Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Holding On ❯ 12 ( Chapter 12 )

) Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long, I was trying to decide which direction I wanted the story to take, and I had to make up my mind before I could write the chapter. There were two different ways that I was planning on doing the story, and I finally decided on one of them!

Disclaimers: For all of you who didn't know, I don't own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters (It's so sad! I wish I could own them!!! ::hits head:: hehe sorry, I need to keep reminding myself that they aren't real!)

Well, with out further ado, here's the chapter!!!!!!!!!!

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Pan was standing in her kitchen, in about the same stance that she was in before Trunks called. She was leaning against the counter stirring the rice slowly, head bowed and a few defiant strands of hair sprawled across her face despite the numerous times she tucked them behind her ear.

Completely oblivious to the panic ensuing across town, as well as the quick demi-Saiyan entering her kitchen, she had no time to react when two unknown arms switched of the stove, pulled her out the door and into the air.

After shaking the surprise from her face and mind, she realized that she was being cradled like a baby and soaring high above the ground. Right before she attempted to attack the stranger, she caught a glimpse of lavender from the corner of her vision and relaxed. It was only Trunks.

"Um Trunks? Do you mind telling me why you scooped me out of the kitchen, and where we are going that requires us to fly so quickly?" she inquired with a puzzled expression displayed across her face.

"We're going to Capsule Corp. It's an emergency." he said hurriedly, as if a longer explanation would delay them from reaching their destination in time.

"Oh well, you know I can fly Trunks." She stated, slightly annoyed at the fact that he interrupted what was supposed to be a quiet night alone, and yet unable to control the little voice in the back of her mind that screamed with glee 'I'm actually in Trunks arms!! He's actually carrying me.'

"Yes I know you can fly Pan. But we're in a hurry and I didn't have time to explain." He expressed, quickly remembering about the rush and increasing his speed.

"Can you explain now?" she questioned with an arched eyebrow, finally able to silence her mind and slow her rapid heartbeat. 'This better be important. He ruined my dinner.' she thought angrily.

"All I know is that Marron called me and told me to get you and Goten to Capsule Corp. right away, so I paged Goten and flew over to get you as quickly as possible. I don't know what happened but it must be bad because Marron was crying."

"She was crying? We should get over there quick, hurry up!"

"I am hurrying." He said, putting his full power into the flight.

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Bra landed in front of Capsule Corp and ran inside. If she were thinking clearly rather than in a panic, she would have not only rejoiced in flying, but in the fact that there was no one around to witness it. The last thing they needed was more rumors about the Briefs, and if someone saw her fly it was guaranteed that she would make the front cover of every tabloid on the market.

She actually stopped inside the doorway to think for a moment. She was planning on locating their Ki's to reach Marron and her mother, but she heard footsteps nearby and followed the sound instead.

She soon turned a corner and gained a worried expression. Marron was pacing back and forth in front of the medical lab mumbling incoherently and shaking her head trying to convince herself the opposite of what she believed.

Bra sprinted over to Marrons side in hopes of discovering what happened and consoling her obviously miserable friend. By the time she was at her blond friend's side Trunks and Pan flew through a nearby window and landed beside Marron.

Taking a precautionary step in avoiding embarrassment Pan jumped out of Trunks arms as quickly as possible and seemingly before anyone could witness his arms holding her up.

"Marron, are you okay? What happened!?" Bra was extremely worried and barely noticed Trunks fly in with Pan in his arms, barely.

Her shaky voice attempted to answer and explain everything, but she didn't have much to tell. "We were yelling and he.he just collapsed. As far as I know he's still out cold, but Bulma hasn't told me anything."

"I'll go see if I can find out his condition, mom might need help," stated Trunks who quickly vanished behind twin swinging doors.

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It was now nearing 6 o'clock and the only perceived sound was the constant ticking of the clock mounted on the hallway wall. The ticking remained constant and never changing in pitch or tempo, however for the 3 girls sitting on the hard uncomfortable chairs against the wall, the sound seemed to get louder and faster as the time slipped away.

"What are they doing in there?" whined Pan, breaking the silence and tension in the air. Unable to just sit down and worry she let the curiosity get the best of her, and walked towards the door to peer through the small window.

"I don't know, but I can't stay still, the suspense is killing me." Grumbled Bra, striding down the hall to stand next to Pan.

"How could this happen? I feel so bad. This is my entire fault; if I didn't yell at him like that he wouldn't have collapsed. I just couldn't help it, he made me so mad." Marron mumbled to herself, not caring that her two Saiyan friends had exceptional hearing and probably caught every word.

