32
Home
"There you are!" Crystal turned and saw Bra running up to her. She stopped short of lunging at her and put her hands on her hips. "Where have you been? I have been so worried!"
She smiled. "Visiting," she said. "But I am back now." She said.
"Great!" Bra said. She was so easily pleased. "I got some new stuff from the mall. Do you want to see?"
"In a bit. I have to go talk to Cyrus." She said. She could see the pouty look forming on her face. "It won't take long."
"Great!" Bra said and scurried off.
She found herself fingering the necklace that he had given her.
Damn dreams.
It was just like the one that she had dreams about. She didn't understand what the dream had been about because it was full of weird things that she thought were just symbols. There was a ring and a watch and the necklace. Trinkets that she thought were all connected but now she knew that they were not.
They were all for different people.
She sighed heavily and smiled slightly as she rotated the stone in her fingers before she slipped it back under her shirt.
She was still have those dreams that were pleasant and involved a blond boyfriend and… she flushed as she remembered the kiss… slow and deep and… she had never felt anything that wonderful before in her life! She regretted rushing away from him, but she couldn't help it. She knew if she didn't leave then, she probably would never leave.
How he could still be her boyfriend when she returned home was beyond her. She shook her head. How could she think of him as a boyfriend?
She was hoping to avoid Benot.
But there he was, all sweaty and panting from training, glaring at her. He really had to learn to control his temper. "The little princess has decided to join us," he grumbled.
"Not now Benot!" She said. "I am not in the mood for a fight!"
He humped and walked forward. He was in the mood for a fight. That was obvious.
"How was your little trip? Huh? I am sure that he proved to you that he wasn't a threat to us and now you will let him walk all over us!" He said and stood right in front of her with his arms crossed and his feet spread apart.
"Idiot!" She said and slapped him. He didn't budge even though his face went crimson red and her handprint remained stark white. "He is protecting us!"
"Yeah. Right." He said between grated teeth. "Probably just building up his forces again."
She sniffed. "I can take care of both of his army's no problem, Benot. No problem. He does not have the forces to hurt this planet and he will not attack us. He has sectioned off this portion of space so people will leave this section of space alone!" She wanted to slap him again. His face was reversing colors. The handprint was red and his skin had gone white.
"And that is supposed to make me feel all cozy and warm!" He snarled. Boy, he was being vicious.
"No," She said and pushed by him. "It is supposed to make you shut up! He won't be coming back! Okay! You happy now! I am back! He is gone! We will never ever see him again!" She yelled at him and she found herself wanting to cry. She quickly composed herself. Benot was looking at her funny. She had her hand on the necklace again. She shouldn't have taken it. She should have left it behind. She didn't need the reminder.
"Back OFF!!" She snapped at him and took a deep breath and composed herself. "I am going to go find Cyrus." She turned on her heel and tried to walk away.
"What is your problem?" Benot said walking behind her. "He is the reason that we are here! He is the reason that half of our family is dead!" he said. "How can you even stand to look at him and you are acting like you are in love with him."
She stopped and turned sharply. It startled Benot and she was pleased with the reaction and the look on his face. She stabbed her finger into his chest. "Everyone deserves a second chance!"
"Since when!" Benot growled back.
"He hasn't done anything to hurt us!" She said. "He deserves to prove himself!"
"He is nothing but problems."
"So are you!"
"He will bring doom onto everyone here! Do you want to be responsible for that? Huh?" He said and stabbed his finger at her.
"I will take responsibility! Is that what you want to hear from me! Everyone else gets chances why can't he get one!" She said and was trying really hard to control her temper. She so, wanted to go Gold on him and kick his butt.
"Who?" Benot said.
She blinked at him. Had he forgotten all their family history?
"Duh! Just about everyone that is part of our family were once our enemies! Vegeta is a big one. Look at how many times he slipped and he was always back in the family after all was said and done." She said and was pleased with the shocked look on his face. "You only have to give Ligh one."
He was stumped! He didn't know what to say! She won the fight! She gladly flipped her hair over her shoulder and went in search of Cyrus.
……………………………………………
"What are you still doing home?" Trunks asked Soyna. "I thought you were at the hospital today?"
"I thought I should be home today. Called in sick," she said as she munched on some food that she emptied out of the fridge.
"You don't look sick?" he said.
She rolled her eyes at him and continued to eat.
