CapCor | Soul Survivors: Part II

Soul Survivors: Part II

The days at the Capsule Corp. residence had become longer and painfully quiet. Jade and Bulma were less active after Trunks left. Day after day, they were both praying that Trunks was okay somewhere. Since he was gone, the jinzoningen had also become dormant and Jade thought maybe it was because there were no more things for them to destroy. Sometimes she still had to deal with them herself and it was hard and during most of those times, she had to try to run away from them. Fortunately enough, they did get tired with the chasing game hence she was able to escape. It seemed like even the living things were getting tired of living. Everyday, after helping Bulma around with nameless projects, Jade went to the training ground up on the hills to train by herself. She often didn't get too far with the training and usually ended up standing on top of the hills, staring down at the city to observe what was left of it.

More than a year ago, Trunks left in the time machine. Jade still remembered the moment that she and Bulma watched the machine disappear into the past, taking Trunks with it. Also from that moment on, Jade paid close attention to every second that passed her by, searching for any changes that might have taken place. Somehow, she was excited and afraid at the same time. Excited because the world could finally have its peace, but she was afraid all the memories between her and Trunks might as well disappear. What if they were never to see each other again? Anything could happen. After all, even history could be changed, what could be impossible? Thinking that, she could only sigh and try to find other reasons that would better explain the situation. She noticed that she had been lagging behind with training and she knew the reason why. If Trunks were there with her, he'd be the one who had to play catching up, she was always the more focused one. Trunks's long absence made her realize now that it could mean she'd never see him again. It all seemed to her like a dream. Then came the moment which she felt more alone than ever. From Trunks, she had learned how to love and be loved, even in the midst of a war. But now, the feeling had added to itself a sense of longing. It was rather a tormenting feeling, though it was a good kind of torment. All those nights alone had turned her into an old soul. She began to think of life in a different way. She had become more philosophical whenever looking at the world.

Jade had never mistaken suffer and happiness with one another. But she often got drifted into such nightmares in her sleep. In that world, she was astounded by a thin line between life and death. She didn't know which was worse, death or living with all the suffer. These moments came suffocating her almost every night while the people around her had deeply drowned in their own sleep. She painfully realized that maybe life had given her more grief than she needed. In these moments of deep sorrow, she hoped to be more generous with life, with herself. For so long, as it seemed to her, Jade had kept with her a never-ending addiction - the addiction being the desire to see Trunks again. Every night out on the training ground up on the hills, she'd watched the night turn over as she dreamed about that last farewell moment with him. These endless nights somehow taught her patience.

Also on this very hilltop, she had a chance to study every feature that nature had to offer. They hadn't changed much after he left. Then it all became clear to her. Nature seemed to be doing its own things; the rivers still flowed, the trees still grew, and the world still revolved... Maybe her life was meant to be continuing on without Trunks, like other living things around her. Maybe she should let go of all the troubles and try to forget the aching past. She began to grow tired of it all; the worries, the hopes, the waiting... She only had one last notion: to believe while feeling hopeless meant to trust and believe in herself and in what wasn't physical.

* * *

Jade thought she could've just quit training and, still, it wouldn't matter. She hadn't come up with any new techniques since Trunks left. She had no desire to. Besides, she couldn't find any reason why since Trunks wasn't there to give her the feedback anyway. She stopped in the middle of training and observed the environment around her. It was sunny with cool breeze on the hilltop. Unlike usual, the city below her seemed to be more lively. Despite the uplifting mood she sensed around her, Jade still felt lost and alone. To her, even without just one single person's presence, the whole world could turn into an empty place. She felt this was a deja-vu. She remembered this feeling when her Sensei Goku had to leave her. Sometimes she wished she could fall asleep and wake up with Trunks or Master beside and telling her she had been in a nightmare. Even the nightmare then still couldn't compare to what she was experiencing now.

Suddenly, she had a feeling that things around her had already changed without her recognizing the changes. She looked around again, this time more carefully. The buildings were standing tall, she could see the people and hear the cars running down in the city. Things appeared the same to her, although there was something strange in everything. For the time being, she forgot why she was there, besides waiting and hoping for Trunks to return.

