Disclaimer: Same as always

Author's Note: You should read Homeward Bound, Women and Wine, and Fractured Souls (in that order) before this fic or nothing will make sense. Gohan's skipped two grades in high school so he graduated at sixteen. That's why he has his doctorate.

Author's Note #2: There are four interludes that come before this, but you really should read this story (or at least the first two chapters) first before reading them.

Ages: Gohan's twenty-four, Trunk is fifteen, and Goten's fourteen.

Parings: Goku x Vegeta, Gohan x original character, Goten x Trunks

Warnings: If you've stayed with me this long you don't need a warning, but I'll give one anyway. This fic has alternate universe and shounen ai.

To Begin Anew

Chapter One

May 21st, 2018

It's taken years for this expedition to go beyond the planning stages. I remember the day our small group had heard about it. Apparently there had been a mission to a far off planet, something the scientists had kept from the rest of the community, and they found a planet so similar to Chikyuu that it could have been its twin. The two scientists studied it for a year and made their way back here to spread the news. Now they had a planet that was capable of sustaining life, but no idea what to do with it -- if anything.

It was decided by the International Science Administration that any team of scientists who had a good idea for the planet could, if selected, use it as they would. A few hundred teams wrote in and most were eliminated until it was down to the last five. We were one of the finalists and tensely we waited, praying to whatever higher power was listening. Our group won the ownership of the planet, to our disbelief, and couldn't wait to put our idea into motion. It took long years of dedication to the Zion Project, but finally we can move forward towards a new future for us all.

There is one thing that worries me, though. What will my family say? I will be leaving them for half a decade and that's a long time in anyone's life. I fear that they will be angry at me, but there's nothing I can do to change it if they are. This is something that I have to do for myself and for my daughter. If there is a chance to change destiny, to show that various members of human race can live together in peace and harmony, then I must take it. The future of all our people depend on it.

His fathers bought a house in the country at his suggestion. Tokyo had long since passed overcrowded and was bordering on smothering. In 2010 the city had an estimated population of just over ten million, you couldn't turn around on the sidewalk without bumping into at least three people. Vegeta, who had never been very comfortable with most people invading his personal space, was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. Even though he tried to hide it, Goku noticed the way his eyes flickered around nervously in crowds and the way he would tense up whenever someone got close enough for him to feel the heat from their body. Goku had no idea what to do about it so he'd approached Gohan for a solution.

The boy helped him to research available properties and they'd found a nice house about thirty miles away from the metropolis. It was quiet there and Vegeta would be able to settle his nerves. The only disadvantage to living in suburbia was that Goten and Trunks had a forty-five minute commute to and from school. This was a potential problem that Goku felt he could solve easily. The man who trained him in martial arts, Kamesennen Muten Roshi, knew of another man who could teach the boys the art of bukujutsu. Depending on how fast they could do it, the boys could be at school in under ten minutes.

Over the summer in 2010, Goku dropped Goten and Trunks off at Kami's shrine and they spent a month with him learning the technique. It was amazing to see the two of them soaring through the air like a pair of very odd birds and Gohan felt a pang of irrational jealousy. He knew that he himself could also learn, but there just wasn't enough time in his schedule. He was taking a full load of advanced classes and barely had enough time for Videl, let alone something as frivolous as flight. No matter how much he told himself that it didn't matter, he still wished that he had the ability to soar among the clouds.

Gohan approached the two-story red brick house with its large wraparound porch and took a moment to make a memory. He would miss the summer evenings spent out on the porch drinking iced tea and playing cards with his family. He would miss long talks with his fathers and wrestling with his brothers. Though there were a lot of things he would miss, the potential outcome of the expedition vastly outweighed any sadness he experienced upon departure.

The tall bushes beside the house rustled briefly, parting to allow Trunks and Goten to step into the yard dressed in their country finest of old jeans and, in Goten's case, threadbare overalls with holes in the knees. Each were carrying a bucket dripping with water and Gohan could only guess at what they were doing. Goten's face lit up when he saw him older brother and he set his buckets onto the ground.

"Gohan!" he shouted happily as he ran over to him. "You weren't supposed to come until next week!"

Trunks smiled. "You were also supposed to bring Pan. Has she gotten too much for ya or somethin'?"

"I decided to come a little early, that's all, and Pan's being baby-sat today." He changed the subject, hoping to save his news for dinner. "What were you two doing? Or should I not ask?"

Reaching into one of his buckets, Trunks pulled out a handful of pebbles. "We were getting these from the creek. The 'rents want to do a little landscaping and were too cheap to buy 'em from the store." He then proceeded to do a fairly accurate impression of Goku. "Why spend money when you don't have to?"

