Chapter 11: When Hearts Collide

The sun slowly began to rise on the newly finished grounds of Capsule Corporation Community College. What seemed impossible hours before was undergoing the finishing touches with help from the hard working Natamoru people. Bulma stood triumphantly near the entrance, both hands on her hips; looking deeply satisfied.

"Alright everyone, great work!" She shouted out.

The Natamoru workers cheered, as a small group hoisted the 'welcome' banner near the entrance to the freshly constructed cobblestone walkway. The morning light proudly showcased the large clusters of balloons that covered the archway leading to the emerald terrace.

Bulma pulled out a small list and began checking it to herself. "Outside is done; Inside classrooms are finished; food and refreshments are ready to be deployed…" Her eyes widened quickly. She turned her gaze towards the exhausted laborers. She cupped her hands around her mouth creating a make-shift megaphone and called out to them: "Hey! If anyone is interested in attending classes, you have less than 3 hours to shower and get some rest! Thank you again, but you better get a move on!"

In a panic of excitement, pairs of Natamoru made a dash for the dormatories, laughing through their fatigue. They waved to Bulma as they rushed past her.

"You just might pull this one off Bulma," she whispered to herself. She looked at her watch and tapped a few buttons. She stared at the screen intently until it popped up with a message. "User Unavailable. "Where could he be…"

Trunks sat behind a polished computer monitor deep within the heart of Capsule Corp, going through pages of data collected about the mysterious Kami Egg. His eyes were fixed as he read without blinking. He hadn't gotten much rest, but his mind was ablaze with possibilities.

Something caught his attention and he turned to see Bulma standing in the doorway with both arms crossed.

"There you are Trunks," she said, smiling warmly. "I was starting to worry about you." She held up her wrist and tapped the screen of her multi-purpose watch.

"I took it off while training the twins but I didn't mean to worry you."

"It's okay. Orientation for school starts in a couple of hours. I'm not trying to be a bother; I'm just really excited about this. This world used to be thriving due to the numerous inventions and resources Capsule provided…but I'm sure your travel to the past gave you a good idea." She pushed off of the wall and started walking away. "Just make sure you take a shower, ok?"

"I'll start getting ready now." Trunks stood up, pushing off of the smooth black desk. He rolled his chair aside and walked briskly to catch up with Bulma.

"Thank you Trunks. I appreciate your cooperation."

"So am I correct in assuming we are the only faculty members?"

Bulma's eyes widened with astonishment. "Trunks, what kind of school do you think I plan on running?" The look on her face softened into a smile. "If you must know that was my original idea, but I have outsourced a number of college professors to take the load of basic classes off of my shoulders. You and I are the only ones I trust teaching the nuts and bolts of technology."

"And phys. Ed?" He said with a smirk.

Bulma rolled her eyes. "You were a no brainer for that. You're the most physically fit person in the whole world, am I right? I thought you'd be biting for a chance to teach that kind of class." Bulma continued talking, running over Trunks as he tried to speak."Anyways, I've already printed up the schedule for summer semester. There's no going back now." Bulma pulled a flier out of her back pocket and handed it to Trunks.

"I don't know how you found the time. I'm impressed."

They stopped at the elevator.

"It runs in the family; we come from a long line of obsessive, over-worked scientists," Bulma squeezed Trunks arm and started walking away." I really have to run! Go do your thing and meet me in the courtyard at nine!"

Before Trunks could reply, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. He turned to see Gem and Bell in their human disguises, looking strikingly different for once.

"Trunks!" Bell chirped.

"Hey Trunks." Gem whispered coolly.

"Hello Girls. Are you heading up?" Trunks replied.

Gem stepped out of the elevator and spoke. "We just finished our nap. We're heading down to the terrace now, but It was nice bumping into you."

Bell hopped out of the elevator, nudging Trunks. She blushed slightly, taking a small step back. "We had a feeling we might bump into you."

Trunks looked back and forth between the girls. "I just realized how different you are from each other."

Gem's eyes lit up, sparkling a bit. "You noticed, huh? "She squinted with a smile. "Who do you prefer?"

