Once back at home, Vegeta just walked through the front door with his head hung down. Bulma almost immediately ran to him with a million questions. She stopped talking when she looked at the sadness she saw in his eyes.
"Oh my god, Vegeta! What's wrong? What happened? TELL ME! Vegeta TELL ME!" screamed Bulma as she pounded her fists on his chest. Vegeta wrapped his arms around Bulma and just held her tight for minutes.
"Go sit at the kitchen table. I'm going to get Trunks and we'll be there in a few minutes. I'll tell you both everything." Said Vegeta very sweetly and calmly to his wife.
"Ok," said Bulma with tears streaming down her face as she went to sit at the kitchen table. Soon after Vegeta walked into the kitchen with Trunks following behind him. The two men sat at the kitchen table.
"Ok, dad, what's this all about?" asked Trunks. Vegeta looked at his wife. He could not bear to tell her what he saw.
"Ok, once I found Bra, she was in this neighborhood on the south end of town."
"The south end? What was she doing there?" asked Bulma.
"Please, let me finish. I watched her go into this dilapidated house. I hid next to the window out side to see what was going on." For the first time and probably the last time, Trunks watched a single tear fall down his father's face, "I watched her snort something white, up her nose." Bulma was in total shock. She could not say a single word.
"Cocaine?" said Trunks; "She's doing cocaine."
"That's what I saw. She walked into the house and asked for someone named Rei."
"That's the girl she went to high school with." Said Trunks.
"But, she wasn't home. Some guy came out, I think Bra called him Wade. She asked him if he had anything, and he told her all he had was Coke. He hesitated on giving it to her, but she told him she'd buy him more." With that Bulma broke down and balled her eyes out.
"What did I do wrong? Was I bad mother? What did I do wrong?" Bulma sobbed.
"Mom, you didn't do anything wrong?" said Trunks.
"Then why is she doing this? She was never like this before Kris, what changed? What did I do wrong?" cried Bulma.
"Bulma, you didn't do anything wrong?" said Vegeta, "I blame myself for this."
"NO!" said Trunks, "No one is to blame for this. This is no ones fault. Did you give her the drugs, dad?" Trunks waited for an answer, "No you didn't. She needs help.""Trunks is right." Said Vegeta, "I'm afraid of what will happen to her if we don't."
"But, what can we do. You know what happened earlier will happen again if we interfere with her. She may not even come home again." Said Bulma still weeping.
"No, I know she'll be back. She didn't take anything with her. She's going to need clothes or something. So she'll be back." Said Trunks.
"Well, what can we do?" said Vegeta.
"We need to host an intervention." Said Trunks, "It might be the only way to get through to her."
"What is an intervention?" asked Vegeta.
"I'll explain." Said Trunks. Trunks went on to explain to his parents what an intervention was and they all agreed that it might work. But since Bra was now known for coming home relatively late at night, they had to plan it for then. Bulma and Trunks called everyone, Goku, Goten and ChiChi, Gohan, Videl, and Pan, Krillin and 18, and even Yamcha agreed to come.
It was around 2am when Bra finally did come home. She crept into the house carefully, so that no one would wake up. She walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. As soon as she walked in, Trunks was sitting on the kitchen counter.
"Hey little sis, what's up?"
"What do you want Trunks? Are you waiting for me? I thought you didn't care about me?" snapped Bra,
"You might think I don't care, but you know the people behind you do." said Trunks. Bra turned around and saw everyone standing around her.
"What's going on?" Bra said wide eyed.
"Bra," said Vegeta, "I saw you at that house today. I saw what you did?"
"Yea, and?" said Bra no longer caring who knew or not.
"Why? Why are you doing this?" asked Bulma.
"Why am I doing what?" asked Bra.
"Poisoning your body!" cried Pan.
"Why are you doing drugs, Bra?" asked Gohan.
"Because."
"Bra, sit down. "said Vegeta. Bra sat down on the kitchen table with a bored look on her face. It was obvious she did not want to be there.