Pan and Bra were back in the chairs beside Marron with comforting looks and soothing tones.

"It's not your fault Marron."

"You're not to blame. We don't even know why he collapsed, it's probably not even closely related to the fight." Pan said, uneasiness clearly evident in her voice. 'Oh great, so first I'm hoping that it's just stress that knocked him out, and now I'm hoping that it's some sort of illness or something!' thought Pan in confusion.

"Would you mind telling us about the fight? It might make things better." Offered Bra with a reassuring smile.

"Well." So Marron relayed the encounter from her point of view. She cringed when she repeated some of the harsher dialogue exchanged and timidly looked up to see her friend's reactions when she finished.

Bra and Pan were in slight shock, but quickly recovered. "Marron, it's not your fault, you did what any of us would have done in your situation."

"Don't worry about it. It sounds more like his fault then yours."

The two girls continued to console their friend, although neither was actually able to put her at ease. She couldn't help but still feel a nagging feeling that she was completely responsible for the situation.

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The medical lab was quite a scene. In the center of the room lay a body, soundlessly enveloped in the unconscious, wrapped in a white sheet and laid across a stiff metal examining table. Beside him were three machines set up to monitor his breathing, heart rate, and brain signals. Sitting in two swivel chairs on his other side were two figures, one quite closely resembling the mother from his time, and the other an identical twin to himself.

The two figures sitting nearly shoulder to shoulder to each other, each bore a solemn expression that was clearly evident in there posture, facial features, as well as the gleam in their eyes. Neither bothered to speak of the situation, the situation that was so clearly defined on a small sheet of creased paper handed from mother to son.

The young lavender-haired man carefully refolded the paper, not quite knowing what to do. He had previously stormed into the room and faced his mother with so many questions, so many questions that were so easily answered in a small letter. He feared facing the truth as a reality, much as he feared having to go out and help his mother explain the situation to the anxious girls who he knew wouldn't take it lightly.

"When did you first read this?" he asked quietly, not wanting to break the silence but needing to know some answers.

"The first time I went through the papers." She said equally quiet.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" he questioned, raising his voice to show anger, but only reflecting pain in his eyes.

"I didn't want people to worry. I was hoping to be able to fix it before this could happen."

"So you were the only one who knew?"

"Yes." She breathed. "I suppose we should go out and explain the situation before he wakes up."

"How long will that be?" Trunks asked while standing up next to his mother and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know, it depends. He fell because the sudden chemical change in his brain left him weak, but he's unconscious because he bumped his head on the table. So it could be hours, minutes, or tomorrow before he awakes.we're just lucky the concussion isn't that bad."

Trunks just nodded his head and lead his mother out the door, drawing in a deep breath as caution before he faced three worried inquiring faces.

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Goten quickly rushed over to Capsule Corp, flying through the same window that Pan and Trunks previously entered. "Sorry I'm late, Mom made me eat before I could come over here. I started eating as soon as I got the page. What's going on?"

A moment later the medical lab doors swung open and Bulma and Trunks stepped into the hallway before the three frantic girls could attempt to answer Goten's question.

"Why don't we all calm down for a moment and go into the living room? Trunks and I will fill you in with everything we know."

Goten, who was didn't even know that Mirai Trunks collapsed, followed as quickly as everyone else, very eager to discover what happened.

Bulma took a seat in a large chair in front of the room, idly watching her son stand beside her, Marron Bra and Goten sitting on the couch in front of her, and Pan leaning against the wall near the couch and the door.

"I'm sure you are all wondering about what happened is I will explain everything right now. All I ask is that you hold any questions till I finish."

Relieved to witness everyone nod their heads she began her explanation, already knowing that they would most likely jump at questions whenever they could get a work in rather than wait until she was finished.

"Well, I suppose I should just go right out and say it rather than hold you all in suspense. The reason Mirai Trunks is unconscious is because he hit his head against the table." she started.

Marron lightened up slightly, thinking that the situation wasn't nearly as horrible as she imagined, she didn't feel that way for long.

"But the reason he fell in the first place is the real cause of alarm. Because of sudden chemical changes in his mind he was left weak, and undoubtedly collapsed and hit his head as a result."

"Why were there sudden chemical changes in his brain?" asked Pan, obviously worried about her new friend.

Bulma sighed; she knew someone would ask questions before she could finish. "Well, that is the real cause of concern. I have discovered that he is afflicted with the same disease that destroyed his time, the same disease that we worked so hard to prevent in this time."

