~
He had woke to a pain that squeezed at his chest, making it almost impossible to breath, but it didn't matter. He was finally free. Finally awake.. It had been so long. He had been powerless in that deep sleep- as if he were trapped in a small chamber, unable to see or hear or do anything at all. It had been a nightmare. A very long nightmare. And nothing could compare to his incredible joy of being liberated.
But he had awoken to a very puzzling sight- he was standing in the middle of a tropical island full of plentiful vegetation and bizarre fruit, and near his now animated body lay two girls. One he was pretty sure was Akki and the other..well perhaps she had cloned herself?
He didn't know how long he sat there trying to figure that out, but finally the Akki in the weird clothing (he had labeled them so it would be less confusing) began to move. Extremely slowly. He could see her trying her hardest to open her eyes, her eyeballs rolling frantically in her head. Gokou wondered absently why this was so hard for her.
"Grandpa?" She asked, the words barely able to work their way out of her mouth.
He blinked at her, "Akki?"
"Pan!" She frowned angrily at him.
"Panny?" Gokou's eyes widened. "What happened?"
It was Pan who reluctantly told him everything that had happened- or at least all she knew- in the last few days, and finally explained that they were in his mind. He frowned at her, none of what she had said making any sense to him, but from the way she was looking at him, he knew that all of it was, horrifically enough, true. And he had been the one, not anyone else, to cause all of these troubles. And even though he hadn't had any control over this situation, he knew that he was going to be the one to pay for it all dearly in the end. No wonder he hurt so much.
~
They arrived on Kami's Lookout, all in poor spirits. They had succeeded and brought Gokou back (or at least Pan had with the help of Akki), but Akki wouldn't look at her father or anyone else for that matter, Goten was seething silently at the man as well, Pan was tactfully silent- for once too tired to fight with anyone, Vegeta was arrogantly unconcerned, and Gokou was thinking of his wife gloomily. The group of people standing on Kami's Lookout, waiting for them, echoed their mood.
Piccolo, Dende, and Mr. Popo stood off to the side, ostracized from the group for reasons unknown to the returning fighters. Videl was crying softly in Gohan's shirt, Gohan darting angry glances from Piccolo to the now visible figure of his daughter. 18 was frowning at own her daughter, while Krillin nervously shuffled from foot to foot. Under her mother's intense glare, Marron was miserable- tears streaming down her face, not able to look up from the ground- obviously having been completely humiliated and firmly reprimanded a few minutes before. As if it had been her fault for what had happened to Bura. Yamcha, Tien, and Chaotzu stood a few feet behind everyone, looking extremely uncomfortable, realizing that they had no right to be there at the moment. Close by Bulma stood, her arms around her newly restored to life daughter, clenching her tightly to her breast, glaring from Gokou to Vegeta's figure. Next to her Trunks stood frowning at his mate and Akki.
The person who looked like she was suffering the most, however, stood on the end by herself, but still close enough to the group not to be left out. Her eyes were red from long dried tears, and her face was morose, but did not hold the same open intensity as the others. Her dress was plain, her hands were folded together simple.
In the air Gokou looked down at his wife, a depressing gloom adding to his already burden-filled heart. He could tell just by looking at her standing there that he had lost her. And it wasn't entirely Pilaf's fault. He had been loosing her since the day he left with Uubu. In her mind and in everyone else's he had chosen Uubu over her..as well as them. And he knew he had.
He had been so hasty to complete this new challenge that he had neglected the people who mattered most to him.. His evil self bonding with Bura was just the last straw. For everyone. Even though he would suffer for eternity from that bonding and even though he would suffer even more now from loosing all of his friends, all of this was nothing compared to all of the troubles and heartaches he had put them through in the last few days and the last seemingly million years.
Chi Chi attempted to smile at him when he landed in front of her, but her eyes were empty, devoid of even her normal angry fire. He had done this to her, and he hated himself for it. He had done so many things to her in their time spent together and since she had forgiven him openly each time, he had taken her for granted. If only he had realized this before..if only he had realized this when there was still time to correct his mistake. If only.. He looked away.
