Versus 4: Temporal Distortion
--Delta Blues--
Bra sat in her open window, facing the night sky. She started swinging her feet and looked at Goten. He had, of course, been kind enough to escort her home and was now levitating outside her window.
"You did a fantastic job with that song tonight. You have a really nice voice," Goten complimented. "Makes me wish you'd sing more often."
It wasn't the first time she'd heard that particular statement, in so many words, that is. Marron had said it. Pan had said it. The audience had given her a standing ovation. But it meant much more coming from Goten.
"Thank you," Bra said. She could feel that her face was a bit flushed. "But I don't plan on making it a habit. At least not on stage."
"I never would have thought you of all people would get up in front of a crowd and do something like that. That's not really your thing," Goten went on.
Bra nodded. This was true. She couldn't deny that. "Never be surprised at how far I'd go for you." She looked into his eyes. His were a set of eyes in which she could easily become lost. And it didn't take much. All she had to do was look into them. It was like they compelled her to say, "I love you." It was the second time she'd said it. And as she found out, there was honestly nothing hard about saying it. What, then, had kept her from telling Goten for so long?
Goten looked at her for a long time and smiled that smile of his. At first, he seemed to be speechless, but he soon responded. "I love you too, Bra."
When he said that, Bra leapt into his arms and hugged him tight. It had happened on impulse. She simply wormed her way into his arms and put her arms around him as though she were trying to keep warm. She held onto him so tightly that the only way they could have been closer is if they were to fuse somehow.
She lay her head on his chest and listened to his rapid heartbeat. Had she startled him?
"It's been a long d--" Goten began.
Bra planted a brief kiss on his lips and smiled at him. She could stay here with him for the rest of eternity just like this. She just held onto him and they levitated there silently for a long time. She was getting all kinds of strange feelings being here with him like this. Her entire body felt as though it were pulsating as she embraced him. She'd actually had no intention of doing any of this, but it felt like the right thing to do.
Goten laughed a little. "Bra, we've gotta stop."
Bra raised her eyebrows. He was laughing at her. Why would he be laughing at her like this? She frowned. "What now? Did I do something wrong?"
Goten held her away from him and put his hands on her shoulders. "You should really go and get some rest."
"You never answered my question," Bra stated, putting her hands on her hips. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you didn't do anything wrong. Actually, you're doing things a little too right. That's why you should go inside and get some sleep. And that's why I'm gonna have to leave," Goten told her.
'Doing things a little too right'? Bra smiled to herself. She knew what he was talking about now. For some strange reason, her little brain hadn't registered it yet. All the feelings she was having as she hugged him and every time she kissed him. She'd somehow forgotten about that level of things. So, she wasn't the only one feeling those things. It was only natural, she supposed. What did she think? That she was the only one having those feelings? How blind could she be?
"Um, yeah. I'm leaving," Goten said. But he just floated there.
Bra smiled at him. "I guess I'll see you some time tomorrow." She too only stayed where she was.
They stared at each other for a long time.
"Oh! Right. I-I'm leaving," Goten stammered. "I'll see you later." He started slowly flying backwards away from her.
"Goten, look out behind--" Bra began.
Just as she was saying that, Goten backed right into the tree outside her window. He laughed a little. "That's kinda embarrassing." He moved into the clear, then waved to her. He finally turned around and flew off.
Bra sighed. "I think...I made him lose his mind." She almost couldn't believe he'd lost his cool like that. Then she had to remember who he was. This was Goten, a goof in their youth and now just a bigger version of what he was back then.
It was the reason he forgave her for nearly killing him. She'd really lucked up to find a guy like this one. Someone who would forgive her for doing something that stupid to someone she cared so much about.
And he hadn't said it, but she was sure that he wanted them to be more than just friends.
She sat back in her window and stared up at the stars.
--Sunday morning--
Bulma was walking around in the living room carrying what looked to be a large collection of papers. She ran the fingers of her free hand through her hair. She even seemed to be muttering to herself.
Bra had walked in on her a couple of minutes ago. It was a bit disturbing to see her mother in disarray like this. "Uh, Mom?"
Bulma was obviously startled. She'd dropped the papers, which Bra could now see were just a couple of very long sheets of paper, and turned around. "Bra, don't scare me like that."
Bra could see already that her mother had pulled an all-nighter. "What's up?"
"I can't make any sense of this. That's what's up," Bulma told her.
Now what was she babbling about? Bra walked over to her mother and saw that what she had been holding was a bunch of electroencephalograph readings. She helped her mother pick them up and looked at them. Bra knew a lot, but she had no idea how to read something like this.
"Come again?" Bra said.
"Your brain waves are disturbingly erratic. The only thing I could make out is that there's a hidden wave on the reading," Bulma said. She held one of Bra's charts up so that she could see it. "You see, this here is the normal frequency and amplitude for someone who's meditating and going into the early stages of sleep. The theta wave." She pointed across the smaller, wider peaks on the chart.
Bra looked at the chart and noticed that the wave they were studying was relatively high and then sometimes it peaked even higher more dramatically. "Alright. So what's the deal with the parts that spike up like that?"
"Well, that's the hidden wave. Now, normal delta waves have a high amplitude like that, but they're normally slow moving. As you can see, the high amplitude waves on your chart also have a high frequency," Bulma explained. "In other words, when you're sleeping, the waves are supposed to be big and slow. And when you're awake you're supposed to have waves that are small and fast. But you have some waves in here that are big and fast. It would probably be okay if you were awake the whole time, but this wave was present from the moment I hooked you into the EEG. Even when you're in the deepest phases of sleep, that hidden wave is there. The amplitude of a delta wave, but the frequency of a beta wave. It's somewhat baffling."
Bra went through some of the other charts. "All of these are my readings?"
Bulma laughed a little. "No. This one is my reading." She held it up for Bra to see. "Normal." She held up another chart. "I had a theory. This one is your father's."
Now when did she convince her father to have one done?
Bra folded her arms across her chest. "It looks kinda like mine."
"Right. I was thinking that maybe it's just a Saiyan thing," Bulma went on. "I'd have to do further research in order to see whether it's right. I'm pretty sure that's what it is, though. I'm gonna see if I can get the other Saiyans to come over and let me hook them up to the EEG over the next week. Then I'll be able to tell you more." She frowned. "I hope. Whether it's a Saiyan thing or not, I want to know what causes it. There has to be some explanation."
Bra rolled her eyes. What a waste of time. She sat here and listened to her mother's chatter for absolutely nothing. She could have been doing something more constructive with her time.
"Well, I hate to abandon you in your time of need, but I think I'm gonna go over to Trunks' place," Bra told her mother.
"But Trunks had to go to work today... Gonna go see if you can work things out with Goten, huh?" Bulma asked.
Bra turned her back to her mother and smirked. Her mother had no idea she'd already made up with Goten. She wasn't about to let her in on that bit of news. "I'll see you later," Bra stated, ignoring the question.
--End Delta Blues--
--This episode went absolutely nowhere. And after such a long time between updates too. We've just gotta hope the next one goes somewhere. Thanks for suffering through it.
--Your reviews are greatly appreciated. It lets me know whether I should keep writing or just disappear off the face of note: Yes, the title of that one chapter was from an old Cure song, but a lot--and I mean A WHOLE LOT--of the names of my chapters and stuff are titles or phrases from songs. (That's why some of the titles are longer than they should be.) They don't always coincide with what goes on in the episode. Well, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. I think that one in particular did because, though it was never mentioned in the episode (at least I don't think), you can imagine it took place around 10:15 that Saturday night. Very nice observation, though. Thanks for bringing that up.
--Enough prattle. On to the next episode.
