Written by Erin Miller - Scarlet14@aol.com

Chapter 22 - Kira's Departure

It was the day after Krillin's family had paid the Briefs' a visit. After many internal debates, Natalie had finally decided that Marron had a grudge against her. She figured that it mainly had to do with the fact that she and Trunks had affections for each other, but Natalie sensed something else behind Marron's anger. It just wasn't natural.... at least she sensed so. But, even she was known to make false accusations, so she decided to keep her mouth shut for the time being.

"Mommy can you help me?" a small voice said from behind. Natalie quickly snapped back to reality and turned around to see Kira sitting on her bed, struggling to put her boot on.

"Sure." Natalie said, and pushed the girl's foot inside the envelope of leather and tough fabric. Her little boots resembled Trunks' perfectly.

Today was the day that Kira would be leaving. Natalie knew better, but she couldn't help but feel an ache in her chest. She didn't know whether it was from fear of her daughter's safety, or the fact that she would miss her. Maybe it was both. Bulma had checked and re-checked her device countless times, just to make sure that everything would run smoothly. Natalie could see excitement in the little girl's eyes. There was no question in that, since she had come from a harsh, desolate world, and was looking forward to returning to a home that she knew. Natalie preyed that she would return to the same timeline, and that things would be different than they were when Kira had left. She knew the story of Mirai Trunks, and didn't want such a thing to happen to her little girl.

"Nat, you ready?" Trunks said, popping his head into the room. Natalie looked up at him, being awakened from yet another trance. She frowned and looked down at Kira, who was sitting quietly and patiently on the edge of the bed, playing with her tail.

"Yeah, I am." Natalie said, and stood up. She could hear Bulma and Vegita talking downstairs. The three descended to the lower floor, slowly but surely.

"So what you're saying, is that all she has to do is *think* about going home?" Vegita said, obviously not grasping onto the concept. Bulma nodded for what was probably the fifth time in ten minutes.

"Oh, Bulma is he bothering you again with his persistent interrogations?" Natalie said as she stepped onto level ground again. Vegita shot her a "very funny" look.

"Are you ready to do this?" Bulma asked, looking at Natalie. "You don't seem to be sure either way."

"It's not about me; it's about Kira." Natalie said. "I shouldn't hold her back because of my own emotions."

"Oh, for once you're not thinking of yourself." Vegita commented.

"That was a very hypocritical comment you just made there." Natalie snapped. He just couldn't resist any opportunity to insult someone.

"Oh, stop fighting." Bulma said. "You two are constantly at each other. It's getting to be quite irritating." Trunks nodded in agreement.

"Well if the prince over there would just keep his thoughts to himself..." Natalie trailed off. Trunks looked at her and shook his head as if to say, "don't go any further with that". Kira tugged at Natalie's shorts impatiently. "Yes, I know." She said, looking down at her purple-haired daughter. The family picked themselves up and headed for the science wing.

"Now remember...this thing hasn't been tested. But don't worry, I'm almost certain of its abilities from previous testing with the same sort of equipment." Bulma said as they walked through several corridors, which would branch off into more corridors.

"It's a wonder nobody got lost and starved in here." Natalie said. Trunks laughed and shook his head.

"Well there was that one employee..." he started, obviously joking around. Bulma finally reached a room near the end of a hallway and stopped, indicating that this was the room they were looking for. She opened the door and stepped inside, revealing all sorts of different mechanisms and scrap pieces from others. The helper droid was in the corner with his chest plate open. Bulma picked up the time traveling machine from a counter against the far wall and inspected it.

"This is it." She said, looking up at the group. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, stop making me nervous!" Natalie complained.

"YOU nervous? Imagine how Kira feels." Trunks said, and they both looked down at the girl. She, however, had a broad smile on her face as she looked around the room, and she obviously wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

"I doubt she even cares." Natalie said dryly.

"Kira, honey, do you know how this works?" Bulma said as she stepped closer to the girl and held out the machine.

"Well sure I do...you have one just like it where I come from." She commented. Everyone facefaulted. Kira took the machine from Bulma's hands and held it close to her face, leveling it with her eyes. "I've never used it before, though." She said. After everyone else had "recovered", they all turned to Kira, who slipped the machine over her head. It fit nicely on her ears and the screen covered about half of her face.

"Now you have to concentrate very hard about your home." Bulma said. "Think about the day you left, and think about your surroundings before they were destroyed."

Before Kira could begin, Natalie knelt down and embraced the girl. It was obvious that she was struggling to hold back tears. After a few seconds, she reluctantly let go and stood upright again. Trunks then did the same, but instead he lifted her into his arms playfully and held her above his head as he looked at her. She laughed with delight and squirmed. He then held her tight for a few minutes before setting her down. Bulma bent down and gave Kira a quick squeeze, and then stood up again. Kira then looked at Vegita expectantly, and it was clear that he was debating whether to show emotions or not. Kira took the liberty, however, and ran towards him, wrapping her arms around both of his legs and pressing her cheeks against the material of his clothing. He blushed and tried to hide it, but everyone had already seen it. They made an effort not to say anything, for it would most likely anger him.