* * *

A sound of a flat tire bursting just feet below where she stood woke Jade up. At an instant, she recalled fighting alongside Trunks against the cyborgs. Sweat secreted from her forehead, showing the nervousness she was in. She anxiously and curiously looked down beyond her feet and saw a man replacing the flat tire. A short series of the battle against the cyborgs and the times she and Trunks were training together flashed through her mind, like they were being shown on a projector screen. She could hear herself breathing. She was in the state of shock and confusion. Then... she remembered everything.

"The un-destroyed buildings, the people," Jade muttered to herself, "and there are no signs that this place had been in a war... Kuso!" She suddenly swore, as if she'd just realized something. She gasped nervously, "... this must mean that history has already been changed!"

Mixed emotions rushed inside her. She hustled backward and stopped at once.

"Trunks!" She inaudibly called his name. Hope began to flourish and anxieties diminished. He had succeeded after all! She couldn't hide the excitement now that the world was free from the cyborgs' reign. And like a bird, she picked herself up and took off into the air. She glided toward the city and aimed for the Capsule Corp. buildings. All she could think of was seeing Trunks again.

She slowed down and landed in front of the Capsule Corp. edifice. To her amazement, the Capsule buildings were much bigger and taller than before. She rang the bell impatiently even though the front gate was open. No one came out after more than a minute. Jade curiously went in, but couldn't find anyone. She ran to the back field, the place where Trunks took off in the time machine. Someone must be there, or if he came back, he must come back at that exact same spot. Jade's hope once again crushed when she didn't see a soul there. There were no indications of anyone was there. She couldn't understand it. What could go wrong? Everything was back to normal already. Where was Bulma? She just saw her hours ago before heading for practice. Perhaps they were celebrating somewhere? Then, a sharp pain pierced in her. She sensed something terrible had just happened. At the same time, she was feeling grief, but was uncertain of the reason why.

" Trunks-chan!" She cried under her breath. "No... You've already won!" She shook her head and uttered, all in accordance to her intuitions. She looked around again, everything was still quiet. Hopelessness and confusion forced her to take off into the air and flew back to the hilltop.

Jade went back to the Buddhist Temple, which was still abandoned. Everyday, she came to Capsule Corp. to check, and every time, there was still no sight of anyone. She ended up going to the training ground and waited there for him, in spite of her belief that he was killed in the other dimension. She remembered having heard Trunks tell her about the legend of the dragon balls, but Piccolo was no more, so the dragon balls remained a myth to her. And Trunks? She could only wait and see.

So she waited several days and finally decided not to come to Capsule Corp. or the training ground again; they would just remind her of sad things. She had waited for him for almost 2 years now, and each day within those 2 years was equivalent to eternity. Things had happened against her will. Her worst fear had finally become a reality. She was never ready for it and would not be ever. She recalled Trunks's words when he told her that destiny would bring him back to her and suddenly, she wished there were no such thing called "destiny" so that at least she didn't have to feel cheated of her faith. But then, she thought now that if there really were something called "destiny", then even without her waiting physically there for him, he should still be able to find her. So just let destiny do its job alone.

After that day, no one saw her around or knew where she had gone to.

* * *

A big explosion was heard around the Capsule Corp. residence. At the same location where Trunks left in the time machine 2 years ago, reappeared the very same Capsule machine. The door of the machine flung open from the top and Trunks popped his head out. He threw the gym bag down and jumped down onto the ground

"Oukachan, Jade... it's me. I'm home!" He called as he bent down to get the bag. He flung the bag around him and carried it on his shoulder. He smiled before the restoring site of the Capsule Corp. buildings and breathed in the new air. He appeared to be much older now. His clean cut still couldn't hide how much he had matured. He seemed to be more sturdy and physically defined, even more so than when he was fighting the cyborgs with Jade. He was away for almost 2 years, but he felt like it was a whole lifetime. This must be because of his time training in the room of "spirit and time".

"Oukachan!" He called again after there was no response. He walked to the front of the building, someone should be there.

