Sutsuki: Okay everybody, here it is… (drum roll sounds) THE FINAL CHAPTER! I gotta admit, it's been a great… what has it been, over 2 ½ years? Nonetheless, I finally resolved the ending, which you now see before you. I encourage you to review in response to any questions, comments, concerns, etc. that you may have. I tried to stick in a moral so I can be all didactic… yay learning! Anyway, I sincerely hope you've enjoyed (more or less) bearing with me through this fic. Thanks to all my fans, happy reading, and look out for the next one!

P.S: I have now a completed Photoshop drawing of a good number of characters in SPAL. It was my first work on Photoshop, so it's nothing special, but it sure took forever! Mikuru can account for this. If you want it, gimme your e-mail in your review.

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Chapter 43: The War That Proved Nothing

"Only the dead have seen the end of the war." –Plato

"History keeps her secrets longer than most of us. But she has one secret that I will reveal to you tonight in the greatest confidence. Sometimes there are no winners at all. And sometimes nobody needs to lose." –John LeCarre

"Why is it called a civil war anyway? If it were civil, it wouldn't have casualties." –Sutsuki-chan

As Prince Vegeta's bloody, lifeless body hit the ground, all other sounds were drowned out by the heart-wrenching wail from atop the stairs.

Princess Bra flew down to his side, howling beyond hysterically. Pan stood motionless, heaving, the tip of the heavy sword resting on the ground. Her transformation, having been her first, could hold out no longer than the perhaps half-minute it had taken to end the last life in this brutal civil war.

As she returned to her normal state, fully fatigued, the repercussions of her actions dawned upon her.

"You… How could you?" Bra screamed, whirling from her kneeled position to stare accusingly at Pan, tears flying. "YOU KILLED HIM!" She stood and advanced, her expression revealing the revenge-driven bloodlust in her heart. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Bra… I…" Pan backed away, still too stunned to fully comprehend.

"Pan, let's go." Goku said gently, taking her by the hand and leading her to the other four: Gohan, Goten, Zamuri, and Trunks, all badly beaten.

"You… you can't go! I won't let you!" Bra screamed after them. "I'll kill you first!"

As Goku gathered the group together and focused on his kingdom's remnants, Pan glanced back. Her eyes fell upon the black-haired boy atop the staircase. He stared back with a gaze of extreme loathing that she previously thought him incapable of. As if by itself, her hand reached up to him, pleading him to come and take it.

She blinked, and they were back in the western valley among the rubble that had once been a castle and surrounded by the wounded and dying.

"You're back!"

Pan couldn't move. She heard Keiko's voice, felt her bone-crushing hug. But nothing registered.

That look… he hated her. He now knew the truth about his birth, the war that had started because of him. All the warnings she hadn't heeded… She could've told him. Then maybe… he would have taken her hand.

Bra stared at the stone wall where her mortal enemies had sat just a second before. They were gone… just like that.

She pounded her fists into the ground, unleashing a scream so powerful that it shook the castle. She turned to see her father- once so proud, now broken- bent over the body of his son. He wasn't crying. He wasn't even shaking. He just sat there staring, as though the denial running through his mind could cause the prince to open his eyes.

Atop the stairs, young Goku- now Nappa, as he had been informed- gazed down at his new family.

"She can't be forgiven…" Bra muttered. "I will become Queen… and ensure a lasting peace for the followers of the true crown."

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It was now late evening.

Pan had since regained some of her strength, and had gone out for a bit of flying to clear her head. She still wasn't thinking quite clearly, which could explain why, as she gazed down at the carnage on the battlefield below, she could no longer tell the difference between the soldiers of Vegeta and the people of her own kingdom.

She automatically led herself back to that familiar clearing in the woods where that old fallen tree sat. She stared at it, remembering when those cuts in the wood had been made. She wondered now, as the sword resting on her back seemed heavier than before, if her new strength would show any improvement. Slowly she raised the blade above her head. Thoughts traced back to Prince Vegeta, how he leered before her with red, malice-filled eyes and sneered at her feebleness. Next, the same menacing form held a wound in his abdomen, sputtering crimson and grimacing up at her in unadulterated horror.

Just as before, the blade came down hard, but this time out of fear. Breathing hard, Pan stared as her eyes brought into focus the damage of her swing.

The cut was clean and smooth, and had gone all the way through. But as her eyes followed the sword's path, Pan found herself gazing down into a slice in the earth a good two feet deep at the tip's point. Hands shaking, she let go and let herself fall flat on her back. Once again the tears started. Pan could only stare upward toward the for once-clear night sky. She imagined each star as a tiny soul in heaven looking back at her. There seemed to be more of them than usual tonight.

"Hey."

Pan craned her neck to see Trunks sitting down above her. He gently lifted her head and scooted his lap underneath.

"You all right?" He knew there was an obvious answer, but the question itself was so automatic. Pan made no effort to respond, and instead curled up closer to him.

"I can't do this anymore." She whispered.

"Do what?"

"I'm scared…" Pan continued, staring at her palms. She clenched them and brought them to her chest. "… of this power. I'm afraid I might hurt someone."

"No you won't." Trunks grinned. "Because I'm here."

"How can you be sure?" Pan sat up and gazed at him tearfully. "I couldn't control myself today… at all. It scares me so much that… that I never want it to happen again."

"Calm down, Pan." Trunks soothed, taking her into his embrace. "The war is over now, thanks to you. It was for the best. You and I both know that."

"Yeah, I know…" She sniffed. "Never again, though… I've decided… I'll never fight again."

