Without You
A Dragonball Dimension X Fic by Femme-Chan
(from Juunana's P.O.V.)

Author's Note: This fic contains major spoilers for Chapter Four of my mini-epic Time's Orphan. I don't mean to depress anyone (particularly if you like all the characters I've used in the story so far); all I'm trying to do is reveal a little bit about what's going through someone's head when someone else… well, just read the fic (^_^). I'm not very good at explaining my stories.

Disclaimer Time: Juunana, Vegeta, Trunks, Dragonball Z, and all other related characters are the property of Akira Toriyama. Zukani is my character, © 1999 - please ask permission before using her elsewhere. "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back" is © 1999 Nintendo of America and appears on the album Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture Pokémon: The First Movie (hey, it's a good song!!)

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"Ultimate Shock Wave!"

That's Zukani's voice. I'd recognize it anywhere - soft, almost a whisper at times, and musical in a way that many people would never even notice. But I've spent so many hours training her, training with her, that I would be able to pick her out of a crowd by just the soft tones of her voice. Even when she'd yell at me, it would be in those soft, gentle tones.

Her opponent is the man who killed everyone she cared about - everyone she loved - in her timeline. The man she told me about on the beach earlier today, the one she was so frightened would kill her before she had a chance to fight back. I must have done a good job training her to use her body as a weapon; she's gotten close enough to release her newest, most powerful attack.

Everyone is frozen, just watching Zukani's solo battle. Even a large number of the Andromedan Elite stop battling to watch; only Mikari and Anara have fled, and Vegeta and Trunks have already gone after them. I wish I could do more than offer the Saiyan girl my silent support, but I know that this is her battle.

Her energy level flares to its maximum, and my breath catches in my throat. She's unleashing every last ounce of her ki, destroying Kenchi before he even has the chance to rebuild his own energy reserves. The light is blinding, and when it clears, only Zukani remains. I can tell she's very weak - she's so close to death that she can't even remain in the air any longer, and begins to plummet towards the earth.

I move without thinking, ignoring the sounds of battle starting up once more behind me, and catch her just moments before she hits the ground. She feels so limp, almost like a rag doll. It breaks my heart to see her like this, and I don't know why. Her eyes open a bit and she smiles weakly at me.

"Juunana."

"Hush. Save your energy."

"I've got nothing left to lose." She laughs at her little joke, but I can barely hear her, and my heart breaks a little more. "What about the other Andromedans?"

I somehow manage to smile at her through the tears that are beginning to form in my eyes. "Everything's under control, princess. The only ones who've escaped are Mikari and Anara." I don't tell her that her father and brother are already tracking them. She's done so much already, sacrificed herself so that the Andromedans will never have the opportunity to return....

"Get them," she whispers. I think she knows how little time she has left; she is having trouble focusing on anything, and she holds my hand tightly as if to reassure herself that I'm here. "They're too dangerous to let live."

"We'll catch them, Zu-chan. Don't worry."

She smiles up at me - a sad, sweet smile that almost seems to say 'goodbye' for her.

"See you in a few days," she says as her voice fades away. Then her head drops limply against my chest, and her eyelids close for the final time. The light of her life is gone.

One lone tear slips down my cheek. I blink back the rest, trying to figure out why I wish Kenchi had survived so I could kill him myself, and softly kiss her cheek.

"A few days," I whisper into her ear, even though I know she can't hear me now.

It will feel like forever.


How will I start tomorrow without you here?
Whose heart will guide me when all the answers disappear?
Is it too late, are you too far gone to stay?
Best friends forever should never have to go away

What will I do?
You know I'm only half without you
How will I make it through?

If only tears could bring you back to me
If only love could find a way
What I would do, what I wouldn't give if you
Returned to me someday, somehow, some way
If my tears could bring you back to me

**Midnight Sons, "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back"


Back to the zone...
Back to the beginning...