Chapter 13

A/N: Hi guys! I've been trying to decide on whether or not to do a sequel, but I think I have three options.

1) Don't write a sequel.

2) Write a sequel as a "separate" story.

3) Instead of sequel, just keep adding chapters to this story.

I'd like to hear some opinions, if you guys have the time - even if it's just the number 1, 2, or 3! I'm leaning more towards continuing to write, but not sure whether to do #2 or #3. Let me know what you think!

Zerousy: OMG I laughed SO hard when I read your review! I almost fell out of my chair, LOL. But I did have a serious debate whether or not to do that to 16, but I needed something BAD to happen to someone she deeply cares about to trigger the full change. Hopefully you like this chapter - I think you will!

"16!"

The tall, red-haired android turned from where he was placing a fallen bird's nest back in a tree to where the voice came from, smiling widely. He took a few steps forward before crouching down to one knee, holding his arms out as if ready to embrace. A couple of seconds barely passed before he let out a soft 'uff' when the person threw themselves on him, causing him to let out a hearty laugh as he wrapped his arms around them protectively and stood before he began to spin them around, grinning. He stopped after a few turns and gently set the smaller person down, looking down at them with his deep blue eyes.

"I missed you so much!" The young woman, whose face was revealed to be Sayah, exclaimed happily, watching as the other android took a seat at the base of the tree. She took a seat next to him and looked over at him, watching as a few birds flew near them and one landed on 16's finger when he held his hand out.

"We just saw each other yesterday, did we not?" He responded in his usual, semi-monotone voice, smiling and never removing his eyes from the chirping bird in his hand.

"Yeeeees…" Sayah trailed off, letting out a small laugh before scratching the back of her head, sighing, "But still…" She rested her hand on his upper arm, almost on his shoulder, "I don't know how much longer father will let you be with me before you have to go back to sleep. It gets kind of lonely in that huge lab, you know."

16 gently moved his hand to rest on his lap as more birds and animals approached them, the first bird now on his other shoulder. "I predict that once 19 is active, he will request me to go back into my pod until he needs me again," He paused, looking over at her with his gentle and understanding eyes before continuing, "19 will be your new companion."

Sayah shuddered, shaking her head a bit. "I don't like that at all...I'm not sure exactly how father will make 19, but…if he follows his current blueprints…he already creeps me out!" She moved so she could look at 16, a frown on her face, "That doll has always been so eerie…I don't know why father decided to design him after it." She shuddered, recalling the figurine Dr. Gero had told her he'd brought home as a trophy from an enemy base many years ago. She paused, smiling a bit before continuing, "At least he didn't design Cell after it. I'm not sure anyone would take Cell seriously if he did," She snickered, stopping when a squirrel came closer to her and smiling at it, reaching a hand out. It didn't take long before the small animal was letting her pet him and scratch his head and ears.

"Cell…" 16 lingered on the name before looking over at Sayah, smiling wide when he saw her being kind and gentle to the animal, but hesitating when he remembered what he was about to say to her. "You must be careful with him, 16B. He will be very powerful when he is perfect and complete…he could easily turn on you someday."

Sayah's eyes slowly lifted from the critter to her brother, a pensive look on her face. "You think so?" She stated quietly, remembering the various times she'd gone down to the basement where Cell was in his tank, speaking to him just to have someone to talk to, even though she knew he couldn't answer her. She let out a quiet sigh, looking up at the sky and pursing her lips to the side, tentatively, "Even if one of the tasks father designated to him was to protect me?" She asked, looking back to 16 again and watching him curiously.

"Yes," He answered, "Specifically because of that. It is my belief that he will not be fully loyal to Dr. Gero. If so, he could rebel, and choose to use his task as your guardian to do so," He continued, continuing his unmoving gaze, "And you will be no match for him, even in his imperfect stage."

Sayah frowned, looking away from her brother as he spoke to stare at the grass next to her. As he continued, she moved to rest her head on one of his legs, facing away from his body and toward the woods before curling up and letting out a soft sigh when he finished. "Okay, brother…I will be careful. For you." She smiled and smoothed the side of her white dress out slightly on her legs, reaching up and curling her fingers around the emerald gem attached to the black, choker-styled necklace she had to wear. "Do you think father would be angry if we came back after dusk?" She asked, remembering Dr. Gero's words about not straying too far or for too long from the lab.

