Run Away From Time

HexaGalaxia
Wednesday, September 13, 2000
Saturday, October 28, 2000

Run Away From Time

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to DBZ. I used these characters without permission, but no infringement is intended.

Chapter One

Boring. That was the only way she could describe her life. Boring and sad.

Bra felt the vibrations through the wooden table only seconds before she heard the footsteps. They sounded like her brother. Quiet and smug, but not heavy enough to belong to her father. Definitely her brother. She lifted her head from the table but kept her gaze on the window. "Trunks?"

The footfalls stopped outside her door. "Yeah?"

Bra started to speak, but closed her mouth and let her head fall back to the desk. "Oh ... nothing," she said sadly. The footsteps drifted away. Will you take me to the movies for my birthday tomorrow?

Bra felt a drop of water hit her wrist. It was time to close the window. She was sitting at her desk, gazing sorrowfully out the window. The pale gray morning had turned into a dismal, gloomy day. Rain splattered against the window, clumping into little drops and then sliding downward. Bra sighed. She had been watching the rain all day. She had skipped breakfast, and no one had noticed. She had skipped lunch and no one had bothered to check on her. It seemed everyone had someone to be around. Her father was training, as usual; her mother was in some meeting, as usual; and her brother had just returned from hanging with Goten. She didn't have anyone to hang out with. Another raindrop joined another and they slid down the glass. Even rain had each other. She had no one.

Self pity makes me sick.

Bra bolted upright. Who said that?! She jerked out of the chair and looked carefully around the room. No one was there. No one could have said that. She slowly sat back in her chair. "The rain's starting to get to me..."

===

"When did you get back?" Bra asked her mother as she sat at the table.

Bulma took a bite into an apple and looked at her strangely. "A few hours now."

"Can we - " Bra started to ask, but a ringing interrupted her.

"Sorry dear, I'm really busy," Her mother went for the phone, and Bra looked down to her plate. Damn. She wasn't hungry, and she hadn't been for a few days. Forcing herself to eat wouldn't help. Bra slid the chair away from table but didn't move. Her father came into the room, a someone's-going-to-die look on his face. She guessed Trunks. He walked by her and she stared after him.

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, Bra hummed to herself as she walked up to her room.

Idiot! sneered a voice as she reached her room. Bra stopped and turned around. She was completely alone in the room. She stepped away from the door and ran to the kitchen. No one would hear her call and tell her friends about her problems there.

===

Pan smiled to herself and added another piece of tape to the box. The foil glittered as she moved it to another side. She was sure Bra was going to love her present. The phone rang, and she hopped up to answer it.

"Pan!" she heard her friend shout before she could even answer.

"Bra?"

"There's something strange going on - "

Bra wasn't supposed to know about her party. She was probably just suspicious of her family. "Sorry Bra, I can't go shopping with you. I'm really busy,"

"Shopping? This is serious Pan - "

"Maybe some other time, Bra." She let the phone fall back on the receiver. She couldn't wait until the party on Saturday. It didn't matter if it was a day late, Bra would love it.

===

Friday morning fog started another gloomy day. Bra didn't stay in her room, she didn't want to risk that voice talking again. She sat at the table again, this time trying to listen to her mother talking to ChiChi.

"... that would be good. Do you think everyone could be there by noon? I hope so ... "

Her attention didn't last, and she found herself staring at her food. It didn't look appetizing. She pushed the plate away and moved to the window. She saw her mother looking at the untouched plate and then to her daughter. She mouthed words that might have been something about needing to eat. Bra moved back to the table and stuffed a bite of toast into her mouth. It tasted like paper, so she pushed it away again. Everything had lost its taste lately.

"Oh look, Jim! It's the man from your dreams! Maybe he can answer your questions. I wonder what he is going to do with that scythe."
Why me? Other kids have good families, why can't I? No one even remembers my birthday anymore. They're all too busy. A snobby boy at school gave me a rose and a kiss, but no one else even wished me a happy birthday. Maybe it would be better if I just died.