"Trunks, don't answer that." Bell said with a curled lip. Gem, that isn't fair. She thought to her sister.

Trunks blushed slightly. "I like you both."

Gem winked. "Good answer." She glared playfully at her twin sister. I was just playing Bells… I knew he wouldn't choose. She thought to her.

Trunks hesitated as he stepped into the elevator. "I'll see you both out there. I just have to get ready and I'll be right down." He waived goodbye.

The girls said goodbye, and the elevator door closed. Trunks leaned against the back wall and tilted his head up, comforted by the faint sound of the hydraulic lift. He thought back to the start of his morning. The boys were refreshed and eager to learn. Trunks didn't waste any time resuming where they had left off. He gave them instructions to train together and went to check on the egg.

The data he scoured wasn't conclusive yet. The computer said there was a 9% chance the egg would hatch- in a year. Trunks furrowed his brow at the thought and hit both fists against the back of the elevator, reverberating with a loud thud.

"Nine percent today is better than zero percent yesterday." He said to himself. The elevator came to a halt. As soon as the doors opened, Trunks stepped out, stopping himself abruptly as his eyes caught Mel only inches away from his face.

"Thinking about that egg you found?" She quipped.

"Yes. But you already knew that."

"Sorry Trunks, I could hear your mind literally shouting from three floors down. Don't be too upset, I was just curious who was…" She peeked around his shoulder and looked into the elevator, "..you sure can control your power when you need to."

Trunks placed his hand on the back of his neck, a droplet of sweat formed on his head.

"Yeah. I'm upset with the computer. Trying to tell me that hope is a long shot. I don't give up very easily; not anymore."

Mel slid up to Trunks' side. She hooked his arm with hers and began walking. "You have a strong spirit. You weren't always this strong. When we first arrived I felt fear in you. But something sure has boosted your confidence."

"This has been an interesting week. Trust me: the last three years haven't been anywhere near as memorable."

Mel stopped and turned Trunks towards her. "Good thing you have so many people to share these memories with." She bit her lip and looked down. "Trunks… it sure would be nice to spend some time with you alone. Is that something we could do?"

His heart jumped.

Mel picked up on it immediately, her lips stretching into a thin smile. "I'd like to show you some tricks I know, maybe help you ward off minds that may try and make themselves at home in yours."

Trunks exhaled. "You can do that?"

She nodded. "I know you have a busy schedule, so just let me know if you can make some time. We can talk a little bit more. I feel like I'd be a fool to pass up the opportunity to know you more."

"Sure. I can find the time."

Nadia and Ms. Nawa walked towards the entrance of Capsule Corp. Community College. A crowd of people swarmed at different paces, almost engulfing them as they piled towards the entrance. Although Ms. Nawa was clearly the more excited of the two, Nadia appeared to be lightening up.

"Look Dear! From outside it looks like such a beautiful campus. We are really blessed to have you staying here this summer." Ms. Nawa said.

"Are you still considering that? Wouldn't that be inconvenient for you? I mean school would only be a couple of miles away. It will be easier for me to open the grocery if I stay at home."

"You won't need to be opening the grocery," Ms. Nawa pulled her hair back and casually repinned it. "Honey, I hate to say this… but you're fired."

Nadia's eyes bulged out a bit as she choked on her next words. "W-what did you just say?"

"I mean not permanently fired," she held her hand up to Nadia calmly and spoke, "temporarily fired. Besides, I already told you I got a great deal on a tuition package dependant on you staying on campus."

Nadia gave a sigh of frustration. "I don't remember you having such a backbone. Maybe Bulma has been a good influence on you." She smirked.

Ms. Nawa tilted her head to the side and blinked erratically. "Backbone?"

"Lita!" Bulma yelled from the archway, through the massive crowd gathering. She raised her arms overhead and waived frantically.

The two Nawa women trudged their way towards Bulma, who ushered them into a small shaded clearing near the entrance. Nadia brushed herself off when they exited the crowd, running her hands down the skirt of her dress, flattening the pleats. Bulma handed Nadia a "CCCC" logo T-Shirt.

