I'M SORRY!!! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!!
Takes time to breathe Okay... for those of you who think I dropped of the face of the earth... School has started, so I'm overloaded with homework and staying up until 11:00 PM average. Plus I still seem to be on this writer's block, so nothing good is coming out!! CURSE WRITER'S BLOCK!!! Oh yeah, and my computer COMPLETELY BROKE DOWN!!! Stupid viruses first blocked my internet access, and then made it so I couldn't even start it up! Well, the geek squad at Best Buy fixed it, and now I'm happy again. Anyway, I hope you'll all forgive me for taking so long with this chapter. I promise, I have NO intention of stopping in the middle, and this story WILL be finished! So without further ado, here's the long-awaited chapter 35.
Chapter 35: Searching for an Answer
"Watch it, Bra! Here I come!"
"Ready when you are, Onii-san!" Bra took a deep breath and took her fighting stance. She watched intensely as her brother, Vegeta, raised his arm so his palm was facing her. He smirked.
"GO!" He shouted suddenly, releasing a fury of energy blasts in her direction. Bra leaped into the air, dodging them as fast as she could. Smoke arose from all directions as the ki blasts careened into the walls. Vegeta watched as his little sister avoided every attack with ease. Wanting to test her further, he formed one more blast in his palm and chucked it some distance behind Bra. Then with his index finger, he traced a path in the air and the blast followed. Being too occupied with the other blasts, Bra hadn't noticed the oncoming red ball of energy leave Vegeta's hand. But suddenly she sensed it, and whirled around just in time to neutralize it with an equally powerful blast of her own. She smirked in satisfaction, and turned back around- just in time to meet with Vegeta's fist in her stomach. She was knocked into the wall with incredible force, causing the whole training room to tremble, and then fell limply to the floor.
"You're getting better, I'll give you that much." Vegeta sighed as he hovered down next to her.
"No fair, Vegeta! You didn't tell me you were going to use mêlée too!" She shouted, sitting up and rubbing her stomach. She expected a pretty nasty bruise from that one.
But Vegeta only shook his head. "In a real battle, when does your opponent ever give you the courtesy of letting you in on his next move?" Bra shut her mouth and got to her feet. "You got cocky and lost your focus. Had that been a real fight, you would have been shown no mercy."
"Gomennasai, Onii-san." Bra apologized, hanging her head.
"Apologies won't do you any good. Just do better the next time."
Bra nodded in understanding.
"Well, that's enough for today!" Prince Vegeta stated, grabbing a water bottle from one corner of the room and drenching his head with it. "Same time tomorrow?"
"Yep!" Bra nodded and headed for the kitchens. Since she was now on a tight training schedule, her appetite seemed much greater. Upon entering the large white-tiled room, she called for one of the cooks and announced that she wanted a big lunch. While waiting for her meal to arrive, she began absent-mindedly running her fingers through her ponytail. She tugged at the tie until it gave way, releasing her short, silky blue hair. In the last five years Bra had not allowed her hair to grow out a great deal. The tips were just able to brush her shoulders. It was time for another haircut.
"Oh, Princess Bra! Good afternoon." A voice abruptly greeted from behind her. Bra turned around in her seat to see Keiko standing in the entryway pushing a few empty trays on a cart.
"Hey, Keiko!" Bra replied with a smile. "How's it going?"
"Not too bad. Hey, on my way up here, I caught a glimpse of some of your father's advisors heading down to his council chamber. I think something big is going on."
"Something big? Like what?"
"I don't know. It wouldn't be my place to nose around such places, especially for someone with my reputation." Keiko chuckled. Ever since she had mysteriously disappeared one evening and returned less than twelve hours later with a heavy punishment, the other maids had kept a considerable distance from her.
"Thanks, Keiko. I'm going to go down and find out what's going on." Bra stated.
"Be careful, princess!" Keiko called after her as she dashed out of the kitchen.
Bra frantically hurried down to the council chamber where, sure enough, her father was talking to the advisors, as well as some military leaders. They stood surrounding a small granite table with a large map and some papers sprawled out on top of it. As always, Bra masked her ki, hid behind a pillar, and slowed her breathing. She began listening in, but it was surprisingly easy to make out the entire conversation. Her father was once again speaking of the rebels and war. She had known that truce had been made to one day be broken, but she had just hoped that day wouldn't have come so soon.
Suddenly the conversation stopped, which grabbed Bra's attention. She listened extremely closely, but could hear no movement.
"It's all right, Bra. You can come out." She heard her father sigh in a monotonic voice. Bra froze and held her breath, hoping that her father would think he was mistaken, and continue talking. "I know you're there, Bra, and it's all right."
Slowly, she peered around the column to see her father had not even looked up from the table.
"Come here, Bra." He said gently. Too gently. Bra became suspicious, and cautiously approached them. "As it seems eavesdropping is one of your favorite pastimes, I thought you might as well give me your opinion on these plans."
Bra stared down at the table, where there was a map covered with red and blue pegs to represent the rebels and the positions of Vegeta's troops.
