Straight to it!

Timberrrrr.

P.S.: I am EXTREMELY pleased about how many reviews I got, each gave me butterflies to open and I'm very happy you guys are enjoying it and following it with so much curiosity. As for those of you who GUESSED what happened to Bra, I also hope it IS obvious. I feel like I haven't given enough backstory and I've left alot of questions hanging, but I promise they'll come to light as soon as possible. For now, enjoy this shortish chapter and enlighten me with more of your fascinating feedback :)

'-thinking

"-speaking

Fire surrounded him once again, his skin was sheeted with a gleaming blanket of perspiration, as if his body was inadvertently trying to protect him from the engulfing flames with its own liquid. Awareness hit him square in the head when his eyes looked up and saw his family, his friends, virtually everyone he knew about to be claimed by the hands of the fiery fate around them.

A black fear clutched at his chest, a scream rising into his throat, ready to be released when suddenly he saw her, the lithe, towering figure standing amidst his fallen loved ones, her eyes a glowing red in contrast to the shimmering blue he was so used to losing himself in.

"Why hello there... We meet again, Goten."

Her voice, a steadfast sultry purr of charm and casualty lit his heart with hatred like a match thrown into gasoline. He felt his features contort into a scowl as his only response was a titillatingly large ki ball blasted through his palms in her direction. She easily blocked it, her eyes keeping that intense infra rouge shade of evil unfaltering.

"Tsk, tsk.. When will we learn to keep ourselves under control, Goten?"

"You're the one out of control! Look how your own evil has consumed you! Look what you're doing to these people!"

"Yeah yeah... Now ask me who is stronger between us?"

A growl emitted from deep within his throat as he again launched an attack at her, this time scorching the arm she chose to defend herself with, releasing a growl of her own.

"I am!"

Narrowing her eyes, she hunched her back and pressed the insides of her wrists together to create a stream of ki bullets at her foe, who lunged himself under them and got to his mother, whose face was decorated in streaks of ash and debris. When the smoke cleared, Bra realized she had missed her target and snapped her head back to see Goten holding his mother up. He felt her burning stare and instant-transmissioned himself into the air, far away from the evil illusion that threatened those he loved.

He set his mother down on the ground of the time chamber, feeling a strange mist taking a hold of his eyes,"Mother, all these years I was gone, I'm so sorry-"

"Hahaha! You cannot escape my wrath little boy... Their time is up. And so is yours!"

Her cackle came not too far behind him, a panic spreading inside of him until he heard his mother's trembling voice,"Dear son, it's okay. It's all going to be okay, just like your father said.."

Before he could tell her to keep her strength, he was grabbed around his neck from behind, a foreign force gripping the back of his neck like a power he had never felt before, inescapable and paralyzing. Not even fear at his reach while shock possessed every muscle in his body, and for a second he could hardly fathom who it was that held his body at such hostage.

"...Boo."

"I-I'm not af-fraid of you..."

"Not yet."

With that, he was thrown to the side, skidding across the porcelain floor before gravity finally halting his wounded body. His neck felt punctured, as if someone had twisted it into every angle it could possibly go.

"Pity you never learn from your mistakes. Like father like son."

He glared at her as he put his weight on the arm under him,"The only one making a mistake is you."

"And look who is still standing, Goten."

"Not for long, Bra."

He vanished into the air, appearing behind Bra and striking her back with his elbow as she cried out, twisting herself so that she could land a punch onti his face. He ducked and grabbed it, throwing her like a ragdoll up into the air and behind him like a basketball. He felt his lips curl up in a smirk as he turned to face her lying body, watching as she picked herself up Her eyes were glowing even stronger than before, penetrating him with their stare as if he were the one trespassing against her reign of terror.

Well.. he was.

"You hypocrite... It's working."

His eyebrows twitched forward, a dark surprise gripping his attention,"Say what?"

"Just like last time, remember? You told me, you wouldn't fight back. The evil is taking over."

'Shit.. She's right. I'm letting the very feeling of vengeance that has taken over her, take over me as well...'

'No Goten! She's wrong! Think of the people she's hurt! They're hurting right now... Go to them, save them and you will save yourself!' Came his father's voice of wisdom echoing in his whirling head. He curtly nodded, taking a dangerous glance at her before complying.