"I wanted you to know that I'm leaving you," She finally said. Gokou looked at her, her words not a complete shock, but they still hurt nonetheless.
"Chi Chi- I know-."
She pressed a finger to his lip, "I know Gokou. I know. Please don't try to stop me."
Gokou was helplessly silent- there was no way that he'd let her off of this lookout to go who knows where without at least attempting to apologize and get her back. There was no way! But..when he looked her in the eyes, and saw the same determined look that she had used countless times in the passed- the same no-nonsense glare that she gave him when she wanted Gohan to study instead of fool around with him or that time when she forced him and Piccolo to get their driver's liscense...
"Chi Chi..I love you," He said, trying to put all of his emotions into that one phrase that he felt beating in his heart for this woman for as long as he had known. A single tear glistened down her cheek as she stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on his lips, before turning and walking away from him forever. And the worse thing was he couldn't do anything about it.
~
Pan watched her grandfather fly down to meet his wife, his face as solemn as it was when he was fighting. She knew it wasn't a good sign. Her grandmother would never forgive him after what had happened to Bura..even though it wasn't his fault. But then.. It wasn't just that either- Chi Chi had been upset before any of this nonsense had happened anyway.
"Pan," she heard Goten ask. "Aren't you coming?"
She looked up to find that everyone was on their way down to the Lookout besides her and Goten. She nodded nervously, and he smiled compassionately at her.
"Don't worry- they won't be mad at you- they're going to kill Vegeta," He said, smirking.
She frowned at him, "You know?"
"Akki found out..and then they got into a fight," Goten shrugged. "It was kind of weird. I could only understand half of the conversation and then she went to help you I guess."
Pan didn't have a chance to reply because they landed. She frowned. Funny- she hadn't even realized that they had moved. Goten grinned at her, for once not having to look down. Pan watched Trunks join him and she wondered why neither had moved towards Akki. That's weird, she frowned. Normally Akki's the center of attention and they were ignoring her! Of course the fact that she had sent them both a death glare might have something to do with it..what had happened between them?
"Uh..did Akki multiply or something?" The rest of the group, excluding Piccolo, Dende, and Chi Chi blinked at her and Akki. Pan frowned. Great. Just great.
"I'm Pan," She gritted her teeth and she could swear that she saw Vegeta's eyebrow twitch in amusement.
"Piccolo explained to us that.." Bulma trailed off, her eyes clouding in tears. "I didn't know..Kami- I didn't know."
"Panny..my baby," Videl whispered, taking a few steps forward, looking her up and down. "How could this happen? Twelve years.."
Pan sighed, and tried to tune everyone out. She didn't want to hear this. She didn't want to see them cry over the fact that she supposedly "lost" twelve years of her life. But she couldn't tune out her mother's cries for very long and everyone else's comments..
"Look!" She snapped. "I did what I had to do to save the world and very possibly the universe. Even if we could have done this another way- what's done is done, so shut the fuck up and don't feel sorry for me!"
Everyone stared at her in shock.
"What Pan is trying to say is that there's still a few more things to explain," Trunks tried to smooth over Pan's statement, but only caused a spark of alarm in everyone's eyes. He sighed. "Goten and I are going out."
A long shocked silence.
Vegeta snorted, "They're mates, but it's not like any of you bakas would understand that. But as long as it's 'everybody shares' time I mated with the brat."
"YOU WHAT?!" Gohan shouted, unable to stop his outraged voice.
Vegeta rolled his eyes, "I bonded with your brat."
Gohan stared at him, completely baffled, "Why on earth would you do something like that?"
"Kakkarott bonded with my brat- I did it to make it even," Vegeta shrugged as if he was explaining the most natural thing in the world.
"How can you even use that as an excuse?!" Gohan shouted angrily. "My father didn't even have control of his actions at the time- and you shouldn't even bring another innocent party into it! What ever issues you had you should have resolved them with my father!"
Vegeta smirked and shook his head.
Gohan clenched his teeth, "And if you touched my little girl then that's ten times worse then what happened to Bura!