"That's not the answer, Pan. You just need to learn to control your power. Tell you what, I'll help you. We can all help. Gohan, Goten, Zamuri-"

"No." Pan declared. "There is no place in this world for a monstrous power like mine. No… I'm done."

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The conflict between the two kingdoms had died out completely. King Vegeta had, for once, swallowed his pride and called off the fighting for good. Then he stepped down from the throne, much to everyone's surprise, and handed the crown over to Bra. Beside that, no one on the western side of the mountains had heard anything from their homeland.

So what was to become of the few who survived the carnage of Vegeta-sei's civil war? The kingdom of deemed rebels was all but completely wiped out. All morale to resurrect the fallen city had been lost. Many of the villagers returned to the original kingdom, but those with more pride, or perhaps more shame, remained to at least help build a few dwellings. Goku resigned as king, knowing the position would only cause more conflict. He was, however, always respected as the village's unofficial leader. Goten never fully recovered from the loss of his wife and daughter, and remained in his father's house, as did Gohan, mainly to care for him as age began to catch up. Zamuri married Keiko shortly after reconstruction finished, and moved into the house next to his grandfather's. Uub survived Prince Vegeta's attack, but not without consequences. Because Dende had worn himself out before tending to him, Uub's crushed legs were beyond saving. He at least avoided amputation, but was forced to live out the rest of his days in a wheelchair. His only happiness came in the form of Marron, who soon moved in with him. The engagement came as no surprise. Though the feelings between Trunks and Pan were well-known, and although they were living together, they avoided the topic of marriage for some time due to a state of depression Pan had fallen into. She barely ate or slept, and always seemed to be in a state of deep thought.

Without warning, Trunks awoke one morning to find Pan was not there. Knowing how she often liked to be alone nowadays, he did not press the matter.

As it was, Pan had awoken especially early that morning with a realization. She had dressed and left without a sound. Presently she was climbing the steps to the main gate of the castle she had fought in just months before. As she entered through the grand double doors, no one stopped her, or even took any notice of her. She entered the throne room to see, as expected, Queen Bra lounging in her throne. What she found unexpected, however, was the fact that her stomach was enlarged.

"Well, well… I didn't think you'd ever come crawling back." Bra drawled lazily. "What do you want now?"

"Bra… I know how much you'd like to kill me right now. Well, go ahead…" Pan spread her arms and looked sadly up at her former sister. Bra merely stared.

"Why should I?" She huffed. "Of course you're right; I would like nothing better than to strangle that traitor neck of yours. But I get a deeper satisfaction out of letting you live with your guilt."

"You resemble your father more than you think." Pan commented.

"Don't push me. So what reason do you have for coming so openly to me? The way you just waltzed right in made me think you were picking another fight."

"I've given up fighting." Pan replied, lowering her arms. "I come merely to see if there is any reason I should keep living when so many here want me dead."

"Other than suffering my vengeance, I can give you no answers. If that's all you are here for, I suggest you leave before I get irritated."

"Bra, this may be the last time we see each other."

"Funny, I thought the last time would be…"

"Please…" Pan pleaded. "If I must remain in this world with you, I ask that you can find it in you to forgive me."

"Forgive you?" Bra shot up, but almost immediately sat back down and regained her calm. "I just don't know if I can."

"It may seem unfair of me to ask…"

"Of course it is." Bra reasoned. "That day our sisterhood was destroyed beyond repair. All I can do now is rebuild everything else… the city, our bloodline…" Here she patted her stomach. "It will never be quite the same. If it weren't for Nappa, the Vegeta line would be finished."

"Nappa…?" Pan repeated as the name's meaning sunk in.

"A lot has been changed because of the war. I can only do so much to recreate the kingdom we had before you came along."

Just then, a rather handsome young man entered, addressing Bra as 'dear'. He stood beside her and whispered something in her ear. She smiled as he kissed her forehead and left the way he had come. Pan couldn't help but smile for her too.

"Well then… I'm sorry to have troubled you," Pan bowed formally, "Queen Bra-sama."

There was no reply as she left, not that she expected one. There had, however, been a glint of sadness in the queen's eyes that Pan knew ever so well. Perhaps it even held sympathy as well. That had been all Pan needed. She knew deep down that over time Bra would come to let old wounds heal. Maybe this wouldn't be the last time after all…

As she stood atop the entrance steps overlooking the city, taking in the view one last time, she caught a glimpse of a young, black-haired boy being tended to by a blond maid out on a balcony a few floors up. Pan knew that window to be hers. She gazed up at the well-dressed prince, whose unruly hair absolutely refused to be tamed. He took no notice of her. Pan wanted so much to fly up to him and apologize, to tell him that she still loved him, and to say her goodbyes as Trunks had once at that very same window. But appearing before him again, she knew, would only cause him more pain. She had to leave him be. There was nothing that could be said between them to make anything better. He was still young, still impressionable. There was so much that lay ahead for him here, many things he could have never hoped for as the prince of some decrepit rebel village. No, he didn't belong there. She did.

As Pan flew back toward the mountains, inside the secret cave, through the underwater passage, and into the hills of the west, she decided that the time for clinging to the past was long over. All that remained was the future, and that was with Trunks.

Though the war, all in all, had proved nothing save the deadly power and pride for which Saiyans were notorious, it had made the people of Vegeta-sei realize just how essential and fragile peace was. It was indeed a lesson for the ages, to be told to future generations in a history book in the hopes that it would never again be repeated.