Hello dearest fans, time to give what was promised last time on Controllllllll.

Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to be in the greatest vicinity of Akira Toriyama, I am not. But will keep trying.

'-thinking

"-speaking

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"Well, Goku, what brings you here today? It's not often you ever do this without a reason, and I'm only cooking later, so-"

"Bulma. No, that's not what I'm here for," He interrupted, his onyx eyes flashing grimly, clearing her expression of everything except dread and surprise.

"Then... Bra."

He nodded. "We've all done a terrible thing to her, Bulma. She may be seen as evil, and taking advantage of my son... But there's a reason for it. There's a reason for all of this, and no one has even tried to wonder."

"W-What are you saying?!"

His eyes dropped as he took in a breath, his shoulders rounding,"What I'm saying is, Bra didn't even have a prayer against the way she is, Bulma! We watched it happen! We ignored her! We basically did this to ourselves."

Immediately, she stood up, her face unreadable as she turned her back to him and folded her arms. Goku frowned, every part of him wanting to have something to say as an uplift.

"Bulma, I'm sorry-"

"No, you listen here! That was my daughter one day! That was my little Bra, so much like her mom, so full of life- and then one day... It was gone. All of her was gone. You don't think I tried? You think my family means nothing to me to where I'd let that kind of change slip past my noticing?! Well you're WRONG, Son Goku! I tried to help that little girl, and she wouldn't let me. Do you even know, have you even felt... what that does to a parent?"

Goku was silent, regarding her with his eyebrows upturned in utter sadness and sympathy.

"She was clearly out of my control, and I had to accept that. I only could when Vegeta finally stepped in and did his part, but now I'm not so sure that was the best solution-"

"That's why I'm here, Bulma. To tell you WHY that was such a bad idea."

Her head snapped up, revealing her cerulean eyes to hold a misty veil of tears, piercing Goku with their penetrating inquiry. He merely nodded before explaining.

"Something happened to Bra, do you agree?"

She looked elsewhere, guilt etching her aging features before she finally nodded subtly.

"Giving her the power to relinquish it, as if she didn't have it already, was a terrible idea. Gohan was never the one who killed 17, Bulma. Bra was. I wouldn't bet that she was too innocent in that matter, either."

Bulma remained silent, letting Goku's words absorb into her.

"Bulma, she is Vegeta's daughter! I think you've forgotten this over the years, especially she was a child, but she is. She has that capacity to turn to evil when she's in pain. And she will, especially now that she has this new position in society. She will..."

Bulma gasped, putting the two together and finally seeing the outcome of such an event. She would have full reign in a city of about 2,000 people... and it would only increase from there, Bra becoming a Napoleon of sorts, except with intentions of curing whatever pain she may have.

"She has unspeakable power from what I've felt before. She's like Gohan, and with that intense anger, she could probably produce more energy than he ever did! But it's all going to be fine-"

"Fine?! Goku, it's too late this time. No, definitely, this is it. This is going to be the end. I mean... You won't... Kill her.. R-right?"

He hesitated, knowing this question would be the most difficult,"Goten is going to do whatever he can to save this dimension from seeing any more tragedy and loss than it already has, Bulma."

Tears fell down her cheeks as she pressed her heart to her chest, her face contorting in the same melancholic expression as when she found out Vegeta had died.

"But hopefully, he'll help her see the light about all of this. Even though a lot of people turned a blind eye to her when she was younger, he wants her to see that we ARE willing to be there now."

"Well.. Goku, what happened?"

He froze, not seeing this question, not wanting to see the azure plea in her eyes, the eyes of a mother who wanted nothing but to turn the clock back and find all of this out on her own, like she should have. He looked down, his teeth gritting with the indecision. He had read the diary, he felt like he witnessed the entire ordeal from Marron's view, and it made him sick.

"Goku...?"

"In time."

She merely nodded, uncharacteristic for Bulma, who would usually throw a fit over knowing any piece of information, especially pertaining to her family. Goku guessed that what happened to Vegeta, and even with Bra all these years, taught her that there was a natural occurrence for things, and too much at once was never a good thing.

Goku stood up, pulling his oldest female friend to him in a comforting hug, "I know it looks hopeless, but you know me, Bulma. It will always come through for Earth in the end."

"Always..."

When he waved, and shot off into the sky, she couldn't help but feel this wasn't the end of said hopelessness.