Vegeta stared at the younger man, amusement clearly written on his face. Pan watched her father clench his fists, unclench them, and then clench them again. Her mother, a few feet behind him, let out a muffled sob. Gohan gritted his teeth and started forward and Pan couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop it daddy!" She said, stepping in front of Vegeta. His eyes swung to her and he winced, looking at the ground. She frowned at him, a deep gloom setting in her heart.
"Come on Onna," Vegeta said, breaking the uneasy silence. She turned to him, searching his face, and finally nodded.
"Pan," Piccolo spoke up, earning the glare of practically all of the Earthlings standing on the lookout watching the exchange between Gohan and Vegeta. She turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Good job in the last few days."
After a second she nodded slowly and then turned back, surprised that Vegeta had stopped mid-step as well. He grunted and without further intervention flew away from the lookout, leaving two extremely distraught parents and an extremely pissed off mate in their wake.
Videl stared at her retreating daughter's form, tears stinging her eyes. She turned on Piccolo, her dark eyes dangerously lit. He blinked at her nervously, and Dende and Mr. Popo tactfully inched away.
"What have you have you done to my little girl?" Videl whispered, tears coursing down her face. "WHAT HAVE YOU FUCKING DONE TO MY LITTLE GIRL!?"
She launched herself at the green alien, tackling him with a force that would knock a normal human to the ground. But the tall green man did not move an inch- which of course only angered her further. She pounded her fist into his hard chest, tears streaming down her cheek as she continued to hit him, her blows weakening in strength until she was simply sobbing uncontrollably, and Gohan gently pried her hands, off of his once-mentor's gi. She turned and simply stood there sobbing into her husband's chest.
~
Akki stared at the scene in front of her in mild disgust. On one side of her Vegeta stood calmly telling her one time family the most heinous of what happened in the last few days as if he was explaining that there wouldn't be any dressing on the salad. On the other Gokou stood hopefully apologizing- or at least trying to- to Chi Chi- for everything that he had done to her. And in front of her Bulma stood, neglected, but no less upset then any party included.
Akki stared at her mother in compassion. This woman had taken her into her home and raised her as if she were her own daughter- more then raised her. She knew that this woman truly loved her. And after living with her and her family for so long she couldn't help but be extremely upset over the fact that her father had bonded with Pan. Another version of her!
And besides that she knew what her mother was feeling right now- she understood what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you love more then anything, but having to hold her head high in the air and ignore it because she was too strong to break down and cry. She understood how both her mother and even Chi Chi felt, and her heart panged for both of these stout woman.
"Akki," She turned to find Chi Chi looking at her, her eyes full of tears, but her mouth turned down. "Can you please bring me back down?"
"Of course," Akki said, instantly understanding.
~
Trunks had been watching his sister closely on the lookout. She had been deep in thought until Chi Chi had interrupted her, asking for a ride. He didn't know why the woman hadn't asked Goten or someone else. Perhaps she knew that Akki was the only person on the Lookout at that moment who would not only be willing to leave but wouldn't question the woman about her reasons for wanting to. Anyone else would talk Chi Chi out of leaving Gokou. Ask her to give him another chance. Hell even plead with her just to give it a few days while all of this would work itself out. But not Akki. Akki would bring her wherever she asked and then leave her without an ounce of concern.
He looked at Gokou's broken face questioningly. The other man nodded his head fractionally, not taking his eyes off of his resolute wife. Trunks sighed, shaking his head. What had gone so terribly wrong that no one had the courage to do anything but part ways? Had the last few days been so awful? Would the others unreasonably not forgive Gokou for something he had no control over?
He looked at all of the people present. The anguish in their eyes was almost unbearable. It was painfully obviously that they wouldn't easily forgive Gokou for all that had happened. Four days ago they were on the verge of almost getting to the point of giving up on this man, today they were beyond it. This turn of events might possibly be what finally thrust all of these longtime friends and lovers apart. Actually come to think of it- it already had.