16 looked down at her as she spoke, grinning when he noticed some of the woodland creatures curling up against Sayah, while some of the birds landed on her leg or on her side, tweeting. His eyes moved from the birds to the necklace she was wearing, observing silently as she fidgeted with the gem a bit, the smile dropping from his face. "I do not want to risk him deactivating you out of fear again…I'm sure you recall what happened last time we didn't follow his instructions," He responded, remembering the night he'd had to carry and fly her back to the lab, trying not to panic at the fact she'd just collapsed out of nowhere. He still did not fully understand why Dr. Gero deemed it necessary to make her wear this tracking-and-deactivating necklace any time they wanted to spend time outside the lab, especially since she was with him and he could easily bring her back, but he could speculate. "I believe he does not want to risk losing you."

Sayah rolled her eyes before yawning, leisurely tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure why…" She trailed off, feeling as her eyelids started to feel heavy as she began to drift off into a light sleep.

"Because he's NOT your father, that's why."

Sayah's eyes widened suddenly and a chill ran down her spine, causing her to immediately shoot straight up back into a sitting position, frightening all of the animals that were nearby and making them scurry away to hide. The birds couldn't fly away fast enough, and the sound of them flapping their wings echoed throughout the area, causing Android 16 to slowly look from their fleeing forms over to his sibling's terrified face.

"You're still hearing that voice." He said quietly yet knowingly, not wanting to startle her out of her stupor too quickly. He watched as the frightened look on her face slowly dissuaded to shock and, finally, confusion.

"Yes…" She said quietly, looking at the ground and feeling 16's intense gaze on her. She bit her bottom lip nervously, not wanting to look him in the eye.

"Have you told Dr. Gero?" He asked calmly, watching as her eyes finally lifted from the ground to meet his, seeing her feelings of bewilderment and anxiety easily through them.

"No," She embarrassedly responded, looking away from him for a moment to see the animals hesitantly returning, "I don't want to burden him. He's already got a lot on his mind with having to build Androids 19 and 20 and all. He's transferring his brain to 20, but he said he won't let me do it in case something goes wrong…He already worries about me enough," She finished, looking back at 16 with tear-filled eyes.

"You mindless, stupid girl…wake up! Don't you realize he's the reason your REAL life was taken from you?!"

Sayah gasped when she heard the voice again, curling her legs up to her chest and putting her hands on her head. She closed her eyes tight, ignoring the tears that fell from them and shook her head, uttering softly. "Please leave me alone. Please…"

It wasn't even two seconds later that she felt 16's strong arms around her, holding her tight. "Someday you will have to face this head on. You are unlike me in that you were made from an existing human body – the 'previous' you might be who is plaguing your mind. I'm not sure both of you can win this, 16B. But I know you will do what you deep down feel is right." He stopped, picking her up into his arms and cradling her close as if she was a child; even though he knew she was a grown adult, he couldn't help but be so protective of her, especially because she seemed so naïve to the current and future dangers around them. He nodded to the animals that were watching them with curiosity before turning to head back to the lab. "For now, we must return home and you will have some rest."

As sudden as the power appeared it disappeared, and Cell stood in the same spot, staring at Sayah's back in confusion. "Her body is still emitting some sort of glow…just because I can't feel her power level doesn't mean it isn't there – it was the same with the other Androids," He thought, slowly approaching her. As he did so, he noticed that his Jrs. were out of shock enough to begin pummeling the other fighters around them again, giving him a wide smirk. As far as he could tell, they would be far too busy to meddle with him while he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened with Sayah.

He got close enough to touch her and paused, looking over the cliff to see Gohan still struggling with himself, and he narrowed his eyes knowingly, the smirk still ever present on his face. "Foolish child. He sees his friends struggling and near death, but he's still too scared to fight…how pathetic." He moved his gaze back to Sayah, not realizing his face had worry plastered all over it before he reached out to grab her wrist to try and turn her around. "Sayah, you need to tell me—"

Before Cell could even touch her, she sent out a strong wave of energy that pushed him back quite a few feet, and would've tossed him into the sky easily had he not made a barrier to contest it. "Don't you dare touch me," She hissed, slowly turning to face him, her hands balled into fists at her sides. Her lips were set in a thin line and she glared at him, any trace of care and affection completely vanished from her now-golden eyes.

