Disclaimer: I own nothing, and make no money from this. So get off my back, man! O_O ::twitch::

Author's Note: You'd think that after so long I'd have something fantastic to give any readers I have. But nothing drastic to the plot occurs in this chapter. So…. Just read. lol

Chapter Eleven: Adjustments

            "So when will you guys be back here?"

            A sigh. "We're not coming back."

            "… WHAT??"

            Bulma pinched the bridge of her nose, as if it would release her tension. "Serive won't allow for any more delays. She said that Paresu was just going to have to come with us."

            Bulma was conferring with Videl in the control center of MARC. She sat in the front chair before the main controls. Before her the windshield gave a clear view of their path through star-studded space. To Bulma's far right, Gohan sat in another chair checking readings and entering information into a log.

            On the screen that displayed the control center back home, Videl was flabbergasted. "Paresu can't stay there!"

            "Well, what do you expect me to do about it? Die?" Bulma replied grimly.

            Videl huffed. "Well, where is she going to stay? With Serive?"

            "Actually, it's been arranged so that Paresu will move in with Goten."

            "I thought Gohan was with Goten."

            "Gohan is with Trunks now."

            "So Vejita is with you?"

            "Yup."

            "But that would mean…"

            "Bra said she'd stay with Serive," Bulma acknowledged with a frown.

            Videl winced. "Oooh, that's gonna make things so much worse."

            "Tell me about it. Vejita is doing some mental exercises with Bra right now, but he's more likely lecturing her." She sighed. "I don't know why he can't just let it go. It's pointless to argue about."

            Videl raised an eyebrow. "Well, I can understand why he's upset with her."

            "She was just trying to accommodate everyone. Plus, Serive likes her, so-"

            "Bulma," the dark-haired woman interrupted, "did it ever occur to you that there's something else bothering Vejita?"

            The inventress blinked. "What do you mean?"

            "How do I put this… Ah!" Videl nodded to herself. "Let's try a bit of role reversal."

            "Oookay…"

            "Alright, Bulma, let's say that, through whatever circumstances, you wound up living on Vejitasei. You're a lone human in a society of Saiyajins. You are very out of place, and you feel awkward in this strange culture. But you love Vejita, so you don't mind living there despite all that."

            Bulma laughed. "Not to mention I'd be queen!" She grinned with a power-hungry glint in her eye.

            Videl stared at her warily for a moment. "Uh… right." She coughed. "Anyway, time goes on, and you and Vejita have your two children, which is a lovely occasion."

            Bulma smiled. "Of course."

            "But," Videl went on, "you are on Vejitasei. Trunks and Bra are raised as Saiyajin. They are integrated into the culture of that planet, not yours. They speak and write in Saiyago, and they don't know a word of our Earth tongue. They're familiar with things that are fairly alien to you. Let's even go as far to say that in this situation, they both have spiky black hair. And even though it makes sense for them to be adjusted to Vejitasei culture, it's odd for you to see your children behaving in ways that you perceive as strange. But the worst part of it is that neither of them ever show any bit of interest in human culture."

            Bulma slowly nodded. "Oh…" she whispered to herself. She laughed nervously. "I never thought of that." She looked thoughtful. "You think I should talk to Bra?"

            "No," Videl replied. "Don't make her have an interest. It'll only hurt Vejita more if she's placating him."

            "Well, it might just get worse if-" A screen popped up and started flashing read with a concurrent beeping noise. "Hold on, Videl…"

            "I just thought it was common knowledge not to fraternize with the enemy," Vejita snapped.

            Bra growled from her cross-legged position on the floor. "And I thought this was another training session, not a lecture on my odd morals." She tightly closed her eyes once again and tried to produce a mental training session.

            "Well, I'd rather not train someone who apparently might turn on her own family."

            She became very still, but slowly opened her eyes. "'Tousan, I'm going to pretend you never said that, since it's so far from the truth that the truth wouldn't even visit it on its deathbed." She shifted a bit. "Now hush up so I can once again attempt this bizarre exercise."

            Vejita snorted. "I wish there'd been time for your mother to build some sort of fighting chamber so I could knock some sense back into you."

            "Oh, you just try it, old man," Bra replied with a grin, trying to put some humor into the conversation. The look on her father's face reminded her of how infrequently he could be amused. She sighed and got to her feet. "Otousan, I know you don't understand, but I also know that you don't really believe I'd turn my back on my own family. Look, it's just that I understand Serive's plight. I mean, you would do anything to save your planet, right?"

