DISCLAMER: I DO NOT OWN DRAGONBALL Z OR ANYTHING ELSE MENTIONED IN THIS STORY!

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! I haven't been feeling too well lately, but I feel better now. I think my problem was I wasn't eating enough, but don't worry, I'm not anorexic…I just haven't been hungry and so I haven't been eating. And, my internet wasn't working right! Ugh! I hate computer problems! Anyway, sorry for the evil cliffie! I'm sure you know by now with some of my previous stories that I'm sort of known for evil cliffhangers! Well, as long as you read my stories, get use to it! Heehee…

"talking"

'thinking'

Italics are dream sequences

Unsolved Mysteries

Chapter 8: Momma?

18 was standing there in front of the person who is supposedly her mother. She stood there frozen, as well as the lady in front of her. To 18, this was more nerve wracking than running from Cell.

Her mother was starting to get teary eyed. 'I need to say something to her.' 18 thought.

After taking a breath, she finally found the courage to speak. "Mom? It's me…it's Megumi." She said in a quiet and low voice.

The lady looked at her after the words were spoken. When it finally sunk in, she immediately threw her arms around her daughter in a tight embrace and started sobbing a little. This did not surprise 18 since she knew her mother may react this way.

The older lady let go and looked at her daughter. Finally, she spoke. "Megumi? It's really you…you came back!"

"Yes…"

"After all these years, I just knew it…I knew you had to be alive!" After both realized they were still on the door step, 18's mother finally let her daughter in. "Please, come in…we have a lot to talk about."

18 looked around inside the house. 'Beautiful home…too bad I don't remember anything.' In the hallways, she found pictures of herself and the rest of her family. There were baby pictures of both her and her brother hung on the walls along with other pictures of them, but none past age 18. 18 felt a lump in her throat as she was looking around, and then felt a tear slide down her cheek. 'That bastard Dr. Gero stole all this from me!'

"Megumi?"

18 turned around to look at her mother. "Yes?"

"Please, come have a seat on the couch…we have a lot to talk about."

18 followed her mom into the living room and as soon as she got in, she sat next to her mother on one of the couches. Her mother just stared at her. "You're so beautiful. You don't look any different than you did all those years ago…"

'Oh no,' 18 thought. 'I'll have to eventually tell her I'm a cyborg, which is the reason I haven't aged, but not now…I'll just try and change the subject.'

"Let's not talk about that now…mom. I'm just…glad to see you." For 18, it was as if she were meeting her mother for the first time ever. "Don't worry, I have been safe…most of the time." She mumbled that last part, hoping her mom would not hear it. "I'd hate to tell you this, but I don't know where Seven—Akito is." She realized she almost said 'Seventeen,' but caught herself.

"You don't know? How? Didn't you two disappear together?" Her mom was starting to cry again, but who could blame her? She found her daughter, but her son is still missing. And that wasn't all…

18 slightly changed the subject. "Where's dad? Is he at work? Call him and tell him I'm here—"

"Megumi, your father…"

18 looked at her mother knowing she was going to say something she did not want to hear. "What?"

"Your father…is no longer with us." The older woman said slowly. "Four years ago, on his way home from work, a drunk driver…"

"You don't have to say anymore, I think I know where you're going with this." 18 felt a couple more tears roll down her face. 'Now I'll never get to meet my father.'

"These past ten years have been hectic. There's no way a parent can get over the disappearance of their children, there just isn't. I wanted to do everything I could to find you and bring you back home. I wasn't going to give up, even if I had to turn this entire planet upside down. And then, with the death of your father, things just went completely down hill for me. My life never has and never will be the same again.

'I need to tell her…that I am not the same as before…'

After some uncomfortable silence, 18 spoke. "Mom, I need to tell you something. You're not going to like what you hear, but please just listen…"

"What is it? You have my attention."

18 took at deep breath. "I am not the same Megumi that you know. I'm very different than I was ten years ago."

Her mother looked at her in disbelief. "What are talking about?"

"I'm trying to say that, well, I don't know any easier way to put his, but…I don't remember anything about my life before Aktio and I disappeared."

The older women gasped. "Then how…how did you find me?"

"I was watching that missing person show on TV and found my picture come up on the screen. I couldn't believe what I saw, and after seeing that, I wanted to come see you. But, that's not all I have to say…there's a reason why I have no memories of anything."

"Then tell me! Tell me everything."

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I don't care, just tell me!" Both women in the room were getting emotional.

"When Akito and I went missing, an old man took us and, well…he was a scientist, a very smart and talented one…and also a bad person."

"OMG, he used my kids as guinea pigs!" 18's mother said with her head buried in her hands.

"I guess you could say that. What he did, was…he completely altered us. What I'm trying to say is, I'm no longer a full human being…"

18 was looking into her mother's disbelieving eyes. "I am a cyborg, and so is Akito. That is why I haven't aged. I will always appear to be an eighteen-year-old and so will Akito. I am known as #18 and he is known as #17. If you don't believe a word I say, then I understand, but please just try to let this sink in. I know it's hard to take, but please just give me a chance."

"OMG!" was all her mother could say as she tried to take in the information her daughter was giving her. As she was trying to let it all sink in, she just sat there with her head in her hands and sobbed, and all 18 could do was sit there.

TBC


A/N: This chapter was hard for me to write…I'm not good at writing sad stuff. Do you think she told her mother too soon about her being a cyborg? Oh well…please review!

Next time: More moments with 18 and her mom.