Dimensional Disaster Part 3
Puzzle Pieces
by
Sailor Janus
"NOOO!" Hotaru cried out as she rolled over in her sleep, and off the bed onto poor unknowing Trunks.
"AHHHH!" both teens screamed out loud after being startled awake.
"Get off me!" Trunks yelled out as they both blushed.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The dark violet-haired girl apologized frantically as she scrambled to get off the boy, tripping and falling on her face.
"Whoa! Are you okay?! You're drenched!" Trunks said as he sat up looking a little concerned at the girl who was shaking. Hotaru didn't actually wake him up. The half-saiyan was already awake and thinking to himself about what was going on. Of course when she fell on him, Trunks did get rather alarmed since he did not expect her to crash land on top of him.
Suddenly the door swung open, scaring the two teens at the same time.
"What is going on in here?! I heard yelling and Hotaru! You're soaking wet!" Bulma shouted as she noticed the girl who was trying to stand up but was stumbling on her clothes.
"I had a nightmare and fell off the bed. I'm okay and sorry for waking everyone up," she meekly said.
"Are you sure? I'll make some warm milk if you want. That should help you sleep better."
"No thank you. I don't really like milk," Hotaru answered as Bulma smiled.
"Okay then let me fetch some dry clothes for you. I'll be back in a minute." Quickly the woman left the room, leaving the two roommates alone once again.
Hotaru managed to sit up on the floor even though she felt very weak, not noticing that she was still shaking.
"Must have been a pretty intense dream. You're as pale as that sheet! Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Trunks said as looked at the girl who nodded her head. She still had a wide-eyed expression on her face, and appeared to be calming down now. "Well, then can you answer me this? Why did you repeat Saturn several times in your sleep and what is a Silence Wall?"
"Wh-What?!" Hotaru said looking rather shocked.
"You were talking in your sleeping. I was still awake when you fell on me. So can you explain what they mean?"
"I-I don't know. That dream, was so confusing. I didn't really understand it not to mention that it changed so rapidly I couldn't even keep up," the dark violet-haired girl admitted.
Trunks continued to look at her realizing that she was emitting a rather strong ki for a human. 'But that's impossible. How can she have a ki that strong especially after a dream? It just doesn't make sense. Who are you?' He thought as he ran a hand through his hair when Hotaru started to giggle. "What?"
"You have bed head."
"So do you and because you were rolling around, yours is probably much worse!" the half-saiyan smirked as Hotaru glared at the boy, crossing her arms. 'At least she seems like she's doing better.'
"Here you go Hotaru! You can go change in bathroom," Bulma said, handing her some fresh clothes.
"Thank you."
Before long she was back in the guest room, discovering Trunks was fast asleep. Carefully stepping over him, she climbed back into bed and went to sleep.
****
Hotaru awoke to hear loud talking echoing through the halls. Glancing down at the floor, she noticed that Trunks was missing. Sliding out of bed, she grabbed her clothes, which were draped over a chair, freshly washed, before heading off to the bathroom to get cleaned up, and change.
Slowly Hotaru walked into the common area and to the violet-eyed girl's shock, there were a lot of people there. 'So much for a quiet morning.'
"Hey! Who's the girl?" a short little bald man asked turning everyone's attention to Hotaru.
Smiling at all the people looking at her, she softly said, "Hi. My name is Hotaru, I think."
"What do you mean you think?" a scar-faced man with black hair questioned her.
"Well, I have amnesia and do not seem to remember too much. I only know my name is possibly Hotaru because of my student ID," the girl explained as she looked at everyone in the room. 'Way too many people. The only one I can recognize is Trunks. Oh this is so not good,' she thought as she smiled nervously, running a hand through her shoulder-length dark violet hair.
"So you can barely remember anything? That must suck," the man answered.
"There you are Hotaru!" Bulma cheerfully said as she walked into the room, startling the girl. "Have you met everyone?"
"No, not really."
"You mean Trunks, didn't introduce you to everyone?!" Bulma said as she looked at the boy.
"She just came in, mother!" Trunks defended himself as everyone gaped at the lavender-haired boy.
"MOTHER?!" everyone but Bulma, Goku, Piccolo, and Hotaru exclaimed.
"Um, yeah. I'm Trunks, and I'm from the future. Bulma and Vegeta are my parents, and I can't believe I let that slip out."
After a few seconds of staring, everyone calmed down and turned their attention back to the newcomer.
"Well, hi Hotaru! I'm Goku, this is my wife Chi Chi and over there is my son Gohan," a cheerful sounding black-haired man grinned from the dining room table.
"Nice to meet you Hotaru!" Gohan added from the floor where he was watching TV.
"I'm Yamcha," the scar-faced man said with a nod.
"Hi, I'm Tien and this is Choatzu." the three-eyed man said as he pointed to a small with boy that resembled a mime.
"Hi there! I'm Krillin!" the short bald-headed man waved.