            Vejita frowned as the image of a brilliant ruddy orb afloat in thousands of twinkling lights appeared in his head. "That's an unfair argument," he muttered.

            Bra smiled, knowing she had at least made a point. "Look at it this way; Serive likes me, and while she thinks there's some leverage in a friendship, you also have leverage. I might be able to influence her." Her smile widened when her father's expression became thoughtful. "Not to mention that I can keep an eye on her and that creepy little doll."

            He stared at her for a few moments, then nodded.

            "There," Bra chirped. "Now no more talk of this crap." She sat down again. "To even suggest that I don't take offense to 'Kaasan's situation… Honestly!" She looked up to tsk at her father, but he was still brooding. " 'Tousan?" He didn't look at her. "What else could possibly be wrong?" she asked.

            Beep. Beep. A screen popped up on a wall panel in the sitting room. Bulma's worried face looked down on the off-screen control panel. "Hey, you two, I did another scan of the ship, and we have a problem."

            "And that's everything. I think so, at least…" Goten said, thinking for a moment. Paresu had finally awoken from her fainting spell after about an hour, and after more time spent calming her down, the half-Saiyajin had sat down with her in their room and told her everything. Any detail he could remember was included in his descriptions of Vejitasei's end, his father's life on earth, how Vejita truly first met Goku, the race against Freeza on Namek, the fight against Cell preordained to them by a boy from the future, and even the Buu holocaust that a wish made her unable to remember. Goten was also sure to include the happenings of two years ago, revealing that his father had died in order to stop the chaos of the dragonballs.

            Paresu stared at the floor. "So you guys aren't out for world domination?"

            Goten blinked. "No."

            "And you're not looking to steal Earth's resources or something?"

            "No…" he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

            She suddenly grimaced, holding a hand to her chest. "And you don't spawn by laying eggs in people's chests that grow into icky creatures that burst through your rib cage?"

            "…. No." Goten scratched the back of his head with a confused expression.

            She seemed a bit relieved, but still worried. "It's… a lot…" Paresu mumbled. "A lot."

            "Yes…" Goten sighed. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, Paresu, but-"

            "No." Paresu, eyes closed, held up a hand to stop him. "I'm sorry, Goten, for pushing you to tell me. This… I can understand why you would be nervous about telling me."

            Goten smiled, but she didn't look at him. "Well… what do you think?" he asked nervously.

            "I… I don't know what to think."

            Goten's face became sad. "I understand."

            "I mean… It will take time to sink in and get used to." She looked up and smiled at him. "It's not like you all are different people or anything."

            Goten blinked in surprise. "You mean you still want to be with me?"

            Paresu raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I?" He stared at her blankly, and she laughed. "Ooooh, Goten-kun!" she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck. "It's okay! I'd love you even if you had two heads!"

            Goten hugged her back. "You have no idea how happy I am right now!" he exclaimed.

            She giggled and pulled away. "I love to see you happy!" she chirped.

            "I love to see you happy," Goten repeated back to her. "I want you to be happy forever."

            She laughed again. "That would be great. But I'd only be happy with you around, Son Goten." She punctuated it by poking him in the nose.

            His smile widened and his eyes twinkled. "Hold on for a second."

            "Oh?" Paresu remained sitting on the bed as he got up and walked over to the bureau. He rummaged through the top drawer and after a moment withdrew a small black box. When Paresu saw it, her heart stopped. "Goten…"

            He blushed when he got down on one knee in front of her. "Paresu, I've been so lucky to just know you, that I can't describe how great it feels to know that you love me back. I should have known that someone as wonderful as you wouldn't care about something stupid like genetics." He swallowed hard and opened the velvet box to reveal the engagement ring. "Will you marry me?"

            Paresu could only stare at the sparkling jewel blankly.

            "There's something wrong with the landing gear," Bulma said, pointing at one of the ship's legs on a diagram on the main screen.

            Vejita frowned. "But you did an entire check of the ship before take-off. Everything was fine."

            "Something couldn't have happened between the exam and take-off, could it?" Bra asked.

            "I am… displeased," Serive grumbled. She kept fidgeting, noticeably avoiding the wide view of space at the front of the room.

            "Hey!" Bulma spun around and pointed at the Wycanian. "This is NOT my fault."

