The androids were long gone, thanks to determination of one Trunks Briefs. Along with the aid of his family, he had the will power, strength and love to win, that so many other fallen warriors had lacked.

He had won.

But life has a funny way of making things seem fine before it comes and bites you in the ass.

And that's just how it was for Trunks. For ages, as their world rebuilt itself, everything looked to be going his way for once in his life.

But that was about to change…

His lover, Pan Son, had grown paler by the day. She had dismissed it as some sort of virus; her human part had probably caught a cold and insisted on continuing their work on their world.

She said that she would get better in time. That all she needed to do was drink plenty. She said she didn't need to rest.

I should have known better. As a doctor, I should have been able to have read the sighs earlier and acted quickly on this so called 'cold'. But for some reason…it just slipped right under me. I was too convinced that nothing, apart from the common cold, was wrong with my surrogate daughter.

I was wrong. Something was wrong with Pan. Very wrong. And I blame myself for not being able to catch it sooner.

So, how did we first find out? Ironic as it may seem, but I found it out when Pan came to me, a huge smile upon her face, as she told me she thought she was pregnant. Of course, the sighs were there. She was sick often, mostly, in the mornings, and she said she hadn't had a period in weeks.

We both were over the moon at the thought of the sounds of little feet pattering around the compound. But of course, we had to make sure. So I took some tests. Drawing blood from her body in a little tube, along with some urine, it only took me 10 minutes to decipher what was wrong.

And it wasn't life that would be brought into this world. It would be a life taken from us.

Pan Son, my daughter, had an illness that no man, woman or thing in the universe could have cured. It had mutated too fast. And as each second ticked on, it just grew more complicated. Pan Son was…dying.

The look on my son's face as I told him…I never want him to look that way again. A man I had looked upon as so powerful and untouchable had broken down on the kitchen table and cried. Like a little boy. I wanted to comfort him, to hug and hold him, but I wasn't my place. Pan had taken that place when they mated. And so I watched as she held Trunks. And guilt welled up inside him, as I witness the scene through eyes of shame.

It was after a few weeks that things turned for the worse. She grew so pale, so thin…she just looked like a skeleton, consumed by the bed sheets, letting the machines tick away her precious time left in this world.

A frail hand raised itself to his cheek, weakly cupping the cheek of the crying man. And from my corner, I watched, with a heart weighed with sorrow, at the scene before me.

"Trunks" Nothing more then a croak. A voice, once so powerful that it gave Chi-chi a run for her money, was reduced to this… "My baby, please don't cry"

"I wish I could do something" He sobbed, clenching his hands on his knees. "I wish I could help"

"You are helping" She smiled, stroking his cheek "By being here, with me"

"I'm meant to be so strong" Trunks eyes squinted shut, his face turned away as if ashamed to be touched by Pan "I'm meant to be all powerful. So why can't I stop this?"

"Because this was meant to be"

"But still-"

"I have little time left" She sighed, as the machine beeped in agreement "Don't waste my last moments with regret"

"I love you" He sobbed, burying his head in the crook of her neck "So much. I don't want you to leave"

"Neither do I" She soothed, stroking his hair "But I have to. My family is up there, waiting for me"

"It's not fair" He whispered, voice muffled by her skin "They have an eternity to spend with you, I only have a lifetime"

"When you die an old, wrinkled man, then we can spend forever together"

"Will you still love me when I'm old?"

"Of course" She smiled, bringing his face up to kiss it "I love you, no matter how old you are"

The machine's beeping grown more frantic; it's cried screaming out to the world

"Don't leave me"

"I'm tired of fighting"

"Just one more day"

"Please, Trunks, don't make me suffer any longer"

"I love you"

"I love you too" She smiled, drawing in one last breath before the beeping stopped.

Leaving behind silence.