"We were down there for two hours, left right after Bra went down for her nap." Goku exchanged looks with Trunks and both of them began to snicker. "Trunks and I think that they probably wanted a little "alone time" and used the landscaping thing just to get us out of the house."

The front door creaked open and Goku's voice came from the direction of it. "You've thought wrong then."

"Then why tousan?" Goten whined. "Why did I have to pick up rocks instead of play video games? It *is* Sunday, you know!"

"You didn't *have* to do anything, Goten. The alternative to picking up pebbles was an allowance docking for the next month."

Goten frowned for a moment before picking up the buckets again. "Well, since I've already spent two hours searching for these, you might as well take 'em."

"You can just put those on the back porch. Boys," he said just as they started to move, "if you were at the creek why aren't your clothes wet?" He knew very well why they weren't, but it would be interesting to see their reaction.

"Um..." Goten looked at Trunks who shrugged. "We didn't want to walk around in wet clothes so we took them off."

"So you skinny dipped!" Goku said this as if he was just figuring it out. Both boys blushed and made a hasty exit. He called after them with a big grin on his face. "There's nothing wrong with that, you know! I've done it plenty of times!"

Silence, then, "EW!"

Gohan laughed and hugged his father. "It's nice to see you, Tousan."

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Goku examined his face. "You're here early and it's suddenly nice to see me. At the end of that sentence I can almost hear a "but". Tell me what's going on, Gohan."

"But I have to make a journey, one that will take a long time." He sighed. "Let's go inside so I can tell you both at the same time."

In the kitchen Bra was sitting at the table with a box of cookies, getting more on herself and the table than in her mouth. She smiled brightly at Gohan and offered him the box. "Hi Niichan! You want some?"

"Bra, you know better than to eat sweets before a meal," Goku said as he took them from her. "Go get cleaned up and come straight back here to clean up your mess."

She pouted. "I didn't mean to break a rule. I'm sorry, Tousan."

"Apology accepted now go clean up."

Now that he had his father's undivided attention, Gohan unsure of how to begin. The two of them sat in silence for a moment until Goku prompted him. "So, where are you going?"

"Have you heard about the scientific discovery they named "the greatest in history"? It was a few years ago." He looked up when Vegeta came into the room, his nose stuck in a law book. The older man opened the door of the fridge, took out a bottle of juice, and kicked the door closed with his foot. He was halfway to the door when Goku spoke.

"Uh, Veggie-chan?" he said. "We have company." Vegeta waved distractedly and, one again, started on his way. "It's Gohan."

The words made him pause and look over at the table. "Is something wrong? You're early."

Gohan started laughing. "I'm starting to think my visit will cause more trouble than my news!"

"Well, you usually strictly keep to whatever schedule you establish." Vegeta closed his book and took a seat. "You don't seem sick or emotionally disturbed. Your mood is too positive for any of that."

"After they found that system a few years ago it was decided that they would let others decide what to do with it. Hundreds of scientific teams wrote proposals to the ISA and last month it was narrowed down to just a few." He smiled. "We were one of them."

Goku nodded. "I remember. You were so excited when I talked to you on the phone, but very secretive as well. What did your team propose?"

"It was a model of a perfectly stable society. We were hoping for a place where our children could grow up without violence, without crime, and without want of any kind."

"So you wanted to create a utopia?" Vegeta asked. "Sounds too good to be true."

Gohan nodded. "It does, doesn't it? I believe, Vegeta-tousan, that a perfect world is the secret wish of all people everywhere. For millennia people have been striving to create it. Now, we have a real chance to start fresh on a new world, away from the negative environment of this planet."

"You think that if you try to create a utopia on an unspoiled foundation, it would work?" Goku mulled that over in his mind. "I can actually see it happening."

"Listen to yourselves!" Vegeta exclaimed. "It doesn't really matter if you try it in a different environment. You're still taking people over there that have been already affected. One undermining scheme can make your entire plan crumble."

Gohan shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. We're performing all kinds of tests on the candidates, from physical to psychological. No one who would be detrimental to our project will be allowed to go."

"How long will you be gone, son?" Goku asked.

"Sixty months minimum."

"That's five years, Gohan!" The three men turned to find Trunks and Goten standing at the backdoor with shocked looks on their faces. Goten's breathing hitched and he turned away to hide his tears. "How can you want to leave us for that long?" Without waiting for a response, Goten ran across the backyard and down the nearly hidden path to the creek. Trunks moved to go after him and Vegeta shook his head.

"Let him go, Trunks. He has to deal with it in his own way."