"Why are you home then?" he asked. He did not like the trend of his daughter of not really answering his questions… it was a trend that he was not enjoying.
"It is going to be an interesting day," she said and just continued to eat.
He just shook his head and decided it would be best to leave the room. Of course, when he turned, he was shocked and pleased to see Crystal.
………………………………………….
"Have you seen him?" Crystal said. Trunks looked at her shocked and stammered over some of his words. "Well, where is Cyrus? Is he around here?"
"Haven't seen him," he was finally able to answer her.
She looked around the room and saw that Soyna was pigging out and that Trunks was just looking at her like she was possessed or something.
"When did you get back?" Trunks asked.
"Huh? That doesn't matter," she said to him and waved that question off. "Where is Cyrus?" She had looked everywhere and then she realized that she couldn't sense him either. She didn't like that. He could not hide himself. Not from her!
"Doesn't matter! You take off and we are not supposed to worry about you!" He said looking a little flustered. Great, what bee was under his bonnet? "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
She slumped. "No! Geez! He is a nice guy! He's gone, so don't worry about it!" she said. "I am looking for Cyrus! C-y-r-u-s. You know, the big guy with the green hair."
"I know who he is. I haven't seen him. I thought he went into town for some reason," Trunks said. He had seen him this morning but that was it.
She frowned deeply and looked like she was pouting. "I hate this! I really do!" she hissed and flipped her hair out of her face. "He better not be pulling something!"
"What could he be pulling?" Trunks said.
"Oh, I don't know. He has been hiding something. I am sure of it. It better not be anything bad. I haven't had any of those dreams…." She trailed off and looked at the ceiling. "Damn. I hate it when I can't read my dreams." She said and slunk out of the room.
Trunk's was asking if she was okay but she ignored him. She wanted to talk to Cyrus. At least he wasn't totally against Ligh.
…………………………….
It was nearly suppertime and her stomach was rumbling. She had worked through lunch and had not even realized it. Usually Vegeta was bothering her about food lately at this time since Soyna has been having erratic food and cooking habits as of late.
She hadn't seen him all day.
That was rather unusual.
She looked at the clock. She still had time to get washed up and then go start a meal for the hungry brood.
She had a nice hot shower and felt refreshed afterwards and got dressed in some grease free clothes to go back into the main house. She threw her jeans on the bed and saw a small box tumble off the pillow.
She looked at it for a minute.
It was a jewelry box.
It was the type of jewelry box that had a ring inside.
She was almost scared to touch it. She never wore rings… she was never given a ring. Who put the box on the bed? Vegeta? Who else could it have been? No one else would have bought her a ring. After Vegeta she never sought another relationship…
She licked her lips and picked up the box. There was a small black envelope attached to it. She took a deep breath and opened it.
She started to cry she read the simple message:
To My Love, BulmaIt also told her that he was gone. He had left without saying goodbye but leaving her a ring. She was still weeping as she opened the box and she smiled through the tears. She had mentioned wanting a ring only a few times and thought she would never get one. He was not a shopper. He did not like going out into the human world and deal with the weaklings, as he put it.
But he had.
For her, he had gone out into the human world and bought her a beautiful diamond ring that she would never take off her finger again.
She would miss him. She really would. She missed him before, after his death by the androids and now…he had left to help out Cyrus, Crystal and Benot. He was not the same man that she knew. She was happy with the changes.
She put the ring on her finger and admired it. She wiped her eyes and went out to show it off.
…………………………..
Benot lay on the ground and was staring at the clouds. He was exhausted but he still was angry. "Hey?" He looked to the left to see Boxer looking down at him. 'Geta was looking over his shoulder. "You okay? We weren't to rough on you, were we?" He had insisted that they team up on him. He had done good for the first hour but they got the advantage as they quickly learned to work together to get at his weakness. They seemed to be natural fighters. He hated having to work at it.
"I'm fine," he groaned and looked back up at the clouds. They could care less what he did and how angry he was. They didn't care. Why the hell did she have to say that? He felt sort of bad for putting her on the spot like that. He just didn't want to give him a chance. The guy hurt him! Killed him! Made his mother make a terrible choice. He just saw that in him. "Damn Crystal." He groaned.
"Why are you so mad at her?" 'Geta asked. "What has she done to you?"
