Chapter 37:

Hi! Sorry for the short delay; I was celebrating my birthday. But now that it's over, it's time to once again focus on writing! Enjoy!

Mochi searched wildly for a familiar face, but was shocked and a bit scared to find none. The only one she could recognize was that girl, and she didn't even know the girl's name! "Where am I…?" she wondered aloud

"Here?" the man asked. "Oh, you're at Kami's lookout. Sorry about the thin air; we're pretty high up."

"Kami…? But doesn't that mean God?" Mochi demanded. "Well?"

The man made a quite child-like thinking face. "Well, yes and no," he said earnestly. He turned back. "Dende!" he called. "Why don't you come out?"

"Okay, okay, Goku. I can never argue with you," said a teenage-sounding voice. Mochi looked around for the person it belonged to…

Or maybe exactly person.

Mochi let out a bloodcurdling scream when this "Dende" came out. His skin was green, though quite acne-free. His ears were pointed, and he. Had. No. Eyebrows. Mochi was literally shaking where she sat.

Dende sighed. "I was expecting that…" he mumbled.

Wide-eyed, Mochi tried to amend. "I-I didn't mean it like that, I mean, you know, YOU HAVE VERY NICE SKIN!" she blurted out.

Arrgh… Mochi mumbled to herself. Dende looked at her, confused for a moment before turning to the young girl Mochi had seen before. "Kinda random, isn't she…?" he said to her, grinning.

In an instant, Mochi was up in his face. "I'M NOT RANDOM!" she hollered.

Anpanai smiled at the girl's antics. She liked her; she reminded her of her mother. But, seemingly enough, the girl seemed to only remember her from the fight with Dabura, which she had not won.

In fact, a fat, pink blob of mush did. When they were escaping, Anpanai just managed to catch a glimpse of the enemy's demise.

She pondered this. The blob hadn't seemed that mean; in fact, it seemed kind of childish, doing only what his master told him, and not knowing the difference between right and wrong. Maybe he wasn't all bad. Maybe he could change. Become an ally—for the better.

Stepping over to the girl, she smiled. "My name is Anpanai." She held out her hand. "What's your name?"

The girl blinked at her hand for a moment before finally taking it. "My name is Mochi," she said. "I'm on your side."

"Oh, goody!" Anpanai squealed. "We need all the nice guys we can get!"

Mochi looked at her, slightly shocked for a minute before breaking into a smile. This girl truly was pure as gold.

Suddenly, Anpanai felt a tug on her shirt. She looked down behind her to see the curious face of young Goten, who with his comrade Trunks had followed them to the lookout on account of sensing their chi. "Who's the big girl?" he wondered aloud. "Is she a meanie like that Videl?" the boy wrinkled his nose in distaste. That girl Videl was weak and mean. He hoped this girl was strong and nice, like his older sister.

"This is Mochi, Goten," Anpanai told him. She turned to Mochi. "This is Goten, my…uh…little brother." Mochi could tell from the pain in the young girl's eyes that she was feeling conflicted, so she decided not to prod on, having gone through this sort of thing herself. Bothe girls were dealing with some tough times, and through that, a silent friendship was created between the two.

Anpanai tuned back in to her father's words. She listened to him talk about something like…fusion? She unconsciously leaned forward, wanting to hear more.

"If two of us, same stature and power, could fuse together, we could combine their powers and make a super warrior." His eyes slowly drifted to Mochi and Anpanai.

"Oh, no," Mochi said, shaking her hands out in front of her. "She and I may both be girls, but I have my limits."

Goku exhaled loudly, then put his cheek back into his fist.

"Mister Goku?" a deep voice said. "I believe the two young men may be of some help."

"What?" Goku looked around to see the empty face of Mr. Popo behind him. Unconsciously a shiver ran down his back. Just seeing his face gave him chills. "Do you mean Goten and Trunks?" Goku looked uncertainly back at the two, who were blissfully unaware of the dire situations fluttering about them. "I don't know if they're ready."

"I think they're ready," Anpanai spoke up. "They're both really strong right now. I think they can take it."

"Very well," Piccolo said, appearing from the shadows and taking the two boys by the hands, leading them into the palace. He stopped, one foot resting on the first step and turning back. "If Buu comes up here," He looked directly at Anpanai. "Protect them." He turned around, his cape billowing behind him, and was gone.

Protect them. Protect them. Anpanai nodded vigorously, though Piccolo wouldn't be able to see it.