"You must be Nadia. Welcome to your new home away from home."

"Bulma, I assume?" Nadia asked rhetorically with a whimsical grin.

"Right! When your mother told me you were enrolling this semester, I didn't imagine you would be so beautiful." Bulma reached into her bag and pulled out a sealed envelope. "This is a letter of recommendation from me; the dean of admissions." Bulma smiled, her eyes squinting with joy.

"Thanks. I think?" Nadia let out a soft, quiet laugh.

Ms. Nawa cut swiftly into the conversation. "Yes Bulma, thank you. So… where is the… uh…"

"The refreshments, right? They are on the way. They will be here soon. Don't wander off too far." She curtsied informally to Nadia. "We'll all get together and talk when things quiet down a bit. I'll give you both the grand tour! Head over to the registration table and I'll meet you in 15 minutes or so!" Bulma scampered back through the crowd, heading to the main building.

Nadia held up the T-Shirt and examined it. "Cute logo. This looks a bit small though, doesn't it?"

"Space-age-materials, no doubt. Besides, your waist is small enough." Ms. Nawa poked Nadia in the stomach.

"It's not my waist I'm worried about flaunting, Mom." Nadia's normally white cheeks were slightly blushing as she put the T-shirt into her satchel.

"Oh. It's no different than a leotard, right sweetie? No need to let it get to you." She looked her daughter over once more. "I really like that dress on you. It looks very modern."

Nadia was wearing a long white dress with flowing pleats and thin shoelace straps. Her wild black bangs were parted, and her hair was pinned up in several layers. She readjusted the strap of her satchel over one shoulder, closing it and leaving the T-shirt inside. "Alright, I'm not that shy. I guess I'm just looking for a reason for this to not feel so perfect."

From overhead the entire Capsule Corp. Community College orientation expo looked like a carnival. There were balloons, sounds and more people than Capsule Corp had hosted in recent memory. What started out as a few course offerings had turned into a world renowned university over night. Visitors from all over the world were standing around, waiting for their chance to enroll. Bulma stood at the helm, near the entrance to the dormitory. A group of twenty-or-so hopeful students and parents stood waiting. A small, spherical, flying robot sputtered into view. Bulma caught a glimpse of the robot and snarled.

"You!"

The robot froze, nearly crashing before regaining it's composure. "BUL-MA!"

"I thought I turned you into a garbage disposal after our last meeting," she fumed.

"BUL-"

"Enough groveling. You've been promoted to Tour Bot. I've taken the liberty of uploading the full campus tour, along with some manners for you. Now show these people a good time." Bulma winked, smacking the robot on the metallic backside.

"YES… RIGHT-THIS-WAY-FOLKS." The small robot wiped a large drop of oil off of the back of his head as he hovered into the building with the tour group following behind. Bulma watched the group fade into the building.

A sweet, smooth voice came from behind Bulma "Wow. Is that a Capsule Bot 2500 Multipurpose Personal Assistant?"

Bulma turned to see a young girl with platinum blonde, wavy hair. Already dressed in the latest and greatest Capsule Fashion trends, she wore a pink tech vest and bracelets over a black spandex turtleneck. She wore black spandex pants with 'CAPSULE' written in pink on the hips, with pink and silver tech boots. Her wavy hair fell over her face, mostly covering her left eye.

"No, actually. It's the 2750 model. I never launched this model for public use."

"You never launched the 2500 either, but I'm a huge capsule enthusiast." She extended her hand straight towards Bulma expecting a strong shake. "I'm Gia Gerhart. But everyone calls me Gigi. You're Bulma Brief. But you don't go by Bibi, do you?" She giggled, snorting quite unintentionally.

Bulma took her hand. "You're too cute. Are you applying for summer classes dear?"

Gigi's exposed eye widened and then rolled as she sighed. "I wish. I couldn't afford tuition without some kind of generous grant or scholarship. However, for such a time as this I have already prepared an entire proposal for you."

"Okay." Bulma looked at her watch. "I have a window of time here. This is your opportunity to wow me. Show me why you should go to C4! You have five minutes."