He sat up and looked at his younger uncles. They looked tired as well and it look like he had cut 'Geta's arm. "I guess… we…always fought." No. That wasn't true. They started to fight when they started traveling. They got along just fine before then. Before he found out that she was stronger than him an always would be.
"Why?" Boxer asked.
Maybe it was those dreams she had. She could see things before they were happening and even though she may not have been able to stop it, she has always been certain that things were going to turn out in the end.
Hell, he didn't understand why he was so angry at her.
"I guess it is because I miss home so much," he said. "She was different then. She was not at all like how she is now. She certainly had changed a lot. She used to be shy and timid girl."
Boxer laughed and so did 'Geta. "Yeah, right," 'Geta chuckled. "Crystal shy!"
Maybe he was mad because she was forced to become what she was, and it was easier being angry at her than at himself or at Cyrus for being who he was. It was all to stupid.
"Yeah, I can just see her ducking behind dad's legs," Boxer said and howled. Yeah, well, they didn't know her when she was young, but the image of the grown Crystal being shy and timid did make him smile a bit.
He pulled himself to his feet and looked over to where he could see Crystal walking towards him. She looked worried. That was not a good sign. Crystal was not the type of person to worry.
"Have you seen Cyrus at all today?" she said first. She was worried. Her eyes had that look in them, like when she was a little girl and would hide behind Trunks or Pan as she entered a room.
"I saw him this morning with Vegeta but that was really early," Boxer said with a large goofy smile. He was still amused with images of her being shy. "They were talking but they stopped when I entered the room."
She looked like she was going to cry. "Benot," she said and tears came down her cheeks. "He left us behind! I can't feel him anywhere and I can't feel Vegeta either."
Left…. Behind….
He blinked a bit and looked back to the clouds.
Could he… Could he leave them…. No… no… "NO!" He said. "He wouldn't leave us behind. Would he? Will all these horrible memories! He wouldn't do that!" Benot said and he felt like crying himself. He wouldn't leave him with all the horrible memories and horrible battles that he fought… after all this time and the promise of home being repaired… "How could he lie to me?"
Crystal was grabbing and rubbing a stone on a chain around her neck as she chewed her lip and looked at him. "I was not really serious when I said he could leave me behind," her voice told him that she was on the verge of tears. "He wouldn't do that to us?"
He hadn't walked to talk about when they were leaving. Cyrus had always avoided talking about this time around. He had always been anxious in the other times to leave that time, to get to the next and it was just about the only thing he would talk about. 'I should have known," he whispered.
Crystal grabbed his shirt and was right in his face, her eyes were frantic. "He couldn't do that to us, could he? He would tell us, right?" She was crying again. She was shaking him. "He wouldn't do that! He wouldn't leave without at least saying goodbye!" He grabbed her hands and enveloped her in a hug. She seemed to collapse into him.
He refrained from wanting to scream and yell and curse.
What good would it do?
………………………………….
A note.
Benot wanted to throw it away. He recognized his brothers writing on the note but he was still angry with him. He left him here. Crystal broke down for him. She was sobbing in her room with Carmen trying to comfort her but she could not be consoled.
A stupid note.
He should have known. He was hiding something but he was actually having fun here and he was enjoying it in this time and he knew that Crystal was to… Maybe that was why he left them behind. But nothing makes up for not being able to go to his real home. This was not his real home.
And why did he take Vegeta and not them!
It wasn't fair! It just wasn't!
"Are you going to be okay?"
He jumped and turned around. He was concentrating on his anger. He was not expecting to be snuck upon. Soyna was standing in the doorway looking at him with concern.
"Did you know?"
"I suspected," she said and walked in. Her eyes flashed down at the note. "Aren't you going to read that, Benot."
His heart jumped. That was the first time that she called him that. She had been calling him by his false name. Tobe and it was so nice to hear her call him Benot. "You guys are not very good at keeping secrets you know." She said and nodded towards the note. "Read it."
"I don't know if I want too," he said looking at it again. "He left me."
"I am sure that he had a good reason," she said and sat on the edge of the bed. "If you don't, I shall read it for you." She said.
He picked up the note and screwed up all his courage and unfolded the note.
I am so sorry that I have to leave you behind. I never meant for thatTo happen but I do not have the strength in me to repair you and Crystal
As well as fix Vegeta and all the time line stuff. You know that I can't really
explain what I have to do… You will have to trust me on this one big
brother… I may be endangering our lives by doing this and
It may not work and I didn't want to destroy you and Crystal as well.