Humiliated, to say the least, was the very first thing she felt in her life-changing plunge into this very scarring event. She felt utterly, shakingly humiliated, and it was beyond the shedding of any tear, or any scream that she could have uttered in that dim-lit building that she called home before...

Before this.

She remembered, and yet forgot, feeling so much different before.

Compared to the tearing of her spirit, the days before this event seemed bright, and life looked elated, lift, without any kind of suffering when compared to this.

And tonight, Bra Ouji was having an innumerable dream about exactly that, a flashback, if you will. Gohan himself had his fair share of nightmares pertaining to what he had experienced in his lifetime, reaching as far back as Cell, and then spanning to the most recent loss of his own: His family. Sometimes they were even happy memories, dreams that felt like fiction rather than a reality that once existed as Gohan's daily home life. He just so happened to be sleeping next to her tonight, impervious to the thrashing murmurs she was flailing about the bed.

"Heh, you can't say a word Bra, not a word... Squirm all you want, that's just more enjoyment for me."

Hands all over her, perspiration dripping onto her, other unspeakable fluids making their way over her young flesh...

It was the huge increase in Ki that awoke Son Gohan, but by then, her nightmarish flashback was over, and she was still. With concern gripping his heart, he willed himself back to sleep, feeling intruded by whatever caused that spike in her Ki, feeling threatened and angry by the prospect of something stealing her or her attention away from him. 'Never again. Not this time', he mentally vowed. A handful of hours later, the coarse aroma of coffee made its way through the air and into Gohan's nostrils as he woke up with ease, immediately stretching his arms out.

Bra was nowhere to be seen, that is, until he went into the kitchen of his new estate, financed by Hercule's leftover city funds.

'Or, heh, OUR new estate... Soon. Soon enough, my Bra.'

It was her bright smile as he gazed back at him from her spot at the window, holding a smoking mug of what he presumed was coffee, that made all of his doubts and fears recoil from his mind. He mentally took a snapshot of her in this moment, seeing nothing but happiness in her face and deriving nothing but bliss from it.

"Well, good morning. Did you sleep well?" Gohan asked. Bra shrugged and looked back outside. This made Gohan swallow instinctively, not knowing if he should push the subject or not. 'Oh come on, everyone has bad dreams. Besides, her big qualm with all of the world was just with me, and I've fixed that. Everything's fine Gohan, sheesh. Quit worrying so much.'

"I have to train in a half-hour, so... I thought maybe you'd like to warm-up with me."

His expression dropped as he added both the sublime innuendo and that silky tone of mischief together, the result being a huge force of blood travelling south. His reaction curved her lips, triggering memories of other times that she'd caught his attention on more than one occasion. She gently shook her head.

"Oh Gohan... Not like that. Not..yet."

A typical surge of relief washed over him, but then a wave of disappointment struck him. Why didn't she want that yet? Was she STILL teasing him, or did she have a lack of desire to..? 'Ugh, there I go again.'

"Then again, maybe I did mean it that way. I guess you'll just have to find out for yourself," A slim turquoise eyebrow hiked up on her angelically pale face, reinforcing his arousal even more, but also fighting his prior insecurities. Clad in a smirk of his own, and merely a robe, he brisked toward her with an intent gaze, claiming her lips with an even more intent kiss. Neither could ignore the instant elation, the dazzling intoxication from the hint of forbidden lust between them, the blasphemy of it all. Even Gohan, son of the purest martial artist to date, was nothing against this spell of amorous deviation.

Bra, on the other hand, didn't mind his intense cooperation with her ministrations, in fact she could hardly believe that he'd come back this far into her and her childish scheming over having him. But it was a disbelief that made it all the more sparkling, the more dizzying to her, and it was a magic that felt so rich and alluring that she only wanted more of it, more of him. As her soft fingertips grazed the sides of his face like fallen rose petals, she drew air into her nostrils, taking in as much of him as possible into her to feel that victory once again, the mere proof right here in front of her, under her grasp, and under her spell.

He wrapped arms around her lithe waist that still had build to them, enough muscle to where his passion for her was truly expressed through his force, and even another form of evidence that pressed through his robe and into her lower stomach like a rock. This rock, however empowering, was not a source of comfort for Bra, and thus, the curtains of their dream fell, and the hidden reality showed his callous face in the end.

