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| - Buffy Summers walked into her living room, and groaned. She was living in a small apartment just outside San Diego. It had been two years since they had destroyed Sunnydale. She had saved the world, she was recruiting and training new slayers, but she still had to pick up after her little sister. Dawn's things were everywhere. Clothes, books, magazines, you name it, Dawn had flung it somewhere. She was about to pick up a plate half filled with what she hoped was mashed potatoes, when the phone rang. She ran, tripping over the mess, to answer it. "Hello?" "Hello, Buffy." A British accent was on the other end. "Hey, Giles. What's up?" "I've found something that I believe will help us with the fight against evil!" Buffy yawned from a combination of exhaustion and boredom. "What is it this time?" "It's a small yellow ball." "Giles, you know how much you're reaching right now?" Giles gave an exasperated sigh. "You don't understand. According to legend, this ball, called a Dragon Ball by the way, when combined with six others, has the ability to summon forth a great warrior. He will uphold good and destroy evil." Buffy almost laughed. "Giles, how many times has the legend lived up to reality?" "I know, I know. But I still believe this is still worth checking into." Buffy finally gave in. "Alright. How are you going to find the other six balls? Neuter three dragons?" Giles wasn't amused. "Actually, I'll need Willow's help. I was going to call her next." "OK, let me know how it goes." "Will do." Buffy hung up, and turned around in time to see Dawn walk in. "Dawn," she said, "look around. What do you see?" Dawn looked. "A huge mess?" Buffy shook her head. "Not a huge mess, your huge mess." Dawn sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Fine. I'll clean it up." Buffy nodded. "Thank you." There was a knock at the door. It was Faith. "Hey, B." "Hi, Faith. What's up?" "Well, I'm on my way to meet Robin, and I wanted to see How you guys were doing." Buffy sighed. "Take a look." Faith looked at the living room. "Wow. Rough stuff." Buffy nodded. "Yeah. sometimes I think it would be easier just to live on my own, but Dawn can't afford to get an apartment, and we can't afford to put her in one of the reserve apartments Giles set up." Faith raised an eyebrow. "Didn't he buy all those apartments?" Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Well, all of the apartment complexes. He rents out half the apartments, and the other half he gives to new Slayers, or just new recruits." Faith was confused. "We recruit people besides Slayers now?" Buffy nodded. "Yeah. People who were attacked by vampires and want to fight back, or people who lost loved ones to demons. They're going to fight whether or not we help them, so we give them a leg up." Faith nodded. "Damn noble of ya, B. Well, I've gotta go. Hope all that works out." She said, pointing to the mess in the living room. Dawn was in her room, crying. She had been walking back into the living room when she heard Buffy say, "Sometimes I think it would be easier to live on my own." Dawn had retreated back to her room, and started crying immediately. Maybe I should leave. Maybe I could stay with Willow and Kennedy. She dismissed that thought immediately. She knew they wouldn't mind, but Kennedy could be a little over bearing. It was difficult, at times, to spend a single day with her, let alone all of them. Not that she wasn't nice, she was just a bit much. I'll think of something. Dawn though as she curled into a ball. ~ Goten walked through the door, and all eyes were on him. Or, more accurately, the lovely young woman hanging on his arm. This was the third date between himself and Paris since his father had gone away to train Uub, and Goten's life was finally getting back to normal. Tonight, he had taken Paris to a fancy restaurant. It was a bit expensive, but she loved the food here, so he decided it was worth it. Besides, he had gotten Bulma to pay. They sat down, and began flipping through the menu. As a Saiyan, Goten needed much more food than he could get at this restaurant, but that would have to wait. For now, he was content to be with Paris. "So, what looks good?" he asked. She looked up at him. "Well, there's the soy burgers, soy bacon, soy sausage, soy tofu-" He stopped her. "Soy tofu?" he asked incredulously. She nodded. "They found out that real tofu can be bad for you. I forget why." "Probably because it has no flavor." He muttered. "What? I didn't catch that." "Nothing." He settled for a soy burger, and they began to eat. Suddenly, there was an explosion across the street! Goten jumped up and ran outside. He used his super speed to get all the people out of the destroyed building, then went back to Paris. As he sat down, he noticed she had a look of pure venom. "Is something wrong?" he asked. "How could you just leave in the middle of a meal?" she demanded. He pointed across the street. "Didn't you see the explosion? I had to help!" "Why?! They might have gotten everyone out! Why didn't you stay with me?!" Goten didn't understand what was going on. He had just saved twenty people, and she was insulted! "I don't get it, Paris. You used to like it when I saved people." She nodded. "Yeah, but ever since your dad disappeared, you've been doing it non-stop! What if you die?! What if I never see you again?! We've been dating for months, and you keep doing this even now that..." Goten blinked. "Now that what?" Tears welled up in Her eyes as she said. "Never mind. I'll see you later, Goten." With that, she stood up and walked away. Goten sighed. I wonder what she was trying to say. It must have been important. I'll ask her when I see her again. he thought. He went home, where his mother had made a real dinner for him. He ate every bite, then went out to the woods nearby to work out. As he did, he thought about what Paris had said. He had been trying harder to save people since his father wasn't there to do it. It wasn't just him. Gohan, Trunks, Piccolo, Krillin, 18, and even Vegeta had taken a more active role in protecting the world lately. Distracted as he was by training and his own thoughts, he didn't notice that Shenron was right behind him, with Goku riding on his head. "Hey, Goten! Behind you!" Goten almost fell out of the sky. He turned around, and smiled wide. "Dad! What are you doing here?" Goku smiled back. "Shenron wanted me to tell you that you were going to go somewhere else." Shenron growled. "It's not 'somewhere,' Goku. It's 'somewhen'." Goten blinked in surprise. "Somewhen? How does that work?" Goku shrugged. "I don't know, but you're leaving the day after tomorrow." Goten looked down, momentarily lost in thought. Do they mean I'm going to travel through time? That's what somewhen means, right? He looked back up, and his two companions had vanished. Goten flew home,trying not to think about what Chi Chi would say about this.
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