"What the hell is this?" Cell thought as he watched her curiously yet cautiously, dissolving the barrier he'd made and noticing the hue of her eyes had changed from the gorgeous emerald he'd grown to silently enjoy looking into, to a golden similar to that of the Super Saiyans. He stood there simply taking in the sight before him, although he knew he'd be lying if he said he preferred how she looked now as to how she used to. He could easily tell that the Sayah standing before him wasn't quite exactly the same as the one he'd spent the past few days with, and he hated to admit to himself that he already missed the way her plump lips tended to almost always be set in a smile. He had the deeply ominous feeling of having to combat her plaguing him, and he had to confess that although fighting her was the last thing he wanted to do, deep down he knew he probably wouldn't have a choice but to do so. His mind struggled with ways to get her out of this seemingly trance-like state, knowing that it wouldn't be easy, especially considering he didn't exactly know how high her power level went. "Wounding her might just be unavoidable…"

Sayah's eyes narrowed at him as she watched him scrutinize her, and her lips curled from a set line down into a frown. "Don't bother," She snarled, lowering herself into an attack position, "You'll never be able to figure out my true power level." She lunged towards him, startling him when she almost immediately appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. She began to throw a few hard punches to vital areas of his chest, and he blocked them with some difficulty as he quickly learned just how power-packed they were.

"What the hell," He thought, eyes widening when she'd seemed to materialize out of nowhere in front of him, "I didn't expect her to be this fast…or strong!" He managed to step out of the way of her last attack, trying to figure out the best course of action to end this without harming her. He suddenly got an idea and did a backflip to avoid her latest kick, just before jumping into the air and hovering a few feet above her, one leg bent at the knee as he looked downward to where she stood.

Sayah growled, her eyes never leaving his form as he took to the sky, and she tightened her fists at her sides, scowling, "You dare have the audacity to look down upon me?!" She yelled to him, easily taking flight as if she'd done it her entire life, and quickly caught up to him, startling him when she swiftly ran her hand across his face, slapping him hard and leaving a deep, dark reddish-purple mark.

Cell gradually turned his head back to look straight at her, eyes wide. He couldn't believe he'd let his guard down enough for her to get a shot in, although deep down he had to admit that he was having some trouble foreseeing her movements since he'd never fought, or had to fight, her before. Frankly, deep inside he'd never wanted to fight her, and he hoped he wouldn't ever have to do it again once he snapped her out of whatever state she seemed to be in. He bit his tongue from calling her something foul, knowing that the Sayah he knew was dormant in there somewhere, and whom he needed to coax out, and fast. He wrestled to quell his anger as he wiped some blood from his lip with the back of his hand, simultaneously straining to shove the feelings he had for her down far enough to be able to defend himself, or fight her off, if he had to.

Sayah rapidly lunged at him again, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks, trying to make sure to land one on him, and getting frustrated when he kept blocking them without fighting back. "I see you don't want to die honorably…that's fine with me." She sneered, refraining from giving him a chance to catch his breath.

Out of curiosity, and now seeing that she could very well defend herself, he threw a few punches at her and froze, body stiffening when she caught both of his fists in her hands without a blink, his eyes wide as he stared at her. He felt a chill run down his spine when he saw a malicious smirk adorn her lips, and his mind fleeted briefly to wonder if this was how his opponents felt when he did the same to them. He gritted his teeth as he felt her hands tighten around his fists, and his eyes narrowed when he noticed her smirk get wider the more pain he experienced. He knew it'd barely been a few minutes that they'd been battling each other, but it felt like hours for him since this was one fight he wasn't enjoying – at all.

Sayah suddenly used her hold on his fists to quickly pull him close to her, placing her lips at his ear like she'd similarly done earlier that day. "I know you can do better than that…" She whispered, stunning him briefly but long enough to raise her leg and give him a surprise, brutal kick to the gut. She let his fists go when he doubled over, watching him spit some blood out into the atmosphere and managing to growl before looking up at her.