"Piccolo." the Namek simply said from a chair placed in a shadowy corner.
"Well I guess that is everyone," Krillin said glancing around the room.
Hotaru nodded feeling very overwhelmed at the moment. There were just way too many people for her to remember who was who.
"Trunks, can we talk with you for a minute?" Goku asked as he and Piccolo got up.
"Um, sure," the lavender-haired saiyan said as he followed the two into another room.
"Where's Vegeta?" Yamcha questioned as he looked at Bulma who shrugged.
"Who cares," Krillin bluntly said from one of the kitchen chairs seated where the sofa used to be, since, it was still being cleaned due to the baby's accident.
"Who is Vegeta?" Hotaru asked, finding her voice again.
"Just a guy who seems like he has a bad case of hemorrhoids or something. You usually hear him long before you see him."
"Not exactly one of the nicest guys," Yamcha added.
"Not to mention the ego of all egos," Tien agreed. "Unfortunately, you'll probably end up meeting him, but he is nothing to really worry about. His bark is worse than his bite."
Luckily for the three men, during their Vegeta bashing, Bulma and Chi Chi had retreated to the kitchen to talk mainly about their children.
Hotaru stared at the three Z-fighters feeling all the color drain from her face as she laughed uneasily. 'I really wished I slept in. Now I am more confused than I was before.'
****
"So what's up Goku? Why did you ask to speak with me?" Trunks queried the older Saiyan.
"It seems you've had something on your mind," Piccolo said, looking at the boy's face.
"Yeah, I was thinking about what Hotaru said last night. I just don't know what to make of any of it."
"Really? What did she say?" Goku inquired as Trunks frowned as if he were trying to make sense of what he heard.
"Well, when she was cutting some vegetables she started mumbling something about 'we all died' when my mother asked her if she helped her mother cook," Trunks tried to explain as he looked up at Goku and Piccolo who were now staring wide-eyed at him.
"Whoa! Who died?! She died?!" Goku exclaimed as Piccolo merely blinked.
'How can a girl die yet still be alive especially if she were not brought back by the dragonballs or senzu beans?' Piccolo pondered as Trunks continued to explain everything he knew of the baffling girl.
"I-I don't know. Then when we were talking at night and, did you ever look in her eyes? Hotaru has experienced darkness. I know it! She may not be evil but she knows things. The strange thing is when she looked in my eyes, she knew the terror I have seen and experienced in my time! I don't know how, but she knew."
Goku scratched his head and brought up, "Well, maybe she is a psychic or something!"
"Somehow, I doubt that. I hope her memory is returns soon. I want to know exactly who or what she is," Trunks sighed as he looked at Goku and Piccolo who had been fairly quiet.
"There is something highly unusual about Hotaru though. Her ki is rather strong for a human," Piccolo finally said.
"So you sensed it too. Think she is a threat?" Trunks asked the Namek.
"It could be possible."
"So what do we do now?" Goku asked crossing his arms.
"Hotaru didn't try to kill Trunks or Bulma last night so perhaps she may not be dangerous. The best thing we can do at the moment is to keep an eye on her just to make sure she doesn't try anything," Piccolo said as the two saiyans nodded in agreement.
"I can't believe that Hotaru could be a threat. She seems like such a sweet, innocent girl," the black-haired man thought aloud.
"I'll keep an eye on her just in case," Trunks softly said, crossing his arms.
*****
Deidra looked at her watch and sighed. "Well it's almost time to play monitor. Like I could actually do anything if something goes wrong there. Oh well. It's better than painting the entire mansion with a lipstick brush," the burgundy-haired girl shrugged as her dimensional fans materialized in her hands and joined them together. "Now let's see what's on TV?"
Slowly she closed her eyes and thought of her best friend, when suddenly an image appeared on the united fans. "Oh wow! It's 'As The Dimensional World Turns, staring Hotaru Tomoe! My favorite!" the girl sarcastically said as she sat down on the floor.
"Last time, our faithful heroine, Hotaru Tomoe was sucked into another dimension only to discover she had amnesia. In today's episode, Hotaru, seems to be very confused again, only this time she is surrounded by people that she does not know," Deidra mocked as if she were a television soap narrator.
"Vegeta is as arrogant as they come. In fact, in the dictionary, his picture is next the definition," a little bald-headed man which appeared to be a monk scoffed as Hotaru nodded her head, appearing to be especially perplexed and slightly worried at the detailed description of the mentioned man.
"Damn. I should have made popcorn," Deidra sighed, listening to the Z-fighters verbally bash Vegeta. "I wonder if that guy is as bad as he sounds? Oh well."
"Deidra...." Trista threatened with her hands on her hips.
"Shutting up now," the green-eyed girl sulked. 'I can never have any fun!'