He found Krillin, his mustache reduced to burned crisp, smoke rising from his body as if it were a human fireplace. Goten shook his head, fighting the urge to cough as he laid a hand on his father's best friend's forehead.

"Goten, you're here. It's pretty hot in here, ya know! You should really turn on some A/C.. heh..."

"Don't talk now, it'll be over soon-"

"Goten! Help us!"

"Bulma?"

He looked over to see a sobbing Bulma crouched over the lying body of her son, her blackened hand stretched out toward Goten. A gasp caught in his irritated throat when he looked onto the slackened face of his best friend, knowing that all hope was lost in reviving him. There was another sharp pull at his chest, tears threatening once again as their most cherished moments as kids flashed before him. He stood up, his back to Krillin, and began to slowly walk towards his dead friend, as much as his awareness would allow.

That's when his foot hit something heavy, the smallest thud making the largest echo in his already traumatized conscious.

That bright shade of blue, that haunting pale skin...

'No.. This can't be real.."

It was Bra.

The silky tendrils of her mane spread out like the very fire that surrounded him, covering her face and her presumably closed eyes. Although the entire time chamber was unbearably sweltering, her skin was freezing cold to the touch, his fingertips numb as he slowly moved her bangs to the side of her face.

Her eyes slowly began to flutter open, her lips parting to allow air to move in and out of her chest. There was a heavy fog within her cerulean orbs, a certain yielding that he saw inside of her that he knew was due to the strenuous life she had led to gain power and revenge for something so painful, so scarring.

But this was the real her, he felt it just as he had in the alternate universe.

"I'm here, Bra. I'm here.."

"I'm sorry, Goten. This wasn't want I truly w-wanted. It's all my fault..."

"No, it isn't! We'll fix this, we will. You and I both."

A faint smile brought the corner of her lips up, a certain spark of optimism kissing her eyes for a brief, beautiful moment before they closed again, for the very last time.

And that, for Son Goten, was the very last straw.

The medium-lengthed tendrils swam along with the current of the early morning winds, a painting of twilight splashed across the purple sky, bursts of light in the forms of stars scattered across, further enchanting the hazy sky that provided so much solace for her withering soul. And yet, there seemed to be no sight remotely profound enough to take away what this night held for her.

She was hitting a wall that she hadn't anticipated, and all she could do was stand on a faraway, grassy hilltop to contemplate it. Shaky, unprecedented alarm managed to cover her entire body, her mind moving both a mile a minute, and not at all, fear freezing it into submission while pushing her so mercilessly for an answer, a solution.

Anything.

Someone who she saw as her possession, almost a mere object in her tools of self-actualization, became a threat to her a matter of five minutes. All it took was a dream.

She wanted to kick herself for allowing her habits of thrashing about during these nocturnal recollections to be so apparent, she wanted to kick him for coming so close to her, for loving her like he so adamantly did, and she wanted to kick anything in her path to relinquish the guilt that ate her for not accepting his help...

'No. I can't simply let that happen, I must avoid that at all costs...'

A small voice emerged from somewhere deep inside her, a place previously unborn until recently. Up until this very moment, that voice had been buried amongst the shell of the victimized. It floated upward to berate her for pursuing this destructive aim so persistently... Never allowing it a chance to breathe. But she knew where this voice had come from, and the small stabs of guilt it was creating in her upper torso were enough to convince her that she wouldn't, she couldn't, allow this fickle position any further.

No one would be allowed in..

Not even Gohan.

She licked her lips, feeling the inevitable smirk take over from the permeating emptiness that stifled the voice, presumed deceased in her mind from then on.

Her eyes suddenly narrowed then, wondering if it was really stifled. As determined and focused as she was on her devious planning, her cunning preceded it. And precede her, it did. Instantly, the titillating contours of a bright, foul-proof idea seized her, and the emptiness she forced onto herself subtly lifted into a more... optimistic emptiness.

The bright lights of dawn began to dominate the sky, erasing the dreary purple haze that once surrounded her. She inhaled deeply, her cerulean orbs wide and open to the grand blue that shone in front of her, reflecting the very illuminated deviance that would work to her favour.