Bra stopped after the last 'd' was written. She didn't mean that, did she? Her life may not be perfect, but she didn't want to kill herself ... did she? No! she answered quickly. "No..." she said with more thought. "I'm not that desperate."

An idea clicked her mind. She wasn't going to get herself killed, but she could still leave. They wouldn't even notice if I was gone.

Idiot, the voice hissed again. Bra ignored it.

===

"This is your wish?"

"Yes," Bra bit her lip as the dragon glared at her.

"It shall be done,"

Bra felt the silver, warm light cover her body as her vision grew white. She was gone now. Maybe she would come back when they learned just how important she was.

Chapter Two

Trunks looked to the darkening sky as he felt a shiver race along his spine. That's weird ... It shouldn't be getting dark this soon ...

Trunks felt his heart pound and his head grew light as he remembered what his mother had told him about the Dragon Balls. He took off at top speed.

===

"What is that?!" Goten yelled as thunder struck in the black sky.

"Someone has summoned the dragon," Goku joked lightly. He realized what he said and they all took to the sky.

===

Seven light trails were blurring away as Vegeta touched the ground. The sky lightened, and everything returned to normal. Almost. Goku, Gohan, Goten, ChiChi, Vegeta, Bulma, Trunks, Krillin, 18, Marron, and the others looked among themselves and for anyone who might have used the Dragonballs. Pan looked among everyone, stopped, counted again, and then spoke up, "Where's Bra?"

===

"Just a little while longer, I don't want to get up yet."

Trunks looked at the girl trying not to wake up. She looked almost exactly like his young mother, except the clothes. A memory of a dream surfaced, "Bra?"

The girl opened her eyes slightly, "Go away, Trunks. I'm tired." She rolled onto her back, and her eyes shot open, "Trunks!"

"Not the one you want,"

She looked around. "It worked?"

"What worked?"

"I'm here? You are Mirai Trunks?"

"Yes, my name is Trunks. Why would you want to be here?"

She jumped to her feet and danced around. "It worked! It worked! It worked!" she chanted to herself.

"What worked?"

"My wish! I wished myself here!"

"Why?"

Bra looked at him oddly. "Don't you see? They don't care anything about me, so I ran away. I used the Dragon Balls and wished myself here. Then they're going to realize just how much they miss me, even if they do ignore me. I can come home, then they won't dare forget me!" She stopped her dance at his unsure and depressed expression. "What?"

He opened his mouth to speak, closed it without a sound, and opened it again. "How are you going to get home?"

"I can wish my way back - " she stopped with the realization there were no Dragon Balls there. "With the dragon," she finished lamely.

Chapter Three

Trunks needlessly stepped into his sister's room. He knew she wasn't there, but there might be something that would tell where she had gone. Her bed was neatly made, and her digital clock was blinking 3:24. Her desk sat in the corner of the room, its glossy hardwood paint coating reflected the small desk light. A few papers were carelessly tossed aside, a glitter gel pen was lying at the edge. A small, bright-blue book caught his eye. He pushed the cover back, only to find her diary.

"I didn't even know she had a diary," he mumbled to himself. The spine creaked as he pushed the first page back. There was a small sticker in the shape of a heart that proclaimed "Bra loves Marc". A big red X was now over it, and a skull had been drawn in the name. Trunks turned the next page and discovered she hadn't been writing in until very recently. Each entry started with a depressing quote, then she would ramble on about guys, friends, shopping, and life in general. Occasionally, he would see some very deep poetry.

The last entry was earlier that morning. Trunks recognized the lyrics as something his employees listened to. He read the words in disbelief. Surely she wouldn't kill herself. Until he read her diary, he hadn't known she felt anything suicidal.

===

Mirai Bulma looked up as her son came through the door. Behind him sulked a young girl who could pass as a younger clone of herself. "Who is this?" she asked before returning to the machine in front of her.

