Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Life Is Hard To Live ❯ Present Conversations ( Chapter 4 )

Title: Life Is Hard To Live
Chapter Four: Present Conversations
Author/s/: Veresti
Main Character/s/: Bra/Leigh and Pan

~*Author's Notes*~

Well, I wanted to give a special happy birthday to Demeleka aka Jet!!! *squishes* this chapter's for you babe

*Begin Chapter*

"I knew I should have stopped in to see Pan first," she fumed to herself. She was flustered, angry and was feeling upset because of his words. One would think that after all those years apart from her he would be a bit more receptive to her embrace. She sighed. "Damn you Trunks," she finally muttered. She slammed her fists in what she considered a light tap on the desk, causing it to shudder briefly. She was more than a little surprised that it didn't break beneath the fairly forceful brunt of her fists. She looked over at Trunk questioningly "You and mom have been experimenting again?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Trunks' eyes lit up with the fervor of a young boy with a brand new toy to show off. "Yes, it's called Bruend. It's a mix of various materials found in both plastic and steal. It was unbelievably hard to get the molecules to bond together. I was so frustrated at first because of it. Nothing I did seemed to have any effect on it's molecular structure. But finally father came in and explained the bonding principals of it."

"Dad?" asked Bra, feeling a bit of mild disbelief.

"Yeah, I was more than a little shocked as well to say the least. It turns out that he knew a lot of the science that goes along with chemistry and repair. He said that he had to learn about chemistry and technology repair because he had to do most of the repair work on his ship himself. Especially when they were months from the nearest replacement and repair stations," explained Trunks.

He smiled at her before sitting down in his soft leather chair once again. He shuffled a few stacks of papers, making a neat pile of them and set them aside on the end of the desk. "Mother will be so excited to see you, so you should stop by as early as possible. She'll want to go shopping immediately you know and so will Marron-" he started to say.

"I don't like to shop anymore," said Bra interrupting him. As soon as the words had left Bra's mouth, Trunks was laughing his ass off. She merely frowned at him, having expected this type of reaction from him.

After a few seconds he somehow had managed to compose himself. "No seriously, mom will be ready to go shopping with you the minute you get home," he said, practically repeating his words from before.

"I don't like to go shopping anymore Trunks," she repeated, giving him a reproving look.

Trunks cheerful expression changed into one of alarm. "Why not?"

"It just seemed pointless. There were so many other important things to do," she said simply. What she didn't tell him was that Solan had never let her step a foot outside of the door without him. She hadn't even been allowed to get the mail or to pick up the paper. He didn't want to take even the slightest chance that she would make a run for it. She had to admit that she had been sorely tempted more than once, that was for sure.

It had been such a blessing in disguise the day that Pan came to get her. He had just decided that he could leave her alone for a little while so that he could go to get drunk with his buddies. It had never even occurred to him that she would pull a stunt like that because she had never showed much back bone around him after all that he had done to her. He hadn't expected her to call up someone and tell about what had been going on much less imagined her ever having the strength to leave him.

She stared blankly up ahead, seemingly looking at the smooth black leather of his chair. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that he was examining her closely. She was wearing a pair of black pants along with a lacy black top that seemed to be sheer, but in actuality you couldn't see anything at all. She had platform shoes with heels that were at the very least two inches high laced tightly up her calves.

He laughed silently to himself as he noted that she wore her favorite black choker about her neck still. It was a leather rope with a black rose attached to it that he had bought her once when he was on a business trip to America. But he quickly sobered as he took in the odd and distant look that she had in her beautiful aqua eyes that disturbed him greatly.

"Bra… what happened to you out there?" Trunks finally asked, troubled by the look on her face. Bra winced and turned away from him, nervously rubbing her arms. She couldn't bear to look in his eyes as she told him this lie.

"Why nothing happened to me Trunks. What could have happened silly?" she said in a falsely upbeat tone of voice. She flashed him a brief fake smile before quickly glancing away in case he noticed the glint of light caused by the tears that were beginning to well in her eyes.

Trunks could tell by her stiff posture that something had occurred and that she wasn't quite ready to talk about yet. He decided that the best course of action would be to attempt to change the subject. "Father will be glad to see you as well. Oh of course he probably won't allow it to show, but he did miss you. He was never quite the same after we found your note." He winced suddenly realizing that if he had been trying to change the subject to something with a lighter atmosphere, he had just failed utterly.

