A/N: I don't really know how many years it takes to become a doctor, so I made a rough estimate. Correct me if I'm wrong!

(o)

Elijah past away only one week and two days later, after being moved to a private ward in the hospital, surrounded by the many gifts and flowers sent by family and friends. He died peacefully and painlessly at approximately 1:34am during his sleep, putting an end to what had been an ongoing battle with his sudden illness, which was later proven to have been triggered by an overdose of physical activity. The nurse who discovered his death in the later hours of the morning, assured everyone that when she found him, there was a small, secret smile pursed on his frozen lips.

Because of this, I missed out on the first few weeks of school. When I finally had enough strength to come back, I discovered I was far behind the rest of the class academically. I threw myself into my schoolwork, working vigorously to catch up, and hardly sparing a thought for anything else. It was the only way to ease away the burning agony in my chest left with me after Elijah's death. I worked so hard, that before too long I was at the top of the class instead of at the bottom. Even after the hurt inside me had faded away, I kept working hard and graduated high school with honors, and a recommendation to attend a highly esteemed collage in Capsule City. My entire family was hysterical with joy, especially my grandmother. When I could find a moment to escape from their praise, I sat alone and thought of Elijah. It was his death that had pushed me into my study in the first place. I knew that he was with me all the way, watching over me from wherever he is now. So everything I had told him had been true after all. I had kept my promise to him.

The opportunity of attending a collage so close to home was something that no one could ever pass up. So I put my ambitions to become a professional fighter on hold and moved into campus. There, I studied for six years with the same intensity as I had with my high school education, constantly reminding myself of Elijah's presence and using him as my inspiration. I earnt a PHD and have since become a doctor of medication, dedicating my life and my time to helping seriously ill children and working to find a cure for their diseases. The work is challenging, and very stressful, but at least I know I am doing something worthwhile. Perhaps professional fighting really wasn't my calling. If there is anything that I learnt while living with the Briefs it is that life doesn't always turn out the way you expected it to. Sometimes things change, but mostly when it happens, it is for the better. I would never have even considered the career path I have chosen now if it weren't for everything that happened to me back when I was sixteen years old.

Now, 10 years since Elijah's death, many changes have been made within the lives of the people around me. But it is Trunks who has gone through the biggest change of all. The day after I left for home, he told his mother he was quitting his job at Capsule corp. and refused to train any longer with his father. Instead, he joined a band which has already released two albums, and is working on their third. It has taken an overwhelmingly long time for Bulma and Vegeta to come to terms with the choices their son has made, but now it seems they are slowly coming into acceptance. Only a few days ago, Bulma remarked that her son was looking much healthier now, and seemed to have a lot more energy then he did a few years ago.

Trunks and I kept in touch, just as we had promised to. He was the first to learn about my acceptance into collage, and I was first to be told about the recording of his band's first album. There was regular visits to one another, and even more regular when I moved into campus much closer to where he lived. He is still saving to buy his own apartment, and is working another part time job at a CD store as well as playing with his band. He keeps promising me that it won't be long before we can live together, and whenever he brings it up I can't help but to notice the joyous glint in his sky blue eyes.

We told our families about our relationship when I turned twenty. At first, they were both too shocked to even comprehend the matter, though now it seems, like with Trunks' career choice, they have come to accept it. I'm glad that now we can be more open about our feelings, because it takes mounds of stress off my back. I have come to discover that keeping secrets from my family is what I hate most.

A few months after Elijah's death, Bra delivered a healthy baby boy she and Uub named Leo, who is now nine. Goten and Marron's second child, the now ten year old Tia, has also grown to be healthy and strong, although for a while it was feared that Elijah's disease may be genetic. I have somehow managed to develop a close connection to both children –almost as close as the bond shared between Vegeta and I, which has grown steadily over the years. Now he is almost like a second father to me. Now that everyone knows about my relationship with Trunks, Bulma sometimes jokes that it's good that Vegeta and I are so close, because one day soon he might be my father in law. I'm not to sure about that. Even though I am now 26 years old, and Trunks is nearly 39, we have made no plans to ever get married, and somehow I like it that way. I guess that even as a teenager I knew that marriage really wasn't for me. Who cares if we are 'bonded' together in the eyes of the law? As long as we love each other, then it's all that matters. Children are also something I don't think I would consider as a possibility. With all the time I spend looking after other people's children, I don't think I would be able to raise any of my own. But that isn't what's important to me. I've reached my happy medium.

Zara and I stayed friends after high school, even though we have taken very separate paths in life. She hasn't gone to university, and hasn't yet figured out exactly what she wants to do yet. But that doesn't matter either. She's still got her whole life left to find that out. She and Mason broke up just before the beginning of the HSC, but still have remained friends. She married young to a poet she met recently after finishing school, and the two have been together ever since. This stroke me as odd, because Zara never seemed like the sort of person who'd want to settle down. She was too rebellious for that. But she has changed a lot too. In fact, she's even managed to make reconciliation with her family.

Mason, on the other hand, had no other girlfriends after Zara. By this stage of his life, he was beginning to question his sexual orientation. Only recently has he announced to Zara and I that he is gay. Of course, the two of us are more than happy for him, especially since it means he'll stop with the corny pickup lines.

Life is such a strange thing. One minute, you think that you've hit rock bottom, and then you discover that what started out as a tragedy can alter your entire life, mostly for the better, help you to see the bigger picture, and take on tasks you never even dreamed you were capable of. And when something happens to bring me down, I remember Elijah, and find comfort in the fact that he'll always be watching over me, and guiding me towards bigger and better things. It also helps to know that you are surrounded by people who love you, and are willing to catch you when you fall.

The Chinese use the same word for crisis as they do for opportunity.

THE END

Thank you to everyone who has given me the support and encouragement to continue to write this story through their reviews. I hope you all enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading, please review!