"Trunks-chan? Is that you?" A woman's voice called out. Trunks walked a few more steps toward the garden and saw Bulma standing there, watering the roses.

"Welcome back, son!" She cried as she dropped the water hose down and ran to hug him.

"Ogenki desuka, kachan? How are you?" He asked, happy to see her.

Bulma wiped her tears as she said, "Oh... I'm fine. I'm glad you're back, we're all glad you're home safely."

Trunks looked up and was pleasantly surprised when he saw Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, his grandparents, standing there. He greeted them and noticed that Bulma's hair was much shorter than when he left.

"Did you cut your hair, oukachan?" He asked.

"It's been like this since you were a little boy," she said and complained about how soon he would forget her.

"You're back!?"

Trunks turned around, Vegeta was walking toward them. He looked the same as when Trunks was in the past, except for the mustache.

"You must be tired. Go get some rest." Vegeta told him.

"Hai, toussan!" Trunks was a little nervous at first, but then he realized that Vegeta was now a new person and a more caring father. Trunks was about to go inside when he remembered Jade.

"Kachan, where's Jade?" He asked eagerly.

To his surprise, no one knew whom he was talking about.

"Jade? Anohito daare?" Bulma asked.

Trunks's heart pounded heavily, he began to sweat.

"Oukachan... you really don't remember Jade? She stayed here with us before I left in the time machine..." his voice was trembling.

"Iie. I don't remember anyone coming here to live. Do you, Vegeta, mom, dad?" Bulma asked them.

Everyone shook their head.

"Nani?! No... this can't be!" He whispered to himself and took off into the air. "I'll be right back!" He told everyone as they looked up, wondering what was going on.

* * *

Trunks couldn't believe how much had changed during the time he was gone. He felt like he had just woken up after a long sleep. Although he helped save history, he didn't want his past to vanish. How could this be? During the time he was helping the Z fighters in the battle against Cell, all he could think about was Jade. She was the hope that kept him going during his waking moments. He went back to the past in the hope of restoring peace to Earth, but as important as that, he hoped to come back to her and together, they could build their future. But now... what was there for him to come back to? He realized that, without Jade, nothing really mattered.

He flew to the hills, hoping somehow she'd be there. He was disappointed when he didn't see anyone there. He stood and watched the city below, and recalled that last night with her. He could still see it vividly for he had lived it almost every night when he was in the past. That moment had now been far somewhere in time. That day when he left her was also frozen in time. Now standing here by himself, he couldn't tell whether it was real or just an illusion. Even he, while being the only one who could really know what had been going on, was confused now. Maybe he shouldn't have gone back [to the past]. Maybe it was meant to be. After all, changing history required him to take risks... He didn't want to think about it anymore. He was tired and just wished that everything would go back to normal, as when he and Jade were together, but that couldn't be undone now. He went home with a great deal of regret in his mind. For almost a week, he was looking everywhere for her. He even went to Hirosaki, near her hometown, but that, too, was useless. There was no sign of her anywhere. His fear at the time was that Jade might have been killed while fighting the cyborgs alone. However, he didn't feel that that was the case; his intuition would tell him if it happened. The thought of Jade not existing had crossed his mind, and that made him feel like someone had taken a knife and stabbed him in the heart. Was his fate meant to be like this; that he either had Jade and lived with the war, or lived in peace, but without her? To him, it didn't make sense at all; either way, he would never feel peaceful within himself.

* * *

Trunks laid on his bed, tossing and turning for more than 2 hours before he could finally fall asleep. The wind blew gently into the room through the open windows, making the scene more dramatic. Dead leaves in the garden were flying around, creating a peaceful, but lonely sound that clashed with other noises generated by the nocturnal insects. At times, sounds like footsteps were heard. A hazy silhouette of a young lady appeared near a window. Trunks squinted his eyes and imagined Jade. The image of her was vague. It began to move toward him, then he started to feel the adrenaline rush when he finally saw her face.

"Jade-chan..." he murmured, "you're safe... where'd you go?"

Then the reflection netted with the air and camouflaged into the night. Trunks held forth his arm to try to grasp her.

"Iie! Ikanaide kure! Gyoku-chan..." He pleaded. But her reflection had already dissolved into thin air.

"Gyoku-chan!" He cried as he sat up, his body covering in sweat. He realized he had been in a dream. He looked around. The white satin curtains on the windows were fluttering, generating a similar reflection like the one in his dream.

"Gyoku-chan..." he uttered her name under his breath. Disappointment and the feeling of longing surrounded him. He shuddered at his own sweat. The darkness covered the entire room, not making it any easier for him to go back to sleep. Images of her were everywhere, stealing his concentration.

He sandwiched his head between his palms and muttered, "Anata ga koishii..."

Then he got out of his bed and put on his shirt. He didn't want to go back to sleep; he couldn't anyway if he tried. He headed up to the hilltop, the place where he and Jade always had their rendez-vous. There, he would have more memories of them together, it was the only place where he could feel close to her again. Looking down at the nightly and restored West Capital, he wished she were there with him physically. The moon was not especially bright that night. He looked up and stared directly at it. He reconvened the moment that was Jade's first time looking at the moon and smiled to himself. She was so cute and innocent, everything a girl should be, he thought.

Sometimes Trunks wished he could turn back time and corrected everything in a different way. In that instant, he regretted leaving Jade back by herself. *This* was the moment right after he let go of his arms, that was why she had disappeared. Far above his head, the clouds moved out, revealing the moon that was now so full and bright. A gust of wind blew by briefly and for a second, he thought he heard her voice whispering his name in the wind. The leaves on the ground scattered around and made out a sound like footsteps caused him to turn around and look. All at once, he felt like someone was there. Trunks never felt so lonely in his entire life, more so than when he was in the past. At least there, he was in a different dimension from Jade, but now... they were sharing and breathing under the same sky!

* * *

Trunks was still hoping to somehow see Jade walk back into his life. He wouldn't care if she had stopped loving him. Hell! He wouldn't even care if she hated him for any reason. But only if he could see her, knowing and making sure she was alright, he would accept any consequences, good or bad. But a week passed by. Nothing! He began to see the days stretch as if time had begun to slow down. Then two weeks passed by... then a month...

And so he was stabbed in the heart after all! Standing in the night before the quiet West Capital - still on the very same hilltop - Trunks had stopped considering it to be a pleasant scenery. Whatever the old folks said about love was true ...that it never ends with a smile. He was at the threshold of keeping his sanity and in any second now, he would lose his balance and tip over; for he could no longer see straight. His mind blacked out as his memories of her began to fade away... Worse were the nights he spent widely awake, trying to visualize her face in his head, but could only retrieve it for too short a while.

"Gyoku-chan... Gyoku-chan..." he kept whispering her name as he held his head tightly in his hands, wanting to be able to retain her image in his mind and longing to reach for her hand, to pull her into his arms, to feel and hold her... but only a static shadow spun wildly in between his ears while his head felt like it was going to crush. He suddenly boiled with anger, his cool and usual temper all of a sudden heated up as his Saiya-jin form slowly morphed, enclosed by the powerful flame. For the first time, he went out of control like the ozaaru on a full moon. His face was as hard as stone with pupil-less eyes glowing in rage.

"JAAAAAAAADE!!!" He roared her name from the top of his lungs. The sound traveled into space and its echoes dispersing everywhere, leaking into the lit city. Then as if he had used up all his power when calling out her name, he profoundly sweated as his body shook, then he uncontrollably went limped and fell on the ground, the human form quickly replacing the alien one.

"You're not real after all..." he mumbled as the last spark of hope slipped from him. He murmured something about the next life with her... but that was all he could dare to think. His face became cold and his soul sewed itself, sealing up the heart that was once so passionate and young. Ironically, a strange drop of tear escaped from the young Saiyan-jin's eye and rolled down onto the earth, forming a tiny damp sand ball. The moon had revolved to a different angle, but the night seemed to stand still during his worst moment. Down from where he stood, the city was deeply and peacefully sleeping, aware of nothing and grieving for no one.

The End

[ Sequel ]