Bulma was surrounded by the overwhelming aroma of bacon as she shuffled into the kitchen, her eyes baggy and worn from a tumultuous rest. Vegeta's thrashing didn't help in the slightest either; the two's sleep had gotten out of hand just as it did so long ago. Back when neither had a guaranteeing wish for the future in front of them, back when uncertainty as much as a twisted, bittersweet infatuation possessed their weary, restless hearts.

Her hand made its way onto her face, cupping her cheek as it rested on it,"Hey, Trunks, did you get that vial ready?"

He froze, on his way to setting his plate onto the table, and if his saiyan hands had been shaking any worse, then plate would have set on the floor. With eyes wide, he replied,"Um, what vial, e-exactly?"

She brought her head up straight, an eyebrow raising,"The vial I saw empty on the desk. I figured it was important, or something since we don't really deal with liquids here. I should be authorizing them anyway but-"

"No, no. It's just for a sample of a um.. compound, in liquid form, of one of the metals we use. Liquid-form is a lot easier to examine and experiment on."

She shrugged, her mouth opening only to yawn. Then the shrilling cry of the phone rang to her attention as she stood up with less than enthusiasm. Trunks took that opportunity to slam the contents of his plate into his mouth. All that could be heard was his rapid, cantankerous clanking of silverware in his rush to finish breakfast, and a concerned high-pitched cry coming from the other end of the telephone. Bulma got off the phone, looking off into infinity with her eyebrows creasing in puzzled wonder.

"Huh. Chi said that Gohan called her about Bra this morning, askin' where she was. Weird-"

A gasp interjected Bulma's sentence as she brought hands to her gaping mouth. Trunks stopped eating and turned around to face his sister, who had a content smile strangely decorating her face.

"Oh, look who the garbage-bot brought in. Stupid thing was s'posed to take it out... And leave it out."

Bulma's lips kicked upward, in a jovial frown, as if the event's couldn't be taken account for, a sympathy pouring out of her that she didn't anticipate or become aware of. Bra blinked, looking down at her brother with playfully narrowed eyes,"A birdie can't leave a nest without expressing her utmost gratitude for having hatched there."

With that, Bulma found herself making a beeline past the kitchen table to her estranged daughter, beaming from cheek to cheek. Bra was taken aback, as told by her unseen expression of surprise and dread, and her trembling voice,"...And learning to fly."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The day that followed them was a day unquestionably wonderful, especially for Bulma, whose heart had already been hardened by the acceptance of the way things were, simply because they were the way things had always been. Bra, distant and promiscuous while becoming the troublemaker in the eyes of everyone around Bulma, and Vegeta feeding it instead of exactly restraining it. Trunks was in his own lab world, its contents completely unknown to Bulma except that of his very mischievous secrets involving a certain blond's death and the effect of Pan's vanishing.

She felt like she was the only one seeing this, and not exactly being a part of it.

And the family she had envisioned since she was a little girl, simply demanded that she were.

Today, she had exactly that.

A split-image of her with a track record of Vegeta's, finally being a part of everything, making her mother so as well. They laughed, Bulma nearly cried, Bra nearly laughed even more for such crazy sentiment, as Vegeta would, and she managed to take Bulma for a trip came bedtime.

"Mom.. I'd really like for you to sing me a Lullabye."

"Haha, me sing? Nah... I've always been told I was never any good."

"By?" Bra raised an eyebrow, a spark of interest in her cerulean orbs that flashed in the hallway light. Bulma paused and rolled her eyes.

"Yamcha."

Suddenly a queasy shade of green overtook Bra's face, sending a dreadful wave of alarm through Bulma, jolting her and her slightly horrified facial expression. Next she heard through pulsing eardrums was Bra taking in an extremely long breath, her color vanishing in seconds as she lightly squeezed Bulma's hand with her own.

"Sorry.. Maybe something we ate earlier."

Bulma managed to kick her lips up by a millimeter, faintly nodding before her ever-active mind was epiphanied with,"You sing."

Bra made a face,"Um, what?"

"Yeah.. Sing for me."

Bra licked her lips, looking down for an empty, hopeless second. Then, with mirth shining in her aquamarine eyes, Bra Ouji began to sing.

Mom, please tell me, what to do...