"Why didn't he show symptoms of it before then? I thought Saiyans couldn't get it!" asked Bra in a panic, sliding to the edge of the cushion and leaning forward.

"According to the data he brought with him symptoms would show as soon as they contracted the disease, but since there were no other Saiyans, there was no way to tell how their blood would handle it. Thanks to his fathers blood there was a delayed reaction. I don't know weather to curse his Saiyan genes because it might have a different effect on him then humans, an effect that we may not be prepared for, or if we should be grateful for them because they delayed the disease and will hopefully allow us more time to create a cure."

"Is that why you were working on the cure even after we finished the vaccine? Did you know that he had the syndrome?" Asked Marron, who surprised herself by finding her voice to question what was on her mind.

"Yes I knew about it." Replied Bulma, quickly continuing before more questions could be asked. "The affects caused by this are unknown simply because he is the first Saiyan to be infected by it, but if it in any way resembles the damage done to humans, then we will all need to cooperate."

Bulma continued to explain the matter, carefully explaining that it would affect him much the way that amnesia would. He would most likely not remember himself, and possibly not any of them, but he would have a clear definition in his mind of who he is and how he acts.

"It would probably be best for everyone to try not to anger him. The last thing we need is an angry and powerful fighter who might not remember his own strength and would therefore not have his usual self-control. So I must ask all of you to go along with whatever he thinks, says or does. Do you all agree to play along?"

Bulma watched everyone nod his or her heads again and couldn't help but feel relieved. She continued talking and explaining about how his behavior may be altered, and about different circumstances that could arise. She was trying desperately to prepare them for any situation.

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Pan listened with the others to Bulma's explanation and held back the tears that were threatening to spill. 'Oh my Kami, he could die? It's not fair, I won't let you take someone away from me again.' She thought angrily, remembering that the disease caused death and destruction in Mirai's world.

She stealthily slid towards the door and left the room, earning the attention of no one except for a pair of blue eyes that followed her movements until the door shut. 'I just need some air.' She thought bitterly while walking across the kitchen and towards another door, 'I just need everything to go back to normal.'

She left the house all together and stood on the porch. Her first instinct was to go to her parents and she blasted off for home with out another thought. When she reached the house the icy wind racked her body and she walked into the dark house. 'It's so empty' she thought helplessly and turned on the lights, searching for her father. 'Daddy always makes everything better' she thought, remembering various times in her childhood where her father comforted her.

When Goten called her names and she went home crying, it was her father whom she ran too, and her father who beat Goten up.

When she was hurt after a sparring match, her father was the one to kiss the bruises, or give her a senzu bean.

But she was struck with the icy awareness that she hadn't actually gone to her father for advice, or comfort since she was a child. She learned to take care of herself when she was hurt. When she started high school and began to have 'boy problems' she refused to go to her father thinking he wouldn't understand. She always took care of things herself.

Jeremy was one of the first people besides Bra whom she felt comfortable enough around to actually discuss problems with. Bra was always busy since it was her senior year, so Pan started to go to Jeremy instead. He was a good friend to her, and even though they weren't in love they were very close. But he was dead, and she couldn't turn to him for help.

When Mirai Trunks showed up, he somehow became the person she could confide in. He was the one who understood her pain when she found out that Jeremy was dea... no.gone. And he was the one who she could talk to about anything. But now he was dying, and according to Bulma would most likely not remember them.

She sat down on the couch in her living room trying to sort out her feelings. "There has to be something I can do to fix this," she thought out loud. "What would dad say if he were here? He'd probably say something typical like 'There's a reason for everything that happens honey.' 'Don't worry, everything will be ok' or 'There's nothing you can do honey, you can't change the past'" she said, trying to remember comforting phrases that he used to speak. Somehow they weren't as comforting now as they were when he was the one speaking them to her.

She stopped talking and her eyes widened in hope. "That's it!" she jumped off of the couch suddenly struck with an idea as she thought about the comforting phrases. She flew out the door and towards Capsule Corp.

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AN) Ok, so did you like this chapter? Well why don't you review!!!!

What does Mirai do when he wakes up? How does he act? What is Pan's idea? How does Marron handle Mirai's new image? Does Bra tell Goten that she flew? Find out in the next chapter of Holding On!!!!!

Oh yeah, REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!!! (Do you get the message? I thought it was more clear then subtly hinting that the more good reviews I get, the more inspired I will be to write the next chapter sooner.) REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!! REVIEW!!!!