"Damnit Sayah, I don't want to hurt you!" He snarled lowly at her so only they could hear, not sure whether he was angrier at her for hitting him, or himself for letting it happen. He straightened back up and used his thumb to wipe a few beads of blood from his lip, never removing his narrowed gaze from her, just incase she wanted to try something like that again.

Sayah's smirk dissipated into a deep scowl, and she matched his narrowed eyes with her own, moving both her hands to rest on either side of her body. She then turned her right hand so the inside faced Cell, spreading her fingers to allow a small ki ball to form in the middle of her palm, which grew rapidly into a beachball-sized sphere fueled with her rage and energy. "You already hurt me…" She hissed, slowly lowering herself into an attack position again and holding the orb up next to her, "…when you killed my brother." She lunged at him again, attempting to force the orb into his chest but glaring at Cell when he used and held his hands out to stop it, trying almost futilely to meet her gaze.

"Enough of this!" Cell yelled at her, trying to think of ways to get her to change back, "16 attempted to kill me, I couldn't let that go!" He tried to justify himself to her knowing he didn't have to, but she just pressed harder and put more energy into trying to push the ball into him. "You would've done the same!" He yelled as their eyes finally met, now angry at the fact that she wasn't listening to him, but stilled when he felt her stop pushing against him, although she hadn't moved her hands off the orb just yet.

Sayah stared at him with a disgusted look on her face, pausing long enough to respond. "I would never hurt my own brother…why do you think I have this strength so suddenly?" She snarled back, "His father, our father instilled a very well hidden ability within me that immediately activates when 16 is severely injured or killed," She continued, holding back tears at the fresh memory of his demise, "No matter where he is in the world or universe, I can detect him and his enemy, and my power instantly multiplies to over twice that of his foe. My commands are simple – eliminate the threat, no matter who it is, and bring 16 back to the lab for reconstruction," She began to continue pushing the ki ball back into Cell's body, but not as hard as she could – she wanted him to hear this last part. "I remember nothing when I'm done. My father didn't want his little girl tainted by the thought that she'd killed someone, which is why my currently dormant self has no idea that this capability even exists within her. So don't worry, she'll have no memory of the pleasure I took in slaughtering you." As she finished, she put most of her power behind her thrust, and the two began descending rapidly towards one of the remaining boulders nearby. When they were about to hit, she skidded to a halt mid-air and smirked when she saw the ball shoving Cell's body deep into the rock surface, flying upwards enough to clear herself from the huge explosion that it made, ignoring the looks she felt on her from the few people still conscious around her, even the Jrs.

She put one hand on her hip and frowned when she didn't see Cell emerge from the blast, narrowing her eyelids suspiciously and trying to search for his energy down below. She couldn't detect it at all and began to search the surrounding area with her eyes, knowing that Cell must be hiding his energy because he wouldn't have possibly died from that blast. She didn't even realize he'd snuck up behind her until it was too late, and she cursed at him, trying to struggle out of the hold he now had her in.

Cell had gotten a few cuts and bruises from the attack, promptly realizing he definitely needed to take her seriously. He appeared behind her and used his arms to grab her own, holding her tight to him and ignoring the foul names she called him long enough to yell back at her. "How do I get Sayah back? Tell me!" He screamed, feeling as she got still long enough to answer him.

"A life for a life, Cell. You must die." She used her words to distract him before she suddenly flew backwards into another boulder, using him as a shield. She felt him barely let go after the two struck the rock, and they left a deep, cave-like hole in the side where they'd hit. She coughed a few times after the dust began to settle, and she felt something warm and smooth yet tough beneath her, unsure of what it was until he spoke.

"If you wanted to be on top of me you could've just said so." Cell spoke coolly, a smirk on his lips when he felt her suddenly lift her head from where it'd been laying near his neck and stare straight at his face.

Sayah tried to hide her blush in the dimly-lit hole they were both in, and was about to hurriedly fly out of the hole when he wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her close, making it extremely difficult to get out of his grasp.

"Give me my Sayah back." He purred lowly, almost menacingly, as the two stared face-to-face into each other's eyes, their noses almost touching. He got an idea, remembering the times he'd had her pinned against him in a passionate moment, and he was about to act on it when he saw it – her currently golden eyes had flashed green.

