fathers own grin next to him showed he clearly had no problem with it.
"Like father like Son, eh?" Goku nudged his son with a wink and a smile. Truly, in spite of the vast differences between them, dad jokes never changed.
"You died to your brother, right Mr Son?" Mikasa was trying to remember all the details that Gohan had shared with them two years ago now. She knew she'd gotten it right when he nodded in an almost bizarre fondness for that moment.
"Yep yep. I had him in a full nelson and Piccolo put a beam through us both. Man, how the years have flown by… Flying took effort back then, and I had to use Nimbus to get around. He'll be glad to see you again Gohan!"
"Nimbus… your horse?" Petra asked with a curious side eye to her partner.
"Nimbus the cloud." He corrected, before adding a comment to his old friends. "In this world I have a horse I called Nimbus."
"Not 'this world' anymore kid." Sounded off 17, flicking some dials and switches as the machines whirring began to slow down and settle. "We're back home now."
He was surprised when his heart skipped a beat, but he couldn't help it as he locked eyes on the door to exit. Like he was on autopilot, he barely felt or noticed as he rose from the seat and began making his way towards the door. The others waited by, allowing him the honours of opening the door, and though his hands shook something fierce, he twisted the handle and opened the door fully.
The sunlight that hit his face felt a familiar warmth in a way he hadn't realised was different. The sounds were familiar too, along with the soft smells that filled his nostrils. His senses stretched out, and he felt once again to truly be at home. For in this world… there was just so much life. So many people, so many animals, of so many kinds that the others wouldn't understand.
But among the energies he sensed were the familiar ones.
He knew where he was immediately by the feeling of Bulma as she ran towards them, having heard the arrival of the ship and raced out to see them. When she saw him, she froze, and he instantly leapt out to embrace her.
"Bulma!"
"Gohan!"
He held his surrogate aunt in his arms, squeezing her tightly. She'd gotten older he'd noticed, aging more in the last seven years than he'd ever noticed as a child. And of course, now he was bigger, her head coming into his chest as they hugged, yet she pulled him into her just the same as she had done when he was a little boy.
He heard more than felt as the others left the ship, the greetings of the others to Bulma's parents who had likewise come out. The awed gasps from the Eldians as they saw an instantly futuristic city to them. Gohan didn't really notice any of that, only really caring when his father and girlfriend put their hands on his back.
When he pulled away, he realised he'd been crying, and wiped it away with an embarrassed laugh.
"Gohan… you're so much bigger now! Oh, it's so good to have you back." Bulma cupped his cheeks, looking him over carefully and brushing hands gently through his hair. "Chi-Chi is going to be so happy to see you."
"Yeah, it's good to see you to Bulma. I-… I'm sorry, I need to, Dad, can we go see mom? I don't mean to be rude Bulma, it's great to see you but-"
Bulma put a finger to his lips and hushed his babbling with a warm smile. "It's okay, Gohan. Go see your mom. Vegeta can catch me up on who your guests are."
Gohan was almost vibrating as he turned back to Petra and his father. His dad already had two fingers to his forehead in questioning. "Want me to take us right now?"
He thought quickly before shaking his head. "Actually, I want to show Petra our world as we go." He took a step back before arcing his back and shouting out into the sky. "NIMBUS!"
Though a few winced under his sudden and loud shout, none berated him as they waited to see what happened. Surely enough, after just a few moments passed a familiar yellow cloud came streaking down from the sky.
"Whoa there Nimbus. That's right, I missed you too buddy." The cloud buzzed with excitement at seeing Gohan again, who wasted no time in hopping aboard and pulling Petra onboard with him. Though she had expected to fall through it, seeing as it well and truly was a cloud after all, she didn't. Gohan had a knowing smirk on his face as he held her close. "A good heart." He explained before turning to his dad. "Ready dad?"
"Ready son. Let's go home."
The three of them took off high into the sky with a quick and rushed farewell to the others, who watched them disappear with a twinkle. Proud faces looked on, satisfaction felt all around, until Krillin suddenly spoke up.
"I feel like we're forgetting something."
"Where did they go!? They were just there I saw them!" Cried out King Kai, staring down at the planet with his magical powers. Sure, he had told them to go ahead whilst he spoke to the God of Destruction, but he hadn't expected them to just leave him there.
This was going to be awkward.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Trusty_McGoodGuy
Trusty_McGoodGuy AN: Hello all, there's been a few site problems this week, so a continued reminder that if it ever seems like there should be a chapter available that isn't, check my P at reon, and it should be available there for free as well. There may be site issues that prevent me from uploading on time.
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Next chapter due: 25/03/24
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone