Bittersweet Homecoming part 2
Chapter 25
Once Tony swears up and down that he'll curb his reckless flying in the future, Pepper and Bruce let him off the hook and they all move to follow Gohan.
As they approach the Capsule Corp entrance, they spot Gohan chatting with a girl who looks to be around his age.
They speed walk over to the kids and catch the tail end of what the girl was telling Gohan.
"I'm Videl Satan."
Tony, Pepper, Bruce, and Gohan all blanch in disbelief.
"You're Hercule's daughter?!" Gohan shouts, inadvertently spooking Goten.
The sudden yelling causes Goten to tear up a bit.
Still a little shell shocked at this sudden revelation, Gohan's slower than usual at calming his brother. "It's ok, Goten, I'm sorry I shouted."
Pepper goes to take Goten to try and calm him herself, but Videl beats her to it.
"Geez, for a guy who saved the world, you sure are useless." Videl mocks Gohan as she rocks Goten in her arms.
Gohan and the others sputter in shock at Videl insulting Gohan one moment then gently calming Goten the next.
Goten smiles and starts happily mumbling to Videl.
Pepper lifts her hand over her mouth and whispers to Tony, "Their attitudes may be similarly brash, but I can't believe that clown Hercule could have such a sweet daughter."
Tony mimics Pepper's gesture and whispers back, "I'm trying really hard not to think about it. Someone actually consenting to procreate with that guy."
Tony and Pepper both shudder at that disturbing thought while Bruce comments to Videl, "You're really good with him. Do you have any younger siblings?"
Videl shifts Goten to one arm, smiles up at Bruce, and shakes her head. "No, I'm an only child. But I've babysat baby Trunks for Bulma a few times."
Gohan is about to ask Videl how she even knows Bulma, but before he can, the sliding doors to the Capsule Corp entrance open and Bulma comes out to greet them. "I see you guys made it here ok." She then spots Videl. "Oh, there you are, Videl. Came out here to wait for them, huh?"
"Well, after all these months of hearing about the real hero who beat Cell, I wanted to meet him as soon as I could." Videl tells Bulma, then turns an unimpressed stare on Gohan. "Though now that I have, I gotta say, he's not what I imagined."
Goten sees the look Videl is giving Gohan and tries to mimic it.
That gets laughs from everyone while Gohan rubs the back of his head and chuckles a bit, his face turning a little red.
Bulma scolds Videl to ease up on the boy then leads everyone inside.
Wanting to ask while he can before seeing everyone else again, Gohan asks Bulma, "So how did you meet Hercule's daughter?"
As they get closer to the enclosure where Bulma's parents keep their animals, she explains, "Well...after Shenron and Porunga couldn't get you and Goten back, and we weren't sure if we were ever gonna find you, Master Roshi decided to look for possible students with a lot of potential so our Earth would have more protectors."
Bulma is about to continue, when Videl pipes up, "The weird geezer saw an exhibition match my dad set up between me and some top ranked martial artist. After I wiped the floor with the chump, the old man approached me and asked if I wanted to know the truth about the battle with Cell."
Videl's expression hardens. "At first I didn't believe him...my dad is a total jackass...but I didn't think he'd ever lie to me."
Goten also seems to notice Videl's mood drop and starts poking at her face.
Videl smiles at Goten while finishing her explanation. "Once he showed me some Ki techniques in person, I knew all of Dad's talk about that stuff being cheap tricks was crap, and I agreed to learn from him."
"Master Roshi trained you?!" Gohan asks, he thought the old hermit retired a long time ago.
Videl nods. "For the first few months, but then he said he'd taught me all he could and sent me to the lookout to ask Piccolo to train me."
Gohan nearly trips over his own feet. "Piccolo's training you now?!"
Before Videl can answer, Bulma stops in front of another pair of sliding doors and speaks up. "We're here. Everyone is waiting for you in this room."
Videl was about to answer Gohan, but she sees him going a little pale in the face.
The others notice as well, and Tony puts a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "It's ok, Kiddo, we're all right here with you."
Goten starts squirming in Videl's arm and reaches for Gohan. "Bubba!"
Gohan looks back at Tony, Pepper, and Bruce, then looks at Goten, takes him into his arms, and smiles. "Let's do this."
The doors slide into the walls and Gohan sees all of his old friends chatting among themselves.
They all step into the room and Gohan greets the group. "Hey, everyone, long time no see, huh?"
All at once, a chorus of voices greet him back. "Gohan!"
Everyone was here. Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaoutzu, future Trunks, Master Roshi, Turtle, Oolong, Puar, and Bulma's parents with baby Trunks.
Also Dende, and to Gohan's surprise, even Mr. Popo, Yadjirobe, and Korin.
Most surprising of all to see at this get together was Vegeta. Even though he was just brooding in a corner of the room by himself, he was actually in the room.
Though Gohan was unbelievably happy to see his old friends again, there's one presence he immediately focuses on over the rest. "G-Gra...Grandpa."
Ox King smiles widely and opens his arms.
Gohan dashes over to him and nearly crashes into his grandfather as he uses his free arm to hug him as much as he can, given how large the man is.
Ox's smile turns a little somber as Gohan is rushing to apologize. "I'm so sorry, Grandpa! If I had just sensed Broly sooner, I could've gotten you all a safe distance away and you wouldn't have died!"
With one arm, Ox scoops Gohan up, and lifts him to his eye level. "Now, now, none of that. You did everything you could to protect us. In the end, you and Goten got out alive, and that's all that matters. Besides, I'm back now, so no more blaming yourself for what happened, alright?"
Gohan tears up a bit and nods. "Ok."
Ox smiles. "Good. It's been so long since we've seen each other, we should celebrate, not feel bad." He shakes the boys a bit in his arm, getting laughs out of both of them. "You've both gotten so big in the last year, won't be too long before you catch up to my height."
While Gohan chats with Ox and reintroduces him to Goten, Tony, Pepper, and Bruce hang back a bit, content to let Gohan have his reunion with his grandfather, but also to take in the ridiculous size of the man.
Just like with everything else about this place, seeing Ox in person is very different compared to the memory recordings.
Deciding to be the one to break the ice, Tony approaches Ox. Pepper and Bruce are a couple of steps behind Tony when he introduces himself. "Gohan's told us a lot about you, Mr. Ox King." Tony extends his arm out. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Tony Stark. Me, my lady friend Pepper, my buddy Bruce, and a couple of others who couldn't make it here today have been looking out for your grandsons since they popped up on our Earth."
Ox shakes Tony's hand, though his own hand is so big, he's pretty much shaking Tony's whole arm. "It's nice to meet you too. I can't thank you enough for taking care of them."
Pepper shakes her head and smiles. "That's not necessary. We've loved every day with them."
Tony smirks up at the boys still held in Ox's arm. "She's right. Every day has been a blast, not to mention they've saved our lives a couple of times, so if anything we should be grateful."
Ox lets out a big laugh and wraps his free arm around Tony, Pepper, and Bruce, and hugs them to himself. "Well I'd love to hear all about your time together."
The gesture is heartwarming, but the recipients of it are having a bit of trouble getting air into their lungs.
Tony manages to get an arm free and taps on Ox. "Easy, big guy. We'd be happy to tell you, but we can't breathe."
Ox King quickly releases them. "I'm so sorry, sometimes I forget my size and get carried away."
They all catch their breath and Tony waves off his apology. "No harm done."
With one introduction out of the way, Gohan decides it's time to introduce the rest of his old friends to his new family.
He hops out of Ox's arm and addresses the room. "Everyone, it's great to see you all again." He gestures to his parents and Bruce. "Let me introduce to you to Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and Bruce Banner."
They all nod their greetings to the group when Gohan calls their names while he explains, "They, along with a few others who couldn't make it here today took care of and watched out for me and Goten when that portal dropped us on their Earth."
Everyone says their hellos and the 'Welcome Home' party goes into full swing.
About an hour into the party, Gohan isn't even sure what he was so worried about.
Besides a small incident with Roshi trying to perv on Pepper, (which was shot down immediately by Videl when she punted him across the enclosure) everyone was getting along swimmingly.
When Bulma and her father weren't talking science stuff with Tony and Bruce, she and Pepper were becoming quick friends.
Tony hit it off with Yamcha, as well as Oolong once he adjusted to the sentient, talking, animal people.
Bruce developed a fast kinship with Tien and Piccolo.
While future Trunks caught Gohan up on his victories against the Androids and Cell of his timeline and Krillin told him how his budding romance with #18 had been going, Goten was befriending baby Trunks, Chiaoutzu, Puar, and Turtle, and also catching up on lost playtime with Ox.
Vegeta was still as standoffish as usual, and Videl seemed to enjoy poking fun of Gohan when they chatted, but otherwise, things were great.
He hated to spoil the fun, but he knew he needed to tell everyone his decision soon.
Originally, he only planned to tell Ox alone before telling everyone else, but he decided to also explain it to Piccolo, Krillin, and Bulma separately from the group.
He leaves Goten to play with baby Trunks and asks Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Ox, Piccolo, Krillin, and Bulma to come with him.
They all follow him out of the enclosure.
"What's up Gohan?" Ox asks.
Gohan has trouble looking anyone in the eyes as he replies. "Grandpa...I need to tell you all something."
If he was looking up at his grandpa and friends, he would have seen the knowing smirks they all had.
"I know you all worked so hard to get me and Goten back...so saying this is really difficult... but you need to know-" Gohan forces himself to say, but deciding to have mercy on the boy, Piccolo interrupts, "You're staying on the other Earth."
Gohan startles and is finally able to meet their eyes. "How did you know?!"
Krillin, Bulma, and Ox all chuckle, then Bulma explains. "We saw how close you and Goten are to your new friends, and Krillin also filled us in on everything you told him about your time together."
Tony, Pepper, and Bruce aren't too surprised that they figured it out, but are a little shocked at how well they're taking it.
"So you're all ok with it?" Gohan asks.
Ox puts a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "While I do plan on visiting you fairly often and expect you to do the same, I want what's best for you and your brother, and I can tell just by looking at you how good this new Earth has been for you."
Gohan tilts his head a bit. "What do you mean?"
Ox's smile turns a little somber. "Before that portal took you, you were so haunted by everything with Cell, and Goku's decision to stay in Otherworld. But even after Broly's attack and Chi-Chi's choice to stay with Goku, you still seem so much happier now than I have ever seen you."
Ox smiles at Tony, Pepper, and Bruce. "I figure that you're all responsible for how well my grandson's been doing. Plus, you're all the only family Goten knows, so it would be selfish to have the boys come back to stay with me, knowing how much it would hurt them."
Wanting to assure that his trust isn't being misplaced, Tony walks up to Ox and extends his hand to him. "I swear we'll always do everything in our power to keep them both happy and healthy."
Ox shakes his hand. "Thank you."
Gohan gives Ox a quick hug, then steps back and smiles. "Thank you all for understanding. This won't be goodbye. Now that we have the means to travel back and forth between our Earths, we'll still see each other a lot."
He then looks up at Ox. "You're always going to be my and Goten's grandpa."
Ox pulls Gohan into one more hug before they all agree to go back and inform the others.
Everyone takes the news well, and wish Gohan and Goten the best, except for Vegeta who just grunts an acknowledgement.
They spend a few more hours catching up before everyone starts heading back to their perspective homes, but before the Stark family headed back to their Earth, there was one more thing Gohan wanted to do.
The only ones left remaining were Piccolo, Dende, Krillin, Bulma, and Ox.
As Piccolo is about to escort Dende back to the Lookout, Gohan asks him, "Dende, can you hold up a second?"
Dende turns back to Gohan. "Sure, what's up, Gohan?"
"I wanted to know if the Dragon Balls were ready to be used again."
Dende nods. "Yes, when Shenron explained how he couldn't find you and Goten, we only used one wish to resurrect your grandfather. Afterwards, we told Shenron that was all that was needed and let him go."
"You can do that?" Tony asks.
Tapping into Kami's knowledge, Piccolo answers for Dende. "Yes, if an Eternal Dragon that can grant multiple wishes doesn't grant them all at once, you can send the Dragon on its way and the Dragon Balls will only be inert for a few months before they can be used again, though the Dragon will only grant however many wishes were leftover before going inert again for a full year."
"Interesting." Tony replies, then asks Gohan, "What are you planning on wishing for, Kiddo?"
Gohan faces the group and smiles. "There's someone I owe a large debt. Now that I'm back here, I can finally try to pay them back."
Not sure who Gohan is referring to, but trusting the boy to be responsible with it, Bulma has no problem lending him the Dragon Radar. "Happy hunting, Gohan. Just let me know when you guys are ready to go back to your Earth."
Gohan nods his thanks to Bulma and turns to his family. "You guys ready to meet Shenron?"
Also clueless about what Gohan intends to wish for, Tony, Pepper, and Bruce decide to just go along with whatever the boy has planned.
They all step outside of Capsule Corp, Tony dawns his armor, and Pepper and Bruce load back up into the aircraft Bulma lent them with a sleeping Goten in tow.
With everyone else ready, Gohan turns on the radar. "All right, everybody, follow me."