A shadow made its way through her cerulean orbs as she slightly pulled away, her lips and her warmth leaving him in a mist of confusion and melancholy. He felt his face contort into a quizzical expression, her bottom lip being taken over by her bite. 'What's wrong with me? Isn't that the power I have over him, isn't that what I wanted? I'm not tired of him already, am I?'

"Bra, is something wrong?"

"No! Just.. Just leave me be for now," She replied defiantly, practically stomping to their bedroom to prepare for her training session. Gohan had half a mind to knock on the door, but he didn't want to pester her like his mother would sometimes, and knowing that she was Vegeta's kid did the trick in discouraging him altogether. He decided to go back to the office and sort through a couple things, grade some homework maybe, just something to get his mind off of the fear that was slowly creeping onto him: it wasn't perfect.

She watched from their bedroom window as he left, questions plaguing her storming mind. The hesitation, the nausea, the queasy feeling she got when she thought of it. 'But it's just.. a penis!'

This thought made an amused smile creep onto her face, and then a giggle made its way out of her. But even the humour couldn't chase away the tension.

Hours later, she found herself in the Capsule Corp. courtyard with her father, sweat nearly pouring down her face as she threw punches into the air, her face plastered with concentration and determination, mostly aimed at the obnoxious focus her mind was taking on the morning's encounter. Even her father noticed the difference in her usual demeanor.

"What's all of this extra tension going on with you today? I can feel it all the way over here, and it's written in your Ki."

She regarded him with a curt side glance, and then resumed her exercises.

This made his expression take on a maniacal smirk,"Oh I see, don't wanna share with your aging father now. Well, we'll see if I can't force it out of you-"

Immediately following the end of his sentence, he flew at Bra, about to backhand her but she blocked it, the two freezing where they were for a mind splitting second while her stare penetrated his, the ice in her eyes freezing his into shock.

"No. Not now... Dad."

Seeing that she was serious, he backed down with a "Hmpf" and went back to his training, but not without the last word,"Fix your form. You're slouching. Maybe we should up the gravity in the Gravity Chamber to show you how pathetic it is to be doing that on an Earthling's level."

She stopped, standing up straight with her hands still balled into fists, her eyes drifting downwards to the grass. He looked back with a scowl, waiting for a respecting response. She reached for her towel on a lawn chair, swung over her shoulder, and began to stride into the house,"I think I'm done training for today."

This sent Vegeta into an incredulous rage,'Damn girl is getting a little too rebellious for her own good! Does she not understand that she will HAVE to get stronger to dictate this mudball?!'

Meanwhile, in the bathroom of her Capsule Corp. housing quarters, Bra was splashing her face with water, the coolness hitting her soft skin with a refreshing chill, almost cold enough to shock her out of the thought tornado troubling her. Never had she felt so helpless in a situation, at least, not for a while. Ever since her pubescent awakening, and her rendezvous with Gohan, she had nearly every aspect of her life under control. Nearly...

Then it struck her like a lightening bolt. She'd had another nightmare last night.

'Oh Kami... Did he see? Did it wake him up, and that's why he asked me how I slept this morning?'

She struggled to keep from punching the mirror in front of her, the wave of anger that was coursing through her plain to see in her face, nostrils flaring while eyebrows burrowed in contorted frustration. How much longer would it be until that part of her was satisfied? Not getting Gohan was enough, not reaching Super Saiyan was enough.. What would it be?

'This new position, this leadership... Seeing others suffer under this lack of control, this complete overtaking of shame because of it.. Yes, that is what I need. After all, our newest facility will be built tomorrow, throne and all. The power will be mine, and it will banish this ridiculous memory storm once and for all!'

"Bra?" Came a soft tone from the doorway. Bra's eyes shot wide open to gaze sideways at her mother, who held a hand lightly over her chest, surprise etched on her face. Bra emitted a low growl, pushing past Bulma and making her way out of the building.

"I'm fine!"

Bulma felt her lower lip pout, pity gripping her as she watched her daughter vanish from her sight,"But I.. didn't ask. Oh Bra..."

That night, Gohan saw the entire scene in his head, as he normally did concerning his affairs with Bra. He would instantly snatch her up into his arms in a twirling hug, setting her down just so he could pull her closer into him, to let her know that he was there to protect her, even if it was a little injuring that it wasn't his absence that had wounded her. Whatever it was plaguing her dreams, he would take care of it. He wanted her to know that he would take care of her, if only she'd let him. If only she'd open up somehow, trust him the way she obviously refused to trust anyone else.