He watched Akki leave with his mate's mother, resolving that he needed to talk to her later about what happened with Goten. Which was more then possibly a completely random thought. But all three of them really needed to sit down and talk out what happened. It had been more or less his fault, anyway. He loved Goten. He confessed. How could she blame Goten for finally giving in when he had been so insistent? Things happen when you're looked up in a small (or rather large) space with only one other person there. Trunks wasn't even sure if Goten really did truly love him.
His father had told everyone that they were mates. He didn't think so. Sure they had slept with each other, but Trunks had been careful to refrain himself from marking his lover. He wanted to be absolutely positive that Goten was one-hundred percent sure that this was what he wanted. And the first step in that process would be to talk to Akki.
~
Trunks found her in her room the next day. She had come back sometime during in the night. Perhaps he had been wrong and she had been trying to talk Chi Chi out of leaving Gokou. Or perhaps she just wanted to spend some time alone. Whatever the reason this was when and where he found her, completing her morning stretches. She straightened, having felt his ki.
"What do you want Trunks?" Her eyes were cold and unemotional- her face was blank. It was an expression that she had learned from their father and he knew she only used it when she wanted to be left alone to mope in silence.
He leaned back on the wall, suddenly realizing how hard this was going to be with a sigh. "Just to talk to you for a second, is that okay?"
She stared at him and then shrugged. "If you have time."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Trunks asked.
"Just that you always were too busy to talk in the past," She shrugged again. "But it doesn't matter. What do you want?"
"Akki," Trunks said lowly. Damn. She was going to make this difficult. "Can I come in?"
Once again she shrugged, "If you really want to."
Trunks calmly walked over and plopped on her bed, she turned slightly to face him, but made no move to join him. And why would she? More importantly why SHOULD she? He had stolen her boyfriend. It was something that he never should have done, but he had anyway. He couldn't expect her to even talk to him right now, yet she was.
"I wanted to apologize about..what happened in the time chamber."
She bristled and then relaxed, her face carefully blank. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence she said, "You don't have to apologize- it's fine. If that's all you wanted to say, then you might as well leave. I have things to do you know."
Trunks blinked, not knowing what to say. There was nothing he could do to make this up with her- it was so obvious that she loved him..so obvious. And he had been so selfish. He had no right to be around her right now- no right to even apologize. So he did the only thing he could do- quietly stepped out of the room.
~
Vegeta stood in the entrance of Bulma's laboratory, reluctant to enter. She was sitting in a black swivel chair, back bent, furiously scrawling out notes, an odd looking contraption sitting in front of her. He stood there watching her, nothing announcing his presence, but when she finally looked up and met his eyes, she didn't seem surprised to see him.
"Onna."
"Bulma," She said gently, but firmly. He stared at her for a moment, but didn't withdraw the name. She smiled bitterly. "Why are you here?"
He shrugged.
"Did you have something you wanted to say to me?" She raised an eyebrow. "Or did you just want to get your things?"
"I don't need my 'things,'" He frowned at her. She shook her head and there was silence for a few minutes, where she looked back at her project with a sigh and he just stood there.
"I don't really know what's better Vegeta," She said, her mouth set in a grim line. "The galaxy to be destroyed by my best friend or all of this happening to us. Was what my past self did really worth it? Would I send Akki back in time if I knew that you would end up bonding with the Pan of this time? If I knew Chi Chi would leave Gokou..or Trunks and Goten would bond, leaving my other child heartbroken. Would I send her back if I knew that you would kill MY little girl and before that what traumatic events she would have to go through? Is all this pain and sorrow that resulted from our own faults, worth it?"
She stared at him, tears flowing freely from her eyes, and he simply stared at her, not knowing what answer she wanted or if he would want to say it if he even did know. She turned back to her work, "Just leave Vegeta. Go back to Pan."
~
So..that was weird, ne? Hope it was a half decent ending v.v; I'm so awful at them.. This being like the third time I've actually written one ^^;; It leaves you hanging though sorta.. I dunno- I can't make a good decision about this ending because I know what happens after this -.-; It's really weird...writing this story has been a weird experience.; But it's done ^^; So I'm happy now.