            "Well somebody better tell me whose fault it is!" She clenched her fists. "Delays are quite inconvenient at the time."

            "I might be simple to fix," Bulma suggested. "We need to land somewhere so I can look at it. As for what caused it, I've already asked the guys back home to look over the computer's scan conclusion and even the security video files-"

            Another screen suddenly blipped up. Videl was sitting at the control panel and resting her face in one hand. "Bulma?" she mumbled.

            "Hey!" Bulma twirled her chair back around to the screen. "Did you find out what happened?"

            Videl sighed, but didn't move. "The initial scan was correct, but Eighteen reviewed the security recordings that took place afterwards… Well, look." She hit a button with her free hand.

            The screen changed to display a mute version of Pan's earlier incident. All gaped at the screen when she unknowingly smashed a crate into the landing leg, resulting in a massive dent.

            A flicker, and Videl had moved to the side to give the travelers a view of Pan. She stood sheepishly in the center of the home control center.

            "Um… sorry?" she offered.

            Bra spoke up first. "God, Pan, what the hell was your problem?!"

            Pan glared right back. "Hey, why don't' you ask your bossy brother? He could stand to be more polite!"

            "No reason to act like a total spaz!" Bra shot back.

            "It's not like I did it on purpose!"

            "Ha! You probably wanted to spend a bit more time with Trunks before we took off!"

            "What?!" Pan blushed furiously. "That's completely-"

            "-true!" Bra interrupted. "You looove him! You want to maaarrrry him!"

            "Do not!"

            "You want to huuug him!"

            "Shut-up, you twit!"

            "You want to kiiisss him!"

            "Like you should talk!"

            "GIRLS!" Bulma shouted. "That's enough!"

            That was fine with Bra, who knew that Pan had been ready to bring up the Briefs girl's crush on Goten. She settled for making faces at the dark-haired girl, who returned the expressions with her own.

            Gohan stood behind Bulma and frowned at his wife in reaction to his daughter's behavior. "Looks like we're going to have to have a talk with Pan-chan about her temper when I get home," he said sternly.

            Videl smirked. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it," she replied coolly. Her tone of voice made Pan forget about Bra and grimace.

            Bulma sighed. "Well, we'll figure out how to handle it from here, Videl. Thanks for checking on that for me."

            "No problem. That's why we're here, ne?" Videl replied. "I'll talk to you later."

"Oh, Bra," Pan spoke nonchalantly before Videl signed off. "How's your- ahem- training coming along?"

"Fantastically!" Bra replied coolly, folding her arms.

"Well, then perhaps we should test our strength against each other when you get back," Pan suggested with a smirk. "That is, if in your short time of training you're up to someone who has years of experience on you."

"Oh, yeah?" Bra confidently held her nose in the air. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm doing so well, in face, that I could become a Super Saiyajin any day now."

Vejita raised an eyebrow at this remark, shrugging when Bulma looked at him questioningly.

Pan did not notice the exchange, but openly showed her amusement by smirking skeptically. "Well, should be interesting."

"Say goodbye, girls," Videl spoke up, rolling her eyes.

"Bye, Pan," Bra said. "Have fun on good old Earth," she added snidely.

Pan snorted. "Have a great time training. I can't wait to see what kind of a challenge you'll be." She made sure to accentuate her sarcasm.

The screen blipped out, and Bra huffed. "That girl is insufferable! 'What kind of a challenge you'll be-' PSH!" She grabbed her father's arm and pulled him out of the room, saying, "Back to work, so I can show up that little brat!"

Gohan sweatdropped at Bra's familiar attitude, but there were more important things to think about other than the qualities children acquired from their parents. "Well, where can we stop to make repairs?" he asked Serive.

Serive walked over to the front controls and pressed some keys to bring up a celestial map. She examined it for a moment, and then pointed a crimson nail at one yellow dot among thousands. The computer automatically zoomed in. "This is Elufer, a planet used for refueling and ship maintenance. Since it's so far out in the frontier of space, it doesn't get much business, and it's practically the only station in this area of the north quadrant."

Bulma nodded, following her train of thought. "Which is good. We don't want to run into too many unsavory characters."

Serive frowned. "But we likely will sooner or later." She glanced at Bulma. "I'm in no position to tell Vejita to keep his power in check, but he should watch his temper. We don't need to attract attention from anyone, including authorities. I want there to be as little bloodshed as possible." She looked off to the side. "Until we get to Wycan," she added.