'Yeah. I got this, Bra. I won't let anything happen to us now that we've finally gotten this far. You have my word.'

He looked around their bedroom, without decoration as it was, it still held her scent all around it, causing a surge of comfort to envelope his insides. He closed his eyes, letting his lips spread in a content smile, breathing in the sweet aroma slowly as he felt the addition in Ki sneak in.

"What's got you smiling like that?"

"You."

Bra blinked, slightly taken back by the sincere purpose in his eyes and tone as he answered. She didn't have much time to react, however, as he wrapped his strong arms around her for the second time that day, slightly lifting her in a twirl that would send an average girl into a dizzy stupor. Enlightened though she was, her eyebrows contorted in a perplexed, quizzical expression.

"Bra...," Was all he uttered from his lips, brushing a strand of aquamarine hair from her face, his penetrating gaze of concern and security causing her own demeanor of complacent confidence to falter beneath it. She felt an odd tug pull at her somewhere inside, a part of her melting under the heat of his stare with a peculiar willingness, a desire to be collided and molded with him.

Her eyes trembled suddenly, all the built-up tension and the burdens the day's events, and nearly all days before it, suddenly pouring out of her as she felt her own arms return the embrace, somewhat more forceful than his. Gohan let out a small gasp, but it immediately transformed into a satisfied grin; his little girl was taking his offer of comfort.

"I'm here, Bra.. I always will be," He whispered with the grace of the calmest wind into the tendrils of her turquoise mane, his breath brushing against the skin of her scalp, sending shivers through her that she had never before let herself feel with him, or anyone else who dared try. She felt her body take a subtle shudder in the wake of languid warmth she felt within his touch, his very presence emanating a masculine shield over her, licking her deepest wounds and healing her most prominent scars.

Her chest began to heave deeply with each breath she took, the inhalations deeper and the exhalations extended as a new form of calm ran over her entire body. Her eyes closed, veiling her vision with a black velvet that ultimately consummated the ritual of tranquilizing every sense of her body, her Ki level dropping to its minimum, her guard practically nonexistent; Gohan could strike her and end everything if he wanted to, but somehow she felt herself open up to that vulnerability, this seemed... worth it.

"There you go, just relax. Let all of that fear fall away."

Even at his own words, Gohan felt himself doing the same. Being here, the one person he found himself fantasizing and dreaming of in his arms, accepting only his warmth and his hand in marriage, was enough to eradicate any kind og uncertainty born in relation to where he stood in life. Not training nor defeating any unspeakably strong foe could compare to the utter elation that coursed through Gohan as he held Bra Ouji to him, his hands wandering the firm curves of her hips and back with fervent strokes, and his face pressed into her hair, the mere smell of it sending him into an intoxicated trance, the enormity of her effect on him defining her as the only priority to have in that very moment.

Nothing could have separated him from her in that moment.

Time suddenly ceased to exist, and Gohan felt an airy enchantment take over him. Next thing the both of them knew, he was cradling her to their bed, a flurry of heated tingles sweeping through their flesh at the contact of one another as he laid her down on her back before hovering over her, both of his hands near her shoulders as she peered up at him with the utmost haziness clouding her eyes, indicating that she was in as much of a trance as he was.

Her smell, her beauty, her unnatural allure was almost too much for him to handle, every fiber in his being wanting nothing more to absorb her, take her body and mold every inch of it to his own for the rest of the night. He struggled to take in even the sight of her, the long strands of her hair reaching out in every direction of the pillow, tousled and tangled like an angel who fell through the clouds she was originally napping on, her mane now windblown by the fingers that combed through its silky texture, the words whispered into it...

He was her angel tonight as much as she was his.

"I'm going to show you how to relax tonight, Bra. I'm going to show you what you deserve to feel..."

He lowered his lips down onto hers for a soft kiss, and began to carry out his promise.

It began as it always began, the fuzzy layer of blues and blacks that haunted her vision like an unwanted veil, blurring absolutely everything around her as cold air hit her face, bringing the trails of wetness that coated her inflamed cheeks to her attention. After that, the senses regained themselves from an invisible source of will to survive, her instincts lagging behind them as all knowledge of where she was and who she was with eluded her.