~
He had woke to a pain that squeezed at his chest, making it almost impossible to breath, but it didn't matter. He was finally free. Finally awake.. It had been so long. He had been powerless in that deep sleep- as if he were trapped in a small chamber, unable to see or hear or do anything at all. It had been a nightmare. A very long nightmare. And nothing could compare to his incredible joy of being liberated.
But he had awoken to a very puzzling sight- he was standing in the middle of a tropical island full of plentiful vegetation and bizarre fruit, and near his now animated body lay two girls. One he was pretty sure was Akki and the other..well perhaps she had cloned herself?
He didn't know how long he sat there trying to figure that out, but finally the Akki in the weird clothing (he had labeled them so it would be less confusing) began to move. Extremely slowly. He could see her trying her hardest to open her eyes, her eyeballs rolling frantically in her head. Gokou wondered absently why this was so hard for her.
"Grandpa?" She asked, the words barely able to work their way out of her mouth.
He blinked at her, "Akki?"
"Pan!" She frowned angrily at him.
"Panny?" Gokou's eyes widened. "What happened?"
It was Pan who reluctantly told him everything that had happened- or at least all she knew- in the last few days, and finally explained that they were in his mind. He frowned at her, none of what she had said making any sense to him, but from the way she was looking at him, he knew that all of it was, horrifically enough, true. And he had been the one, not anyone else, to cause all of these troubles. And even though he hadn't had any control over this situation, he knew that he was going to be the one to pay for it all dearly in the end. No wonder he hurt so much.
~
They arrived on Kami's Lookout, all in poor spirits. They had succeeded and brought Gokou back (or at least Pan had with the help of Akki), but Akki wouldn't look at her father or anyone else for that matter, Goten was seething silently at the man as well, Pan was tactfully silent- for once too tired to fight with anyone, Vegeta was arrogantly unconcerned, and Gokou was thinking of his wife gloomily. The group of people standing on Kami's Lookout, waiting for them, echoed their mood.
Piccolo, Dende, and Mr. Popo stood off to the side, ostracized from the group for reasons unknown to the returning fighters. Videl was crying softly in Gohan's shirt, Gohan darting angry glances from Piccolo to the now visible figure of his daughter. 18 was frowning at own her daughter, while Krillin nervously shuffled from foot to foot. Under her mother's intense glare, Marron was miserable- tears streaming down her face, not able to look up from the ground- obviously having been completely humiliated and firmly reprimanded a few minutes before. As if it had been her fault for what had happened to Bura. Yamcha, Tien, and Chaotzu stood a few feet behind everyone, looking extremely uncomfortable, realizing that they had no right to be there at the moment. Close by Bulma stood, her arms around her newly restored to life daughter, clenching her tightly to her breast, glaring from Gokou to Vegeta's figure. Next to her Trunks stood frowning at his mate and Akki.
The person who looked like she was suffering the most, however, stood on the end by herself, but still close enough to the group not to be left out. Her eyes were red from long dried tears, and her face was morose, but did not hold the same open intensity as the others. Her dress was plain, her hands were folded together simple.
In the air Gokou looked down at his wife, a depressing gloom adding to his already burden-filled heart. He could tell just by looking at her standing there that he had lost her. And it wasn't entirely Pilaf's fault. He had been loosing her since the day he left with Uubu. In her mind and in everyone else's he had chosen Uubu over her..as well as them. And he knew he had.
He had been so hasty to complete this new challenge that he had neglected the people who mattered most to him.. His evil self bonding with Bura was just the last straw. For everyone. Even though he would suffer for eternity from that bonding and even though he would suffer even more now from loosing all of his friends, all of this was nothing compared to all of the troubles and heartaches he had put them through in the last few days and the last seemingly million years.
Chi Chi attempted to smile at him when he landed in front of her, but her eyes were empty, devoid of even her normal angry fire. He had done this to her, and he hated himself for it. He had done so many things to her in their time spent together and since she had forgiven him openly each time, he had taken her for granted. If only he had realized this before..if only he had realized this when there was still time to correct his mistake. If only.. He looked away.