"Is this going to take long? I was just here to pick up some clothes." Sighed Bra. Goten sat down at the table in front of her.
"Bra, please don't act like this. We just want to help you and it's apparent you need some help."
"I don't need anything. I can take care of myself just fine."
"No, do you know what cocaine can do to you? Do you know what any drug can do to you?"
"Umm... yea, I'm not an idiot. The question you should be asking, Goten, is if I care or not," snipped Bra, "The answer to that is no."
"Since you left Kris, you have been so different from the girl I knew before you started dating him. What happened?" Asked Goten.
"Kris happened, that's what." Bra thought to herself, "Nothing happened. I wanted a change; I wanted a new life. Now I have one, is that so wrong."
"Starting over isn't wrong, but it's the new path you've chosen, it's destructive." Said Videl; "I've known you since the day you were born, Bra. You've always had the most positive attitude. You weren't into fighting or saving the world, you just wanted to live in the moment. Now it just seems to me that you're just living to die."
"I'm not going to die."
"In my eyes Bra, you're already dead." Said a cold voice from the shadows.
"Piccolo!" said Bra, "What are you doing here? You want to tell me all the mistakes I'm making?"
"No. I just don't like funerals and I do not wish to attend yours." Said Piccolo.
"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!" yelled Bra slamming her fist on the table.
"If you keep doing as much drugs as you're doing now, it won't be long."
"Please, Bra, let us help you?" said Bulma as she began to cry, "I don't want to lose my baby."
"Mother, please." Sighed Bra. Yamcha sat down in front of Bra, "oh please, what could you possibly have to tell me. You hate my father and still carry a flame for my mother. You're the last person who should be talking to me."
"You're right, I don't know much about you Bra. But I know the road you're on very well. Before I met your mother I used to go out all night and sleep all day long. I drank and did all sorts of drugs. My best friend was kind of like you. One night, he over did it with the smack, angel dust and pot." Yamcha began to choke on his words, "The next thing I knew, he was dead. No one saw it coming. He was gone and I never got a chance to say goodbye. He was my best friend."
"He was just some guy who couldn't handle his drugs." Said Bra, with no emotion."How can you say that? You didn't even know him!" yelled Yamcha, "He had dreams, he had hopes, he had so much potential to do something great with his life and it was wasted on drugs. You have all of that. Potential, hopes and dreams, you have it all, don't throw it away like Kleenex. Don't waste your life." Those last words from Yamcha really did bother her, but she refused to let it show.
"Life is like a Kleenex. It's disposable." Said Bra.
"You know, Bra, I think I understand you." Said 18, from across the room, "You like the feeling of being high. You like the freedom, you like the power." With those words Bra shot a glare at 18
"How could she possibly know, she's a fucking android." Thought Bra, "What could you possibly know about me, Android."
"That was a long time ago, Bra." Said 18, "I've changed, I over came my quest for power. I became human. I realized that being in control of every situation isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sure right now, you feel free, you feel control, but it doesn't last and you wake up and realize that you're really not in control and the drugs are controlling you."
"You couldn't possibly know how I feel!" yelled Bra.
"Bra, Please don't fight with us." Cried ChiChi, "We just want to help you. You're like a daughter to me, Bra, seeing you like this, is heart breaking. Please let us help you."
"How many times do I have to tell you I don't want your help, because I don't need it." Yelled Bra."But I think you do want our help." Said Goku, "You're just too proud to ask for it."
"I lost my pride the first time I got the shit beat out of me for coughing during a movie. Don't even tell me this about my pride." Said Bra.
"But, I know in my heart that you don't want this kind of lifestyle. You want out of it all, you want things back to normal. Bra, it will never go back to normal if you don't let us help you. I'll find a great clinic that can help you, just give us a chance." Said Goku.
"If you people think that I'm going to rehab, you can forget it. I'll never go, and if you do get me in there, I'll leave, and you'll never see me again." yelled Bra.