So he gave up and plunged headlong into it anyways. "I think he kept hoping that you would come back right away like you always did. But as the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months and soon the years passed, he had to face the reality that you weren't going to come back."

A deep feeling of guilt overwhelmed Bra as she thought of her father. Out of all the people she had left behind, she had regretted not saying goodbye to him the most. But she had instinctually known that he would try to stop her from leaving, like he always did. Every time that she had even hinted that she might move away when she was younger had been suppressed by him.

She had always been his darling little girl who could do no wrong in his eyes. He had wanted her to remain his innocent little girl forever, untouched by the tainted caress of society's dirty paws. She wished that she could have too. But reality often didn't quite match up with the hopes and wishes that ones heart harbored.

"I know…" she finally was able to whisper in a hoarse voice. Her voice sounded so low and foreign to her and for a moment she wasn't quite sure it was her who had spoken. "I missed him too. But I had to do this," she said with quiet determination. "I had to try to strike out on my own and make my way in this world. I couldn't just sit and watch the world go by before my eyes any longer. Don't you understand that?" she asked looking at him desperately, wanting the love and reassurance that she had always gotten from him.

"B," he said simply. "I don't have to tell you that I do, do I?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "You of all people should know by now that I do love you dearly. Why else would I put up with you?" he teased. Bra tried to smile, but failed utterly, which only distressed Trunks all the more. He quickly opened his arms wide for her and waited for her to either reject or accept his embrace.

He smiled happily as she went around the desk and leant into his embrace. "I love you Trunks," she said suddenly before burying her face into the depths of his shirt. She rubbed her face gently against the satiny smooth texture of it, sighing deeply as she did so. Despite himself, a smile crept upon his face. He knew that she didn't mean it in a woman to man sense, despite the fact that they had slept together before. He knew that she meant it as a true and pure kind of love. A love shared between a family.

"I love you too B," he responded before hugging her even more tightly to him. She was beautiful. Not just in the sense that she was fair of face, but in the sense that she had a beautiful soul as well. It was then he realized that he truly adored her. She was everything that he had ever wanted and anything that he could hope for; the perfect woman for him in every sense of the word. It was too bad that society would never condone them being together- but then again, he had never been one who much cared about the opinion of society.

"You should probably go visit mom now," he suggested gently. "I know she'll be so happy to see you again. She kept your room exactly the way you left it you know."

Bra upon hearing this smiled. "No I didn't, but it's such a nice thing to be able to come home to the things that I remember. I missed the familiar surroundings of home while I was away the most. I miss my bed and my carpet and my walls. I miss mom always yelling at dad because he broke the G.R. I miss everything about it basically. I can't wait to get back home," said Bra happily. Trunks smiled brightly at her child like enthusiasm. He slowly released her as she pulled away, preparing to leave.

"Oh and just so you aren't surprised, Marron is living at Capsule Corp. now a days and so is Goten as a matter of fact. They'll probably be there and you'll scare the shit out of each other. I doubt they'll recognize you either. You've changed a lot B."

"Is that a bad thing or good thing?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Do you want the truth or a bald faced lie?" he asked in a serious tone of voice.

Bra frowned. "The truth of course."

"I honestly don't know if it's good or bad. I haven't been around you long enough yet to know that."

Bra simply nodded in acceptance. She pushed away from him, gently disengaging herself from him before she turned towards the exit. "Ja Trunks," she called out over her shoulder, waving her hand slightly in a detached fashion.

"See you later B," he responded before turning back to the mounds of work piled on his desk. He cursed violently and was so involved in it that he didn't even hear the slam of the door as Bra left his office.

*****

As Bra stepped out the main set of doors in front of the second Capsule Corp. building, she breathed in deeply. It was if a large weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. It was such a relief to be done with at least one reunion. She could hardly wait to get the others over with as well.

The rich smell of coffee invaded her senses and she suddenly realized that she hadn't eaten all day. She had been in such a frantic state this morning that she hadn't been able to force herself to eat, so now her stomach growled loudly announcing its desire for sustenance. So she promptly decided that she had to go eat. If things hadn't changed too drastically why she was gone, there should still be a coffee shop next to the large park about two blocks away.

It took her about ten minutes at the most to walk the two blocks to the coffee shop. Lately she had been walking just about everywhere. She liked the exercise it gave her as well as the time it allowed for her to think as well. When she walked she could muse out the solutions to any problems that she was having at the moment. It gave her something to do instead of just sitting around or taking the lazy way out and using her car.