"I wanted you to know that I'm leaving you," She finally said. Gokou looked at her, her words not a complete shock, but they still hurt nonetheless.
"Chi Chi- I know-."
She pressed a finger to his lip, "I know Gokou. I know. Please don't try to stop me."
Gokou was helplessly silent- there was no way that he'd let her off of this lookout to go who knows where without at least attempting to apologize and get her back. There was no way! But..when he looked her in the eyes, and saw the same determined look that she had used countless times in the passed- the same no-nonsense glare that she gave him when she wanted Gohan to study instead of fool around with him or that time when she forced him and Piccolo to get their driver's liscense...
"Chi Chi..I love you," He said, trying to put all of his emotions into that one phrase that he felt beating in his heart for this woman for as long as he had known. A single tear glistened down her cheek as she stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on his lips, before turning and walking away from him forever. And the worse thing was he couldn't do anything about it.
~
Pan watched her grandfather fly down to meet his wife, his face as solemn as it was when he was fighting. She knew it wasn't a good sign. Her grandmother would never forgive him after what had happened to Bura..even though it wasn't his fault. But then.. It wasn't just that either- Chi Chi had been upset before any of this nonsense had happened anyway.
"Pan," she heard Goten ask. "Aren't you coming?"
She looked up to find that everyone was on their way down to the Lookout besides her and Goten. She nodded nervously, and he smiled compassionately at her.
"Don't worry- they won't be mad at you- they're going to kill Vegeta," He said, smirking.
She frowned at him, "You know?"
"Akki found out..and then they got into a fight," Goten shrugged. "It was kind of weird. I could only understand half of the conversation and then she went to help you I guess."
Pan didn't have a chance to reply because they landed. She frowned. Funny- she hadn't even realized that they had moved. Goten grinned at her, for once not having to look down. Pan watched Trunks join him and she wondered why neither had moved towards Akki. That's weird, she frowned. Normally Akki's the center of attention and they were ignoring her! Of course the fact that she had sent them both a death glare might have something to do with it..what had happened between them?
"Uh..did Akki multiply or something?" The rest of the group, excluding Piccolo, Dende, and Chi Chi blinked at her and Akki. Pan frowned. Great. Just great.
"I'm Pan," She gritted her teeth and she could swear that she saw Vegeta's eyebrow twitch in amusement.
"Piccolo explained to us that.." Bulma trailed off, her eyes clouding in tears. "I didn't know..Kami- I didn't know."
"Panny..my baby," Videl whispered, taking a few steps forward, looking her up and down. "How could this happen? Twelve years.."
Pan sighed, and tried to tune everyone out. She didn't want to hear this. She didn't want to see them cry over the fact that she supposedly "lost" twelve years of her life. But she couldn't tune out her mother's cries for very long and everyone else's comments..
"Look!" She snapped. "I did what I had to do to save the world and very possibly the universe. Even if we could have done this another way- what's done is done, so shut the fuck up and don't feel sorry for me!"
Everyone stared at her in shock.
"What Pan is trying to say is that there's still a few more things to explain," Trunks tried to smooth over Pan's statement, but only caused a spark of alarm in everyone's eyes. He sighed. "Goten and I are going out."
A long shocked silence.
Vegeta snorted, "They're mates, but it's not like any of you bakas would understand that. But as long as it's 'everybody shares' time I mated with the brat."
"YOU WHAT?!" Gohan shouted, unable to stop his outraged voice.
Vegeta rolled his eyes, "I bonded with your brat."
Gohan stared at him, completely baffled, "Why on earth would you do something like that?"
"Kakkarott bonded with my brat- I did it to make it even," Vegeta shrugged as if he was explaining the most natural thing in the world.
"How can you even use that as an excuse?!" Gohan shouted angrily. "My father didn't even have control of his actions at the time- and you shouldn't even bring another innocent party into it! What ever issues you had you should have resolved them with my father!"
Vegeta smirked and shook his head.
Gohan clenched his teeth, "And if you touched my little girl then that's ten times worse then what happened to Bura!
