Versus 4: Temporal Distortion
--All That We See or Seem--
Goten and Bra had a great time yesterday. They played pool. They had lunch at that little Mom and Pop's restaurant that Eroder liked to go to after shows. That place was definitely a little richer after the two almost ate them out of house and home.
That was the funny thing about most teenage girls. They're ashamed to really eat in front of their boyfriends or guys they liked. So they just end up nibbling on a salad or something like that. Not Bra. She wasn't about to nibble anything. When she ate, she ate. It must have been the Saiyan in her. Pan didn't seem to have that problem either. It would have been interesting to see other female Saiyans. Bra wondered if they would have behaved the same way.
Anyway, then they just drove around town for a while. No reason in particular. They were just riding around. She didn't mind it. She just enjoyed sitting there beside him. And they chatted a bit. Mostly about nothing at all. Goten had brought up the subject of marriage briefly:
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"Well, I'm 24. I want different things in life now than I did when I was younger. I used to say that I never wanted to get married," Goten had said during their drive. "But now I do want to get married. Not immediately, of course. I mean, we still have to wait until you're done with college."
Bra had blushed. She couldn't believe he was actually saying that he wanted to marry her. She wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she'd remained silent. It made her heart race just to hear him talk about it.
By the time she decided to respond to that particular statement, he had changed the subject, asking her what she wanted to take up in college. She didn't have a definite answer for that question, but he assured her that she wouldn't have a problem in anything she decided to take, seeing how she was the smartest person he knew.
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Her heart raced even now just thinking about when he talked about marrying her. But then the guilt kicked in. The guilt of wanting to end his life only a couple of days ago. He'd said that it was all a part of fighting, but she knew better. She could almost see it sometimes when he looked at her. It was there in his eyes, so stale and distant. No one else would have noticed it because it was only there for a short while. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he would surely think about it. Even if it was just for a split second, the thought of what she'd almost done to him would cross his mind. Then it would leave and his eyes would regain that warmth she'd loved so much.
Still, he wanted to marry her someday. It was amazing, really. Unbelievable...
Then they returned to Goten and Trunks' apartment, only to find that Trunks still wasn't at home. Bra couldn't remember exactly how it started, but they'd ended up making out in Goten's bedroom. Things were about to really start heating up when they heard Trunks come in. So, as anyone could imagine, that put a stop to their fun.
She was beginning to become a little frustrated lately. She felt they should take the next step. Move on to something a little more physical. Or maybe it was the hormones talking. She couldn't be too sure. Logic wouldn't rear it's head in this part of her life anymore, so she was a trifle lost when it came to things like this. She'd always felt that she was intelligent enough to think her way through any situation. If she thought about something from all angles, there would be a logical answer there for her. But apparently, she was wrong. Her body wanted something that both her heart and her mind wanted, yet there was something, some force, that kept it from happening.
If she was feeling this way, she was sure that Goten felt the same frustration, even though he would probably never say so. He was quite a gentleman about all of this. He would never force her into these things. They'd just happen. But she could feel something in his touches. It was almost like he was having mixed feelings on the whole situation. His was a hard lot. On the one hand, he had this young woman who was making herself available to him. And on the other hand, he still saw this inexperienced girl.
In any case, they were being hampered by fate. Always bringing their alone-time to a dramatic close. A sign from the forces of nature, she supposed. And so she and Goten ended their day killing Brutes in Halo 2.
He took her home around 9:30 that night and once he gave her a farewell kiss, she ventured to the kitchen. There she crossed paths with Nick Carnage. She barely even noticed him there.
"Hello, Ms. Bra," Nick said to her when she entered the room. He sat at the kitchen table alone this time. Now, what was he doing just sitting there?
Bra smiled. "Hi there, Mr. Carnage." She was in bliss. She'd just spent the entire day with the man she loved. Nothing could be better. When she finally focused on Nick, she saw that he was looking at her strangely. She already knew what this look was for. He was about to question her about her relationship with Goten.
"You did a great job with that song last night. I wanted to congratulate you as soon as you were done," Nick told her. He paused. He looked like he wasn't quite sure what to say.
Bra looked away. "Thanks."
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Um, I saw that when you finished the song, you went over to Mr. Son, your history teacher."
Bra looked back at Nick and folded her arms across her chest. "I did."
"Is he the one you were singing that song to?" Nick questioned.
It should have been pretty obvious. Bra didn't answer him right away. She just unfolded her arms and looked at her feet. This was unlike her. She'd been so humble these past couple of days, she wasn't even sure what personality traits she possessed anymore. She used to be so much like her father. Now...
"I mean, it's common for a student to have special feelings for his or her teacher," Nick went on.
He sure liked to pry. Bra wasn't about to let this guy get away with questioning her like this. She would simply have to fight fire with fire. "Just as common as a worker having special feelings for his or her employer." She looked back at him. It was probably a very sassy look, too.
Nick looked a little surprised. "I-- What? What made you make that comparison?"
He knew he was busted. Bra crossed her arms again. "I overheard you and my mom talking a couple of days ago."
There was a long silence.
"Well, now...," Nick finally spoke. "There's no reason to go into great detail on either of those fronts. I just couldn't help noticing that the feeling seemed to be mutual with your teacher. I guess that means that your song did what it was intended to do."
Bra nodded slowly. "Thank you for letting me get up there and sing. I mean, it could have gone badly for you guys. I know it was a risk."
