Chapter 7

Goten and Bra met at the beach the next day. They strolled along the waterside, making small talk, like school children on their first date. Goten and Bra had not been nervous or uncomfortable around each other since before they had started going out, and even then, they were never this bad.

Both feared that the other knew what they were going to say, but neither suspected that they were thinking the same thing.

They finally settled on the sand, eating ice cream. When he had finished his, Goten cleared his throat.

"Um…B-chan…" he stammered. "I think we really need to talk."

Bra was surprised that he had been thinking the same thing as her. She sighed. "Yes, we do."

Goten took a deep breath. "You know that I love you more than anything, but I just feel…"

"…at the moment we're going a little too far for me. Not physically, but emotionally."

"…I don't want you to feel suffocated by me…"

"…and I don't want to leave you waiting for something that might not happen…"

"…so I was thinking…"

"…I think that maybe…"

"…we should just be friends," they said together. They looked at each other and smiled sadly.

"Looks like we both felt the same way," sighed Goten. "I guess that's a good thing. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Yeah, I felt the same," replied Bra, trying to be strong. But inside, she felt as if someone had clamped her heart in a wrench, and was slowly twisting it out. Against her will, a tear ran down her face.

"B-chan…" Goten placed his hand on Bra's cheek. He looked into her ocean blue eyes, and saw the pain, identical to the pain he felt inside. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I just didn't think it would hurt so much." She attempted a little laugh. "Who would've thought that agreeing to be someone's friend would be so hard?"

Goten embraced Bra, and held her close. He would've stayed there for longer…in fact, he probably would have taken everything back, and begged Bra to stay with him, but she stood up, and brushed the sand of her skirt.

"I…I should probably go home now." With a quick good-bye hug, Bra left.

Goten watched her go, and wondered if she was walking out of his life forever.

*           *           *           *           *

Bra shut the door quietly behind her. She hoped that no one noticed her. She didn't want anyone to see her. The tears she was holding in threatened to break free any moment. Hopefully I was quiet enough that no one heard me.

No such luck. Bulma and Pan were in the dining room, attempting to feed Tifa. And they had both heard Bra's arrival.

"Hello, Bra-chan," Bulma greeted. "Back already? I thought you'd be out all day."

"I…uh…d-didn't feel too good," Bra stammered in reply. It wasn't a complete lie. She felt terrible.

"Oh, you aren't coming down with something?"

"N-no, I don't think so." Bra knew that the brave face she was trying so desperately to hold was about to crumble. "I…uh…think I should go lay down." She turned and ran to her room, hoping that her mother and sister-in-law had not seen the tears start.

"Well, I wonder what was wrong with Bra," mumbled Bulma, returning her attention to Tifa.

Pan had a feeling she knew. In fact, she was almost certain that she knew what was making Bra not "feel too good". "I'm gonna go check on her. Can you look after Tifa-chan for me?"

"Of course."

Pan quickly went to Bra's room. There, she found her best friend lying on the bed, her back to the door, almost convulsing with sobs. Pan shut the door behind her, and sat by Bra's side.

"Bra, did you break it off with Goten?" Pan asked gently.

Bra responded by crying harder. Pan hugged Bra until she had calmed down sufficiently to be able to talk. "W-we agreed that it might be b-better – just for a l-little while – if…if we went back to just being f-friends again." Bra looked at Pan. "I thought it was going to be easy…but it hurts so much."

From downstairs, Tifa echoed Bra's sobs, screaming for her mother. Pan could just hear Bulma calling for help. Pan didn't want to leave Bra, but she had to.

"It'll be okay, Bra," was all she said, before racing back to her daughter.

That wasn't what Bra needed. She needed someone to stay with her. She needed someone to cry to, until all the pain inside was gone. Pan didn't know how she felt. Pan had never had to give up something she loved.

Realising she would find no comfort at her home, Bra left again.

