Versus 4: Temporal Distortion

--Success Story--

And indeed, Bra had a long day. She remained calm as people, both students and faculty, questioned her about her affair with her former history teacher. Like it mattered anymore anyway. They had quarantined him from that place. But she never raised her voice. She never lost her cool. She simply gave them looks that reminded them of the car incident during her first year of high school. And once one group of people left her alone, another group would question her. They received the same treatment. It went on like this all the live long day.

Without Goten around, things became a bit of a bore at school. If she didn't have to attend in order to finish, she wouldn't. And once that thought crossed her mind, the statement Goten made yesterday reemerged:

"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."

She definitely had to complete high school in order to make it to college. And she looked forward to the day she finished college now more than ever.

Bra and Pan flew toward Capsule Corp. after school. Bra wasn't quite sure why they were both going to her house. Pan had just insisted that they both head there. But she didn't really care. She had Goten and all was right with the world, even as Pan assaulted her ears with chatter.

"...problems because Uubu's back...again," Pan was saying. "She just told me this last night."

Must have been something about Marron and her triangular relationship with Wes and Uubu. How could she be thinking about Marron, Uubu and Wes when her uncle was now out of a job? Out of a job because of their combined idiocy. She and Pan had both caused this. Pan had to come up with the idea for Bra to sing in front of everyone. And Bra had accepted this foolish plot as something plausable. Yet it had worked. So maybe Bra shouldn't complain, but there was still the fact that Goten was now unemployed because of her. Which all comes back around like a nightmarish circle of blame. Selfishness.

"But she never knows how long Uubu's gonna stick around, you know," Pan went on. "I have to agree with her. She can't spend her life waiting for someone she's not tied down to. I mean, my grandma waited for my granddad all the time, but that's because they were married and had kids together. What does Uubu expect her to do? Wait for him every time he disappears without a trace? Believe me, I know there's such a thing as dedication, but you shouldn't have to wait for someone if you don't know when they're coming back, or if they're ever coming back at all."

Bra nodded slowly as they landed at their destination. The slightly taller chatterbox had a point. It was strange how Marron and Uubu's relationship worked. Marron was crazy in love with the man. And from what Bra could tell, he was crazy in love with her too. It was hard to see it on Uubu's end sometimes because he was a fighter. One of his main focuses in life was to become strong. But there comes a time in every fighter's life when he or she must decide what should be sacrificed and what should be saved. That sacrifice may only be for a short while, but you had to make that decision in order to differentiate between what you wanted for your life and what you didn't want. What you could live with and what you couldn't live without.

Bra had to sacrifice her pride in order to get back the man she would have been unable to live without.

But only for a short while.

Bra opened the door and to her surprise, Nick was already there. He stood when they came in.

"Wow. It's Nick Carnage," Pan whispered to Bra, tugging on the sleeve of her shirt.

Bra looked at Pan out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't believe that even after they had been spending time together, Pan would still react this way. Maybe she had a thing for him and Bra just didn't know it.

"Hi, Bra. Pan, it's good to see you. A bit of a surprise, but it's good to see you nonetheless," Nick said with a smile.

Now what was this guy so happy about? He looked like he might burst at the seams.

Pan took a deep breath. "Hi."

"Hi, Nick. I see you're home early," Bra commented.

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I've gotta get a few things together. I've got great news."

Get a few things together? Great news? What was he talking about?

"The other night when we played, a talent scout was there to hear us. He was very interested in our sound. He wants us to perform in Vegas. All expenses paid," Nick told them.

"Nick, that's great!" Pan exclaimed. She ran over and threw her arms around him.

Nick looked a little surprised when Pan embraced him.

Bra smiled. "That IS great. Congratulations."

"Thanks. Both of you," Nick said. He looked at Bra. "It'll be a one week deal, so I won't be here to help you study for a while. I've already talked to your mom. She said that she was actually the one who had the scout come and check us out."

Bra laughed. "Are you kidding? My mom did that for you guys?"

Nick nodded.

Bra folded her arms across her chest. "This is a great opportunity for Eroder. I could tell from the first time I heard the band play that you guys had amazing talent. Now you can share it with another audience. You may even be able to get a record deal."

"That would be awesome. I'm sure you could get one easily," Pan said.

"Hold your horses, ladies. Let's not jump the gun on this. We're just going to take this one step at a time," Nick told them with a smile. "I'm so psyched."

"When are you leaving?" Pan asked.