So she hurried threw the doors of the small cafe to order her food as quickly as possible so she could get this torment over with. She had enough to worry about without continuing to add this to the rapidly growing list. The décor of the café was artfully arranged as well as chosen, in a tasteful selection of a northern theme. The walls were like a log cabin's, seemingly large cylinders of tree trunks, but she knew looks could be deceiving. She knew that they were probably artificial since constructing a psuedo log cabin in the middle of the city would be damn more expensive than just using slats that were half and half.

The furniture also looked like it was made from logs as well. The chairs were covered with big cushions that were a deep hunter green in color with a deep crimson red for trimming. The table mats were a deep navy blue as were the napkin holders. They actually had cloth napkins here, which Bra knew from the brief period in time when she worked in a upscale restaurant were a real pain in the ass. They napkins themselves were crimson as well with hunter green trimmings.

She quickly took her place in line since it was unusually long today and simply stood there as she waited, musing about her meeting with Trunks. Seeing Trunks after all this time had been a wonderful experience. But it had made her realize now more than ever how perfect he was for her, something she didn't want to be reminded of because she didn't love him the way she knew he wanted her to. He wanted much more than to be just another of her flings, he wanted something permanent and lasting. He wanted something that Bra wasn't at all sure she could provide.

She didn't know if she could let herself become that vulnerable ever again. Not just because of some random fucked up reason, but because of what had occurred between her and Solan. He had pretty much cured her of any lasting desire to nest. In her experience, once the guy knew that he had you he would stop trying to win you over because he didn't think he had to put forth the effort anymore. As soon as he got what he wanted, he would discard you like a used tissue.

She sighed deeply as she stood in line, consumed with her thoughts and pushed a stray strand of her lavender colored tresses back into place. She casually glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that she had been standing in this line for a while now and it had barely moved at all. She wondered why since it wasn't even rush hour yet for the lunch period.

She gave up trying to peer around the flood of bodies in front of her and patiently waited for the line to speed up. If she had learned anything at all in the time she was gone, it was that patience truly was a virtue. It wasn't something that she liked to admit or even practice, but she forced herself to because in the long run she had learned it was the best thing to do.

In a few minutes the line began to move again and she was content. She was still wondering what had happened but wasn't too bothered by it, meaning that the curiosity wasn't killing her. She pulled her coal black colored purse off her shoulder where the strap was resting and opened the top flap of it. She pulled a couple dollars out to prepare to order because it was almost her turn.

A minute later, the service lady was smiling up at her brightly. "How may I help you today?"

"I would like a coffee to go and a wheat bagel with cream cheese as well," responded Bra.

"Would you like cream or sugar in your coffee?"

"No, I'd like it black please," she responded with a slight, polite smile.

"Okay, the total comes to $4.07," announced the woman as she rang up the price of her order. Bra carefully counted out a few bills and then paused to search for the seven cents that remained. She handed it to the lady who pressed a few buttons on the cash registor and put it in the drawer.

"207 is your order number, it will be coming up shortly," said the lady handing her a receipt. The woman then turned to the next customer and took their order.

Bra glanced at her ticket briefly before moving down to the section where you picked up your order. She leaned against the smooth surface of the wood counter top, her back turned to the back room where the food was being prepared as she looked out the window. The sky was a amazing shade of brilliant blue with not a single cloud in sight; it was the kind of day that she despised more than any other.

She had started to hate the sun for some strange reason about a year or two ago. Pan upon hearing about it had teased Bra about being a Vampire. Bra had simply laughed sarcastically in response and made a caustic comment like she usually did. Pan had laughed and then continued to tease her about it every time that they saw each other. It had become a private joke between the two, one of those kinds that make people wonder what the hell you are talking about it public when they casually overhear it.

"Number 207!!!!" yelled someone in her ear from behind her. She jumped in surprise and turned around to catch the culprit, although she knew it was just one of the workers announcing the order was up. She smiled winningly at the pale and freckled faced teenager who was behind the counter and took her order. He smiled back awkwardly revealing a flash of metallic light from his braces.

Bra thanked him and then turned to leave. She decided that she was going to eat it on her way to her mother's house so that she got it over with sooner. She sighed deeply and began the long walk to her car, which she hadn't bothered to drive because the second Capsule Corp. building was within a mile or so of her new apartment.

Today was going to be a long day, that was for sure….

*End Chapter*