Then, the nausea kicked in, like a fist to her naked stomach as she realized exactly what had happened before she crashed into a world of black. Threatened, she curled up into a fetal position, keeping her glistening eyes clamped shut, a shadow filling her insides with a mind numbing fear, everything alert and immensely sensitive to every creak of a windblown door and the fall of a leave from the open window that allowed the cruel current of November wind to chill her further than she already was.

Vulnerable, naked, and the smell of vomit coursing through her nostrils like an inevitable plague that there was no warning, no cause for. Her five-year-old mind did nothing to search for it either. It was all just patience and self-control, waiting and enduring until someone finally found her.

And somebody did.

Never, ever would she forget the comfort she initially felt from the warm, velvet tone of soothe and assurance from this familiar figure of security.

"There you are! Playing hide and seek now? The corner isn't that good of a place to pick Bra, haha."

But then, it registered. The playfulness, the nonchalant attitude towards her nudity...

Even at five years old, she knew that was more than odd, it was disconcerting to say the least, and it nearly sent her back into a ball again until her wide, tear-rimmed cerulean orbs made contact with his. On his tan face was a crooked smile, bright and cheery as any other day. So maybe this was a mistake, maybe there was an accident, trust him, he's a grownup, why not trust him?

"Kee-yumm on. We don't have a lot of time left, so let's get back to our game, shall we?"

'Heh, you can't say a word Bra, not a word... Squirm all you want, that's just more enjoyment for me.'

Hands all over her, perspiration dripping onto her, other unspeakable fluids making their way over her young flesh...

She felt herself blink, suffering a mental flex as the recollection flooded back in, the 'game' being defined in her mind by the sudden gut-wrenching images of her desperately squirming from roaming hands, avoiding his penetrating stare as she felt his frustration grow, making it a cat-and-mouse situation that she somehow knew, in a gripping, muting, toddleristic terror, she would lose. This blew all of the fairy tales that were told to her before this moment out of the water, all hope that she would make it out of this alive, and every thought after that simply ceased to exist.

The numbing began as the realization settled in.

Catatonic thought she was, she did move her hand tenaciously as his thick, strong hand attempted to force a mysteriously unlabeled pill into her mouth. All it took was his sudden fury at her noncooperation, and she felt it in his tightened grip as he pulled her face towards him, crushing her jaws with his forefinger and thumb to open her mouth. She felt the pill slide down her throat, hardly any saliva left to accompany the tablet as it traveled through her nervous system, shutting it down so that she was rendered defenseless within minutes.

"Heh, how convenient science is sometimes. Ironic it was your very mother who designed that pill, too huh?" Another bone-rattling chuckle rang through the echo of the supply closet they were in, but soon it waved and rippled through the confines of space and time when the chemicals kicked in, and suddenly his face, his expression, and thankfully, his eyes were all lost to a spreading sea of thick blurriness that took over, sending her almost toppling to the ground in a dizzy stupor that brought into him a bout of giggles.

He expertly caught her before her fall, laying her softly on the ground, beginning the heinous event that would swiftly thrust the entire dimension into a swirl of heartbreak and vengeance. Bra felt every muscle in her body relax, the ceiling swimming above her as even her feelings went slack, no interpretation of what was happening to her even possible at that point. She vaguely felt hands firmly massaging the contours of her undeveloped body, caressing the areas where curves had yet to grow, breasts had yet to enlarge and shape, and thighs had yet to fill out into shapely weapons of mass lust and desire.

But such power and control was beyond what her mind could have fathomed being five years old, flat on the floor with not a shred of clothing on. Not an image in the world could be conjured and clearly imagined to where it filled her with comfort and refuge. She had nothing but paralysis and apathy filling her to her very core, all aspects of the childhood she led up to this day completely wiped out and replaced with the desolate trauma of this very event.

Then she felt a trickle of liquid fall onto her pale, porcelain skin, its milky texture clearly defined in the little autumn light showering from the window, making her look like a doll that was left out in the very last remnants of the fall rain. Having only the strength to barely open her eyes, she looked down to see four of herself, and then about the same number of the man responsible for completely caging her and forcing her to lay there impervious to his will. His deadly chuckle echoed through the expanded walls of her mind.

"Well, I guess I didn't really have to do that, you are so young and all.. But hell, don't wanna take chances, especially since you're that freak's daughter..."