"Actually, our plane leaves in about an hour," Nick stated.

Bra looked surprised. "Then go. You don't have time to waste here with us. Go, go, go. Get packed." She shooed him away.

"Congratulations. Go," Pan said.

"Thanks ladies," Nick said as he left the room.

"That's really great news," Pan said to Bra. "I can't imagine how excited they must be."

Bra nodded.

Pan thought for a while. "Wait. Eroder's leaving for a whole week, right?"

Bra frowned. "What's going through that evil brain of yours?" She knew Pan. Everything she did or thought was devilish.

"Well, I mean, Eroder's leaving and Uubu's just coming back into town. I'm just saying that it must be fate allowing Marron to make a decision on her relationships with these guys," Pan explained. "There. Nothing evil."

Bra looked at Pan for a long time. "Nothing evil. I'll believe that when pigs fly."

Pan smiled and rolled her eyes. "Come on. Let's find your mom."

Her mom? What for?

"My mom? What for?" Bra questioned.

"Yeah, your mom. She didn't tell you?" Pan asked.

Tell her what? Bra just looked at Pan, expressionless.

"Your mom asked for me and my dad to come over and do some kind of test," Pan told her. "That brain thing you were telling me about the other day. That...electric-slide-photograph?"

Bra laughed in Pan's face. "Electroencephalograph," she corrected.

"Listen, I don't care what it's called. You're the smart one. YOU keep up with the name. It's the head test to me," Pan said. "My dad's supposed to be here now if he got done at work early."

Bra smiled. "I'm sure that if they're anywhere around, they're in the lab. Come on."

Once they reached the lab, they saw Gohan sitting on the examination table.

Bulma was busy taking care of the charts that had apparently just finished printing.

"Hi, Bra. Hi, Pan," Gohan greeted.

Bra knew that Gohan and Goten looked a lot alike, but for some reason, it really showed today. It caused her the inability to speak to him immediately.

"Hey, Dad," Pan sang. She hopped up on the table and sat beside him. "How did things go?" She put her arm around him.

"She put me to sleep, so I can't be too sure how it went," Gohan told her, putting on his glasses.

Bulma laughed a little. "Don't worry, Gohan. Everything went well. I have to evaluate your brain waves a little later, but so far everything looks normal." She looked at the girls. "Hello, Bra. Hello, Pan. Are you ready?"

"Do you have to drug me?" Pan asked, looking a little nervous. "I'm not a fan of needles."

"Pan, this is for a good cause. You should do what Bulma asks of you," Gohan said to his daughter.

Pan pouted. "But I hate needles," she whined.

Bra raised her eyebrows. Being put to sleep would probably be something new for Pan.

"It'll be quick and it won't even hurt. I promise," Bulma assured her.

Gohan hopped off the table. "Come on, Bra. Let's leave them to their own devices." He put his hand on Bra's shoulder. "How have things been going today?" He lead them back to the living room.

Bra smiled. Her future brother-in-law had always been nice to her. He really reminded her of Goten in a lot of ways. Videl was lucky to have snagged one of the only other Gotens in the world. ChiChi, of course, had the other one.

Then she frowned. She remembered exactly how her day had been. Well, it wasn't HER day that had been bad. It was Goten's. "I got Goten fired."

Gohan looked confused as he took a seat on the sofa. "You got Goten fired?"

Now why did he feel the need to repeat it? Hearing it come from him made it sound even worse. "It's a long story," Bra told him. She decided to stand rather than sit beside Gohan. She looked away.

Gohan looked at her for a long time, but when she didn't say anything, he spoke up. "Do you plan on telling that long story?"

Surprisingly enough, she would tell him that long story. She'd never been the type to spill her guts, but she had a feeling that if she didn't tell Gohan everything now, she would feel even more guilty than she had when she assaulted his little brother. Besides, it was the right thing to do. If she planned on someday becoming a part of this family, she would have to come clean about a few things. She would start from the beginning, when she fought Goten and left him for dead. Maybe he would understand. Maybe he wouldn't bash her for doing what she did.

--End Success Story--

--There seems to be a trend here. Bra seems to be changing for the better these days. Will this trend continue? Or will this new and somewhat unusual behavior trigger something else? Find out in the episodes to come.

--Thanks for reading this episode of Temporal Distortion. Thank you for the reviews. I know there hasn't been much time between these episodes, but the holidays put me in a weird space. You understand, I'm sure.