Trunks glanced around. "This is Bra. I think she'll be staying with us for a while,"

Bulma frowned. This was the daughter of Vegeta and Bulma in the altered timeline. "I see,"

Trunks blushed for no apparent reason, "She wished herself here, and doesn't know how to get back,"

Bulma looked to the girl. That was just creepy. "Well, dear, why would you want to come here?"

===

Bra frowned. Her reasons seemed so stupid now. I ran away because my family ignored me. She couldn't say that. Mirai Bulma seemed to understand. Her expression softened. "It's all right, dear." Bra looked at the woman. She didn't seem anything like her mother. She was older and seemed to have more experience to the harshness of life. Stress and years of living in fear had left their mark, and now all that remained was someone who looked old enough to be Bra's grandmother.

This is what life would have been like if the boy standing next to me hadn't changed things, she reminded herself. The boy standing next to her. He looked like an older version of her brother, but there were just too many differences for her to associate them. This Trunks was far more shy and had more fighting experience than her Trunks. He seemed to blush a lot. Bra eyed the sword on his back. He was a warrior. Bra shivered as she tried to imagine her Trunks like that. No way...

"Are you hungry?" Mirai Trunks asked her.

Bra nodded and followed him to the kitchen. He set up three dishes, then searched through the cabinets. "I hope you can eat lots of vegetables." Bra looked up to see Mirai Trunks returning with carrots, lettuce, apples., tomatoes, celery, and shredded cheese. Bra stared at the food. Mirai Trunks looked from Bra's face to the produce in his arms. "We don't eat meat." He blushed a little, but Bra shrugged.

"I don't either," She had given up eating most anything for the past few months. Meat was the first to go. Bra found herself frequently exhausted, and no one asked why. They didn't care if she had an eating disorder.

Trunks set about chopping the vegetables and fruit, while Bra went to take a shower.

===

Bulma let a tear slip down her face as she read from the journal. Bra had felt neglected for so long, and Bulma had been oblivious to it. She didn't want to believe her daughter would kill herself, but she also didn't want to believe Bra was so unhappy. Bulma gave a long sigh and moved to the window. The search had been called off, yet Goku and Vegeta were looking for some way to access the other dimension - where Bra was. She wondered why Bra had wished herself to Mirai Trunks' time, and what she was doing at that moment.

===

Bra let the water pound against her face as she mulled over her choices. She didn't have many options, but she knew that there had to be some way out of the mess she was in. Bra brought a soapy hand to her head, and lathered her hair with a rose-scented shampoo. The water was starting to cool as she stepped out of the shower, feeling better than she had felt in weeks. She grabbed a towel, and quickly dried herself. She wrapped it around her body, and went in search for clothes she could borrow.

===

Trunks added the last bit of cheese to the salad before filling three glasses with water.

"Uh ... Mirai Trunks ..." he pressed the cap back onto the water jug , then spun around. He took one look at Bra, then turned his back to her. His face turned a brilliant red, then he took several deep breaths. Bra was "dressed" in a very short towel that showed a lot of skin. He felt the heat burning in his face.

She spoke again, "Mirai Trunks?" He turned slowly, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. She noticed the red in his cheeks, and she giggled. "Could you help me find some clothes?" He nodded.

===

Mirai Bulma took another bite from a carrot as she watched her son and Bra eat. The girl was dressed in one of her old CAPSULE shirts, and a tight-fitting pair of jeans. She fidgeted in her seat, and Bulma guessed she was trying to hide the fact that she wasn't eating. Bulma shifted her gaze to her son, and saw that he too noticed she wasn't eating.

"Bra, are you feeling well?" she asked kindly.

The girl shrugged, "I'm not really hungry now. But thanks anyway."

Bulma and Trunks exchanged glances.

===

Goku stopped in mid-flight as he felt the power radiating from below. He swooped down, and stared at a set of footprints. The others needed to see this.

===

"Yep, this is it," Goku nodded as Vegeta hit the sand. They stood over the power source, which had turned out to be a set of footprints in the sand. No one had been there, it seemed like, for centuries. The prints had been preserved when the sand clumped together and hardened into a substance similar to cement. Goku found the effect creepy.