"Bra," said Trunks as he sat down at the table, "I said some things today that, when I reflect on it, I really didn't mean."
"Right, like I'm supposed to believe one thing that comes from you! Mister, "I hate you, you could live forever or die right now", please, I don't want any help from you, of all people."
"Bra, please listen to me. You are my sister, I love you, please don't push us away, these are your friends and family. We don't want anything bad to happen to you. I don't ever want anything to happen to you. Please tell us why you're doing drugs." With that Bra stands up and looks at everyone.
"Enough about my problems, let's intervene on yours for a moment shall we."
"Bra this is about you, not us." Said Gohan.
"Oh, but some how I think it is. You want to cover up all your problems by making my life your problem. Well let's see here, I have a father," looking right at Vegeta, "who never spends a lick of time with his kids outside the gravity room. A father who spends all his time training to be stronger than Uncle Goku. I have a brother, who thinks he's so much better than I am, because he has the brains for an executive position at C.C. while I'm just a lowly head manufacturer. My brother's possible future father-in-law kicks his ass every time looks at Pan. Talk about no trust in your children."
"Bra this isn't about our life, this is about yours." Cried Pan, "Please, let us help you. You're my best friend. I don't want to lose you to something as stupid as drugs."
"Calm down, Pan, I'm not dead. You all keep acting like I'm dead. In fact, I'm sick of this conversation." Bra gets up and tries to leave, but Goten and Trunks block her exit.
"You two get out of my way right now." Said Bra. She then turned to face everyone, " What do you want from me!" she screamed, "This is my life, these are my decisions and none of you have any say in what I do!"
"You're right, Bra, we don't have any say in your life. But, can't you see that you're killing. We all love you and we don't want you to leave us." Said Goku.
"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!" screamed Bra as she grabbed a kitchen chair and threw it against the wall, "NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" with that Trunks and Goten stood aside and Bra walked out of the kitchen and up to her room.
Once in her bedroom, Bra slammed the door and pushed the dresser against the door so no one could get in. Bra just stood there for a few moments, reflecting on what happened. She felt the anger of her friends and family invading in her life boil inside her. She then exploded with rage, destroying just about everything in her room. Once she got her rage out, she grabbed a box from atop her closet. It contained her own training gear. She quickly changed into her gear. She grabbed a couple changes of clothes and popped her computer into it's capsule. She stuffed the clothes into a backpack and looked around her room for a few moments seeing if there was anything else she wanted to take with her. With noting more than her capsule computer and a couple changes of clothes, Bra shot a huge energy blast at the wall of her bed room and flew out the hole she created in the wall, and with a flick of the wrist, she was gone.
Vegeta, Goku, Trunks and Goten ran up stairs to Bra's room as soon as they heard the explosion.
"Bra!!!! Bra!!! Are you alright, answer me!" screamed Vegeta trying to barge his way through her door. Vegeta was about to blast it open when Goku stopped him.
"No, Vegeta, she's not in there. I don't feel her ki from in there." Said Goku, "She's gone."
"How far away is she?" asked Goten.
"She's pretty far." Said Vegeta. Trunks walked down the stairs where everyone else was waiting to see what happened.
"She's gone." Said Trunks to everyone. Pan turned around and walked away.
"Look everyone, we've done all we can for now. We'll figure out what to do next and then we'll find her, tomorrow." Said Piccolo.
"Thank you for coming everyone." Said a deeply depressed and disheartened Bulma. She walked up the stairs with no expression on her face, "It's getting late, if you all want to stay, you're more than welcome." With that Bulma walked into her bedroom and closed the door.
Everyone but Krillin and 18 stayed. Trunks went to go find Pan, who was crying on the couch in the living room. Trunks sat down on the couch next to Pan and put his arms around her. Pan moved and cried into his chest. Trunks just stroked her hair and tried to console her.