Sayah felt a yearning inside of her when he spoke, her body wanting to respond to his voice and touch, her feelings for him causing her eyes to flicker green very briefly. She knew Cell had noticed when he smirked and began to lean his head forward, and she growled and formed two ki balls, one in each hand, and pressed them into the rock on each side of him, using the force to propel herself back and out of the hole. She flew upwards and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself as her eyes fixed on Cell's emerging form and she held her hand out toward him, blasting him with the small yellow spheres that emerged from her palm. "I need to keep him away from me," She thought, stopping her barrage not long after and trying to feel for his energy.

She played this game of keep-away with him for a while, knowing that he was getting very irritated at the fact she wouldn't let him near her. She was starting to get tired of using up all this energy, and she thought hard about why she hadn't been able to kill him yet when realization struck her. "Shit, it seems the power level I copied isn't his max…even my doubled and augmented power isn't anywhere near his limit." She felt a wave of dread go down her spine as her mind wrapped around this fact, and she finally used more ki balls to distract him from where she disappeared to hide behind a boulder, using one of its flat sections to stand and press herself against it, hiding her energy. She closed her eyes and reclined her head back against the hard rock, her chest heaving up and down as she thanked the stars for whoever had taken a seemingly square-looking chunk out of this boulder, giving her a perfect place to hide. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard his deep, smooth accented voice speaking to her, and she forced herself to open her eyes and look at him, not moving her head as he stood only a few feet away from her, smirking like a cat who'd just caught his mouse.

"I see you've realized you can't defeat me," Cell spoke calmly, approaching her slowly, "I don't plan on harming you, but I will do whatever necessary to get her back." He added sternly, now standing directly in front of her and smirking at the way she glared at him through her lowered lids.

Sayah straightened her head to look at him, curling her fingers into fists at her sides. "Stop trying to confuse me with your ridiculous emotions!" She yelled, trying to land a punch on him and then another when he caught her wrists. She struggled and squirmed when he held them above her head and then pinned her between the rock and his body, causing her to gasp in surprise and blush furiously.

"This was fun, we must do it again sometime." He chuckled menacingly, noting how much her previous words sounded like ones he'd said before, and then swiftly moved to use one hand to restrain both her wrists and placed his free arm around her waist, pulling her even closer to him. "She's mine, now give her back to me." He growled lowly, staring straight into her golden eyes before he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against hers, watching as her eyes widened before flickering between gold and emerald, the former slowly dissipating and shifting before settling on the latter. He smirked wickedly into the kiss and closed his eyes simultaneously with her, releasing her wrists and deepening it when he felt her relax in his grasp and place her hands on his chest. He heard her moan quietly before he finally gradually pulled back, looking into her deep green eyes, admitting that he'd never been so relieved to see their beautiful color. "If I wasn't in the middle of this tournament…" He thought naughtily, a mischievous smile on his lips as he looked at her.

Sayah, mystified, sluggishly glanced around her before looking back at Cell with a confused expression, trying to figure out how she'd even gotten over here. "Cell?...what happened? Is your tournam—" She wasn't able to finish before her body unexpectedly slumped in his arms and she fell forward, unconscious and completely unaware of what had just transpired.

Cell held her against his body with one arm, chuckling maliciously. "Perfect, this will be even easier than I thought. As long as I keep her unconscious while I defeat Gohan and kill his idiotic, pathetic friends, I should be able to take her with me without any need to use force…just before I completely annihilate this planet. Piece of cake." He let out a loud, sinister laugh, seeing his plan come together before picking her up bridal style, flying over to where she'd originally been standing near the edge of the precipice and setting her down. He heard Gohan exclaim something about Cell harming her, just before standing up and glancing over to see the other fighters either beat down or struggling painfully with his Jrs. He was about to say something to mock them when he heard Gohan yelling at him to come face him, feeling the young boy's energy start to skyrocket after what he'd just witnessed and what his friends were going through. "Wonderful…now this should be a real fight." He laughed, referring to how his fight with Goku earlier had been all but disappointing. He flew down to where Gohan was and stood, watching the young boy's inner-and-outer struggle with glee.