I hope you can understand and won't be so mad at me over this but I really
Did not have much choice. I love you big brother, you always took care of me
And now it is my turn to take care of you. I know it will be hard but this time
is a peaceful place. Please do not brood over the losses and move on with your
life. Maybe you can even find Rose here and rekindle the relationship that I
ruined in the other time. I know that Crystal will be happy in anything that
she does. Her dreams will guide her as they always have and lead her to true
happiness. Take care of mom and Crystal and I will hopefully be able to take care
of the family in our time. Again, big brother, I am sorry for not telling
you that I left. I am so sorry that I do not have enough control of the power
to bring you both back and get rid of those painful memories All I can ask
is that you try to remember the good times that we had together.
I am sorry Benot……. I hope you can forgive me.__________________
Cyrus…………………
He closed his eyes and sat on the bed and received the comforting hand on his shoulder. He allowed himself to lean on her and accept her embrace as he wept.
He understood now. It still hurt but he understood. He WAS happy here…. He was at peace here and he had seldom thought about all the horrible things that had happened in the past while he was here. It wouldn't be home but he could make it home.
"I have to show this note to Crystal. I think, then, she will understand," he said after he drained himself of sorrow. Soyna just nodded.
"That you should," Soyna said and stood. "Things will be okay here," she said with a smile. "It will be interesting to see how different this Benot," she patted her stomach, "Will compare to you."
He knew that his jaw dropped as she left the room. Man, he can't keep a single secret from her! But then, he never could.
……………………………………..
"It will be okay," he said and patted Crystals back as she wept into him. She held the note loosely in her hands. "He could have told us! I would have understood and then my dreams would have made sense!" She said as she pulled away and tossed the note aside as if it burned her fingers.
He blinked at her.
She sighed as she looked at him. "I have had a lot of dreams that involved this time and only this time. I didn't see anything beyond it. I just thought that it couldn't be discerned yet. You know, how I used to not have the dreams until I got into that time stream," she sighed heavily. "They were such nice dreams but they were all in this time and I just thought it was a projection of how happy I was at the time."
She straightened her hair with a single flip of her hand. "I guess, this is our home now."
He nodded.
"I will miss mom." Crystal said.
"I will miss Goten." Benot added. "I will miss everyone but I could learn to be happy to be here."
Crystal nodded. "I can still hate you though, right?" She said with a crooked smile.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," he sneered back at her. He smiled and gave her a hug. He noticed the green necklace around her neck, it must have been what she had been grabbing earlier. "Hey, when did you get that?"
She blushed! He frowned. "Is that from Ligh?"
She flushed further and pulled it out of her shirt. "You are going to have to really give him a chance," she said in a low voice that was almost dreamy. "He has been in my dreams a lot. I guess I now know why." Her face flushed.
"Eeeew," he said with a sneer. "How could you even…"
He sighed at the stare that he was giving her. "Alright. Alright. A try," he said with distain. "But I don't have to like him."
"I'll remember that when you find Rose," she teased.
He shook his head. "I thought you liked Rose!"
"Ug! She is just so sweet! Gag!" She said and did that hair flip again.
"Oh and Ligh is a better pick!" He growled at her.
"At least he has a job!" she said. "She sponged off her parents!"
"She was working with her parents company!" he retorted. "Ligh is taking over his fathers empire. Same thing!"
Crystal smiled at him. He stopped himself from getting angry at her further as she started to cry again.
…………………….
"See," Boxer said as he looked in on the two weeping people in the room. Benot or Tobe, he wasn't sure which name they were supposed to call him anymore, and Crystal were crying. "It's contagious." He said as he pulled the bandana back over his mouth. He didn't want to catch what ever they had or what Grandma and everyone else had. Everyone was crying!
Bra looked in with wide eyes! "Wow," she whispered. "Your right! She said and pulled her shirt over her mouth. "I don't want to end up blubbering like that! Let's get out of the contagious zone."
He nodded to his little sister.
Downstairs, Grandma Bulma was crying and so was dad… it was just to weird. He was pretty sure that Crystal brought a weird bug back that made everyone cry.
He was certain of it.
He didn't want to look like a sissy and start crying too.
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