Versus 3: Eclipse
All That You Deal-
After she had basically been dumped by someone she wasn't even officially dating yet, all she felt was gloom. Despair. Agony. Deep dark depression. Excessive misery. She'd made it so far in life. She'd won the heart of her childhood love. She'd fought her father to be able to keep him in her life. She lost that particular battle, but she had won the war. Now there was something else in her way. No outside force had caused this breakup. It was her age. Her lack of life experience was the reason that they were now officially over before they had even officially begun.
She was so astonished at the sudden parting of ways that she couldn't even find the strength to cry. Any normal girl in her position would be bawling her eyes out by now. Her heart was broken and she felt sadness, but something else was there. A deep-seeded anger that had always been there began to rear its ugly head. Self-resentment. Self-loathing. Self-hatred. And ultimately self-destruction if she didn't deal with all of this soon.
All she wanted right now was to cry. She believed that if she could muster some tears, she might feel better. If she couldn't cry, then the best thing for her to do would be to work out until she became too exhausted to do anything else. And she had to do it now. NOW.
That's when she took off. She left the school, something she'd never done before. Not physically anyway because mentally she was never there.
Her aura shone bright blue-white around her as she jetted over the trees. She remembered flying over these trees only a few days ago with Goten. She looked down to the place where they had landed. She remembered the kiss they'd shared in the middle of the forest beneath her. He had always been so gentle with her. So kind. Why was he doing this now? She wouldn't understand for the life of her where this sudden change had come from.
She landed atop a mountain and inhaled the frozen salty aroma. It reminded her of him for some reason. Her eyes focused on the waters so far below and she sat.
And sat...
And sat...
And sat...
And...sat...
How long she sat there watching the waves crash against the shore, she did not know.
She tried to understand it all. What had he said to her?
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"Maybe we should cool things down for a while... I mean, I've been to college. I've been to school. I've met the people that you read about in books. But you. You haven't really had a chance to live your life. You haven't been exposed to the different types of people there are in the world. Maybe...maybe you should take some time out to do that... I believe that maybe I did rush things a little. I don't want you to be stuck with me when you could be out meeting new people."
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How could he think that? She wasn't stuck with him. She'd chosen to be with him. How could he think that she would even want to meet new people? If she wanted to meet new people, she would go off and meet new people. Why was he making this into something that it wasn't? It wasn't like he had somehow persuaded her to fall in love with him. She already knew that he was the one she wanted.
She now stood atop the mountain she had chosen. She punched rapidly at nothing at all. She watched as the speed of her attacks sliced through the cold air around her. Kicks were thrown at record-breaking speeds. Elbows, knees, more punches and kicks, all directed at an imaginary opponent...
later-
Bra took a deep breath and looked at the sky above. She had a few options left: 1) she could accept what Goten was trying to do and continue on without having him in her life; 2) she could try desperately to talk him into being with her again; or 3) she could MAKE him want her back. She liked option 3, but how could she make him want her back when he was the one who broke it off with her? She had no idea about how to deal with the opposite sex (or any sex, for that matter). Talking to her mother was not the way to handle this situation. She had to find someone who knew enough about men to give plausible input, so Pan was out. Her brother. Why even think of HIM for this? He's a guy. He wouldn't work. There was one last chance. The only one of her so-called friends who had at least SOME experience with guys. She would have to talk to...Marron.
The school day wasn't over yet, so she wasn't due back home until a little after 3. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to the blond bitty. But would she be at home? There was only one way to find out.
Bra took off from the mountain top and soared through the clouds. This was one of her more rational plans. It had to work. Unfortunately, she would have to chat with someone she didn't really care for, but it was for a worthy cause, wasn't it?
When she knocked on the door at Kame House, 18 answered it. She looked at Bra strangely.
"Hi," Bra said. She wasn't really sure what else to say to the blond android.
"Bra. Shouldn't you be in school?" 18 asked rather blandly.
"No... I had an out-of-school assignment to do today," Bra lied. Boy, she didn't even believe that one. She frowned. "I was hoping I could talk to Marron."
18 raised an eyebrow. "Marron's pretty busy in her office."
Ah, Marron's office. Bra remembered Marron talking about a room she'd set up in the house to become her design office. That must be what 18 was talking about.
Krillin was suddenly standing behind 18. "Hey there, Bra. Um...shouldn't you be in school?"
"She has an out-of-school assignment," 18 said to her husband. She turned her attention back to Bra and gave her a look. What was that look for? It was like she didn't believe what Bra had told her. "Come on in. I'll tell Marron you're here to see her," 18 told her.
Bra walked into the quiet little house. It was just as she remembered from her childhood. "Could you tell her that I really need to talk to her? It's very important." She felt regret already. She had lied to friends of the family. Her mother would definitely find out about this. And not only that, but in order for her to get some advice from Marron, she would have to volunteer information about her situation.
While 18 stepped out of the room, Krillin decided to make small talk with Bra.
"You know, Bra, it's rare that we ever see you anymore," Krillin began.
