Author's Return Note: I know I said at the end of the last story that these might not continue, but there was a chance of a 5th story because I got a brilliant idea. Well, after thinking about it for some time, I decided to give a shot. I do know that those of you that reviewed my last story had said the story should not go on…but this is more of a fun note than anything. It will be different than the content of the previous four, so don't think you'll get completely bored because it'll be the same ol' thing.

However, please note that I have no idea how quickly I can get chapters out. In fact, it might be another week or more before I can work on the second chapter because I'm bogged down with school work and I really can't neglect it.

And for those of you who stumbled upon this story without previous knowledge of where it came from, I highly suggest you read Shadowed Spirit and at least Behold Thy Scarred Heart since those are the two main stories that bring about the characters and background content of this story. The middle two stories are The Past Returns and The Kismet of Optimism if you have time and are interested. Though please don't let that pull you away from this. The first chapter, as in all of my stories, should be enough to give you enough information to continue forward without having read the others. So by all means, please go ahead!

And as always, reviews, reviews, reviews….please! You all know how much I love them. That and I want feedback….lots of it. It's nice to be pulling your hair out over a history paper and finding a review email waiting for you…it brings a smile to my face :) hehe. Anyway, onward…and as always, enjoy!

Beyond Coincidence

xXx

Chapter 1: Greeting the Past

You would have thought the story was over and that there was nothing more to tell. You may have considered something else minor happening in my life, but nothing compared to the last thing I wrote about. Yet here I am again, sitting at my desk and collecting my thoughts on an event that was unlike any of the others you may have heard about…that is if you've followed the timeline of my family's history at all. Well, not so much a family history, but a history of one person that my mother and I knew very well; an android, actually. If you have an idea of what I'm talking about, then you know to call this person Cell.

Saying "my mother and I" also probably gave you an idea on who is writing this little story here. My name is Sasara Sutiiven, but that's being straight forward. I used to be a normal person with a regular name who went about her daily business without a care in the world. I'm a college graduate; I landed a job two years ago as a newspaper journalist—something I didn't think I'd really get into since I wanted to try broadcasting. But there's a story in between those two moments in my life that is kept a secret.

My mother, Layrial Adercon Sutiiven was right to not tell anyone anything about what she had once went through. In fact, my father knew very little of the entire epic she experienced. At first I thought she was being secretive and unfair by not telling me or my father that she once had an encounter with not a man, but an android that was out to literally destroy the entire world. His name was etched in the history books as one of the largest terrors to ever strike the planet. Cell was a creature that was created by a scientist named Dr. Gero; he was created for destruction and only destruction on his creator's behalf. He had held my mother hostage after she, being a reporter, went out to nab an interview from him. She nearly died, but…something she couldn't prevent happened. She fell for him…fell for him in a way that no one would ever expect possible between an everyday human being and a mass murderer who didn't even resemble the common man. What would baffle the community more if they ever knew was that he fell for her too.

When I discovered this by reading her journals—three of them that she kept hidden in the bookcase cabinet—I couldn't believe it. At first I thought it was all a story she made up and hid because it'd be embarrassing. Then I read the second…and the third. When I was mentioned as a baby I learned that these tales she told were true.

And then I had my own to write. It was a freak-act of fate that pulled me from my happy, normal, innocent life as a college graduate to a part of the world that I never thought possible, even if I had read what my mother described as unnatural people that were gifted in the good and bad ways. Cell, though having been dead for two decades, had escaped his confinement in Hell along with many others intent on creating havoc and fulfill their desire for universal domination…in the literal sense of the universe. I had a hard enough time learning that there was such a thing as resurrection let alone such powers that I couldn't even begin to comprehend.

I had thought my mother had died when my own story started. Cell had found me, mistaking me for her in the first moments of his arrival. He had promised my mother's memory that he'd protect me because he believed he killed her. I believed it too and hated him from the start. But throughout the one day I spent with him I realized that he wasn't like the history books depicted. He was a murderer, yes, but he wasn't what they thought. He killed when he had to or when it would better his odds, although when it came to the average human, neither of those was the case. He did when others challenged him. His pride was far too large to not just take them down and suffer, but he killed them to show the rest of the world that he was the most powerful. What mattered most, though, was that he wouldn't let any harm come to me. And when he learned that my mother still lived…he nearly died trying to save us, defeat his enemies and prove that he would not be controlled by others—namely his creator who tried to use him as a weapon.

