Author's Note: This is a bit of a half and half chapter. First part, Buu's perspective. Second part, goes back to Serah.

Buu:
Serah turned and wandered away. She looked preoccupied, like something weighed heavily on her mind. Dende and I watched her for a moment. My heart ached, seeing her like this.
"I hope I didn't offend her," Dende sighed, hefting himself to his feet and leaving us. I've never known her to be easily offended. I rose to my feet and approached her. Her back still to me, I embraced her. I knew she enjoyed my hugs, she frequently said so for a while after we first met.

"Hi, Buu," she said quietly. I felt her relax into me, turning her head into my neck. I relaxed with her, quieting my mind as best I could. Her body fascinated me. Since the first time I met her, she was slowly becoming more and more like me on the inside. Though none of her organs moved, they changed subtly, as if submitting to the changes that were forced upon her and we were essentially still about the same on the inside. I was always glad when I sensed her heartbeat pulsing. I wondered if she could hear mine because I felt like it was in my throat.
I had been thinking about what had happened over the last week, especially this last night while Serah slept. I felt so overwhelmed with sadness, it made loosing Bee feel almost insignificant. The little puppy I had healed, so he could run away in fear before I turned him into chocolate, just wanted to thank me with dog kisses. I shuddered, fully glad that the evil in me was gone.

"I know you don't get cold up here," Serah spoke again.
"Buu is glad," I replied. "Serah is here." It was true.
She nuzzled my neck, holding my arms to herself. Her voice cracked, "I'm afraid..." She shivered. I have become far too familiar with the same feeling all over again.
"Buu protect Serah," I assured her.
Serah pulled away just enough to turn face-to-face with me. The fear in her eyes obvious, "I'm not very strong, Buu. What if I die down there?"

I felt like I was hit hard in the chest as my heart dropped like a rock. I wished people didn't have to die, that Bee didn't have to get old and die, that Serah would live with me forever... I sucked in a breath and pulled her back to me, "Serah isn't going to die. Buu help."
She didn't resist or protest. I believed it, with everything I had, and I hoped she did, too. Deep down, I knew she had doubts. She came a long way in her sparring, but her first real fight was just a few days ago with that... that evil pink man. He wasn't a Majin, he was... just like Serah when I first met her, but so much stronger.

A few months after I found her, I took her to the summit for the first time. She had been in a strange stupor, barely eating and sleeping. She had started refusing to get out of bed, so I thought watching the sunset and fresh air might cheer her up. She hadn't learned to fly yet, so I had to carry her.
We were there all night once she settled down. I didn't have a clue what was going on in her head, but it cheered her up a lot. She was eating again and wanted to explore more of the forest the next day.
I showed her to the lake a few months after that and she loved the water, even more when she learned to fly.

I sensed a distant presence. It was strong, stronger than the pink man. However, just as quick as the Ki flared, it disappeared. If Serah sensed it, I couldn't tell. I just held her tighter, knowing that she might be right. She might die before this is over.

Serah:
I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay there with Buu and forget the rest of the world. I wanted to forget what I was and what I've become. Only he mattered... But the more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to finish what the government started.
But what could I do? I can't just swoop in, drop a Ki bomb on a facility full of people, and fly away. I can't murder more people.

Gohan finally arrived in the early afternoon. Dende, Buu and I joined him outside. He huffed a big sigh and looked like he had flown hard for a while. "Hey, did you guys feel that presence earlier?" After Buu and Dende nodded, Gohan continued, "Did it come from where I thought it came from...?"
I looked away as Dende said, "It seems we don't have much time at hand."
After some talking and brainstorming, we concluded there wouldn't be much point in trying to go in disguised. Whomever, or whatever, that presence they mentioned was, would just sense us, no matter whether their radars would pick up our Ki.
We would have to take the fight to them. It was agreed to go before the next dawn, to at least give us some advantage. After all, they wouldn't know when we are coming...