The fight seemed to go on forever.  There were so many androids.  Still, Goten had to admit that with Mirai Trunks and Bra on their side, they were doing much better than they ever had before.
 “B-chan, you need to take a quick break?” Goten asked as he passed her.
 Bra shook her head.  She had taken a break earlier, and mind-numbing pain had swept over her.  The break hadn’t helped at all. “No, I’m good.”
 “B-chan, you look exhausted.”
 “A break,” she said sharply, “will not relax me.  Now, let me fight.”
 He sighed. “As you wish.”
 “I’m glad we see eye to eye.”
 Vegeta eyed her as she stopped next to him. “How did you take that last one?” he asked almost kindly.
 “It’s beginning to hurt more.  I think it’s because I’m getting tired.”
 He nodded. “If you need to leave for a while, do that.  We can’t have you as a liability.”
 “I know, Tousan.  But it seems like whenever I stop for a breather, they hit me all the harder.”
 “Ah.  I did wonder where that one came from.  All right then.  Let’s just go and get rid of them once and for all.”
 It was actually Goku who did it.  Tired with fighting all day and hungry, he grabbed Vegeta. “Let’s do a Fusion.  We could finish them off.”
 Vegeta shook his head. “I won’t.”
 Goku lost his temper. “Vegeta, I’m tired and hungry!  I’m sick of this fight!  We can end it!  I know you hate Fusing, but that doesn’t really matter!”
 “That’s not the reason I won’t.  Fusing right now would not be in our best interest.”
 “Why not?” Goku yelled.
 “I’m not a traitor, all right?  Let’s just leave it at that.” Vegeta left and began to blast again.
 Goku growled and threw his arms up in disgust.  But his blasts were sharper and he began cutting down their enemies ruthlessly.  Before he knew it, there were only two androids left.
 Vegeta and Bra looked slightly worried.
 Goku didn’t worry about that.  He just blasted the last two into nonexistence.  All of a sudden, Vegeta and Bra began screaming.
 He turned to see them clawing at their necks. “Make it stop, Tousan!” Bra cried. “Please make it stop!”
 “Vegeta, what’s going on?” Goku asked angrily.
 “You see now … why I wouldn’t fuse with you,” Vegeta managed to get out. “If this had happened to Gogeta, I don’t think either of us … would have lived.” He didn’t scream, but his eyes revealed the pain running through him.
 “What happened?” Gohan asked, aghast.
 “I just destroyed the androids …” Goku let it trail off. “Vegeta _was_ connected to them!”
 Vegeta straightened with a visible effort. “It just hurts is all,” he said. “It’s getting better.”
 “Why didn’t you tell us?” Goku cried.
 “Would you have destroyed them if you thought you might hurt us?” Bra answered for her father.
 “Well, I …”
 “No, you wouldn’t have,” Vegeta interrupted. “And I’m not sure they would have let Bra or myself do it.  So, what to do?  Ah, that’s it.  Not tell.”
 “Now, can we please go home?” Bra pleaded. “I think I just want to lay down and not get up for about ten years.”

***

 “Well, I guess you need to go home,” Bra said to Mirai Trunks a few days later as they walked.
 “Yeah.  Kaasan’s probably frantic, worrying about me.”
 Bra shook her head. “I doubt it.  Mirai Bulma-chan didn’t seem to get easily flustered.”
 “Oh, but when I’m in ‘danger’ you should see her.”
 Bra shrugged. “Yeah.  When are you going to go?”
 “That anxious to get rid of me?”
 Bra looked down. “No, not really.  I wish you could stay forever.  But you can’t, and it’s hard having you here.”
 Mirai Trunks nodded. “I understand.  I feel the same way.  Why didn’t you tell anyone about us?”
 “I’ve told Kaasan already, and I bet she’s told Tousan.  So everyone will know about it soon.  I just didn’t want to be the one to tell everyone. You know what I mean?”
 “Yeah, I do.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “I know we’re officially ‘broken up,’ but—”
 “Oh, no.  No buts.  Buts cannot lead to anything good.”
 “Just one good thing.” He kissed her.
 She kissed him back, then pushed away. “Okay, that was enough ‘but.’ ”
 “Yeah, I guess it was.  Hey, Rai-chan, I’m glad you came to the future.”
 “Even though—”
 “It’s all worth it.  Just promise me one thing.”
 “What’s that?”
 “Promise me you’ll find someone else to make you happy.  You’re 16 years old.  You’ll find someone else, and you can’t feel guilty.  But please, remember me.”
 “I’ll promise both those things, if you’ll promise, too.”
 “Okay.  I promise that I will find someone else.  And I’ll always remember you; don’t worry about that.”
 “Then I do, too.” Bra stuck out her hand. “Shake on it?”
 He shook her hand. “Well.  No more ‘but’?”
 “No more ‘but,’ ” she said. “I’m going to miss you, Trunks-kun.” Then she scowled. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry!” she said angrily, dashing tears away with one hand.
 “No, don’t cry.  I promise I’m not worth it, Rai-chan.”
 “I think I’m the one to judge your worth to me, and I guess these tears prove you are worth it.”
 He grinned and put an arm around her. “Well, I definitely admire the ability to show your feelings so openly.”
 “What?” she teased. “A Saiyajin male admitting he has feelings?”
 “Of course I’m not doing such a thing.  My Saiyajin pride would never allow that.  But I respect that you can show your feelings so honestly.  If I did have feelings, I’d like to be able to do that.”
 “Okay, Trunks, lay off.  I don’t have hip boots or a shovel.” Bra looked at her watch. “Well, I think I’ll be going to bed now.  Good night, Mirai Trunks.”
 “Good night, Rai-chan.”
 

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