"Eh, really?" Her eyes sparkled with tears of jubilation. She clenched her fist, reached into her pocket and pulled out a small black remote control. "This is my current project: Robujin 4.2.2!" She pressed a button, and the ground began to rumble. A dark shadow loomed overhead.

Bulma, and almost everyone else near the entrance to the dorms for that matter, looked up in amazement as a large robot descended. The crowd dispersed to the edges of the emerald terrace as the 3 story tall robot landed, smoke and flame billowing from its feet.

"Gigi! Maybe now isn't such a good time for-" Bulma was silenced as the young girl cut her off.

"Wait! He can do more! Using my proprietary compression technology, similar to Capsule Dimension technology, I can reduce or increase his size depending on the current demand." She pressed another button, and the robot began to transform and shrink in a mess of twisting steel coils and shifting plates of metal until the robot stood only 6 feet tall.

Some spectators closest to the incident began slinking towards the exit.

Bulma reached forward. "Ok, you're accepted; you're accepted… just hand me the remote control."

Gigi gasped with excitement, before jumping up and down, her fist shoved towards the sky, squeezing the remote control at the same time. The Robujin began shifting and transforming again until it took the shape of a large cylindrical cannon. As quickly as it mounted itself to the ground, it began speaking.

"TARGETTING: TARGET ACQUIRED: ENGAGED."

Gigi came back to her senses, albeit a bit dazed and confused. "Wha-?" In a panic, she looked at her hand and dropped the remote. "No! Bad Robujin, don't target anyone, cease fire!"

Robujin's cannon began powering up. "FIRE COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED."

Bulma held both of her hands out." Nononono!"

Gigi grasped for the remote but accidentally kicked it out of reach. She turned to see where Robujin was pointed. She cupped her hands and yelled as loud as she could. "Incoming, get down!"

Nadia and Ms. Nawa looked over from one of the registration tables to see what all the commotion was about.

"Nadia, where is everyone running?" Ms. Nawa said while blinking; looking to her left and right.

"Lita get down!" Bulma screamed as loud as she could.

The Robujin 4.2.2 finished powering its cannon and launched a high speed missle. The rocket sailed through the air, and for some, time seemed to slow to a near stop. Nadia could feel every beat of her heart as she reached desperately for her mother. No matter how hard she tried, she knew she wouldn't be able to pull them both out of the way in time. She closed her eyes and pulled her mother close. Suddenly Nadia slipped off of her feet, and felt a rush of air all around. She heard an explosion and a wave of heat covered her face. She clenched her eyes closed tighter. She could still feel her mother in her arms.

"Oh my goodness!" Bulma yelled.

The sound of Bulma being much closer than she was a moment sooner brought Nadia back to her senses again and she opened her eyes. She was facing the remains of a blown up college registration table, burst into flames almost fifty feet away. She began to breathe normally and felt slightly restricted. Nadia reached down and placed her hand around her waist and felt someone holding her. She slowly turned her head and saw Trunks, crouched over her.

Exhale.

"Are you alright?" Trunks said, looking at Ms. Nawa in one arm, then at Nadia in the other.

"Trunks…" Ms. Nawa said in awe. "Where did you come from?"

Nadia looked at her mother. "You know him?"

Trunks stood up, helping the women to their feet. "I heard shouting and came just in time to pull you out of the way."

Bulma ran over and wrapped her arms around Ms. Nawa. "Lita! Are you two alright? I was scared half to death."

Ms. Nawa, still noticeably shaken, looked at Bulma with a blank expression. "Don't take this the wrong way Bulma, but this isn't part of the curriculum is it?"

A soft voice lulled from behind Bulma. "No. It's my fault," Gigi said, her voice trembling. Mascara streaked down her tear-filled cheeks as she sobbed quietly. "I'm sorry for ruining everything. I'll just go now." This time she carefully pressed another button on her remote control. The crowd gasped as the Robujin transformed from a cannon into a small metallic dog, which trotted towards Gigi, sat down and began wagging its tail. She reached into her pocket and gave it a shiny piece of steel that was shaped like a bone.