Vegeta stared at the younger man, amusement clearly written on his face. Pan watched her father clench his fists, unclench them, and then clench them again. Her mother, a few feet behind him, let out a muffled sob. Gohan gritted his teeth and started forward and Pan couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop it daddy!" She said, stepping in front of Vegeta. His eyes swung to her and he winced, looking at the ground. She frowned at him, a deep gloom setting in her heart.
"Come on Onna," Vegeta said, breaking the uneasy silence. She turned to him, searching his face, and finally nodded.
"Pan," Piccolo spoke up, earning the glare of practically all of the Earthlings standing on the lookout watching the exchange between Gohan and Vegeta. She turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Good job in the last few days."
After a second she nodded slowly and then turned back, surprised that Vegeta had stopped mid-step as well. He grunted and without further intervention flew away from the lookout, leaving two extremely distraught parents and an extremely pissed off mate in their wake.
Videl stared at her retreating daughter's form, tears stinging her eyes. She turned on Piccolo, her dark eyes dangerously lit. He blinked at her nervously, and Dende and Mr. Popo tactfully inched away.
"What have you have you done to my little girl?" Videl whispered, tears coursing down her face. "WHAT HAVE YOU FUCKING DONE TO MY LITTLE GIRL!?"
She launched herself at the green alien, tackling him with a force that would knock a normal human to the ground. But the tall green man did not move an inch- which of course only angered her further. She pounded her fist into his hard chest, tears streaming down her cheek as she continued to hit him, her blows weakening in strength until she was simply sobbing uncontrollably, and Gohan gently pried her hands, off of his once-mentor's gi. She turned and simply stood there sobbing into her husband's chest.
~
Akki stared at the scene in front of her in mild disgust. On one side of her Vegeta stood calmly telling her one time family the most heinous of what happened in the last few days as if he was explaining that there wouldn't be any dressing on the salad. On the other Gokou stood hopefully apologizing- or at least trying to- to Chi Chi- for everything that he had done to her. And in front of her Bulma stood, neglected, but no less upset then any party included.
Akki stared at her mother in compassion. This woman had taken her into her home and raised her as if she were her own daughter- more then raised her. She knew that this woman truly loved her. And after living with her and her family for so long she couldn't help but be extremely upset over the fact that her father had bonded with Pan. Another version of her!
And besides that she knew what her mother was feeling right now- she understood what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you love more then anything, but having to hold her head high in the air and ignore it because she was too strong to break down and cry. She understood how both her mother and even Chi Chi felt, and her heart panged for both of these stout woman.
"Akki," She turned to find Chi Chi looking at her, her eyes full of tears, but her mouth turned down. "Can you please bring me back down?"
"Of course," Akki said, instantly understanding.
~
Trunks had been watching his sister closely on the lookout. She had been deep in thought until Chi Chi had interrupted her, asking for a ride. He didn't know why the woman hadn't asked Goten or someone else. Perhaps she knew that Akki was the only person on the Lookout at that moment who would not only be willing to leave but wouldn't question the woman about her reasons for wanting to. Anyone else would talk Chi Chi out of leaving Gokou. Ask her to give him another chance. Hell even plead with her just to give it a few days while all of this would work itself out. But not Akki. Akki would bring her wherever she asked and then leave her without an ounce of concern.
He looked at Gokou's broken face questioningly. The other man nodded his head fractionally, not taking his eyes off of his resolute wife. Trunks sighed, shaking his head. What had gone so terribly wrong that no one had the courage to do anything but part ways? Had the last few days been so awful? Would the others unreasonably not forgive Gokou for something he had no control over?
He looked at all of the people present. The anguish in their eyes was almost unbearable. It was painfully obviously that they wouldn't easily forgive Gokou for all that had happened. Four days ago they were on the verge of almost getting to the point of giving up on this man, today they were beyond it. This turn of events might possibly be what finally thrust all of these longtime friends and lovers apart. Actually come to think of it- it already had.
