Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--10:15 on a Saturday Night--

"It took a lot of convincing, but he finally agreed to come," Pan told Bra over the phone. "And when I say a lot of convincing, I mean, I had to go through a lot to get this guy to do this. Especially without telling him where I was taking him."

Bra held the phone to her ear and shook her head. "Thank you so much, Pan. You're a real miracle worker."

"Well? How did things go on your end?" Pan asked. "I'd hate to have done all that convincing in vain."

"Here's the thing. I talked to Nick and he agreed to let me do it. The only thing about it is that I had to tell him my situation," Bra said.

"I can't believe you'd tell someone what's going on with you. It usually takes you so long to even open up to me," Pan complained.

"Actually, I didn't tell him everything. I just told him that I messed up with a guy and that I wanted to do a song for him," Bra clarified.

"Of course. I should have known. So they're gonna let you do it? What song?" Pan questioned.

Bra smiled. "I'm not gonna tell YOU that. It's a secret."

"Fine. I'll find out when you do it. What I really wanna know is what the deal is with the whole 'last true Saiyan' thing," Pan went on.

Bra shook her head as if Pan could see her through the phone. "I never caught up with my dad. I ran into my mom earlier, though. She told me that Goten was at his mom's house early this morning. They had a long talk, apparently."

"Really? What about?" Pan asked. "Cause you know if my grandma knows you hurt Uncle Goten, she'll go ballistic."

"I don't think it got that far," Bra said. "My mom woulda really chewed me out if she told her something like that. Nah. What my mom seemed to be interested in was my 'emotional development'. She gave me an electroencephalography."

"A--huh?" Pan asked.

Oh, right. Pan wasn't familiar with that sort of terminology. "She recorded my brain waves--"

"Now why couldn't you just say that in the first place? You know I don't know what an...electric-slide-o-graph is," Pan said.

Bra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, she's probably still studying my brain waves as we speak. That took forever. She tried to put me under, but I wouldn't let her. Then I talked to Nick and I told him what song I wanted to do. And then I spent the rest of my time training. I could have hunted my dad down, but you know how he is when it comes to interruptions."

"You're right," Pan agreed. Bra could almost hear her cringe.

"Listen, don't worry about my dad. I'll handle that end of things when the time comes," Bra told her. "So has Goten said anything else about me?"

She sounded like one of those silly little love struck teens she saw walking around school. Incessantly chattering about the guys they liked. How embarrassing it was for her to be reduced to this.

"Surprisingly, he hasn't said anything else about you," Pan replied.

It was like someone had stomped on her heart. She thought he would have at least mentioned her. How very disappointing.

"Figures," was all Bra said about that.

"Listen, what you should do is concentrate on your song and your look. Please wear something nice. Like that little dress that Goten picked out for you when we went to the mall that time," Pan suggested.

And it would have been a great suggestion. Bra frowned. That dress. That little black dress. She'd worn it to school that very next day to impress Goten. Unfortunately, that day had gone badly for her and she ended up destroying that particular piece of clothing, right along with some of her hair.

She ran her fingers through her hair. It was still somewhat short, but it was starting to grow back.

"I'll find something to wear," Bra told Pan. "Don't you worry about me. Just make sure you get Goten there." It was rude of her to do, but she hung up before even saying good-bye. How did Pan put up with her as a friend for so long? How could she be this optimistic about the fact that Bra and Goten should still try to get together?

It was a little after 8:00pm. Eroder would start warming at about 9:00 so they could go on at 9:30. It gave her a little time to fix herself up. Good thing she'd showered right after she got done training. Now all she had to do was get dressed and do her hair.

Bra scanned the contents of her closet. For someone who didn't shop much, she sure had a wide variety of clothes. Stuff her mother had bought for her. Most of which she'd never worn. Well, it was times like these that having all these clothes came in handy.

Having all these clothes was a burden. It took her forever to find the right ensemble, but she was sure she got it right once she put it on. A long white form-fitting dress with very short sleeves and a somewhat sheer midriff. She wasn't very comfortable in it, since it showed off a lot of her body and she'd be standing in front of a lot of people, but her training outfit showed off even more than this. Of course, she wasn't in front of a crowd of strangers when she wore her training outfit. Her shoes were white and a little plain-looking with a small heel. She put on a little pale pink lipstick, eyeliner and pale eye shadow. It was the most makeup she'd ever worn.

She was feeling a little queasy. She'd have to sing a song she so loved for a person she so loved in front of a lot of people. It was enough to make anyone nervous. But she never thought herself to be the type who suffered from stage fright. Or was it stage fright at all? Maybe she was just nervous because she had no idea what Goten's response would be. While hoping for the best, she had to keep in mind the worst.

--soon--

Backstage. She never would have thought that in her wildest dreams she would be backstage preparing to perform. She'd never even been in a school play. Well, except that one time waaaaaaaaaaay back during first grade when she was a narrator for some play. She didn't remember it very well, but there was a little play bill around the house for it that her mother kept for her scrapbook. Her mother always kept weird stuff like that.

Hunter stood in a corner playing acoustic guitar.

"Hey, Bra. Did you want to practice a little before we do the song?" Wes asked. He was cleaning his bass.

Bra looked at him for a while, like she couldn't understand the words he had spoken. She shook her head. "I think I'll just do it when it's time to do it. I'm hoping it'll have a better effect that way." She knew nothing. She wasn't even sure if her singing's any good. She just hoped that she'd be able to do the song. And of course she hoped that Goten would at least stick around long enough to hear it.

Nick came backstage. "Alright. I talked to the owner. He's heard us play plenty of times and he'd be glad for us to add a song to the set..."