Trunks joined them at the table, an expression of disbelief on his face. "When are you leaving?"

"As soon as we find a chief engineer the ship's going to depart. This wasn't a sudden decision, you guys. I've thought about the possibility of an utopian society for years." Gohan looked down at his hands. "Ever since they tried to kill me for being something I can't change. We were discussing theories in my study group a few years ago and I brought it up. I had no idea that I might be able to make my dream a reality.

"What really pushed me into becoming an advocate of this idea was the event of a year ago. You know which one I'm speaking of." He couldn't say it. Even though it was in the past, the wound was still as fresh as it had been all those months ago. He remembered vividly the nightlong vigils at her bedside, the tears Pan shed when she realized that her mother wasn't ever coming back. "I never loved her the way that she loved me. It was as if I were under pressure from some outside force to settle down and start a family with her. I will never regret the time we spent together it's just that my heart has always belonged to another."

Trunks understood all of that and he'd heard the stories from his parents. What he didn't understand was why Gohan kept everything to himself for all those years. Didn't they have the right to know about something that would affect them all so greatly? "Why did you wait so long to tell us, Gohan? Were you just going to go off and not say a word?"

"I was afraid of what you would say about this," he answered. "but I would have never left this planet without telling you first."

"I have to go check on him," Trunks said as he rose from his seat. "Goten sometimes does pretty bad things when he's upset."

In addition to checking up on his little brother, he himself needed some time to absorb the news. It was true, what happened to Videl *was* awful, but what was happening now was even worse. He couldn't imagine not being able to call Gohan whenever he wanted to get help with his homework or seeing him on holidays. He would miss Pan, too, despite the fact that she and Bra together were Trouble with a capital "T".

If there was some way to make any of the news easier to handle, he would love to hear about it.

***

Goten ran through the woods, trying to put as much distance between himself and his older brother's words. How could he spring such news on him without warning? The planet was light years away, a distance that his mind could barely conceive of, and it would probably take a year to even make a round trip. What if he needed to tell him something urgent? By the time it got to Gohan, time would no longer be an issue.

He sat in his special spot by the creek with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. It was a position he often took when things were bothering him, something Trunks knew very well. Goten heard the sound of footsteps on the ground and smiled weakly.

"Is he gone yet, Trunks?"

He shook his head and sat down next to him. "Nope. He's going to stay for lunch, probably dinner too. You're really upset about this, aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" he exclaimed. "He's my niichan and yours too, you know."

"Not really, Goten. We just lived together for nine years because your tousan and my papa lived together."

Goten frowned at him. "Blood doesn't matter and you know it. We're not related by blood and we're close. I would die for you, Trunks."

"The feeling's mutual," he smiled.

"You have to be hurting too, but you're better at hiding your feelings. Papa doesn't show them that much, either." Goten grinned. "Must be a genetic defect."

"Defect?!" Trunks pounced and caught the younger boy unaware. Soon Goten was reduced to wriggling and laughing as Trunks' nimble fingers tickled him, knowing exactly where to go to elicit the best response. His shrieks echoed through the woods until he could no longer draw the breath to produce them.

Trunks sat back and studied to result of his work. "That'll teach you not to say bad things about me or our papa."

'Our,' Goten smiled. 'Definitely "our".'

They sat in silence for a moment until something familiar began to prickle at their senses. "Gohan's coming," Trunks said. "Do you want me to intercept him?" He figured that Goten didn't want anyone else to know about his secret spot.

"Let him come," was the reply.

A few moments later the eldest son boy was walking down the bank towards them. "Trunks, I need to speak with my ototochan."

He was hurt by the exclusion, but immediately covered it up with a smile. "Sure, no problem."

"Whatever you say to me, you can say it in front of him." Goten motioned for his brother to continue.

Gohan sighed. "I apologize for springing the news on you like this, but this is just something I have to do for myself."

After regarding him silently for a moment, Goten stepped forward for a hug. "I understand, Niichan. It's just gonna be so hard with you far away."

"I know and leaving you all will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." He held one arm out to the mutely observing Trunks and offered some of the brotherly moment to him. They each took a little time to regain control. There was total silence except for the calls of the birds and the sound of water trickling at the falls until a call split the air.

"Boys!" Goku shouted from the house. "Lunch is ready!"

The three of them shared a look and then ran off top speed towards the house. Goku smiled as he watched the small battle between Trunks and Gohan for the chair next to Goten. "Things look like they're back to normal."

"I knew the peace and quiet wouldn't last for long," Vegeta said as he stopped Bra from flinging her spaghetti across the table.

The family sat down to their meal and Gohan's departure was all but forgotten.