"It's sedimentary rock," Gohan began. "When loose particles build up and compact - " His father was staring at him strangely. "Uh, never mind,"

"What is it?"

"Exactly what it looks like, footprints." Vegeta answered smugly.

"Yeah, but why do they have power?"

"Magic footprints?" Goten suggested. Gohan brought a hand to his temple while their father nodded enthusiastically.

"I don't think so," he started slowly. They looked crestfallen while Vegeta seemed to be annoyed for being in a place with so many stupid people.

"Maybe they were made by someone who had a lot of ki?" proposed Trunks.

Gohan bit his lip. "Possible."

The footprints chose that moment to move. The right one disappeared, and the other shifted forward.

"I told you they were magic footprints!"

===

Bra stopped and tilted her head as she heard a familiar voice, "... magic footprints ... ". She shrugged and climbed into the warm bed. Her left foot dragged a little as the voice whispered, They've already forgotten you, you know.

"Shut up," she whispered through the choking feeling as tears burned in her eyes. She reached for the maroon notepad Mirai Bulma had given her. She scribbled in the date and began as she usually did.

"You go your whole life thinking that things will get better, then you realize that they won't - right before you die and it's too late to enjoy your life"
My second day here in 'Wonderland', I have taken up a new diary. Mirai Trunks took me to a grassy meadow and said something about beautiful nature. I don't remember exactly. I wish I never came here. I miss shopping, and I miss my family. This sucks. I hate my life.

Bra smirked as she closed the book. Still, if they somehow came for her, she wouldn't go with them. Not that they would come for her. No one cared.

Don't you ever shut up? she heard the voice, but didn't give it a response. On and on like a broken record, 'No one likes me, everyone hates me', 'I want to die', 'Life sucks'. Don't you ever quit?

"Don't you?" she asked. The voice stopped. Maybe I can talk to Mirai Trunks about it.

===

"So, you've been hearing these beings for how long?"

"Two days before my birthday. Just a cynical phrase every now and then. It scared me when I first heard it, but it has no physical form."

"What does it sound like?" Mirai Trunks asked in fascination.

"An arrogant woman with my father's personality."

Mirai Trunks let the frown pull at his eyes. "You should probably talk to Mom about it,"

Bra nodded, deep in thought. "Yeah, I think I will,"

Chapter Four

Mirai Bulma jerked her hand away as the sparks flew from the machine. She groaned and reached for her work gloves. The new invention had taken precedence over all her other tasks. She was determined to finish this, yet she did not want to. When the machine was finished, Bra would go back to her own time. Despite what the girl said, Bulma knew she didn't want to stay with them. She would leave and be with her family again. Then the place would be lonely, again. They hadn't had guests in a long time.

Bulma looked to the window, where outside Bra and Trunks were planting new flowers. There hadn't been flowers in the garden since before ... Since before the androids came. Bulma made her decision and lessened her pace with the repairs. Bra could wait.

===

Mirai Trunks laughed as Bra streaked the mud under her eyes. After falling into the soggy dirt, his hair had been colored a rich brown. She had laughed, and he threw a clump of the dirt at her. She had given a sardonic laugh, then started using it as face paint. She dipped her fingers in the mud, and proceeded to give him a warrior-like design on his forehead. Trunks laughed, but grew quiet as she moved away from the flowers they had yet to plant. She held a clump of dirt and mud in one hand, while the other rested on her hip. Trunks grinned and grabbed mud. He struck first, throwing the dirt and catching her in the shoulder. She giggled and squealed as the cold liquid squished down her shirt. She threw a clump at him, and it made him slip and fall. Bra smirked and prepared the final blow, but she tripped and fell on top of him. Bra pulled herself up, while laughing, and extended a hand to Trunks. Lightning clashed against the sky, and thunder crashed in the dark clouds. Rain split from the sky, thoroughly drenching both of them. Trunks took her hand, and they made a mad dash to the door.

