Author's note: It's the last and the longest
one! I'm done for now! Thank you for bearing with me and coming along with me
this far! I love ya all!
Author's Pleading: Please, please READ and
REVIEW! All I need to make this week better would be reviews and feedback. And
to the people who have reviewed me, a big warm and heartfelt THANK YOU from the
bottom of my heart.
The Visitor – Part 5
The next day was a gloomy
morning with slight drizzling and cold winds. Vegeta had insisted on Trunks to
train with him and off they had gone. The only difference this time was they
had brought Bra along. She asked them if she had wanted to bring Set, but
Trunks had shaken his head, no. He had tried to wake her up but she had been
asleep very soundly. Bulma believed it was the first time in Set's stay here
that she slept soundly. Bulma had woken up to Set's whimpering in the middle of
the night, presumably from nightmares.
Not
forgetting Bra's advise, Trunks asked his mother to go over to someone else's
house while they were gone.
"As Bra had
said, you can't be alone together."
Bulma had
brushed him off. Don't be ridiculous she had said. You can't leave a guest in a
lurch like that. Trunks had eyed her, watching for any nervousness but gave in
finally. Trunk's trust had grown in Set. And so she was left alone with Set.
It was
almost ten in the morning when she decided to check upon Set. Set had not
wakened up and she hadn't heard a peep from Set. Worriedly, she had gone up to
check on her. That was when the fear had set in.
Set was
missing from her bed. As Bulma walked into Set's room the door slammed shut.
Bulma turned around to see a very cruel smile etched on Set's face. She had a
look of pure maniacal power but her eyes were similar as they were on the first
day they had met, lifeless and dead. Set had a gun pointed directly at her
head.
"Set!"
Bulma began, her voice squeaking.
"Good
morning, Bulma."
Ser ran her
hand through her hair. "Good news for me, Bulma. I remembered what my orders
are. Bad news for you, Bulma. They are…to kill you."
"Excuse
me?" Bulma whispered.
"There,
there. After all, you are in the way of the Directive. We can't have you
leading the Resistance. It is so much easier once you're gone." Set laughed.
"The
Resistance?"
"Well, of
course you don't know what it is. The Resistance is the pesky little group with
those Saiyan bastards try to stop the Directive. You know, try to liberate
countries that don't need liberation from the Directive. Think about Bulma, the
Directive is for your own benefit!"
Bulma
didn't know what to say. She was beginning to regret not following Trunk's
advice. Set was a maniac, she was a killer! She should have realised it earlier
and not have gone on with her instincts. She should have gone with her head and
killed Set or locked her up or something! Idiot! She berated herself.
"But of course you don't know that yet, Bulma. This is the past. What I've said to you is the present. But to you…it is known as the future!" Set began dramatically. This is almost cliché, Bulma thought sarcastically with her fear.
"The
future?"
"Yes,
Bulma, I am from the future. Surprised you a bit huh? My mission is to kill you
and go back home."
Set had definitely gone insane. She didn't seem to remember the three weeks she had been passing at their home! Bulma swallowed hard. "And you're going to kill me because I'm the leader of the Resistance?"
"Yeah.
That's about it. So, say your prayers Bulma-san. The resistance is no more."
Set paused.
"Oh, and before you die. I think you should know this. Your daughter's special
powers…I have them too. Their purpose, the one where Vegeta refused to tell
you? It makes you a better hunter, a better predator. The skills make you a
better killer. I bet you without your influence, I am sure your daughter would
live to be my age…but with you, she had died. Now, with your death, perhaps she
would be the huntress she was meant to be."
As Set
aimed her gun well, the door suddenly banged open revealing Trunks. Set turned
around and was about to shoot Trunks when he wrestled the gun away from her.
Before she could react, Trunks used the gun and knocked Set unconscious.
"Mum! Are
you alright?" he yelled.
Bulma who
had been frozen to her spot sprang to life and sat beside Trunks. She needed
her son to be by her side. It made her feel safe. She watched as Trunks picked
up the gun and accurately shot the choker around Set's neck. The choker
disintegrated and Trunks sat down, panting hard.
"Thank
goodness I came here on time,"
"Trunks,
I…" but Bulma never finished her sentence. She looked at Trunks and realised
something. It was Trunks who she was seeing in front of her. It was Trunks with
his lavender hair and blue eyes. But he was so much older than the Trunks she
knew that it must be…
"You're not
Trunks! You're…." Bulma began in hysterical voice.
"I am Trunks," he began gently.
"I'm just older, mother. I'm from the future"
Bulma could not say a word as
Trunks picked his Set up and held her in his arms. He kissed Set on the
forehead and his eyes welled up in tears.
"Why do you
care for her? She tried to kill me!" Bulma shrieked.
Trunks
gently brushed aside Set's hair that had fallen on her face. He held her
tighter as his mother yelled at him.
"It wasn't
her fault…it was the choker. The choker blocked her real memories, feeding them
with fake ones. It also blocked her emotions. Once she has received her orders
she becomes a killing machine. She won't stop until she's done. She won't
remember the things she had done to you or the nice things you've done. She's
not fully conscious on who she really is."