"Vejita's temper isn't what it used to be," Bulma assured her.

Serive smirked at her. "It isn't, eh? Well, we'll see."

Bulma glared at her. "What? You think the moment we set foot on a planet he's gonna start attacking people?"

Serive shrugged. "I'm not thinking anything." She leaned over towards Bulma and smirked. "But people do adapt to new environments, and if it's one they've experienced before, they usually revert to what worked in the past."

Bulma returned the sarcastic grin. "Well, I like to give people more credit than that."

The Wycanian princess laughed a bit, obviously believing Bulma to be foolish. She turned and raised an eyebrow at Gohan. "Can I trust that your fuse is longer than your spawn's?"

"I can control myself," Gohan replied, a bit irritated at how she referred to Pan.

"Good," Serive's eyes flickered to the stars and she abruptly turned away. "I'll be in my room."

Even though they were in space, the clock on Bra's bureau when she entered her and Serive's room showed that it was late in the night on Earth, which would explain why she was tired. Well, that and the fact that she'd managed to slip into a mental spar with her father for the first time. It was tiring even fighting him with her mind; her brain was exhausted.

Bra frowned to herself when she thought of Pan again. That damn girl didn't think she was capable of fighting at all. Well, she'd show her, and she'd show Trunks too! She'd prove to them all that she wasn't only worthy as a fashion consultant.

Bra blinked when she noticed a towel hanging over the window. It had been attached to the wall with masking tape. She turned to Serive, a question on her lips.

"Don't ask," Serive snapped before the girl could speak.

Bra frowned and yawned, stretching her arms wide. "Don't you think the stars are pretty?"

"I don't like space travel," was the short reply.

"Why?"

The only response she received was a sharp glare.

Bra opened her dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and some boxers to sleep in. "You must really love your planet, to travel such a far distance through space even though you hate it."

"Wouldn't you?"

"Of course."

"Then why the surprise?"

Bra bit her lip and turned away as she changed. She hesitated with her answer. "You're just… a very contradictory person, is all."

"Am I?"

"You have one set of values for your people, and an entirely different opinion of everyone else."

"Well, no one else has earned our respect." Serive reached over and picked up Jinja from the nearby nightstand.

"You think everyone should be just like you?" Bra asked when she was finished changing.

"Well, there would be a better universe if they were." Serive traced her fingers over the dolls stitches.

Bra turned to Serive and gave her a distasteful look. "That is so unbelievably close-minded."

"If you say so."

Bra snorted and hopped onto her bed, getting under the sheets.

From her own bed, Serive eyed her and smirked. "I noticed something interesting today."

"That the universe doesn't revolve around you?" Bra replied.

"When Paresu showed up, you looked less than thrilled to see her."

"She's not supposed to be here. Why would I be thrilled?" Bra shifted on her bed as she tried to get comfortable. "She could get in real danger."

Serive brushed her wayward bit of hair out of her face, but it only fell back into face as usual. Her smirk stayed in place, though. "You kept looking at that Goten boy too." Her grin widened when Bra froze.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bra finally said, plopping her head on her pillow and turning to face away from Serive.

"If you have designs on him, why don't you act?"

"I don't have any designs," was the quick reply. "And even if I did, he and Paresu are very much in love." Bra bit her lip. The bitterness in her voice was obvious, voiding her first statement.

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so?'" Bra grumbled, closing her eyes and hoping this conversation would end soon so she could get to sleep.

"I mean," Serive explained, "that you obviously have some advantages over this human girl. You clearly have the ability to get her out of your way."

Bra shot up in bed and stared at Serive in shock. "What are you saying??" she nearly shrieked.

"Back on Wycan, if a woman had affections for a man who as involved, and she clearly had more power than his current interest, it was quite common for her to take the other woman's place."

Bra gaped. "She'd KILL her?"

"Well, not without giving her the opportunity to back down. We are civilized, you know."

Bra grimaced. "That's not civilized at all. What if the man didn't like her?"

"Too bad. Women are given the task of creating the most favorable offspring, so they must choose who they feel are suitable mates. The man has nothing to say about it."

"That's terrible." Bra hugged her knees. "I wouldn't want some guy killing the man I loved just so he could… breed." She stuck her tongue out at the last word.

"It wouldn't be a problem for you," Serive said. "Only the women chose mates. As long as no woman stronger than you wanted your partner, you had nothing to worry about."