===

ChiChi frowned at the expression on Bulma's face. She had been at Capsule Corp. every night since Bra had wished herself away. Her friend looked to the window again. "It's the not knowing, do you know what I mean?" she asked quietly. ChiChi nodded, although Bulma wasn't looking at her. "I could deal with it, if Bra was hurt or --" she broke herself off. "I would hate it, and I don't know what I would do, but I could deal. Now I'm just here, wondering if she's safe, if she's happy. I wonder if she has enough to eat, if she has a warm place to go. I wonder if she is sad, if she misses me. I can't take this not knowing..." her voice trailed into a soft whisper.

===

Mirai Bulma smiled to herself as two very soaked half-Saiya-jins came through the door. They dripped onto her freshly cleaned floor, but Bulma continued to smile. It was good that Trunks had some friends. "Children," she addressed in a very serious tone. Trunks frowned. Bulma knew that he hated it when she called him by "child". Even though he was almost twenty-two, he still had moments when he behaved as a child. Bra laughed, and Trunks bit back a snicker as Bulma tried again. "Children!" They stopped their laughing and looked at her. "I expect you to clean up your mess," they looked to the floor. "Then, you will wash up," she grinned. "I'll fix super tonight."

They nodded respectfully and set about their tasks.

===

Pan looked down to the picture of her and Bra taken during Bra's eighth birthday party. She felt guilty about it all now. Bra had called her, asking for help, and she had blown her off as something trivial. Pan bit her lip as she saw past Bra's happy expression to the empty eyes. She wished she had paid attention to her friends instead of herself.

===

Bra smirked as she heard the voice in her head return, Getting a little too close to your brother, now aren't you? Bra wasn't ready for that one, and dropped the brush she was using to detangle her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Don't tell me you don't know. You and him, rolling around on the ground, touching each other -

"It's not like that!"

Whatever you say...

"Bra?" She jumped at the sound of her name and looked to the door. Mirai Trunks was standing against the doorframe, his hair still wet from his shower, his loose shirt sticking to his chest. Bra caught herself staring, then looked to the pile of books in his arms.

"What are those?" She asked as she stood from the bed and set the brush on the table nearby.

Trunks took that as an invitation and came into her room. He looked around. "Mother did a great job fixing this up,"

"What do you mean?" she looked around the room, as if seeing it for the first time. It was her room in her time as well. The decorations were more dull, but it looked a lot like her own room.

"Up until your arrival, this was a storage room."

"Oh?"

He came deeper into the room. He brought the books to the table, and placed them neatly into a pile. "it's just weird having someone else here, I guess,"

"So what are those?" she asked as she took a step away from him. The voice's earlier words returned to her mind, and she was careful not to give it something to use against her. She looked at the books, and the cover of the only one she could see was titled: Botany for Beginners

"They're just some uh ... " he trailed off as she flipped through the pages. "You said something about studying plants, didn't you? I mean - uh..." she gave him a big hug, but became self-conscious as her bathrobe started to slip down. She pulled away and started to read through the books again. Trunks tried to break the tension with the announcement that supper was ready.

===

Mirai Bulma watched as Bra stuffed her fifth roll into her mouth and ate it greedily. She swallowed it and reached for another carrot. Trunks watched as his new friend ate the way a Saiya-jin should. Bra blotted her mouth with a napkin and looked from Bulma's smiling face to Trunk's grin. "What?"

"We're just glad to see you're eating better," Bulma said as her smile grew a little brighter.

"Oh - I just felt hungry."

"Why haven't you been eating?" Trunks asked slowly.

Bra took a deep breath, "It seems stupid now. I just haven't felt like eating anything. it started - it started out because I felt that I was gaining weight. Then my family," she looked down at her empty plate. "My family didn't even notice I was starving myself. So I decided to just keep not eating, at least until someone noticed. They never did. By the time I wanted to eat ... I just couldn't."

===

Vegeta looked from the empty chair to his depressed wife and son. It had been three heart-breaking days since Bra had wished herself away. During the second night, he had woken up to find Bulma in her workshop, furiously working on a machine. She hadn't told him much about it, but he guessed it was supposed to get Bra. Trunks was still upset about the lack of success with the footprints, as was Vegeta.