Cell couldn't possibly fathom what was happening. He was perfect, he was more than perfect, yet still, a pathetic Saiyan child had managed to defeat him. Him! He found little comfort in knowing that Gohan couldn't have done it without the help of everyone else, especially his father Goku, and bellowed loudly as he tried to put more energy into his counterattack of their Kamehameha. He felt himself slipping, and he knew that if he didn't do something drastic, and quickly, he would definitely not make it out of this alive. He attempted to swallow his pride, vowing to seek revenge and hoping he wasn't too late just as the Kamehameha engulfed him, his last thought being of her before screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I'm perfect! I won't go like this!"

"I won't go like this!"

Sayah gasped and sat up, reaching a hand up and placing it on her forehead, shutting her eyes briefly. Those five words kept echoing in her mind, and she wasn't sure what exactly had happened while she was unconscious, but something told her she wouldn't like what she found out. A deep, heart-wrenching fear overcame her as she began to look around, spotting only the Earth's true fighters nearby, and the reporter and cameraman with Mr. Satan in the far distance. She gulped, legs trembling as she slowly stood and looked down to where the fight had taken place, seeing nothing but the remaining rocks and dust of what had been. She looked up into the sky, searching for Cell and hoping that he'd appear and surprise her, laughing at her for being as foolish as to worry about him.

"Don't worry miss, Cell is dead. He's not coming back."

The voice startled her, and she gasped and turned suddenly, her right hand clutching the hem of her v-neck near her heart. "What…what did you say?" She asked quietly, hoping he would mistake her tone and actions for relief or confusion.

"I said, Cell is dead. You don't have to worry about him anymore, he's not coming back. Ever."

She stared at the man in front of her, faking a smile and noticing the scar on his face. She barely remembered his name to be Yamchi, Yamchu, Yemcha…or something like that. She was bad with names, which was ironic. She realized she was staring at him and shook her head, smiling nervously before apologizing. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a little stunned. What happened?"

"Oh, it's no problem miss. Sayah, right? I'm Yamcha, in case I didn't introduce myself earlier. Anyway, Gohan kicked Cell's ass. Hard. The little guy is tired but he'll make it."

She smiled slightly at him, looking over his shoulder at the boy who seemed pretty much passed out on the ground. She heard all of them talking and laughing in the distance, and she turned back to Yamcha and nodded. "I'm glad he's okay…" She trailed off, attempting to ignore the feeling in her heart that told her Cell's death wasn't true, much less real. She tried not to sound suspicious as she asked, "How are you so sure Cell's dead?"

"There's noooo way Cell survived that Kamehameha wave. The whole blast could've taken out Earth itself. He would've had to have a miracle to live, but I doubt that."

She nodded slightly, trying not to tear up as she looked back over to where the battle had taken place. She bit her lip and looked at the scattered pieces of debris, some of which were parts from Android 16. As if reading her mind, Yamcha spoke up again.

"I'm sorry about Andr—I mean, your brother…can I take you home?"

She was quick to note the hopeful sound in his voice, and what she really wanted to do was shove her foot so far up his ass he could taste it, but she held her composure and didn't look at him when she spoke. "No, thank you. But I'd appreciate it if you'd take me down there." She nodded to the battleground, hearing him say a sad 'sure,' and he wrapped one arm around her waist before flying her down to where all of the action had taken place, reluctantly letting her go.

"Are you sure I can't take you home? It wouldn't be a bother, really."

"No." She said it more sternly than she meant to, and that was enough for him to get the hint. Before he was out of earshot she added a quiet, "Thank you, though," and heard him fly over to his friends, who were coincidentally directly above where she now stood. She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling a few tears trickle down her face but managing to keep herself together for now – she didn't want any of them trying to make her feel better, especially when they had no idea that 16 hadn't been the only one she'd lost that day.