"It'll be ok. I promise. She'll come back to us." Said Trunks trying to hold back his own tears. Just then Goten walked into the room and sat on the couch across from the couch Trunks and Pan were on. Pan sat up from Trunks chest and wiped her eyes.
"You gonna be ok?" asked Goten.
"I don't know." Said Pan.
"I know she'll come back to us., "said Trunks, "I know she still loves us, she's just fighting it."
"Why would she do that?" asked Pan, "It's not like her to just reject us."
"But that's not the Bra we know, she's been polluted." Said Trunks, "When she wants to get clean, she'll come back."
"What if the drugs kill her? Then she won't be coming back. I don't think I could bear to lose her. She's my best friend." Cried Pan.
"I don't want to think about that." Said Goten.
"Hey, wanna hear a funny story about Bra?" asked Trunks.
"Ok." Said Goten and Pan half-heartedly.
"This happened when she was about four, she went into my room and put my training gear on, and then went into my parents room and she put on my mothers make-up. She was only four so it was really sloppy. Then she went down to the gravity room and walked right into my dad's training. She walked in and said, "Ok daddy, now I can train with you?" Mom said that I was one of the very few times she had heard him laugh."
"That's the funniest story I have ever heard." Said Pan as she was laughing hysterically.
"Hold on, I'll be right back." Said Trunks as he got up and ran to the closet and pulled out two photo albums and walked back into the living room. He flipped open one of the books and turned a couple of pages. "Here it is. Mom took a picture of Dad and her." He showed the picture to Goten and Pan and they laughed hysterically. The picture was of Vegeta holding Bra in his arms and she had just given him a kiss so he had lipstick on his face. Vegeta was looking at Bra with a scowl/smile on his face and Bra was looking back at him with her million-dollar smile.
"Look at this one of you, Trunks." Said Pan.
"Ah, that was the first black eye I ever got."
"Your mom took a picture of that?" said Goten.
"Nope, dad did. He gave it to me." Said Trunks. With that all three were starting laughing again. The three continued to tell funny stories about Bra and themselves until they fell asleep on the couches.
Meanwhile, in the master bedroom, Vegeta tried desperately to get Bulma to unlock the bathroom door.
"Bulma, please open this door. Talk to me, please." Pleaded Vegeta. He knew she was in there. He could still hear her sobbing.
"Please, leave me be. I'm too upset to argue with you Vegeta."
"Who wants to argue? Please come out, so I can talk to you. Please, Bulma." with that Bulma opened the bathroom door.
"I'm surprised you didn't just blast it down." Sighed Bulma.
"Why would I do that?" asked Vegeta.
"I don't know." Said Bulma as she sat down on her bed. Vegeta sat down next to her and began to stroke her hair.
"We'll find a way to help her. Don't cry everything will be ok. I won't let you down." Consoled Vegeta.
"I just can't imagine what I would do if I ever lost her, or Trunks for that matter. What if I lose both of my children, then I lose you. I'd die Vegeta. Please don't leave me." Cried Bulma clutching his arm.
"Woman, calm down. I'm not going anywhere, Trunks isn't going anywhere, and Bra will come back to us. Nobody is going to leave you, especially me. Calm down." Vegeta took Bulma in his arms and they laid back on the bed. "Bulma do remember when Bra was a baby, I wouldn't let anyone hold her except for you or myself because all she did was cry."
"Yea," said Bulma laughing through her tears, "She even cried when my mother held her."
"I remember." Said Vegeta.
"Do you remember when she was about 18 months old, Trunks tried to feed her the soft food."
"Yes, I do. He painted the kitchen with peas." Laughed Vegeta.
"We have wonderful children, Vegeta. Trying to let go is the hardest thing I have ever had to do." Sighed Bulma.
"We have very independent children. They're smart, strong, and they can both put up a pretty good fight. Bra will come home, we will get our daughter back." Said Vegeta. Bulma moved closer to Vegeta and wrapped her arms around him. Vegeta tightened his grip on her and held her until they both fell asleep.