"Bulma, you need to eat," Vegeta tore his gaze to ChiChi, who had cooked for them.

"I don't want to eat. What if Bra is hungry? She hadn't been eating. I told myself that it was just teenage rebellion, but I realize now that it was something more ..."

Chapter Five

"I can't believe this!" Bra laughed as she moved her fingers over the piano keys. "I'm playing the piano: me, Bra Briefs!" The notes played out seamlessly as she read from the sheets of music. The song was slow and sad, yet lively at the end. "Thank you, Trunks," She giggled and started playing a happier song. Trunks slid off of the piano bench and watched as Bra played majestically. He slowly left the room until he noticed his mother's presence beside him.

"You taught her well," She smiled and watched her blushing son. "In only three days, too."

"She was a good student,"

"You know that she will be leaving soon,"

"I know," Trunks sighed. "She doesn't belong here."

===

Bulma clapped her hands together and called out for her friends and family. "I fixed it! I fixed it!"

"How does this work, Bulma?" Goku asked as he watched her press buttons on the lighted keypad.

"Well," she started and broke into a long chain of instructions and precisions about how the machine would bring a few people into the Mirai timeline where Bra was. "However, only four people can be transported at one time."

"So who's going?" ChiChi asked.

Bulma looked at the group. "It might not work. There is a certain amount of risk - "

"I am going," Vegeta said sharply.

"Me, too," Trunks added.

"Then the third person is ..."

"I want to go," Pan said softly. She looked at everyone in the room, daring someone to argue with her. Gohan and Videl reluctantly nodded their agreement.

"So, what do we do?"

"Well, I've entered the coordinates, so all you do is push this button," she pointed to the blue button marked 'Commencer'. "That will take you there, and to get back, press the 'Retourner' button."

===

"Are you still going?" Bra asked as she sat at the breakfast table. Trunks nodded. "Can I go with you?"

Mirai Trunks and Bulma grew quiet. Trunks stared down at his plate. Bulma spoke up, "Trunks doesn't take anyone with him. He does this alone - "

"It's okay. Bra can come." He looked up at his mother and smiled. "I don't need to do everything alone."

Bulma got up to clear the table. "I'll do it," Bra volunteered. Trunks looked at her strangely. "I never get to do simple things like this at home." She looked at Trunks and smiled grimly.

Trunks caught the look and volunteered to help. Mirai Bulma left, and Bra started washing dishes.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

Bra handed a dish to Trunks, which he dried and set to the side. "Trunks, I want you to teach me how to fight,"

"What?!" he dried another dish and returned it to the cabinet. "Why me? Why not your brother or your father?"

"They're not going to teach me. I don't want to learn anything too intense, just a few simple moves." She handed Trunks the last bowl and dried her hands on a dishtowel. "I hate this helpless feeling. I want to protect myself, not to always run to Papa."

Trunks shut the cabinet door, then stared into Bra's eyes with the most sinister, most intimidating stare he could muster. Bra stared back with an expression that looked like a cross between an angry Bulma and a smirking Vegeta. "Okay, I'll train you." Bra immediately lost the stare and grinned. Trunks continued, "Nothing serious, just a few basic moves. We can do that now, then go to the graveyard. Are you sure you want to go to a cemetery, you don't know any of these people."

"I don't want to go, but I feel like I should," She shivered. "I mean, why would someone want to go to a cemetery? Why do you go?" Bra brought her hand to her forehead and shook her head furiously. "Why do I always ask the stupidest questions?" she asked rhetorically.

===

Trunks looked from the worried and hopeful face of his mother to the impatient and scowling face of his father. Pan stood beside him, her face thoughtful. "Are you going to press it?" she asked as they stood there. Each was holding at least one hand on the censor, and waiting for someone to activate the machine. Trunks tapped it lightly, but nothing happened.

Vegeta slammed his fist on the button, then a bright light enfolded them.