****
To Hotaru's relief, the Z-fighters finally said their goodbye's and departed to continue their training. It was not that she didn't like listening to their conversations. Hotaru actually enjoyed hearing their stories, but after Trunks, the Namek and the black-haired man, whom she could not remember their names, returned from the other room, the dark-haired girl began to feel very uncomfortable as if they suspected her of something horrible. The fact no one confronted her about it, really irked Hotaru. Of course, since her memory was practically erased, she would have no opportunity to defend herself anyway.
Bulma was gracious enough to loan Hotaru a book to read, which she generously accepted, curling up in a plush chair, but could not seem to concentrate on the story because her dream was greatly bothering her. Even though the violet-eyed girl could only remember bits and pieces, she still felt very troubled. Deep down, she knew there was a part that did not belong.
Every now and then the friendly green-haired woman would check up on the girl. Hotaru suspected that Trunks said something to her since he went off to train with the others. Train for what? Who knows? He probably, told Bulma, that Hotaru had been feeling ill or something, so she'd watch after the girl. Ever since last night, Trunks looked at her suspiciously, but never mentioned why.
'Who am I?' she sorrowfully thought. Living here would be so much easier if she had some clue to her life. Where she was from, who she associated with. Something! Hotaru felt like she was in a dark room filled with lamps, but only one actually had a working light bulb.
*****
"How's she doing?" Michelle asked, sneaking up behind Deidra, frightening the girl out of her wits.
"Ahh! Don't do that to me!" the girl exclaimed as she tried to calm down. "She still can't not recall anything concerning her past, or present for that matter. To make the situation even more difficult, it sounds like the people she met suspect her as something other than just a regular girl."
"Oh dear! Do you think they will do anything to her?" the aqua-haired woman asked, looking slightly worried.
"I don't think so. It appears they may be trying to monitor her, in case she were to be an evil entity since in the next few months, someone sinister will be seeking revenge. Should be interesting though when Hotaru's memory does finally return. After all, she has an extremely colorful and most unusual past. I just hope for her sake, certain memories do not reappear before others do," the green-eyed senshi of dimensions sighed as she turned her attention back to the image of Hotaru attempting to read a book. 'Well this is interesting. It's a Wrinkle in Time. How appropriate.'
****
Trunks didn't arrive back at Capsule Corp until late, so Hotaru found herself having a quiet dinner with Bulma and baby Trunks before changing into a long T-shirt and sweat pants courtesy of Trunks's mother, and trying to at least read one chapter to the book which she was intrigued to start, but could not focus on. However, the girl found herself to be very exhausted, falling asleep, with her hand still on the first page.
*****
Rain was falling softly from the sky as Hotaru walked calmly through the gentle shower. For some odd reason, she felt greatly melancholy.
"Hotaru, I'm so sorry," a burgundy-haired girl quietly said running up to the dark-haired girl who briefly nodded and stared at the wet grass.
A tall woman with long green-haired came up and put her arm around the girl, who suddenly jerked away.
"Hotaru, you cannot run forever," she firmly said, starring into the girl's glowing violet eyes. "You need to release your pain."
Hotaru defiantly shook her head and began to sprint as fast as she could from the place of death where one lone tombstone stood. She had to escape.
Pain.
"Princess Saturn! We need you at once!" a woman cried out. Hotaru, found herself holding a tall glaive, respectfully facing a woman with white hair.
"We have no choice. You must destroy this world, Princess," the unusually sad woman said. She always looked prettier with her friendly smile. "I will use the power of the crystal to revive everyone for a later time, including yourself. "Please Princess Saturn. Before it is too late."
Too late.
Saturn.
"Saturn!" a pink haired girl cried out as the dark-haired girl held a malicious woman at glaive-point. Slowly, the girl began to fade.
Hotaru blinked, finding herself sitting on a bed in a room filled with glowing lamps, creating a soothing atmosphere in the dim room.
A violet-colored firefly appeared, flying around the girl, leaving a sparkly glitter behind it. Strangely enough, the glitter formed the shape of a planet with many rings.
"Guided by the planet of destruction...."
Curiously, Hotaru reached out to touch the shimmery planet.
Saturn.
The girl blinked, as the words, "Silence Wall!" echoed in her head.
Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
"You should feel honored being chosen to become part of perfection," a sinister voice said from the shadows.
'Not again.'
"Who are you?!" Hotaru screamed out, but found herself floating in darkness.
The voice cackled at her question as she once again felt a piercing pain, but time in her chest, feeling every last drop of energy drain from her helpless body.
*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: Slightly different dream, but close to the same. Dreams have always really intrigued me, not to mention they can be the most poetic part of the story to write.
I have to say wow. Thank you so much everyone for reading and reviewing. I really find it encouraging which tends to push me to continue writing and upload the chapters much faster. I still can't believe how many I have gotten but I greatly appreciate them all!
Look for the next chapter hopefully Sat/Sun. I should have it up by then hopefully since I have the entire weekend off for once and that I have some tests to take this week, which harbors my writing somewhat.