He watched Akki leave with his mate's mother, resolving that he needed to talk to her later about what happened with Goten. Which was more then possibly a completely random thought. But all three of them really needed to sit down and talk out what happened. It had been more or less his fault, anyway. He loved Goten. He confessed. How could she blame Goten for finally giving in when he had been so insistent? Things happen when you're looked up in a small (or rather large) space with only one other person there. Trunks wasn't even sure if Goten really did truly love him.
His father had told everyone that they were mates. He didn't think so. Sure they had slept with each other, but Trunks had been careful to refrain himself from marking his lover. He wanted to be absolutely positive that Goten was one-hundred percent sure that this was what he wanted. And the first step in that process would be to talk to Akki.
~
Trunks found her in her room the next day. She had come back sometime during in the night. Perhaps he had been wrong and she had been trying to talk Chi Chi out of leaving Gokou. Or perhaps she just wanted to spend some time alone. Whatever the reason this was when and where he found her, completing her morning stretches. She straightened, having felt his ki.
"What do you want Trunks?" Her eyes were cold and unemotional- her face was blank. It was an expression that she had learned from their father and he knew she only used it when she wanted to be left alone to mope in silence.
He leaned back on the wall, suddenly realizing how hard this was going to be with a sigh. "Just to talk to you for a second, is that okay?"
She stared at him and then shrugged. "If you have time."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Trunks asked.
"Just that you always were too busy to talk in the past," She shrugged again. "But it doesn't matter. What do you want?"
"Akki," Trunks said lowly. Damn. She was going to make this difficult. "Can I come in?"
Once again she shrugged, "If you really want to."
Trunks calmly walked over and plopped on her bed, she turned slightly to face him, but made no move to join him. And why would she? More importantly why SHOULD she? He had stolen her boyfriend. It was something that he never should have done, but he had anyway. He couldn't expect her to even talk to him right now, yet she was.
"I wanted to apologize about..what happened in the time chamber."
She bristled and then relaxed, her face carefully blank. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence she said, "You don't have to apologize- it's fine. If that's all you wanted to say, then you might as well leave. I have things to do you know."
Trunks blinked, not knowing what to say. There was nothing he could do to make this up with her- it was so obvious that she loved him..so obvious. And he had been so selfish. He had no right to be around her right now- no right to even apologize. So he did the only thing he could do- quietly stepped out of the room.
~
Vegeta stood in the entrance of Bulma's laboratory, reluctant to enter. She was sitting in a black swivel chair, back bent, furiously scrawling out notes, an odd looking contraption sitting in front of her. He stood there watching her, nothing announcing his presence, but when she finally looked up and met his eyes, she didn't seem surprised to see him.
"Onna."
"Bulma," She said gently, but firmly. He stared at her for a moment, but didn't withdraw the name. She smiled bitterly. "Why are you here?"
He shrugged.
"Did you have something you wanted to say to me?" She raised an eyebrow. "Or did you just want to get your things?"
"I don't need my 'things,'" He frowned at her. She shook her head and there was silence for a few minutes, where she looked back at her project with a sigh and he just stood there.
"I don't really know what's better Vegeta," She said, her mouth set in a grim line. "The galaxy to be destroyed by my best friend or all of this happening to us. Was what my past self did really worth it? Would I send Akki back in time if I knew that you would end up bonding with the Pan of this time? If I knew Chi Chi would leave Gokou..or Trunks and Goten would bond, leaving my other child heartbroken. Would I send her back if I knew that you would kill MY little girl and before that what traumatic events she would have to go through? Is all this pain and sorrow that resulted from our own faults, worth it?"
She stared at him, tears flowing freely from her eyes, and he simply stared at her, not knowing what answer she wanted or if he would want to say it if he even did know. She turned back to her work, "Just leave Vegeta. Go back to Pan."
~
So..that was weird, ne? Hope it was a half decent ending v.v; I'm so awful at them.. This being like the third time I've actually written one ^^;; It leaves you hanging though sorta.. I dunno- I can't make a good decision about this ending because I know what happens after this -.-; It's really weird...writing this story has been a weird experience.; But it's done ^^; So I'm happy now.
~