The face of Vegeta flashed before her eyes, and suddenly a sob leapt from her throat, her eyes stinging with fresh tears that poured down the sides of her cheeks. The awareness returned, the fact that she was still that little girl and she wanted her daddy in this incomprehensible and ultimately defeating situation, but that fact did not last long for her.

"Yeah, what a shame.. he didn't turn up this time did he?" Came the low, growl of menace and resentment that threaded through the thick waters of her altered consciousness, wrapping its ugly blackness around her heaving chest and confirming her fears, destroying literally all hopes and inner pleas of her father rescuing her. Her eyelids fluttered, everything wavering as the tragedy's parasitic effect sunk in, muting her, haunting her, and later empowering her for the next decade and some years to come...

And, as always, the final snapshot of this nightmarish memory from hell was her body immersed with water, and the twirling strands of blood reaching out from inside of her and into the water-

A gasp ripped through her throat as she shot straight up from her lying position, a subtle sense of surprise at her sudden dryness taking over, her surroundings making themselves clear and prominent as her eyes frantically scanned and widened, the blurry figure her target for annihilation.

"Bra! Bra, I'm here-"

Gohan was sent staggering back, his hands flying to his face and keeping them there as shock registered through both of them. She gasped again, flinching backward as if she were hit herself,"Oh, Gohan I'm so-"

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" He demanded, his hands lowering from his face as she stammered for the words.

"I'm sorry, I th-though y-y-you were s-s-"

"No," He cut her off firmly, kneeling before her with that same deep, inviting gaze of his that made her want to melt in his arms again,"What's wrong? What just happened to you?"

It was a question she wasn't prepared for. It was a secret she had kept keenly hidden from everybody, the source of her powers, it was... It was her life. She felt her eyebrow burrow slightly, her gaze turning hollow with burdened discretion,"I... cannot tell you, Gohan."

With that, she turned away from the bed and began walking out into the living room. Or, tried to, and only made it halfway through the bedroom, her side gaze raising to level with his in a slow speed cloaked with guilt, "Absolutely not, Bra. You're going to tell me RIGHT NOW just why you thrashed around like that. I mean, your Ki was skyrocketing! It was.. It was amazing. But your face, it was just so full of pain and anguish and-"

"Nothing, Gohan. It's nothing. Let it be. Let ME be."

"No."

His flat out refusal sobered her expression, a twinge of surprise stabbing her teal eyes, shining with a brooding dilemma, a sharp contemplation that she very obviously was not ready for.

"I mean.. Did you think you could marry me and get away with this? Keeping this from me?" He said it with the harsh brutality of a scorned lover who just walked in on his mate in bed with another, causing Bra to inwardly flinch and feel a wave of guilt rush in. 'Why are all of these fucking feelings coming back NOW?! I just want some peace, he just doesn't get how normal this is..'

So she decided to tell him. "Gohan, this is a pretty frequent thing-"

"I don't care," He chided, his shoulders tensed defiantly as his arms hung loosely to his sides with a confidence she found debilitating,"I won't let anything hurt you the way I saw this hurt you. You should have seen her face... It was like, a nightmare."

'You have no idea...' Came the inevitable thought, and then the yearning that she could come out with that sentence, and the rest of the Kami-damn story. But something stopped her, still. Her gaze drifted downwards, hitting the ground with a final surrender. That is, until Gohan made his way towards her, lightly taking her hands with his, surrounding them with a touch of warmth and security that caused those same waves from earlier to erode again.

He got on his knees again, this time wrapping his toned arms around her hips, gently pulling her towards him in an embrace that tugged at her from the inside, stroking those chords that were so sore from the constant isolation, the mistrust... She felt it, resented it, and eventually let it sink in as she felt those walls open up, the floodgates releasing every pent-up tear that her shell wouldn't allow through. She collapsed into a fit of shuddering sobs, her shoulders wracking from the immense pressure and energy that her body was putting through to fully express the deep scar she fought to conceal in daily life.

His hands laid on her hunched back, emanating the warming Ki that continued to sooth her even in her outburst of emotion,"Shh, Bra. It's okay, I'm here. I promise, I'm here and I won't hurt y-"

"No! I am so sick of fighting, I am tired, I am so worn from it! You don't understand how powerless it made me, how fucking overwhelmed I was, yet so young... So young..." She ended her interruption wistfully, a sadness lacing her tone as her eyes went unfocused, lost in the very few and hazy memories of the days before the tragedy.