It turned out alright. We all lived…Cell, this world class villain, destroyed the bad guys. It's something I'll never forget between the pain and the respect I gained for him. He had experimented with me in the factor of lust and desire—though don't get me wrong when I say that; we didn't do anything that would raise eyebrows and questions of my sanity, but he was part human after all since he was created with the cells of the greatest warriors in the universe, each of varying races—including human. However, it was my mother I thought he wanted. Not in the dirty sense that I'm sure you immediately thought of; but in the sense that she was the first person that ever put up a fight in his mind. He couldn't figure her out and thus never killed her. She was afraid of him at first, yes, but she wasn't someone who screamed at the mere sight of him. He wasn't ugly, after all…just different. Until my mother, he never understood the notion of companionship, desire, and interest or most importantly love. In fact, Cell, as intellectual as he was created to be, had no idea what love really meant.

He learned it. It took him a while—maybe longer than he'd even admit, but he finally got a grasp on it.

At the end of my last story I was walking away. At the end, my mother had left home, the planet, and went off with him. I haven't heard from her since. The last image I have of her was a small wave she gave as she flew away in his arm. Yeah, that's right—flew. I told you already that he wasn't normal. He had unnatural powers.

"Unnatural" being only a mild word, to say the least. There's more out there than even I didn't know about. I didn't think the story could change much more than what it had been. But two years after my mother "disappeared" from this planet I was proven wrong that I had seen it all.

But before I really get into the story, let me lay out some recent information so I don't confuse you if I randomly spit it out. Like I had said, I landed a job as a journalist for a newspaper called the Sun Press. It's a pretty big paper that hits this region. I cover big events—if there's a tragedy, I'm there. It's actually a little weird since I was part of the most recent one that topped the scale. In fact, one of the cities that saw massive destruction during that Hell outbreak happened as I stood there in the middle of the street. I know exactly who did it (Cell of course), how he did it and why he did it. Although I guess I'm unethical in the journalist world because I've never allowed anyone to know I was there. They think I was home. I have no scars to give away my secret since this man—a purple man with pointy elf-like ears named Kibito-Kai (who claimed to be, in every sense of the word, the protector and overseer of the universe) healed me to the point I couldn't even find a muscle cramp in my body. Not to get sidetracked, but he played a big role in my previous adventure.

To continue, though, I'll also let you know that soon after getting my job I met another journalist—a rookie the year before me—named Kei Kyoto. It's mere coincidence that his first name is similar to the second half of that god's name. It was a few weeks before I said yes to his request for me to go to dinner with him one Saturday night. Two years later we've not only been going out, but we moved in together and have been going pretty strong in a great relationship.

In ways it scared me since I know my mother met my father in similar circumstances. After she quit her job as a reporter because she was constantly being hounded to give a full story on her captivity with Cell during his infamous Cell Games, she went into a teaching career where she met my father, also a teacher in the same school. At first she didn't like him more than a colleague, but after a second round-about adventure concerning Cell, she gave him a chance and boom, got married and had me. They divorced when I was in high school and I haven't spoken to him since.

Actually, no, I can't say that truthfully. I should say that I haven't willingly spoken to him. When he learned my mom went missing he called me up to find out what happened. I told him I knew nothing, except we were shopping when the terror happened and we lost each other; and that was the last I saw of her. He didn't need to know about Cell's return and his success. I didn't want him to start asking me questions.

He tried calling me last year sometime, but I didn't talk more than telling him I was leaving for work. I know it makes me look like a bad person, but I have my reasons. He left my mother, in full truth, because he thought she was still in love with Cell. My mother wasn't the easiest person to live with either and as their marriage went on the more arguments they developed, but he was jealous over something that was pointless because at the time Cell had been dead for over ten years.

So I've been alone, with the exception of Kei, for a while now. I really am happy with my life, though I've spent many nights sitting outside with a cup of coffee wondering where they were. Was she still alive? Did he keep his promise to me to take care of her? Or did something happen to him and my mother was stuck on an unknown distant planet with no hopes of returning home?

The questions continued. The answers came.