Bra smiled a little. "I've been busy." She knew what Krillin meant. When she was younger, Pan, Marron and she would spend some time at each other's houses every now and then. It just wasn't like that now.
"I see. So how have things been going with you? I hear that you're seeing Goten now," Krillin said with a smile.
Bra's heart began thumping madly. She couldn't tell him that Goten had broken up with her. She also couldn't tell him that she was definitely seeing him. What was a girl to do at a time like this?
After an uncomfortable silence, Marron came to the living room. "Hi, Bra. My mom said that you had something important you wanted to talk to me about."
Bra took a deep breath. Blood was quickly pumping through her veins. She felt a little light-headed. She had narrowly escaped explaining things to Krillin. With the way she felt now, she wondered if this was the rush that Pan got every time something came through for her. She looked at Marron and nodded.
Genetics were indeed a funny thing. While Bra was shorter than both of her parents and probably would remain so, Marron was taller than hers. How did things work out that way? How did it turn out that the only non-fighter out of the girls was taller than both of them? Pan was relatively short herself, but not as short as Bra. As a matter of fact, no one thought Pan would grow for the longest time. She was even shorter than Bra was as a pre-teen. But that was really no surprise. For some reason, the Sons just stayed short up until a certain age. Then they sprouted up like weeds. At least Bra and Marron grew at normal intervals.
When they got to Marron's "office", the young designer closed the door. "Looks like someone's skipping school."
Bra didn't like the way things were starting here. She'd come to Marron in her time of need and here was Marron poking fun at her. She was beginning to get angry.
"Mom told me that you said you had some kind of out-of-school assignment," Marron said, snickering to herself.
Now Bra was angry. She could have smacked the pretty blond right out of the window.
Marron looked at the expression on Bra's face and calmed herself. "Okay. I'm just kidding around with you. Don't take it personally." She sat down behind her desk. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
Bra took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Marron anything. Why should she trust this woman with her deepest secrets? Especially when she'd probably just laugh her out of the ballpark? She honestly couldn't even stand to be around this woman, but she really had no other alternatives.
Silence.
"Listen, I'm sorry," Marron told her. "I already knew that when my mom said that you were here instead of at school that it must have been important." She was finally serious. There was some sincerity there as well.
Bra was almost at her wit's end. With nowhere left to turn and little hope, she took another deep breath and told her story...
Marron was very attentive and seems quite interested in the tale. At one point she even looked like she might cry.
"And here I am," Bra finished.
Marron looked thoughtful and nodded.
Bra had never reached out to Marron in such a way. It probably shocked Marron just as much as it shocked her that she was here telling her all of this.
"Well, Bra, considering my own past experiences, I'd say that this is a bit of a doozy. I mean, you like him and he likes you, yet he broke up with you in order to let you find out who you really are. It's really kinda romantic," Marron told her.
Bra blushed. Marron WOULD think it was romantic. She was such a sap.
"But there are some things Goten isn't considering in this," Marron continued. "One is that women mature a lot earlier than men do. Another thing is that when you're in love, you're just in love. Also, you are a very, very persistent person."
Ha! She was so right about that last part. Bra had almost forgotten herself how persistent and even stubborn she could be at times.
"I can see things from both points of view," Marron said.
"So, what should I do? How can I get him back?" Bra asked.
"From what I gather, you already have him," Marron stated plainly. "You never lost him."
Bra sighed. "Well, it doesn't look that way to me. There must be some way for me to keep him around. I don't want him to just be my teacher. We've always been more than that."
"That's right. You're best friends. Which is why I can't understand your relationship. You know what you should do? Just be friends with him like you always have," Marron said. "Don't let things change between you. Spend just as much time with him as you always have, if not more. Then he'll come to the realization that he can't live without you. You don't have to necessarily be a couple. You can just be together."
It was the smartest thing she'd ever heard Marron say. And Bra smiled at her. "Marron, you're alright. Thanks for the advice." She headed toward the exit, then turned back around to her. "Oh, yeah. I've been bugging you with my relationship problems. The least I could do is ask how yours is going. What's up with you and Uubu?"
Marron frowned. "I haven't seen him in a while. Every time I think we're getting somewhere, he takes off." Then she smiled. "It reminds me of what ChiChi always said about Goku. He was never around, but he was always there in a nick of time."
Bra was getting depressed just hearing her talk about it. "Well, whenever he decides to stick around, I'm sure your relationship will be just as legendary as Goku and ChiChi's is." She waved to Marron. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah. It was good talking to you," Marron said.
Bra nodded. "Same here." She left.
End All That You Deal-
I'm back! I'm sorry for the long wait. After an extra extended wait, I have returned with the latest episode of Versus 3. And though this come-back special was a bit of a bore, I did come back. I told you I wasn't gonna just let this story go.
I know a lot of you out there thought I wouldn't be doing this anymore, but here I am again. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Thanks for reading this episode of Versus 3: Eclipse. There's more to come. And just because there may be some breaks in between doesn't mean I won't finish it. So let me know what you think and I'll keep shoveling these things out like so much snow on your driveway. Until next time, see ya!