"Hn." Bra glanced at Serive. "I suppose you chose the best guy for yourself."

In an instant Serive's expression was completely closed off. She reached over to a switch by her bed and turned off the light. "Good night, Bra," she said coolly in the dark.

Bra remained in her huddled position. She blinked in confusion while she listened to Serive settle under her covers. What had that been about?

Trunks tapped his mother on the shoulder and she jerked straight up in her seat, spinning the chair around. He laughed and she put a hand to her chest, smiling weakly.

"You scared the hell out of me," she chided, rubbing her eyes. She'd been close to falling asleep before her son ripped her back to reality.

"Time for bed," he ordered, pulling her up from her seat. Gohan was already waiting by the door to accompany her to MARC's living quarters.

"Have you seen your father?" Bulma asked as Trunks sat in the chair she'd occupied previously.

"Yeah. He was going to the rooms with Bra when I was leaving for here."

"Okay." She leaned over and brushed his purple bangs back, kissing him on the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sweetie."

"G'night, 'Kaasan, Gohan," Trunks said as the two left the room. He turned back to the front and brought up the communications screen, sending a signal back to Earth. After a moment, Eighteen popped up.

She looked a bit surprised to hear from him. "Yeah? A problem?"

Trunks flushed a bit. "Um, I was just wondering if Marron was awake?"

She stared blankly for a moment, then a small smile appeared on her lips. "Hold on. I'll check."

Trunks watched her leave the room, and suddenly Krillin moved into the screen's sight. "Oh, hey, Krillin-san!" Trunks greeted.

The former monk smiled and yawned. "Hey, Trunks." He took a seat where his wife had been. "Things going well?"

"Despite everything with the landing gear, yeah. Dad hasn't tried to kill Serive yet, if that's what you're really asking," Trunks replied.

Krillin laughed a bit. "That's good." He became serious. "I don't mean to get you down or anything, Trunks, but…"

Trunks blinked at his somber tone. "Yes?"

"Marron has been really upset since you left."

Trunks looked down. "I'm… I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have proposed until after I got back."

Krillin shook his head. "She'd still be as upset. What I mean is, well…"

"Yes?"

Krillin chuckled. "It's a bit silly, but don't get killed, okay?"

Trunks nodded and smiled, knowing what Krillin meant. "Don't worry. I promise I'll come back."

"Well, you and I both know how hairy things can get out there. Just watch yourself."

Trunks rolled his eyes. "I'm more concerned with watching Bra. She's the only one who's never been out here before. She's bound to do something stupid, like take in some 'cute' creature as a pet that will wind up killing us all."

"Don't forget Paresu."

Trunks clapped a hand over his eyes. "I did forget. Oh, man. I don't know how we're going to deal with her. We should probably just… lock her in here."

"I'm sure Goten will take care of her," a sweet voice replied.

Trunks lowered his hand and looked back at the screen. "Marron-chan!" he nearly yelled, leaning eagerly towards her image.

Krillin moved and let Marron take his seat. "We're going to turn in," he told her. "We'll send Videl in soon."

"Yeah, okay, Otousan," Marron said dismissively, not taking her eyes off of Trunks.

Krillin smiled at Eighteen, who'd come in with their daughter. Then the two went off to their room in Capsule Corp's guest area.

"So have you met any dazzling alien princesses out there?" Marron asked playfully.

"Oh, plenty," Trunks replied, rolling his eyes. "I have to beat them off with a stick."

"But surely one of them must've caught your eye."

"My eye is looking elsewhere."

"Oh, and where is that?"

"Somewhere far from this ship."

"Tell me about her."

"Oh, there are no words."

Marron burst out laughing. "Ooh, Mr. Smooth-talker! Take me!" she proclaimed, leaning back in her chair as she laughed. After a moment her cheer died down and she smiled at her fiancé softly. "I miss you, Trunks…"

He returned her forlorn expression. "I miss you too." He noticed that she had begun to wring her hands in the bottom of her shirt. "Don't worry, though. I'll be back soon enough," he promised.

Her smile grew, but so did the wetness in her eyes. "Trunks-"

"Please don't cry."

She wrapped her arms around herself and a tear finally fell. "Trunks, you know you can't promise me that nothing will happen to you out there."

Trunks ran a hand through his hair. "Don't think like that."