She kept her eyes closed and took a deep breath, setting her arms back at her sides before whispering, "16…where are you, my brother?" As if guided by a magic string, she opened her eyes and followed what she could only call intuition, working through the now-scrap metal that used to be her sibling. She didn't stop walking until something told her to stop, and she looked to the ground to see what she almost couldn't believe she'd been able to find – a motherboard. "Oh my god, 16!" She fell to her knees and gently picked up the piece with her hands, looking at it and crying joyfully when she saw it was intact. "I know you can't hear me, but I will fix you. Even if it takes me my entire life, I will bring you back, I promise." She whispered, smiling and tenderly pressing the part against her heart. She moved it away for a moment just in time to hear the men fly off into the distance, letting out a sigh of what she could best call relief when they were gone.

She spent a while trying to find any usable parts she could, ignoring the tears flowing freely down her face the entire time. When she got the last of them, the sun was beginning to set and she made her way over to where she'd hid her duffel bag, finding an empty pocket to place all of the parts into except the motherboard. She grabbed one of her shirts and delicately wrapped it around the part, placing it back in the main section of the duffel bag before placing another shirt over it just in case it tried to move around. She pulled her capsule case out of a different pocket and picked out one of her cars, a black mid-size SUV, tossing the capsule into the air after pressing it. The car appeared before her instantly, and she placed the case back into the bag before zipping it closed and moving to place it into the passenger's seat just before she closed the door. She stepped into the driver's side and closed the door after her, latching her seatbelt before turning the car on by pressing the button. She placed her hands on the steering wheel and hesitated before looking up into the rearview mirror, trying not to meet her own gaze as she ensured it was in the right spot. She looked over at the spot the tournament ring had stood, blinking tears away and telling herself that she had to keep it together, at least until she got home.

Her entire drive home she ignored the speed limit and went at least 10 miles over, somehow avoiding being stopped by police, but then remembering that they might be more preoccupied keeping the public 'safe' because of the Cell Games. As soon as she thought that tears began streaming down her face again, and her whole body trembled with the weight of what she'd been told was the truth. Her mind, body, and soul agreed with her heart in telling her that he was alive, but she couldn't see how whenever all the other guys had gotten together to help out the young boy named Gohan, not to mention they'd been there and awake to see it with their own eyes. As she debated this with herself, she was able to pull into the front of her house and sighed, shutting the car off before sluggishly reaching for the duffel bag. She grabbed it and pulled it out with her once she'd stepped out of the car, slinging it over her shoulder and pressing the button to make her car a capsule again. She held it in her hand briefly as she looked up at her balcony, half of her expecting to see Cell standing there, laughing at her for worrying about him. She clutched the small capsule tight in her hand before hurrying inside, slamming the door closed behind her and setting the duffel bag down next to her, just before pressing her back against the door, her sobs growing louder now that she was in the comfort of her own home.

She didn't even realize she'd slid down the length of the door until she felt the soft white carpet beneath her fingers. Her whole body trembled as she drew her legs up so that her knees were almost to her chest, and she set her elbows on her knees, using her hands to cradle her head as she clutched it, staring at the ground. Tears were coming down like waterfalls from her eyes, and as much as she wanted or tried to stop, she couldn't. Her sobs made soft echoes through the large house, and after a while she'd moved so her head rested back against the door, although she remained sitting on the floor. She rested her arms on her knees, her tears trailing further down her neck and even all the way down to her breasts, most of them getting absorbed by the fabric of her shirt or bra. She knew she looked like shit but she didn't quite care at the moment, especially with the way she was feeling. She sat that way for a moment before her sadness briefly turned to anger, and she opened her eyes to look at the ceiling.

"CELL! You BASTARD! You weren't supposed…to die…" She'd yelled until the last few words, when her energy was rapidly zapped from her and she whispered instead, moving her head to place her hands on her face. If her heart was right and Cell was still out there, she sure as hell hoped he could hear her. She didn't want to hold on to the hope, however, in case he really was dead and wouldn't ever return. "I can bring 16 back with my own hands, but you…damnit, Cell! You ASSHOLE!" She screamed the last part through her hands, and only moved them long enough to help her lay down on her side, curling into what almost seemed like the fetal position. She didn't really care that she was on the floor, especially since right now she felt like the shit under someone's shoe, and deep down she knew she'd be feeling that way for a while. She held herself in this position for a while, eventually crying herself to sleep on the ground, directly in front of her front door – the same door that Cell had torn down when they first met, and even fixed before he'd brought her back home.