Just then, she was once again ripped from her thoughts as a loud explosion sounded. Gasping, she and all the other Z-fighters looked around, trying to find a source. Anpanai blinked as she thought she saw a pink tail-like thing over the edge of the Lookout. Then she saw a head….and the a pink muscular body!

Buu!

Why did he look different? And why was it him and not Gohan at the Lookout?

What if Gohan…?

Unconsciously her slim hand reached out to grasp her mother's dress. Chi-Chi squeezed it, looked on the horror as the smirking, pink menace landed on the Lookout, looking hungry for fresh meat….or candy.

Vegeta was gone, too, Anpanai realized. What had happened to the two?

"Oh no!" Another cry came out from behind them. Goku was beginning to disappear. "My time is up," he said with a sheepish grin.

"WHAT?" Everyone stared at him, half crazed.

"Papa, you can't go now!" Anpanai pleaded. "Please stay!"

"I'm sorry, Anpanai. Don't worry. I'll see you when you die. Just don't let it be today!"

And he was gone.

With that Son grin still plastered onto his face.

But up in Other World he watched the scene below in dismay, crossing every part of his body in hopes none of them would be killed that day.

But he shouldn't wish for the impossible.

Back on Earth, Anpanai was quivering. Buu stood before her, completely still, as if waiting for her to make a move, at least to the human eye. Anpanai was smart enough to know that he was bracing up for one, by the way his shoulders tensed and his feet were planted. She dropped into a defensive stance, knowing she had to be ready for anything. In her peripheral vision, she could see Mochi do it, too.

Protect. Protect. Protect them. This ran through Anpanai's head all the while. She was now the only one (besides Mochi) who could protect her family now. All she had left was Chi-Chi and Goten (or was it Trunks and Bulma…? She still wasn't sure.). And she didn't want to lose them. No one.

She found herself surprised when she heard Piccolo's deep voice yell, "STOP!"

Buu looked up and scowled.

"Please, Buu," Piccolo said, and Anpanai gasped. Piccolo had been reduced to saying "please"? The situation must have been worse than she thought! "Give us more time. The warrior inside is getting ready. Wouldn't you be unhappy to fight a weak one. I beg of you, give us an hour?"

"…Hour?" Buu asked. "How long is 'hour'?"

Piccolo materialized an hourglass and set it in front of him. "This is an hour," he explained. "When all the sand has fallen, your time will be up."

"Okay," Buu said, and sat down in front of the hourglass, examining it closely. His empty eyes scrutinized every grain of sand, as if looking for explosives.

Anpanai watched this scene, dropping her stance. Piccolo left once again. She felt a tap on her shoulder

"This is what we're dealing with?" Mochi whispered to her.

Anpanai nodded. "Don't underestimate him. He's a fearsome enemy."

The two lapsed into silence once more.

Chi-Chi, behind them, was boiling with anger. The monster that had killed her son was just…sitting there. Relaxing! Doing nothing!

Her shoulders up and her chest puffed up, she marched right over to the pink menace, raising a hand and slapping him right across his mushy face.

"Mama! No!" Anpanai squealed, but her mother didn't seem to listen.

"How dare you just kill my son and then come here to wait for my other? Are you listening? Look at me when I talk to you!"

Buu turned to look at her, slowly enough so that the rest could hear the cracks from where they stood. He asked one simple question. "…Do you like eggs?"

"Eggs?" Chi-Chi asked. "But what does that…" she was cut off. She just disappeared.

"Mama!" Anpanai cried, trying to run to her. Mochi held her back, and Anpanai could see that in place of her mother was an egg.

A now crushed egg, due to Buu's foot.

Anpanai's eyes were wide and filling with hot tears, her fist were fist and she was shaking with anger. "You monster," she whispered. "You sick, sick monster."

And the worst thing was, right after he killed her mother, he sat down once again to look back at the hourglass.

And that was when Anpanai snapped.

W.O.T.L.: Whew! Glad I got that chapter out of the way. I know some parts may differ from the real timeline, but I hope I keeping close enough to the plot for your liking.

Vegeta: (mumbling) Stupid readers…sending me death threats. As if any of you could kill me…

Anpanai: I could kill you.

Vegeta:…

Odeni: Vegeta, lay a hand on her and your fresh meat.

Vegeta: Ha! Foolish boy, you think…

W.O.T.L.: Hey! Save it for the next chapter.

Vegeta: What ever I'll still kill you all.

Anpanai: (sweatdrops) Anyway, read and review, please!