I'm so disappointed in you...

You said those words that made me cry.

And you always wondered why-

Why I sing my lullabye.

Bulma was suddenly entranced by her angelic daughter's ethereal voice, and the sheer talent that bright illuminated it, but the lyrics themselves stood out, gripping her heart with the sad realization that this song held more than just the words of a broken parental bond.

Mom, please hurry unto me..

I waited up so patiently.

You sit down, and you start to cry

But you never asked me why

Why I sing my lullabye...

Was it my fault, they lead you in the wrong direction?

Was it my fault, they didn't showed you any affection?

I show you when I start to cry,

Still you always wonder why

Why I sing my lullabye?

She felt her eyebrows curve upward, a cloud of sadness overtaking her day. But suddenly it sunk in, the meaning that the song was getting at coming from Bra, and a ray of hope overcame her as it always did. She could fix this. Of course, she could, because she never truly tried before to see if it would fail.

Mom, why love me if you're cold?

You just get bitter, then grow old.

Ask me when I start to weep,

Then I'll tell you in my sleep

Why I sing my lullabye...

A break of silence suddenly fell before Bra's inevitable inquiry came to interrupt it,"How'd you like it?"

Bulma's lips spread into a grin, "I love it, it was good baby... But can I ask you something?"

Bra eagerly nodded her head, never taking her eyes off of her reluctant mother.

"Um.. Hm. Haha. I just, uh, wanted to know if... that was about me by chance?"

Bra's expression fell down by the meter, a shadow of guilt replacing it.

"No, no. I'm not mad, it's okay. I'd like for you to.."

"Explain?" Bra raised a single eyebrow, her eyes subtly hopeful.

Bulma nodded with a grin.

"Okay.." Bra took a breath in,"I guess, I heard the song around the time you made Dad take care of me and train me everyday. And.. I remember you singing me to sleep everynight when I was 5, but..."

Bulma learned her head in, curious,"But what, Bra?"

Her daughter's sullen eyes stung hers as she slowly replied in a doomful tone,"You just stopped."

A fit of blinking began on Bulma's face as she leaned away a little, the answer soaking in and packing a punch of the past. Bulma took in a breath of her own, her eyes shutting tight for the quickest second. Then she gave Bra an apologetic gaze, looking at her sideways with a pity soft enough to translate as affection to her daughter. She aptly and warmly wrapped her arms around Bra, "Oh I'm so sorry. I guess I thought.. you didn't need me anymore. Maybe you were like me, and became a free spirit at such an early age, especially with your stubborn father to provide any DNA. I didn't really know how you'd turn out I guess."

"Aren't I just like Trunks?"

Bulma's eyebrows shot up, her eyes wide with comical mirth,"Trunks?! Hahaha. No, sweety, see.. Your father wasn't really emotionally there when your brother came around. We also weren't truly together until he got older. Your father's approval has always been the pinnacle of Trunks' life, even though he has only merely given him any."

Bra's eyes fell to the surface of her ponies-clad bedspread, understanding flashing in the amethyst waves of her irises,"So I see.. I'm the favorite. It's made me.."

"Spoiled. A little cocky. Perhaps even a Princess," Her mother giggled. Bra's eyes traveled to a distant universe where such a royal title befitting her would be an ascension worth having. Glory, just as her father aspired to achieve, would be hers. Bulma got the hint,"Now don't go off flying away from the nest yet. I still got a few more hours of you. Unless you'll.. stay even more."

Bra laid her head of medium-long, blue tendrils onto the pillow, her lips curving with a grateful optimism. "I'd like that, Mom."

Bulma's lips kicked up as she winked to her daughter, making her way out the door to shut it, when suddenly another statement from Bra came to throw her for another stupefying loop.

"I love you, Mom. I always have."

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I'mmmmmmmmmm stopping there.

ALOT is about to happen.

I dont think I can wait to update any longer though haha

Not even the few hours it'll take to fill in this spot I got.

Bwahaha.

Review! Yes?

Give my review-loggy thingy some sexy time.

BTW: song lyrics of Bra's "lullabye" are from Maria Mena's "Lullabye". sweet title, right?

oh and um. that WILL be coming back up later. bewareee.

see ya!

~Jckash03