"It was nothing. The crowd seemed to love it. The guys in the band thought it was excellent," Nick told her. He smiled. "I'm glad things turned out well for you."
Things HAD turned out well for her. Much better than she could ever imagine. She'd won back the heart of the man she loved. And now that they were 'UNofficially officially' together, she would never let him go.
Bulma stepped into the kitchen, still carrying the EEG charts around. She didn't even seem to notice them sitting there. She opened the fridge and poured a glass of milk, then turned toward them and gasped. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Hi, Nick. Hi, Bra."
Bra just watched her mother as she took a seat at the table.
"Do you ever sleep?" Nick asked her mother.
"Of course. As a matter of fact, that's where I'm headed now," Bulma responded. She took a sip of her milk and looked at Bra. "Pan's been calling you like a mad woman all day long. I'm sure she's been calling your phone too. I tried to answer it a couple of times, but she'd never let it ring long enough. Then when I called back, I only got Gohan."
Bra sighed. Pan must have been calling the question her about last night. "I'll talk to her at school tomorrow."
Just as Bra was about to head out of the room, Bulma spoke again. "You've been gone all day. Should I assume that you worked things out today?"
Bra just turned to her and smiled, then she turned back to exit the room.
She could almost feel both her mother and Nick watching her leave. The last thing she heard was her mother mutter, "Teenagers."
Bra went to her room and smiled to herself. Her life was on track now. She was in love and she'd finally told him that she loved him. She almost couldn't believe she had said it. And her father had told her she would probably never say it. HA! What a laugh. There was nothing she couldn't do. She was the orchestrator of her own destiny.
The phone rang and for a moment, Bra just looked at it. She knew who it was. So much for talking to her at school.
"Hello?" Bra answered.
Pan screamed on the other end.
Bra had to look at the phone strangely. Then she put the phone up to her other ear. "What is wrong with you!"
"What are you doing answering the phone?" Pan asked.
Bra rolled her eyes. "It's MY phone. You called, right?"
"Well, I expected to talk to the answering machine. You NEVER answer your phone right away," Pan said. "Where've you been all day? Where did you go last night? What happened?"
"Calm down," Bra told her friend. "Count to 10 or something, geez."
"I don't have time for something like that. What's the word?" Pan asked. "Come on. Out with it. It had to be something good if you disappeared last night and I'm just catching up with you tonight."
Bra could heard Pan giggle. It made her blush to think what Pan might be thinking. "Well, nothing happened really."
"Lies! Don't lie to me, Bra. So are you guys back together or what?" Pan questioned.
Bra shrugged, but remembered that Pan couldn't see what she was doing over the phone. "I don't know."
"How could you NOT know? You've been with him since last night, right?" Pan interrogated.
"No! Nooooooooooo," Bra told her. "I'll tell you how things went." She sighed. "Okay, last night, we left the club and went for a walk. We talked for a while. That's all." She left out the part about making out in the street. There was really no need to tell her that. "He took me home after that."
Pan was silent. Yes. Pan. Silent. It was amazing.
"And today we just hung out," Bra continued.
"What is this? What are you telling me?" Pan asked.
"I'm telling you that I told him I love him and--" Bra began.
"I know that. I was there when you said it. Good for you. But you still don't know where your relationship stands?" Pan asked.
Bra narrowed her eyes. "Well, he forgave me for trying to kill him. I think that was a big step."
"Yeah, a big step into another rut," Pan said. She laughed a little. "You two are something else."
Bra had wanted to leave this part out, but Pan wouldn't be satisfied until she heard something that was directly related to the state of her and Goten's togetherness. "He...said that he wanted to marry me..."
"He proposed to you? Whoa! Now why didn't you tell me--" Pan started.
"He didn't propose, you scatterbrain!" Bra said.
"Scatterbrain!" Pan interjected.
Bra took a deep breath. "Why are you making this so hard? We were just talking and he made the comment that he wanted to get married some day, but after I finished college. That's all."
"That's all? That sounds like a proposal to me. He just didn't have the ring," Pan told her. "So, you two ARE together?"
"We're together, but we're not," Bra said.
Pan sighed. "So which one is it?"
Bra growled. "It's not that simple! We still have some things to work through."
"Okay... So, as you stand now, what exactly do you consider yourselves?" Pan asked.
"You're just asking the same question in different ways," Bra laughed.
"And you're just giving me different non-answers," Pan said. She laughed as well.
"I'm going to bed," Bra told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait! The least you could do is tell me what you've been doing all day," Pan pleaded.
"Goodnight, Pan," Bra said. She hung up the phone before Pan could say anything else.
In a way, Bra knew that she and Goten were together. And in a way, she wasn't sure where they stood in their relationship. Maybe they had just gotten back to where they were before the fight. That was all she really wanted, right?
--End All That We See or Seem--
--Thank you for reading this insanely fractured episode. I know it's kinda all over the place, but sometimes that's just the way someone's day goes. It kinda reflects how I've been feeling lately, I guess. All over the place. I hope it was understandable and I hope it made sense. Since these episodes have decided they wouldn't write themselves anymore, I've been having a bit of a hard time getting things done. I like it better when they take over.
--Thank you for your reviews, past and present. Your support means everything to me and to this story.
--I know this is a hectic time of year for everyone. Just hang in there. Whether you're having nonstop fun or you're fighting to do Christmas shopping, I wish you the best.
