"Retrospect"
by Acey
Yes, here's the final part of the fic, thanks again to the reviewers. Disclaimer: Acey really wishes she could own DBZ, but to put the anime and manga into her none-too-capable hands would be catastrophic to the industry, due to her lack of excellent people skills ("Hahaha! Yep, now that I'm the owner of DBZ, Juunanagou's going to be the main character!"), tact ("Well, I'm sorry that you don't own any of DBZ anymore, Funimation. To make it up to you, I'll put the subbed version that everyone likes better up instead of yours."), and artistry ("See that stick figure over there? That's Juunanagou. See the other one over there? That's Juuhachigou. You won't be able to tell which is which until I color them in." "Acey, we can't tell any of these characters apart until you color them in." "Did I ask for your opinion?" "No, Acey..." "Exactly. Now get me my markers."). Yeah. Therefore, she is fairly content to stay at home and write the fanfics, all with the disclaimer that she does not own DBZ. [If that wasn't good enough, then let me make it plain and simple: I don't own DBZ.]
Darkness Angel: You were the very first person I ever reviewed for (no matter how long it seems like, I have only been reviewing since late May), and the first person I ever received a review for. Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Android 21 3/7: I'm glad I put in the failure to realize the joke part. I tried very hard to show how far they'd grown apart without just saying it straight out. Thanks for seeing that (I was afraid I hadn't shown it enough)!
Zeitgeist : If I minded about logging in, I would've not accepted anonymous reviews. Being an anonymous reviewer myself for awhile, I decided that I wouldn't do that to anybody the minute I registered on fanfiction.net. And I didn't. You got it! Hector of Troy. I was wondering if anyone would catch that. Doesn't Zeitgeist mean "spirit of the times" or something? Yes, this is going to be a "day in the life" type thing. My skills with action fics are, if possible, worse than my skills with romance fics, so I stick to angst, mysteries, and horror ninety-nine percent of the time. Sub or dub? Well, I'm really a dubbie, to be honest. I use a few of the sub names (Bura, Mr. Satan), but the sad fact of the matter is that if I tried to do all the subbed names, in four minutes I'd accidentally get right back to typing "Vegeta" for "Vejita," "Krillin" for "Kuririn," "Krillen," etc. So I'm sticking to dubs, mostly. Too many pop references? You're probably right. *cringes*
Evil Juuchan: You're right, the androids were always horrifically underused, both in the show and in the fanfiction (as you can see, I'm trying my best to change that).
Moonraker One: Thanks so much for that feedback. It means a lot to me to know someone liked what I wrote. My own reaction to your review was the same: WOW.
And now, the much-rewritten final chapter to "Retrospect." I hope you enjoy it.
He smashed the first thing he saw when he came through the door, only to find that it was a mirror, and he had shattered it. Why he even bothered having a mirror when he would look the same for an eternity he didn't know. At any rate, the fragments of glass seemed to snicker up at him with their identical images of the black-haired cyborg, saying, 'See, Juunana? We're all you've got now. Just your reflection. Are you happy? Are you feeling better now, without your twin? Are you? Are you?'
Juunanagou angrily picked up a piece without caution, letting the edges cut the palms of his hands, not caring that there was less blood in him than what was in an I. V. unit, indifferent to the fact that he couldn't sense the pain from what he was so carelessly trying to do, pick up the fragment.
He blasted what was left of the mirror's frame, and crushed the piece of glass in his hand silently between his fingers, leaving the rest on the floor of his cabin. Then he walked out, catlike grace gone from his lithe, youthful body, replaced by the slow, determined walk of someone who has no idea where he's going and doesn't give a flip about it.
So all he'd had was gone. He had never had much to begin with, just a twin sister who loved to shop and a brother around ten feet tall (or so it seemed, at least, looking up at him). And himself, he'd always had himself. Juunanagou needed no advice from bits of glass to know that much. The trademark smirk, the bandana, the oddly-shaped eyes fashioned by a madman-- yes, that was him. That was him, and that would stay him no matter what he did to make amends. He was no Juuhachigou.
He kicked the tree felled by his ax hours before, kicked at it like junior-high kids with a piece of paper on the gymnasium floor, kick, walk, kick, walk, until the aged walnut tree couldn't take it and split with the force exerted. When he realized this Juunanagou cursed the tree and its predecessors, then to cursing Gero for his insanity, then, in matchless profanities, to cursing his sister, the last thing he would have done half an hour ago. Before she came and he saw to what extent they'd separated, before he understood that it was as final as death without the dragonballs ready to wish you back.
In retrospect, he had lost prior to even beginning, a pawn in chess, a sacrificial piece that, after the sacrifice, suddenly did not seem very important. Yet he had gone in anyway, and played the game best he could until the end, when it ultimately dawned on him that he was playing it by the rules to a different one, perhaps the game barely avoided when the time traveler came, like Lafayette, in hopes of changing the world. Yes, he had lost it all with less gracefulness than a bullfrog, humanity stolen by a so-called man of science, half-life absorbed by a monster, then left by his twin to stand alone.
