His Demons, Chapter 5:

One Life Lost, Another Gained

A DBGT fanfic by LadyRivka

Night after night, Arale began to worry. Her consumption of Robobitan A was such that Cipu was lacking in nutrients and was starting to freeze up.

But then a voice from inside her head suddenly yelled, Do you want to be stuck here for the rest of eternity or not? Get to Bulma! GET TO BULMA!

Arale doubted herself for a moment; but then her gut-twisting turned into more positive gut feelings that she should see Bulma Briefs about her daughter's condition.

So off she went in her air-car, flying ever steadily towards Capsule Corporation with her half-paralyzed daughter in tow.

The purple-haired replicant was warmly greeted by Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, who offered her some lemonade and cookies.

"I'm sorry about your loss," blurted Mrs. Briefs.

"What…what do you mean? Surely you, Doctor, or your daughter can fix Cipu-chan here!"

"No, no, my daughter and I can fix her, most definitely. But not even the gods can fix who died today…"

"Who, Shujin-kun?"

"If you mean Cyborg #17, yes. He died. He had to. Earth was at stake, and Gokuu and #18 killed him with a two-step maneuver."

Arale sobbed into Mrs. Briefs' shoulder. "Say it isn't so…say he'll come back… it wasn't his fault…it never was…Gero had a hold of his brain, dammit!"

"There, there," cooed Mrs. Briefs as she patted the android's shoulder. "Life isn't fair sometimes. You have to live with it. Be strong, sweetie. By the way, I can take you and your daughter in to see my Bulma…would you like that?"

"Y…yes, please," whispered Arale.

The Briefs, Arale, and the unconscious Cipu clutched in Arale's hands wandered towards Bulma's lab. Bulma's parents left, letting Arale cherish a few precious moments of silence.

Then the intercom blared on like all the plaintive screams in Hell.

"Who is it?" asked Bulma.

"A-Arale. Norimaki Arale."

"Come in! It's been awhile since I've seen you!" The massive gate-like doors opened, and Arale was compelled to enter.

"I-I have a problem with Cipu here…"

"Yes, she's quite a wreck. I could fix her in about an hour, give or take. By the way, I'm very sorry about your loss."

Arale snapped. "ALL YOU CAN DO IS SAY YOU'RE SORRY?!? DO SOMETHING! JEEZ!"

Bulma just stared at her.

"Anoo, sumimasen. [Umm…I'm sorry]."

"It's okay. In your situation I'd be devastated. Here, let me take Cipu and fix her up."

"Okay." She handed the unconscious raven-haired artificial five-year-old girl over to her creator.

"Oh, and by the way, I have a surprise for you." Bulma winked. "Bra grew too old for her, so I'm giving her to you, reprogrammed."

As Arale stuttered out "Huh?", Bulma went into her lab to fix her daughter.

Arale just sat there, in front of the door. There was no way in hell that shujin-kun would come back. Dr. Gero had tracked him down, used him for his own insidious purposes, and left him on a sort of kamikaze mission. Arale prayed his original self was in heaven, rejoicing with gods and heroes of the distant past, and that Gero and Myuu went back to Hell where they belonged. She hoped life as a widow would be everything it had been with her husband, maybe even that she could start over…even if it meant leaving the cabin and returning to Penguin Village, her hometown…

All of a sudden, a CREAK came from behind. She looked up and saw Bulma, with two little android girls peeking underneath, both yelling, "Haha-san!"

"Thank you, Bulma, for fixing her. And…who is this one?" She pointed to a jinzoo-ningen with dark pink hair and black eyes that eerily resembled her as a child (apart form hair and eye color).

"That's Cerise. Or, if you want to get formal, Capsule Corp.-no Jinzoo-ningen Nigoo. I made her as a plaything for my daughter when she was younger; she quickly outgrew her when things like boys and makeup caught her eye. It's the best I can do to replace #17…"

Arale looked Cerise in the eye and said, "You are beautiful. I will try to love you to the best of my ability, like I do my other daughter. I love you…" She bent down and hugged the android.

"I love you too, Mom," said Cerise.

Teary-eyed, Arale carried Cipu and Cerise, her two bundles of joy, and headed out to her aircar, her heart simultaneously sorrowful because of her husband's death and joyous because she had someone else in the family to love.

END