===

Mirai Trunks brought his arm up and blocked the blow from Bra. She ducked down and jabbed him in the stomach. Trunks stepped backward and brought his knee to Bra's abdomen. She doubled over and sunk to the ground. "Do you have to be so rough?"

"Sorry about that. I think that's enough for now." Trunks stepped back and reached for her hand. Bra allowed him to pull her to her feet, then looked to the still rising sun. Trunks followed her gaze and his eyes settled on the cemetery. "We can go now. Are you ready?"

Bra nodded. "Let's do it,"

===

Mirai Bulma saw the light flickering behind her and ignored it. They had finally come for Bra. She continued working on the machine, leaning close to tie several wires together.

"Um ... Mirai Bulma-san?" A girl's voice, which made it one of Bra's friends. Bulma caught her reflection in the chrome paneling and studied the girl's face. She guessed that this was 'Pan', Gohan and Videl's child. She moved her glare back to the panel that needed to be repaired.

"Where's Bra?" This time it was the voice of her son.

Bulma pushed herself away from the machine and wiped her hands on the slightly dirty cloth nearby. She turned and looked at them for the first time. Vegeta. It felt as if her heart was shattering. His hair was slightly different, but he was still the same Vegeta. Bulma stopped herself on that thought. This was not her Vegeta. Her Vegeta was dead. She turned and focused on the next one. The girl was nervous, she pushed herself from one foot to the next, then darted her gaze from Bulma to her surroundings. She had a Son face, definitely Pan. Trunks stood next to her, looking nervous and uncomfortably. He kept his eyes off of Bulma, and focused on the floor, or various machines positioned across the room. Bulma smiled and tossed the cloth back to the floor where her current work was.

"Where's my sister?"

"With Trunks," Bulma watched their reactions with a smirk. Vegeta was agitated, Pan was more nervous than she had been when she had arrived, and Trunks was looking for a way out of the room.

"Okay. Where is Trunks?" Pan asked and backed up closer to her fellow travelers.

Bulma shrugged and walked past them. "Wherever," she was not going to make this easy on them.

"You mean you don't know where your son is?" it was the first thing Vegeta had said.

Bulma stopped walking and slowly turned to face them, "Are you implying I did a bad job of raising my son?" The room grew silent.

"Okasan?" Mirai Trunks called from the door. Everyone turned to look at him. He stepped into the room and looked from Vegeta to Trunks. "Oh."

"Trunks-chan!" Bra called from another room, "Where did you say the vase was?"

"In the farthest cabinet in the kitchen,"

"Oh, thanks!" Her voice grew louder as she came closer. She appeared behind Trunks, and Bulma inwardly groaned.

===

Oh look, they do care for you, the voice laughed and Bra stood motionless, staring at her friend, brother, and father. "Papa," she looked to Pan's smiling face.

"Bra! We've been so worried about you," Bra stepped backward.

"What are you doing here?" she stepped closer to Mirai Trunks.

"What do you mean 'What are you doing here?" Trunks looked from his sister to Mirai Trunks. He looked back to Bra, "What are you doing here?"

"Why do you care?" she spat.

Children, children...

Bra ignored the voice. She looked back to her brother just as he started talking, "Bra, we need to go now. We don't have time to sit around and talk."

"No," she looked from Mirai Bulma and Mirai Trunks to her family and friends. "I can't just leave. I like it here. I have friends and people that care about me - "

"We care about you," Pan had a look of disbelief that her friend wouldn't want to come home.

"I'm not leaving!" her shout echoed throughout Capsule Corp. She looked from the two families she didn't want to part with.

Go ahead, dear, the voice picked up a more severe tone. You have to chose one...

=====================================

Finished, finished, FINISHED!!! (I thought that I was never going to finish this!) I'm going to start working on the sequel really soon. The sequel's going to have Bra's choice, as well as the identity of the voice she's been hearing. Please tell me what you thought of this. I'm going to write the sequel if at least three people like it! I'm not too sure about posting this, but I really want to know what you think. And if it's bad, everyone is entitled to at least one bad fic, aren't they?