Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Through Thick and Thin ❯ Birthday Wishes ( Epilogue )

*wipes eyes and straightens up* In my opinion, this was my best story so far. It may have been the shortest (excluding one-shots and songfics), but that doesn't mean anything. It certainly brought in the most reviews. O.O I really wasn't expecting as many as I got. Some of you may think that there's not a lot, but there is to me. ^.^ I read each and every review, and it made me smile knowing that this story simply wasn't being posted for the sake of taking up space on the internet, and that people enjoyed it.

Anyways, I should stop talking now and let you read the epilogue, Birthday Wishes...

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--THROUGH THICK AND THIN--

--Epilogue--

--Birthday Wishes--

"Wow, Bra! Double digits!" Bra grinned at her brother. She was glad that he shared her excitement; to her, turning ten was a big deal. It seemed to be the next step towards something great.

The smile on Trunks' face was one of love for his sister. It brought another smile to her face. She remembered times when she wasn't sure what his feelings towards her were. The incident that came to mind first was that fateful Christmas four years before.

She hadn't been sure if anyone had cared for her then, not even her father, whom she loved dearly. Her gaze landed on her parents, who stood side by side a short distance away. She hadn't been sure of her father's love then, but the smirk he wore now clearly said he was proud. She smiled, her eyes shifting to her mother.

Bulma smiled at her in return. "Are you going to blow out your candles, honey?" She asked. Bra nodded, and turned to the large cake in front of her.

"Don't forget to make a wish!" Trunks reminded her.

She laughed. "Of course I won't!" She inhaled deeply, thinking of a wish quickly, before blowing out all ten candles in one puff.

"What did you wish for?" Her grandmother inquired from the other end of the room.

"I can't tell you that!" Bra exclaimed. "Then it won't come true!" Trunks nodded in agreement.

Bulma appeared beside her daughter with a knife in her hand. "Care to cut the cake?"

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Bra lay on her bed, thinking. It was fairly late, but she wasn't tired in the least. She was thinking of that Christmas again, unable to shake it from her head.

It started with favouritism, didn't it? She recalled with a slight chuckle. She couldn't say that she didn't like being her father's favourite. She used it to her advantage in many instances, but more than that, she cared for him the most. She was just delighted that he returned the strong feelings.

The favouritism hadn't ended just because of that quarrel, but it hadn't grown worse, either. It remained the way it was, but Bulma never said another word about it. Trunks had told Bra he had convinced her Vegeta showed his love in his own way, but Bra didn't believe him. Her brother simply wasn't intelligent enough.

She stood to change into her pajamas, when she remembered the ones she had received as a gift that day were still downstairs. She exited her room, running down the stairs to retrieve them. She approached the kitchen, frowning as she heard voices drifting out from inside.

"I don't believe it... Ten years old! It seems like just yesterday I held her in my arms for the first time..." Bra recognized her mother's voice instantly, and she assumed the grunt that followed belonged to her father. "Aren't you proud, Vegeta?" She heard her mother ask.

A mischievous smirk formed on Bra's lips as she pushed her head against the door, listening.

"Of course I'm proud," he grunted. Bra could almost hear the shock on her mother's face. "They're my kids, after all."

"Well..." Bulma said slowly, hesitantly, "I know you're proud of Bra..."

"You think I don't care about the boy? He's mine, too, you know," Vegeta snapped.

"Yes, I know. But..."

"I'm very proud of both of them," Bra heard her father say quietly.

Bra assumed her mother fell off the chair then, if the loud crash and her mother's yelp that followed was anything to go by. She heard an embarrassed laugh and the chair being righted once more. There was silence for a moment, then, "I can only imagine how hard that was for you to say..."

Bra heard her papa grunt in reply. The conversation switched from there to Trunks' new job, and Bra decided she had heard enough. She turned to go back to her room when she remembered the original reason she had come down. Oh well, she thought with a smile, I can wear my pajamas tomorrow.

A grin lit up her face as she remembered her wish. For my parents to stay together forever and for always... she recalled. She knew that her father loved her mama dearly, even if he would never say so. If what she had just heard her father say was true, that he was proud of both her and Trunks, then he must feel the same way towards her mother, and would never stop loving her. It seemed reasonable to Bra, and her eyes twinkled with a smile. Never stop loving her, and never leave again, she thought. Then she laughed. I suppose birthday wishes do come true.

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A/N: Well, it had to end eventually. I had so much fun writing this. I'm shocked; I got not one flame. Thank-you to everyone who reviewed, on both MM.org and FF.net.

Kierushi

Alyssa

Zelda

phantomscribe72

manga, the Awesome One in pigtails

Jess124

petite_angel

tristar49

Jesscheaux

Buruma_ch an

Organic Power

Ms2ryAngle7

Papa Bear

Tina

TrunksGirl

moonshine

Hard Candy Vegetto

Roshy

faye

Hentai Geek

Susan

Mushi_azn

VampireGoddess

stars

And thank-you to anyone I might have missed.

A side-note... I will be taking a long break from writing fanfiction. I've just completely lost interest. I may write the occasional songfic, if inspiration hits me, but I have no desire to start something that will take a long time to complete. I know I'll lose interest in the middle. Thank-you to all those who stuck by me through everything!

ErieDragon and I will also be making a story out of our original RP. This won't be out for quite some time, though, but I thought I'd advertise it anyway. ^__________^

Editing is finally complete!!

~Keruri~ (Vegeta's Gyal)