Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--You Would Know--

She'd somehow managed to find her way to her room before the Sandman cast his spell on her. She'd had a wonderful dream. She dreamt that she and Goten were finally together. They'd gotten married. Bra had never been happier. Everyone was there to witness their union. The wedding was splendid with its white and pale blue decorations. Trunks was, of course, Goten's best man and Pan was Bra's maid of honor.

It was all much too good to be true. As a matter of fact, the dream had been so wonderful that she could not allow herself the pleasure of even dreaming it. She awoke with a start and gazed at the ceiling. She was still very tired from missing a full night's rest. She looked over at her clock and noticed the color had finally returned to the world. It was 10:15. She'd slept approximately 3 hours after the conversation with her father.

The conversation with her father. She still wasn't too sure what exactly went on there. She remembered every bit of it. That wasn't the problem. Her problem was finding out what it meant. What did this 'last true Saiyan' deal boil down to? She remembered hearing him say that he too was one of the last, yet he had never fought her mother. Not physically anyway. They fought verbally day in and day out...

Was that the reason they constantly bickered back and forth? Was this her father's way of sparring with her mother? Was that why they worked so well together? If that was the case, then she could see why her father would stick with her mother for so long. She gave him a challenge somehow. It kinda went hand-in-hand with this whole last true Saiyan thing. But how in the world did her mother deal with her father for so long? Easy. It was in her nature to argue. Somehow they'd found each other and no matter how often they get into these verbal spats, they each get something out of it. What that something was, Bra still wasn't sure, but they seemed to work.

So, she had to find a way to apply this to her situation with Goten. They both enjoyed fighting, but honestly, no one in his right mind would want to be nearly killed during a supposedly friendly tussle. And no one would want to be left out in the middle of nowhere. In a way, she had accepted it when her father did it to her. She just saw it as a sign that she needed to train some more. Goten was different. He wanted to stay away from her altogether. And she really couldn't blame him.

Bra sighed. Oh, how she wished she had someone to advise her on this situation. Pan would have been the perfect person to talk to, but she too was upset about what had happened.

She finally sat up on her bed and sighed once again. How could she? How could she have nearly killed him while they were sparring? It was something she would ask herself over and over again.

But wait! It wasn't like it was so unusual for them to fight til one of them lost consciousness. He'd done the same to her only a few weeks ago. Of course, he hadn't left her in the wasteland in that condition, but it was pretty much the same thing... Yeah...

There was a strangely familiar sound resonating through her ears, but she ignored it. She had to do something, but what? How could she possibly get back a person who most likely doesn't trust her anymore?

That sound she'd been hearing for a while finally stopped. That was a good thing. It had been wrecking her train of thought.

There had to be a logical way to get Goten back. She would have to shower him with displays of affection. Sweet words. Kind gestures. No gifts. That would be the biggest mistake of her life. Besides, Goten would see right through that. Not that he wouldn't see right through--

Suddenly, there was a voice right behind her. Bra quickly turned to see who could have snuck up on her like this in her own bedroom.

But no one was there. She frowned when she realized that the sound she had been hearing earlier was her telephone. And the voice she had heard was coming from her answering machine.

She looked at the phone for a long time as the answering machine spoke to her.

"I know you're there. You never go anywhere unless you're training or unless somebody makes you get up and get out," Pan's voice came through.

What was Pan doing calling her? Why was she talking to her? She was supposed to be angry about the whole trying to kill Goten thing. She actually sounded somewhat cheerful on the answering machine. Bra still wasn't sure she should pick up the phone.

"I couldn't help noticing what your dad said to you last night before we left. Do you have any idea what that was about?" Pan asked as if Bra were actually on the line talking to her.

She looked at the answering machine strangely. Pan was talking like the whole incident never happened. Maybe she'd forgotten. Or maybe she'd forgiven her. Bra frowned. For some reason that didn't sound right. She knew that if Pan tried to kill one of her family members... Well, that was a bad example. But either way, there was something very out of place here.

"Bra? Do you plan on picking up the phone some time today? You don't hang with your parents that much. And I know you're not studying with Nick on a Saturday. Pick up," Pan went on.

Bra finally picked up the telephone and slowly brought it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Don't say hello like you don't know who this is. What took you so long?" Pan asked with a little giggle.

Pan sure did sound happy. What had gotten into her?

"You always ask that," Bra told Pan, hoping that she could keep Pan from being angry at her with a little humor.

"That's because it always takes you forever to answer the phone," Pan said simply. "We need to talk. How about before we go to the show, I come over and we have a little chat?"

The show? Oh, that's right. Eroder was playing tonight. How could she have forgotten? It was music related. She couldn't believe that Pan would actually be willing to attend with her.

"What kind of little chat?" Bra dared to ask.

"Well, I thought that would be obvious. Mostly about what your dad said last night about being a Saiyan," Pan told her. "But we also have to talk about something that Goten was talking to me about last night when he took me home."

Uh oh. Alterior motive. She should have known. This was going to be bad.

Bra should just come right out and say what she was thinking. This didn't happen often, of course, but it was something she needed to know. "You know, I'm not even sure why you're talking to me right now. I tried to kill your uncle." She probably shouldn't have said anything. It was probably best to let it be, but this was a very confusing set of circumstances. Besides, she'd already said it. It was too late to try and take it back now.

Pan was quiet for a minute. "Yeah, that's true. But I was upset last night. I had a chance to sleep on it. Let it sink in, you know."

Hm...

"Besides, it's not like you did kill him. And you brought him back around. What's done is done. So let's just let bygones be bygones and let the good times roll on," Pan said.

This one's optimistic.

Bra sure hoped Goten would see things the same way. She somehow doubted it.

"Do you think it's alright for me to come over now? I mean, your folks wouldn't mind, would they?" Pan asked.

"Does it matter?" Bra questioned.

"Nah, not really. I was gonna come over either way," Pan admitted.

"That's what I thought," Bra said.

"I'll see you in a few." Pan hung up the phone.

What had just happened there? Maybe Pan was trying to gain Bra's trust so that she could exact revenge. It wasn't something Pan would do, but then again, Pan could be sneaky when she wanted to be.

Bra shook her head. She was just being paranoid. Wasn't she...?

--End You Would Know--

--Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. Rough week.

--Anyway, thank you for reading this episode of Versus 4: Temporal Distortion. So what does Pan have in mind for this meeting she and Bra are about to have? And what has Goten been talking to Pan about? Find out in the next episode of Temporal Distortion.

--Thanks for the reviews. You're beautiful people. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as you enjoyed the last. I know this one was a whole lot of Bra whining and complaining, but hopefully things will get better in the future.