"I am planning to surround their encampment with soldiers, and then attack when they least expect it." The king explained.
"Otou-san, not again!" Bra moaned in her childish whiney voice, staggering away from the table.
"What, are ambush tactics out of style now?" the king questioned with annoyance, folding his arms.
"No, it's just that you've gone five years without disrupting the peace and-"
"Exactly!" King Vegeta cut her off. "I've waited five long, miserable years, anticipating the day when my youngest son would be returned to me! I'd say it's been long enough!"
"But Otou-san, if you attack them now, you'd be throwing away five years of careful preparation for your ultimate plan!" She desperately reasoned. "Remember? You were going to go down in history as the greatest king to ever rule Vegeta-sei!"
"Yes, I remember that quite well. But I'm sick and tired of living every day knowing that my son is being brought up by Kakarot's kind! It's more than any father could bear, seeing his child grow up in the hands of his enemies!"
"Otou-san..." Bra began, but she then saw the frustration in her father's eyes. She knew what he was feeling, for she was feeling the same. But she had swallowed her emotions for the greater cause. Now she didn't know what to do. All Bra wanted was peace, so she kept telling herself that she had to stop her father from attacking the rebels at all costs. But now she was at a loss. "Please... just wait a little bit longer..." she implored. "There has to be another way to solve this..."
"Bra... why do you go against me?" the king asked sadly. "Why do you stand up for these rebels when I, your own father, despise their very existence? How have I wronged you? What have I done to make you hate me and go against my beliefs?"
"Stop it!" Bra abruptly shouted. She hated it when her father made her feel guilty like that. "I don't hate you! I just believe there's a better solution than war here! Please understand, Otou-san... I don't want there to be any more bloodshed... like last time..."
She didn't know what else to do to convince him. Having nothing more to say, Bra fled from the room before her father could call after her, and once again locked herself in her bedroom.
Goku had been disturbed by his wife's words all day. Now it was night, and he lay awake in his bed, staring at the dark ceiling, hearing her words over and over again in his mind.
"We have his youngest son."
What was that supposed to mean? That in order to maintain peace with Vegeta, young Goku must be sacrificed? But he was just a child! And he had no idea who he really was. Chi-Chi was suggesting that in order to get Zamuri back safely, little Goku would have to be the exchange. But for the past five years, the boy had grown on him. Though King Goku knew this child was in no way related to him, he couldn't help smiling whenever the boy looked up at him with shining blue eyes and called him 'Grandpa'.
But he didn't belong here. His rightful home was with his real father, in his own kingdom. And the last thing King Goku wanted was to end up like King Vegeta, who had gone fourteen years raising a child that was not rightfully his, never breathing a word of her true family.
But if young Goku were to know, what would he choose? Would he even want to leave the only people he knew and loved? Such a decision should never, in King Goku's opinion, be placed on the shoulders of an innocent 5-year-old boy. He was too young... too young to understand.
Was that why Vegeta had never told Pan?
"Goku-sa..."
"Uh...?" Goku turned to see Chi-Chi peering up at him from under the sheets, her eyes still half closed. "Oh sorry, Chi-Chi. Did I wake you?"
"No..." She shook her head softly. "Goku, I'm... sorry about what I said earlier. I was just frustrated... I didn't mean it."
"That's okay, Chi." Goku sighed.
His wife snuggled closer to him and held on to his arm. "I've just missed my grandson so much these past few years..."
"Don't worry, Chi-Chi. Tomorrow I'll hold another meeting. And I promise we'll stay in there until we come up with something to set things right again."
"Thank you, Goku..." Chi-Chi sighed, straying back into her slumber.
Elsewhere, Princess Bra lay silently in her bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. There was no moon tonight, so it was nearly pitch black. She repeated the day's events over and over again in her mind.
She drifted into a subconscious state, feeling an eternity pass by in a minute. The conversations repeating in her head slowly faded, only to be replaced by a new, familiar voice pulling her back into consciousness.
("... Bra-chan... Can you hear me, Bra-chan...?")
Bra sat up quickly, realizing the voice was real. She stared around her room, but saw no one.
("Bra, are you there? It's Pan. Answer me!")
("Pan-chan!!") Bra responded telepathically. She was overjoyed to once again hear the voice of her best friend. ("What's up?")
("Onee-chan... we seriously need to talk. But I can't do this for long. This long distance telepathy is really stressing.")
("Okay. So, what's going on?")
("Listen, lately my father has been really anxious to come up with a plan to rescue my brother, Zamuri.")
("Yeah, and my father has been just looking for an excuse to break off the truce and declare war.") Bra replied.
("Oh boy...") Pan sighed. ("I think we need to find some way to talk things over in person. I know it's a lot to ask, but would you be willing to-")
("Yes, of course!") Bra cut her off anxiously. ("Just tell me where.")
Sutsuki: There, I've done it!!! Oh, and I've been reposting all my chapters with modified page breaks to increase understanding of when the scenes switch. Haha, I'm SO smart! ...Ok, so I just figured it out...