Trunks
looked at his mother. "Do you know how long we've looked for her? We've been
looking for her for three years. The elusive Lieutenant 78. The killing machine
that had been working for the Directive against her will."
"I don't
understand…who is she?"
At that
point in time, Set's eyes fluttered open. She looked around slowly, her eyes
wild with fear of the unfamiliar surroundings. She was about to panic when her
eyes fell on Trunks.
"Trunks? Is
that you?" she began with a hoarse voice.
Trunks
smiled widely. "Yes, Bra, it's me. You're with me and you're coming home now."
Set or Bra
struggled to sit up with her brother's help. She smiled at him before giving
him a long hug. Bulma watched the two siblings embrace in half-horror and half
relief. Set was her daughter! She was Bra from the future!
"But
how…but her hair is black!" Bulma heard herself say, tying to convince herself
that she was not her daughter.
"They made
me dye it while I was with the directive." Bra speaking softly, trying to
understand what had happened to her. "I was so confused as to who I was as a
person. I didn't know who I was. All I knew was that my family had died and
that the Saiyans killed them. It was my duty to kill. I didn't feel much
because…the choker, it blocked out emotions."
Bulma
looked at Bra/Set. It explained all their similarities and the effect Bra/Set
had Vegeta, how she managed to control him.
"Mother,"
Trunks began as he stood up. He held his hand out to Bra and helped her up. "We
have to go home now, immediately. She has to go home now; she hasn't been home
in three years. Mother and Father miss her desperately. And she is needed.
There is to be a battle between the Directive and the Resistance. And we need
Bra to fight for us for the first time, not against us."
Bulma
didn't know what to say. "Wait, this is all happening because of the war
between the Directive and the Resistance. Are you saying that my daughter would
be kidnapped and abused this way? Or tell me that this future would change
because you warned me."
Trunks
shifted uncomfortably. "Mother," he began in a gentle tone. "I do not
know…perhaps it would, perhaps it wouldn't."
"I'm sorry,
Mum." Bra suddenly interrupted. "Forgive me for what I tried to do. I would
never mean to hurt you in any way at all."
Bulma
silenced her with a hug. Bra broke down and cried in her arms. Bulma cried too,
knowing the pain her future self must have gone through, missing her daughter
for three years, knowing that her daugher was killing emotionlessly in the
future.
"I wish I
could say goodbye to Papa but…"
"He's right
here." Said another voice. It was Vegeta standing at the door throughout all
the commotion.
Bra threw
herself onto her father. "Papa, I'm sorry too." She began, tears streaming down
her face.
"Don't say
sorry to me. You have nothing to be sorry about. Go home and find your father.
He misses you very much." Vegeta said gruffly, reluctantly hugging his future
daughter back. Bra knew what he was in fact, touched by his emotions, although
it was hidden behind his controlled voice.
"Wait…Bra,
Trunks. Stay." Bulma pleaded, saying the first things that popped in her head.
"You don't have to go back to such a war!"
Trunk shook
his head. "We would like too, but we have to go home immediately. It's
important, there's another battle going to happen." Bra smiled sadly but the
thought of going home to her parents cheered her up so much.
"I'm going
back now, mum, papa! See you in the future!" Bra yelled cheerfully. Future
Trunks nodded to his father and hugged his mother goodbye. And then, the both
of them walked out the door and out of their lives forever.
Epilogue
"Papa,
you're frightened." Bra observed.
Vegeta
studied his daughter and she climbed into bed. She smiled her sweetest smile at
him. Yes, he was frightened. The future Bra had shown that peace wouldn't last
very long, that another war would begin. And that he would loose his daughter.
"Don't
worry, papa. I'll always be with you." She smiled.
She gave her
father a hug and he hugged her back tightly. The thought of loosing her…yes, it
frightened him. Was it inevitable? He didn't know. The future had changed
before…could it change again? Bulma had blamed Bra's training as the cause for
her to be the killer machine in the future and forbid her to be trained. But
without proper training, Vegeta had lied; her powers would overwhelm her to
insanity. Bra had to be trained. They now knew of the future chaos that would
soon come. But would their Bra be the same as the Bra that had come to the past
to kill her mother? Or had the future changed?
"We'll
always be together right, papa?" she asked in Saiyan.
"Yes, we are." He replied in his own
language.
Bra sighed
contentedly. "Good night, papa. I love you."
"Good
night, Bra," Whatever that may happen, will happen. But that would not stop him
from promising her this. "We'll always be together. I…love you too, Bra."
The End
The song was from 'Highlights from The Phantom of the
Opera'
Song title: Wishing you were somehow here again
Singer: Sarah Brightman
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
I really recommend this CD to anyone. Especially good
tracks: Phantom of the Opera, duet by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman and
Music of the Night by Michael Crawford.
Shameless advertising…..hehehehhe.
Thank you once again!!