"I try not to," she replied, wiping at her eyes. "But… it's hard…"

Trunks became very serious. "Marron, if there's anything you can do for me right now, it to believe. Believe that we will all make it back safe and sound. Because if you really think that I'm going to die out here-"

"Oh, no!" Marron looked horrified at the prospect. She flattened a hand against the screen. "No, Trunks-chan. I do believe. I will believe. I'll pray for you every night."

The corner of Trunks' lips perked up and he put his hand up on the screen against hers. "Thank you, Marron."

The doors in the back of the room slid open and Trunks turned to see Goten walk in with a shocked expression on his face.

Trunks frowned at his friend's expression. "Goten?"

On Earth, Marron could also see him on her screen. "What's wrong?"

Goten looked up at them and his expression turned into a relieved grin. He gestured to someone outside the door, and Paresu bounced in and clung to his arm. "Guess how many engaged people are in this room?" he asked.

Bulma walked into her and Vejita's room and flicked on the light. She yawned and stretched her arms, raising an eyebrow when she noticed her husband sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed. "What are you doing down there?"

He sat with his legs bent and arms resting on his knees. His head was tilted down and he just seemed to stare at the rough burgundy carpet. In response to her question, the prince only shrugged.

The blue-haired woman closed the door and stretched again, cracking her neck. Sitting in the control room all day had made her aging joints stiff. "Well, it seems our landing gear is our only problem. I hope this thing doesn't collapse when we get to Elufer." She glanced at her husband as she changed into a loose fitting pair of pajamas. "You're quiet."

Another shrug, though his eyes slid up and stared at the round window in the wall across from him. Done changing, Bulma sat at the end of the bed behind him, her legs on either side of his shoulders. She stroked her hands through his coarse hair and looked out the window. She smiled softly. "Being out here brings back memories," she said softly. She laughed. "Did I ever tell you about the dream I had on Namek?"

He rested his head on the mattress and closed his eyes as she, more or less, pet him. "No."

She laughed. "It was after Gohan found the dragonball you hid in a lake. I was hiding in this narrow nook, and I dreamed that you found me and demanded that I give it back to you. It was in plain sight and I kept trying to tell you where it was, but you didn't seem to hear me. I woke up just before you blasted me away."

His eyes slid open. "I see I made a great first impression."

Bulma laughed. "That only proves that first impressions are not always true," she said, running her hand across his cheek.

"Hn…" He went back to staring at the stars.

Bulma gazed at them too, and she thought more about how her husband used to be. She looked back down and stared at him softly. "This must bring back some memories for you too, ne?" she asked quietly.

He didn't answer.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Her hand rested on his cheek.

He shifted under her and got up, walking over to the bureau. "I'm going to bed," he said flatly, opening a drawer to get some pajamas.

She was suffocating, writhing in the empty space around her. She twisted and turned, but all she could see were the stars closing in around her. The sparkling whiteness got brighter as they approached, and soon her vision was encompassed with ivory. The whiteness dulled suddenly and pulled back, and her heart beat even faster when she finally saw the dark purple curve of lips below a small nose, and above that two bright red eyes that took in her suffering with glee. A leathery tail wrapped about her throat was what was suffocating her now as the Icejin lay on top of her, quickly making shreds of her clothing.

The face vanished and there was disgustingly warm breath on her ear. "You should be quicker to learn obedience after this," a mocking voice purred.

Two claws gripped her hips as his pelvis prepared to thrust-

Serive snapped upright in her bed. Her hands clutched her blanket tightly; her nails had torn through the fabric. Her breathing was quick and labored, and she finally tried to calm herself down, closing her eyes and running a shaking hand through her hair. She brought her arm down and stared at her slick palm, and she realized that she was soaked in sweat. Her gaze flickered to the bed next to her, but Bra showed no signs of waking. Her form made only slight rising and falling movements with her breathing.

She threw off the covers and got to her feet, but her legs suddenly gave out from under her. Crumpled on the floor, Serive showed no intention of getting up. Her hands curled into the fists against the carpet as she struggled to suppress her tears, but the dream kept flashing in her mind, along with memories she prayed to the gods she would someday forget. Her breaths had not slowed at all, and now her exhalations came out in small sobs. A small noise caught her attention, and the Wycanian looked up at the wall to see that towel had fallen down. The stars in the window seemed to gather outside of it, laughing at her, happily reminding her of all the tyrant had done. Giving up, Serive cursed herself and cried.

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Constructive criticism, please? =D??!!??

Next chapter will likely be an interludy flashback thingy…