"But you're still young, Bra. You have so much time to heal..."

Her head shook slowly,"No, there is so much damage now.. Too many people, and yet I still can't stop. I can't stop this, I won't."

He watched as her eyes filled with tears again, the growing redness in her eyes causing her eyes to shine in their aquamarine hue, and he would've been struck by her beauty had it not been surrounded by so much sorrow, helplessness... It surged his being as much as it caused his eyebrows to curve upwards in sympathy and recognition.

"I-I don't know what to do. It w-was a nightmare, and I have it... I h-have it every night," Her throat was already sore, causing her to rasp the two words that haunted Gohan the most. Every night? Much more than he dreamed of the Cell Games over and over, but there was closure in that. He had the secure belief that his father was still alive and happy in the Other World, and he had a baby brother to take care of.

Bra... had no one. No one but him that really saw this for what it was.

She went on, her voice a trembling tone of quivering melancholy,"I-I tried so hard for so long, Gohan, I was so quiet for all of those years... But then you happened, and I was given a second chance. I had someone to finally take over. I had that power, that control that I lost for so long. The hands, and the b-blood-..!"

He took her and pulled her head into his chest as the upsurge of sobs and tears took over again, Gohan gently rocking back and forth so that the calming rhythm of motion would help her, even if just a little bit,"It's okay now. I'll take care of everything. Just... tell me what happened, Bra. Tell me. I'm here to listen."

That's when she stopped sobbing, stopped crying, and practically stopped breathing altogether as she slowly raised her head from his chest, her face bright red and tear-streaked as a null void entered her expression, as if a ghost possessed her body within five seconds,"Tell you? N-No.. I think.. I think I've said enough-"

"Bra, don't play games please. I'm here for you, I'm the only one who will listen!"

She stopped and searched his eyes, notion how fervent and determined his gaze suddenly caught, that Saiyan fire in his eyes that burned at her instincts. He practically made himself a target in her eyes in the span of a minute.

"Bra? Stop staring and just tell me, dear. Please?" Now his face was clear, his tone as sweet and sincere as a mother's morning greeting. She rapidly blinked through the grave realization in that very moment.

He couldn't be trusted.

She began to back away, and that's when she felt confirmation as it all happened again. He came towards her, his voice pleading still, but every word was lost on her part. The room began to swerve, his face began to blur, and the hands, his hands were almost clutching her arms as he got closer, and closer, backing her up into a wall...

Nowhere else to go, the helplessness stabbed at her, and her instincts, her learned mechanisms flared in response. In the blink of an eye, Gohan was sent back into the very opposite wall of their bedroom, a whirlwind surrounding him and throwing their small amount of belongings around like leaves in the wind, the gusts of her energy causing his eyes to tear over, his skin crawling at how chilling the wind pressure of her Ki levels were.

She glowed a bright blue, her hair waving in the air in tangled tendrils, all of her muscles perfectly defined and bulging in the bright light of her aura. Her face was contorted into a snarl of vengeance and defense, all thoughts lost except the very aim of her powering up: defeat.

Raising one arm, and a side of her lips to resemble something of a malicious smirk, she pointed her forefinger and middle finger, preparing her inner Ki for a killing attack.

'Oh no! She's ready to freaking kill me now, and her power has me stuck to this wall...'

Then he felt the jump in her Ki, meaning she was only a fraction of a second to attacking him, and the one sentence that came to his mind practically leapt from his mouth at that very moment.

"BRA, STOP I'M NOT HIM!"

Bright light faded into darkness again, the wind ceasing, and the up in her Ki fell to a drastically low one as he felt himself lower to the ground again. Her eyes were obscure, hardly readable to him, but he wasn't too surprised as she had just displayed the most radical behavior he had seen of her yet.

Breathlessly, he managed to ask,"Um.. Are you okay? Feel better?"

Still unfocused, she nodded her head slowly, then made her way to the window as Gohan watch on, mystified.

"What are you doing?!"

Without a reply or even a glance back at him, she launched herself off into the late night sky, her silhouette fading amongst the flurry of stars decorating it. He caved in on himself in that moment, feeling every bit of a failure as he did so many years ago when Videl left this planet for the last time. He fell to his knees, the startling, shattering revelation dawning on him.

She was slowly falling away from him, again.

And that's where I'm stopping!

A showdown is soon to come...

Next Time: Goten's time is finally up! But is he too late?