There was a strange look on Nick's face. Bra put her hands on her hips. "Let me guess. You didn't tell him that the song you've added will be sung by a different person, did you?"

Hunter looked over at Nick.

Nick looked a little surprised. "Well, no."

A move like this could very well be the end of this group's reputation. That was really the last thing Bra needed on her conscious. Being the end of a perfectly good band's career.

Silence...

Todd laughed. "This is kinda cool. It's a great way to make a name for ourselves as being one of the most unpredictable acts in town. Awesome."

Nick looked around the room.

Wes smiled.

Hunter nodded.

Bra raised her eyebrows. What a crew. Were they actually happy about this whole last minute surprise act?

"Alright then. There's nothing left to it but to do it," Nick said. "Let's go put on a show."

The other guys hopped up and headed out to the stage.

Nick walked over to Bra.

Bra looked up at him.

"It's your first show. Good luck out there tonight," Nick told her with a smile.

Bra folded her arms across her chest and smiled a little. "It's my only show..." She walked toward the door. "Thank you."

"Wait. Where are you going?" Nick asked.

Bra turned toward him and smirked. "I have to make sure the guy I'm doing this for is actually here."

Nick looked up. "Of course. Don't forget. After we do Artificial Intelligence, it's your time to shine."

She watched him leave. This man may have very well just saved her relationship.

When she heard the opening riff to the obvious fan favorite, 'Metal is My Catalyst', she peeped out into the crowd. There were tons of people in that place tonight. Her friends were easy to spot. Marron was in the front row ogling Wes. Pan standing in the front row as well, screaming her little head off. And finally, there was the one she'd been looking for.

Goten looked like he wasn't all that interested in being there. While everyone else around him was standing, he was seated. Pan had to make him stand so he could watch the performance. He just stood beside his niece with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. His oversized long-sleeved shirt seemed to swallow him. And even though there was a somewhat tired look on his face, he slowly seemed to get into the music.

Just seeing his face made Bra's heart flutter. She didn't remember him looking as handsome as he looked tonight. He actually looked his age and for some reason it was very appealing to her. If this plan did not succeed, what would she do? Not only will she have publicly humiliated herself, but she will have lost Goten for good.

As she gazed at his form for what seemed like hours, she realized that this was what loving someone was all about. It was the reason her mother and father had been together for so long. Because life without the other just wouldn't be worth living. Bra knew that finding that person in life was not always as easy as it had been for her. She'd basically known all her life that Goten was the one for her. Acting on it was supposed to be the hard part. Well, now getting him back would be the hard part.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," Nick said on the mic. "That was the song 'Artificial Intelligence'..."

The crowd cheered and Bra gasped. That had to be her cue to get out on stage. She headed toward the stage.

"Now, I know that's supposed to be the last song of the set, but we've got a very special encore performance for you tonight," Nick went on saying. The crowd quieted down a little. "This last song will slow things down a bit. It'll be sung by a friend of mine."

Bra slowly made her way over to the mic and hugged herself. Wide-eyed, she stared out at the crowded place. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. Was this stage fright?

Eroder began playing the intro to the song, but Bra only faintly heard it over the beating of her own heart. She took a deep breath and only stared at the microphone.

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves as the band played the intro once again.

But Bra was speechless. She couldn't begin. She just slowly scanned the faces in the crowd.

Nick walked over to her and covered the microphone. "Are you alright?"

Right before she turned to Nick, she made eye contact with Goten. He looked completely shocked to see her standing there. She finally looked at Nick and cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

"Okay, we'll take it from the top again," Nick told her. He walked back to his rightful position on stage and cued for the band to begin again.

Bra looked back at Goten and removed the mic from its stand:

"Look into my eyes and you'll see I'm the only one

You've captured my love stolen my heart

Changed my life

Every time you make a move you destroy my mind

And the way you touch

I lose control and shiver deep inside

You take my breath away

You can reduce me to tears with a single sigh

Ev'ry breath that you take

Any sound that you make is a whisper in my ear

I could give up all my life for just one kiss

I would surely die if you dismiss me from your love

You take my breath away

So please don't go

Don't leave me here all by myself

I get ever so lonely from time to time

I will find you anywhere you go

I'll be right behind you

Right until the ends of the earth

I'll get no sleep until I find you

To tell you that you just take my breath away

I will find you anywhere you go

Right until the ends of the earth

I'll get no sleep until I find you

To tell you when I've found you

I love you

Take my breath take my breath ... away"

Once Bra was done singing, she realized that there were tears running down her face. And she could no longer stop herself from hopping off stage and greeting the man she'd sang the song for.

Bra stood before Goten with the microphone still in hand. It was as if no one else in the entire building existed. All she was aware of was Goten's presence.

Goten just stood there looking at her with that same surprised look on his face.

She couldn't tell whether this was good or bad, so she decided to break the silence. "I...love you, Goten."

He slowly moved both of his hands toward her face and wiped the tears away. Then he smiled. "Now, was that so hard?"

Bra laughed and fresh tears fell from her eyes.

--End 10:15 on a Saturday Night--

--Well, now. I hope you liked this episode better than you liked the last. It's a bit on the sappy side, but I think it was very appropriate. Let me know what you think. Did you like it? Did you hate it? There's only one way I'll know and that's if you tell me.

--Thanks for past reviews and thanks for putting up with my weirdness. I've always got something strange up my sleeve even if sometimes this story writes itself. Which it hasn't been doing lately, may I add. It put me in a situation and then left me out to dry. You can kinda tell when the episodes are writing themselves because there's less time between updates.

--Anyway, thanks for reading this episode. Let's find out what'll happen next.

--The above song, "You Take My Breath Away," belongs to Queen.