Bulma reached out her hand and put it on Gigi's shoulder. "Why don't you go take Robujin inside where we can sit down and talk privately?" Bulma turned to Ms. Nawa. "Lita, I'm really sorry. This was certainly not a planned part of the C4 experience. Please stay? Let me handle this and I'll be back."

"I'm sorry to everyone," Bulma said loudly, targeting the surrounding crowd. "Please don't be alarmed. Tours will resume in ten minutes, please have some refreshments in the mean time." She pressed a button on her watch, and an entourage of robotic helpers began quickly assembling a lunch table, while a small team of other robots began removing debris from the explosion.

Gigi patted her cheeks with her sleeve as she turned and walked towards the dormitory with Bulma.

"Nadia, are you alright?" Ms. Nawa turned to her daughter; touching her, arms, back, and shoulders.

Nadia couldn't even hear her mother speaking. She looked at Trunks with a gaze of puzzled admiration.

"Have we met?" She said to Trunks.

Trunks stopped and looked at her. His heart jumped hard. A small flood of memories came rushing back, causing the skin of his cheeks to get warm.

"Outside of The Pretty Fish?" Trunks said.

"I remember." Nadia's disposition became a bit more relaxed. "H-how have you been?"

"Good. Thank you." Trunks gulped as quietly as he could. "You must be Nadia then?"

"Yes," she scrunched her eyebrows. "But how did you know that?"

"Your mother told me you were coming into town. I didn't realize you would be attending class here. You're a dancer, right?" Trunks said.

Nadia gave her mother a piercing glance. "Shocker, huh? It came as a bit of a surprise to me too." She looked back at him. "So this isn't really fair; you seem to know me and my mom but I don't have a clue as to who you are."

"Oh. I'm sorry. My name is Trunks Brief."

Nadia quirked another look at her mother who was avoiding eye contact.

"Is that so, Trunks Brief? I find it funny that my mom never mentioned you."

"He just never came up in conversation, dear." Ms. Nawa added quietly. "When did you two meet exactly?"

Nadia crossed her arms and smiled.

"We just so happened to bump into each other, literally, when I was on my way back from buying your two piece bathing suit."

"What are the odds?" Ms. Nawa said with a blush.

Nadia held up a finger towards Trunks. "Would you excuse us for a minute?" She grabbed her mother and started walking away briskly.

Trunks stood by speechlessly. Although his heart rate was returning to normal, he knew there was something special about her. He replayed their initial meeting over again in his head. He didn't remember her being quite as striking. Definitely a pretty girl. He remembered feeling a bit embarrassed that he was carrying a bathing suit, but something was different in her today. He could feel her Ki had a strange familiarity to it; more than any girl he had ever met. The way he felt when she spoke, when she walked and when she showed her emotions was intriguing to him.

Nadia quickly slipped out of earshot, spun her mother around and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Talk to me now. I don't have time to play games anymore today or this week or this summer. What's been going on?"

Ms. Nawa felt like she was being crushed between a rock and a hard place. She knew their plan was in utter shambles and guilt deluged her in waves. Bulma's admonishing voice echoed through her head, making her decision to speak even more difficult. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"Trunks has been coming to the grocery to visit me for the past few years. He's not just a really nice boy, he's my friend." She sighed in mixed relief and regret. "Now that you know, are you going to avoid him completely?"

"Are you kidding?" She trilled. "Mom, if I knew your taste in men had evolved, I would have let you start playing matchmaker for me a long time ago."

"Really?" Ms. Nawa said, not trying to conceal her adulation. "I mean, you like him?"

"Shhh!" she covered her mother's mouth with both hands, looking behind her at Trunks. "Please try and be cool, mom." She lowered her hands and spoke softer. "There's just something about him I can't quite understand. I'm not the type of girl to rush into things. I mean, I'm far too disciplined to fall in love at first sight." She paused, pressing her hands on her chest. "But I want to figure out what exactly it is I'm feeling right now, because I don't want it to go away."