"Okay...it's time." Natalie said, her voice quivering. The all stood back, leaving Kira in the middle of the room. She started to walk towards them, but Bulma motioned for her to stay.

"No you have to stand over there. We don't want to risk anyone being caught in the time aura." Bulma explained, but Kira didn't have a clue of what she was talking about. "Start thinking, Kira." She continued. "Think about being home with your parents in the future, and how happy you were with them." Kira closed her eyes tightly and began to concentrate. At first, nothing happened. Natalie, who had been holding her hands together at her chest, dropped them to her side in confusion. Suddenly, Kira began o glow faintly. Natalie brought her arms back up again and stepped back in surprise. The glow grew in intensity, spreading completely around Kira's body and stretching to a 1-foot radius from the surface of her skin.

"It's working!" Bulma whispered excitedly. The screen that was covering Kira's face began to light up and display several coordinates and numbers. Kira opened her eyes and smiled as she raised one hand and waved. Her body began to flicker in and out.

"Goodbye..." she said, and then the light grew to a blinding brightness just before she disappeared for good. Natalie could still hear the echo of her voice as she looked at the empty space where Kira had once stood.

"Kira..." she whispered, using her index finger to trace the outline of where Kira's body used to be. Trunks wrapped his arm around her and held her tightly, as it was obvious that she was about to start crying.

"I sure hope it worked." Bulma said. "I don't doubt that she got home safely though...I can feel it."

All she could see was darkness. She waved her arms around frantically and tried to cry out, but she couldn't produce any sound. Suddenly, she could feel strong hands grab her body and shake her, softly at first but it grew in strength. She was gasping for air and trying to speak, and suddenly, she saw a blinding light. Instinctively she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the burning rays. After a few seconds, she began to make out figures and hear distorted sounds that seemed so far away. She opened her mouth to speak, but her words were slurred together and her breaths were short. The figures began to take form, and she could distinguish between two separate forms hovering above her.

"Kira...wake up." She could hear, as the words began to take form and grow in pitch. "Oh no...she's not responding." The voice continued.

"Wait...I think she's trying to say something..." another voice said. Kira then began to recognize the forms above her. She blinked several times to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.

"M-m..." she began.

"Listen..." the voice continued. "She's trying to talk!"

"Mommy!" Kira said, finally getting the words to form on her lips. Suddenly she was picked from the ground and smothered against a warm, smooth surface. It was skin...her mother's skin!

"Oh honey you're okay!" the voice said. Kira's eyes finally focused on the two forms, which she recognized as her parents.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Kira cried, tears streaming down her face. She looked around and recognized that she was in the science wing of Capsule Corp. She then saw Bulma and Vegita standing next to each other near the corner of the room. Kira squirmed out of her mother's arms and stood before them. She blinked several more times, making sure that her eyes were now well adjusted to the environment. There, right before her, were her parents! Her true parents! They weren't dead! She looked around again, and saw white walls, tables, counters, and all sorts of devices. Nothing was lying in ruins! She sniffed the air and took in the scent of her mother and father, as well as odors from the room. Her heart jumped and she felt tickled as she realized that she was back home...in the future. Orion never came to destroy everything that she held dear; he never obliterated her home, her loved ones, anything. Her father scooped her up in his arms and tossed her above his head playfully, and then set her down.

"Oh, honey we are so proud of you." Her mother said, smiling warmly. Kira was overwhelmed with joy as she spun around the room, enjoying her life as it was meant to be.

Author's note: Well there you have it. That's the final chapter of Cosmic Crisis part 2! E-mail me and tell me what you think, whether you liked it, hated it, or whatever. My e-mail is Scarlet14@aol.com. I wanna know what you guys thought of my ending! I know that there were a few things left hanging in the air, such as the whole deal with Marron, but don't worry because I've got you covered! Yes, that's right...there is a Cosmic Crisis part 3. I should begin posting it very soon, as I've already started working on it. There are more surprises in store for everyone out there. I hope you're looking forward to part three as much as I am! -Erin

Disclaimer: Natalie, Kira, Orion, Melina, Akari, and all related characters belong to me. Please don't take them without my permission. I don't mind you using my characters in your stories, but e-mail me first and make sure that you put a disclaimer at the beginning of your story, explaining that you are borrowing my characters. That also goes for the attacks, like Akiyah-meh, as well. I've already had some people e-mail me, requesting permission to use characters and attacks that I have created. I just wanted to say "thank you" to those people for making the effort to ask me first. If anyone sees a fanfic posted that uses my characters, and DOES NOT have a disclaimer posted, please e-mail me and let me know, and include the web address of the fic. Thank you very much, and enjoy the Cosmic Crisis series!