…Of Disaster
"Do nothing
If you are not prepared to take responsibility…"
Trunks woke to the sound of the alarm by his bed at seven thirty, reminding him that he had half an hour to get ready for his magic training session with Takara. He still refused to call her Tamashii, because he liked her true name so much better, and only called her Tamashii when they were around other people. He showered and dressed quickly, and hurried down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast only to find Takara holding a baby in her arms, with a completely bewildered look on her face. Her new tail was firmly in the child's grasp, and her face was white with pain.
"Make it let go of my tail," she hissed through clenched teeth.
He smothered a chuckle and lifted…er…himself from her arms, pulling the child's fingers one by one from her tail. He noticed that she was glaring at him and turned the chuckle into a cough. "Sorry. How did you get him?"
"He was in my room when I woke up, attempting to eat the curtains. I picked him up and he fell asleep in my arms, clutching my tail. I was hoping that someone would be up to get his fingers loose. I've had him for the last half-hour." Color was slowly returning to her face.
"Does it really hurt that much?" he asked curiously. "Having your tail squeezed, I mean. Mine was cut off when I was a baby, so I wouldn't know."
"Yes. My tail is an extra appendage, attached by a bone that extends from my spine. It hurts like hell when someone squeezes it, and worse when someone pulls it hard. Especially since mine is new. I assume that you came down here for food, so get something to eat, then meet me outside. We're going to an island, the same place I contacted you on. You don't know where it is, so I'll have to take you there. I made eggs earlier; a lot of eggs. You have no idea how hard it is to make eggs with a kid in your arms. Anyway, there are enough left for you to have for your breakfast, and they should still be warm." She turned and exited, presumably to exercise before it was time to teach him.
Trunks turned and headed into the kitchen, dropping the child off in his highchair when he got there. He found the eggs on the counter and devoured as quickly as only a Saiya-jin could, then took care of his dishes, took the baby back to his nursery, and went outside to tell his new sensei that he was ready to start his magic training. She smiled slightly at him, the slightest upturn of the corners of her mouth, and turned.
"Follow me," was all she said, but her voice was firm, and he did as he was told. They landed, after a not-very-long flight, on a deserted island, fairly far from any populated areas. "Here will do."
His gaze was questioning, but he landed with her.
"The first thing you have to do," she instructed patiently, "is sit down and relax. You need to learn to be able to relax no matter what." Following her direction, he closed his eyes and floated in the air, looking much like Piccolo when he meditated. She began to wander around, splashing the water and banging trees, making loud noises. The first time she made a noise, his eyes automatically flew open, and he nearly fell out of the sky. She looked at him calmly. "I told you that you'd need to be able to relax under any circumstances. After practice you won't even have to close your eyes, but for now this will do." He closed his eyes again, and she returned to making noises at unexpected moments. She continued this pattern for several hours, until she was confident he could relax almost anywhere. Then she told him to stop. He did so, and she motioned for him to sit beside her on the ground.
"You did good." The praise was small, but he knew it meant a lot.
"Thank you."
"You need to work on it a little bit, make it reflex. But for a first time, you did good. The next step," she stood again, "is reaching. You can't rely on your own reserves all the time. It takes too much energy to do that. Close your eyes and relax again, and feel the flow of energy around you. The energy of the earth is there, waiting for you to use it, you just have to know how." She didn't close her eyes, but she did the same as she had told him to do otherwise. "Reach out as far as you can, feel the power as far out as you can manage." He did so. "Open your eyes, but don't lose that energy."
Just as Trunks was doing as directed, a voice rang out. Loudly. "Hey, guys, you wanna spar?" Goku sounded amazingly cheerful. His voice startled them both, and it took all of Takara's training not to lash out at him with the power she could feel, that ready power. It always did when something startled her when she was concentrating on the power. It took a moment for her to realize that Trunks didn't have her training.
Trunks jumped, and lashed out with the power that was nearest, the power that he was almost touching. He grabbed it and, on instinct, hurled it at the intruder.
Takara was up in a flash. Literally. She went Super Saiya-jin easily and held herself back from going Super Saiya-jin 2. Neither power was needed, but they surfaced automatically when she was agitated or frightened, or angry. She was by Goku's side in less than a moment, and threw a shield in front of both of them. The shield absorbed the power that was thrown, instead of reflecting it back at Trunks, and she powered down, relieved. Goku stood dumbfounded, and Trunks looked horrified. Takara looked furious, but seemed to calm down slightly after a moment. She pulled herself out of Super Saiya-jin.
"That was something you never do," she told him, quite calm. "Don't react on instinct. React only on knowledge." She didn't yell, didn't scream, just smiled knowingly. "I did the same thing as a beginner, don't worry. You'll learn to control yourself." She was still angry, but yelling wouldn't help. "Don't act on instinct; act on knowledge only. You'll learn. That's enough for today; let's get back before Bulma kills both of us for being late for dinner."
Takara giggled a little, and Trunks joined her with a nervous chuckle after a moment. Goku just smiled and agreed that he had better get to dinner at his own home, and this statement was followed by a loud grumbling from his stomach, which sent both Trunks and Takara into wild laughter. With the joyful, for once carefree laughter to follow both of them, they left, with Goku waiting to wave madly at them until they were well out of the Saiya-jin's view before he actually did teleport away. Slowly, Trunks still blushing hotly at his mistake that had nearly cost Goku at the very least injury, Takara and Trunks followed.