*           *           *           *           *

Uub was wandering the Satan City Mall, shopping for clothes. He had developed a taste for stylish clothing, which he was fortunately able to afford through fighting competition prize money.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something red and aqua. Looking again, he was pleased to see exactly what he had hoped to. Bra was also wandering. Uub quickened his pace to meet up with her. But as he came closer, he saw something that worried him. Bra looked extremely unhappy.

"Bra!" he called out.

She looked up at him, and tried to force a smile. A pathetic shadow of her beautiful smile formed on her lips, and disappeared just as quickly.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Bra's bottom lip trembled, but she managed to stop herself from crying.

Uub knew that Bra would not want to break down in front of a large crowd, so he lightly took her arm, and led her out of the Mall. "Come on – I know a nice quiet place where we can talk."

Bra nodded mutely. She let Uub lead her to one of Satan City's parks. It was huge, with an artificial lake filled with ducks in the centre, and trees dotted around everywhere. There were many people: old men chatting and feeding pigeons; mothers watching their children play, while gossiping amongst each other; lovers stretched out on the grass, or having romantic picnics. But the area was so large that nobody was disturbing anyone else.

Still, Uub found a secluded place beneath a willow. Bra's eyes had already become teary, and she started bawling again the minute she knew no one else was there.

Uub was great. He put an arm around Bra, and let him cry on his shoulder until his shirt was soaked through. Eventually, Bra's sobs and hiccups were quiet enough for her to hear Uub's comforting words. She realised he was stroking her hair, and whispering, "Shhh. It'll be okay. I'm here."

Bra moved away from him slightly so she could look at him. She spoke the first thought that came to her mind. "I made your shirt all wet."

Uub chuckled. "I'm sure it will dry. Now tell me what's wrong."

Bra took a deep, painful breath. "Goten and I broke up."

Uub nodded, a grim look on his face, showing that he understood. "I thought that might have been it. Girls seem to have this certain…break-up cry. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem. I know what it means to have someone to talk to at a time like this. Wish I'd had someone."

Bra caught his last sentence, even though he had mumbled it. She had completely forgotten that Uub had been and broken-up with Marron. Apart from Goten, Uub was probably the only person who understood Bra's pain. (Marron had gotten over the break-up with Uub fairly quickly, or so Bra had heard.)

"Were you guys having problems?" Uub asked, carefully choosing his words.

"No…well, not really. Not the normal ones you mean. We weren't fighting or anything."

"Then why?"

Bra sighed. "It's difficult to explain, and even harder to understand. We weren't…connecting like we should have been. I think Goten was frustrated by that. And I wasn't ready to give up my life for him."

"You broke up because you weren't ready to get married?"

Bra gave a little laugh. "Yeah, something like that."

"That seems pretty extreme. I mean, going out with someone doesn't mean that you're going to have to marry them. Not everyone is like Pan and Trunks."

Bra knew it would be too difficult to explain the bonding concept to Uub. "It's a bit different to that. You wouldn't understand because you're human."

As soon as Bra said that, Uub realised that it was a Saiyan thing. Which meant that that he shouldn't pursue the matter any further. "Oh, okay then. So…was it you or him?"

"Both. It was sort of a mutual agreement." Bra's eyes were teary again. She brushed the tears away, and sniffled. "Sorry."

"Don't worry. It'll make you feel better if you cry."

"I guess." She managed a small smile. "I'm just worried about wrecking your shirt."

Uub laughed. "I'm quite certain that tears come out easily in the wash. Besides, I have plenty of shirts just like this one at home." Bra giggled a little, and some light came back to her face. Uub smiled at that. "Now that's better. You just keep smiling. I hate seeing you upset. It seems so…wrong. So, I want you to stay happy."

"That's easier said than done," Bra mumbled, her smile fading.

Uub took one of her hands in his. "Believe me when I say this Bra: I know it hurts. I know it feels like someone's ripped out your insides. But it does get better. The pain goes away. You just have to give it time, and make sure you don't let it take over." Uub grinned. "And I know something you can do right now to help you with that."