He saw a flash of light beside one half of the fallen black walnut tree. His ax, still where he had left it, metallic edge gleaming in the remnants of a midsummer sun. 'Still there,' he thought, and the trademark bitter smirk returned to his lips as he took it and returned to the cabin where the broken glass still lay.
finis
Author's Note: I have nothing to say for once, this being the final chapter, except that I really hope you liked it. I did the first part of this fic months ago on notebook paper, and when I realized how unfinished it was, rewrote it all on my computer, adding to it more chapters and a more satisfactory (but you tell me) ending. And again, thank you, reviewers. I never would have gotten through "Retrospect"without all your encouragement, and I want all of you to know that. -Acey
Yes, here's the final part of the fic, thanks again to the reviewers. Disclaimer: Acey really wishes she could own DBZ, but to put the anime and manga into her none-too-capable hands would be catastrophic to the industry, due to her lack of excellent people skills ("Hahaha! Yep, now that I'm the owner of DBZ, Juunanagou's going to be the main character!"), tact ("Well, I'm sorry that you don't own any of DBZ anymore, Funimation. To make it up to you, I'll put the subbed version that everyone likes better up instead of yours."), and artistry ("See that stick figure over there? That's Juunanagou. See the other one over there? That's Juuhachigou. You won't be able to tell which is which until I color them in." "Acey, we can't tell any of these characters apart until you color them in." "Did I ask for your opinion?" "No, Acey..." "Exactly. Now get me my markers."). Yeah. Therefore, she is fairly content to stay at home and write the fanfics, all with the disclaimer that she does not own DBZ. [If that wasn't good enough, then let me make it plain and simple: I don't own DBZ.]
Darkness Angel: You were the very first person I ever reviewed for (no matter how long it seems like, I have only been reviewing since late May), and the first person I ever received a review for. Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Android 21 3/7: I'm glad I put in the failure to realize the joke part. I tried very hard to show how far they'd grown apart without just saying it straight out. Thanks for seeing that (I was afraid I hadn't shown it enough)!
Zeitgeist : If I minded about logging in, I would've not accepted anonymous reviews. Being an anonymous reviewer myself for awhile, I decided that I wouldn't do that to anybody the minute I registered on fanfiction.net. And I didn't. You got it! Hector of Troy. I was wondering if anyone would catch that. Doesn't Zeitgeist mean "spirit of the times" or something? Yes, this is going to be a "day in the life" type thing. My skills with action fics are, if possible, worse than my skills with romance fics, so I stick to angst, mysteries, and horror ninety-nine percent of the time. Sub or dub? Well, I'm really a dubbie, to be honest. I use a few of the sub names (Bura, Mr. Satan), but the sad fact of the matter is that if I tried to do all the subbed names, in four minutes I'd accidentally get right back to typing "Vegeta" for "Vejita," "Krillin" for "Kuririn," "Krillen," etc. So I'm sticking to dubs, mostly. Too many pop references? You're probably right. *cringes*
Evil Juuchan: You're right, the androids were always horrifically underused, both in the show and in the fanfiction (as you can see, I'm trying my best to change that).
Moonraker One: Thanks so much for that feedback. It means a lot to me to know someone liked what I wrote. My own reaction to your review was the same: WOW.
And now, the much-rewritten final chapter to "Retrospect." I hope you enjoy it.
He smashed the first thing he saw when he came through the door, only to find that it was a mirror, and he had shattered it. Why he even bothered having a mirror when he would look the same for an eternity he didn't know. At any rate, the fragments of glass seemed to snicker up at him with their identical images of the black-haired cyborg, saying, 'See, Juunana? We're all you've got now. Just your reflection. Are you happy? Are you feeling better now, without your twin? Are you? Are you?'
Juunanagou angrily picked up a piece without caution, letting the edges cut the palms of his hands, not caring that there was less blood in him than what was in an I. V. unit, indifferent to the fact that he couldn't sense the pain from what he was so carelessly trying to do, pick up the fragment.
He blasted what was left of the mirror's frame, and crushed the piece of glass in his hand silently between his fingers, leaving the rest on the floor of his cabin. Then he walked out, catlike grace gone from his lithe, youthful body, replaced by the slow, determined walk of someone who has no idea where he's going and doesn't give a flip about it.
So all he'd had was gone. He had never had much to begin with, just a twin sister who loved to shop and a brother around ten feet tall (or so it seemed, at least, looking up at him). And himself, he'd always had himself. Juunanagou needed no advice from bits of glass to know that much. The trademark smirk, the bandana, the oddly-shaped eyes fashioned by a madman-- yes, that was him. That was him, and that would stay him no matter what he did to make amends. He was no Juuhachigou.
He kicked the tree felled by his ax hours before, kicked at it like junior-high kids with a piece of paper on the gymnasium floor, kick, walk, kick, walk, until the aged walnut tree couldn't take it and split with the force exerted. When he realized this Juunanagou cursed the tree and its predecessors, then to cursing Gero for his insanity, then, in matchless profanities, to cursing his sister, the last thing he would have done half an hour ago. Before she came and he saw to what extent they'd separated, before he understood that it was as final as death without the dragonballs ready to wish you back.
In retrospect, he had lost prior to even beginning, a pawn in chess, a sacrificial piece that, after the sacrifice, suddenly did not seem very important. Yet he had gone in anyway, and played the game best he could until the end, when it ultimately dawned on him that he was playing it by the rules to a different one, perhaps the game barely avoided when the time traveler came, like Lafayette, in hopes of changing the world. Yes, he had lost it all with less gracefulness than a bullfrog, humanity stolen by a so-called man of science, half-life absorbed by a monster, then left by his twin to stand alone.
He saw a flash of light beside one half of the fallen black walnut tree. His ax, still where he had left it, metallic edge gleaming in the remnants of a midsummer sun. 'Still there,' he thought, and the trademark bitter smirk returned to his lips as he took it and returned to the cabin where the broken glass still lay.
finis
Author's Note: I have nothing to say for once, this being the final chapter, except that I really hope you liked it. I did the first part of this fic months ago on notebook paper, and when I realized how unfinished it was, rewrote it all on my computer, adding to it more chapters and a more satisfactory (but you tell me) ending. And again, thank you, reviewers. I never would have gotten through "Retrospect"without all your encouragement, and I want all of you to know that. -Acey