INDRODOUCTION:
A bitter, gentle wind swept throughout the city, rousing papers and cans on the street where a tall figure stumbled about all alone on the fractured, vacant pavement. Covered in frayed clothing and a dark cloak, the figure continued walking on. It trembled.
(God, it's cold…)
Looking beyond the street-lights to the end of the deserted road, it spotted a dome-shaped building, it struggled to muster every ounce of strength within to walk to it.
Chapter One
Bulma awoke, the sun heating her eyelids and leaving her temporarily sightless when she opened them. Quickly looking at her surroundings after her eyes readjusted, she realized that she had fallen asleep in her lab once again. She stretched her arms backward with a yawn, making her computer chair squeak as her weight shifted back.
She hazily got up from her chair, and walked out of the room and towards her kitchen. As she went by the living room, she spotted her husband and son from the future asleep, one lounging on the couch and the other curled up on the floor. Bulma smiled to herself.BR
(At least Vegeta watches T.V. with him. Who knows what next...maybe they'll hold a conversation for more than a minute.)
Stifling another yawn, still in her morning daze, Bulma decided to take a cup of coffee out with her onto the porch before her walk.
(You shouldn't sleep that long, Bulma, it makes you lazy the rest of the day!)
She opened her front door and looked outside.
Chapter Two
Trunks awoke to the sound of glass shattering.
(Jesus, what was that?)
He shot up from the floor and looked around to find the front door open. He ran towards it, and Vegeta followed after he whispered a few profanities under his breath.
Bursting out the door and onto the porch, he found a ghost-white Bulma. She looked at him with wide eyes and pointed a shaky hand towards the bottom of the steps. His eyes fell upon a person, laying on the ground close to them.
"Is it...........dead?" she questioned with a whisper.
He walked down the steps cautiously, and grabbed the stranger's wrist. A pulse barely beat against his fingertips, and he looked up at Bulma through his long lavender hair. She was still flustered.
(A pulse, barely there. And here's what I wanted when I found Gohan lying so lifeless in the rain that night.)
He sighed. "We need to get-" Trunks cut himself off. He gently flipped the person onto their back, and he inspected their face. A woman, but he could've been told otherwise. She had very rough features; he figured that was from being on the streets. Tenderly, he picked her up in his arms.
"Her. We need to get her inside. She's still alive, but if we don't get her treated soon, it might turn out differently."
Bulma nodded quickly, and dashed inside, but first bumped into Vegeta. He shrugged her off and continued towards the door, where Trunks was next to walk in. The Prince looked at the heap of black being carried by his son.
"What is that?" he asked with a frown on his face.
"We found her lying on the ground. She's still alive but she's hanging by a thread."
"Her?" Vegeta questioned. It barely looked like a person at all.
Trunks turned her towards him, and Vegeta looked at her face.
"Humph. You should've just let it die. Probably won't live long anyway. And even if it does live, it will just be useless. Another weakling human. What is the point?" Vegeta smirked when he saw a scowl form on his future son's face.
Trunks turned and walked towards his mother's lab to fix up the girl. Vegeta shrugged and flew out the front door and into the sky, something he did for hours each day.
Hurrying into his mother's lab, he glanced at the hard features on the strangers face. With the cuts and roughness displayed on her face, he decided that she wasn't very comely. She actually looked more like a boy when he thought about it.
Bulma pointed to a bed by a few machines, and Trunks laid her down on it. "You'll have to leave now," Bulma smiled at him slyly, "I might have to remove some clothing so I can fix her cuts up, and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate you watching her like that."
Trunks blushed slightly when he realized that he had been starring at the girl the whole time, then nodded with his departure.
Sitting on the couch, Trunks looked at the T.V., the neon glare filling his sky-blue eyes. He wasn't really paying attention to what shows were on, though. His thoughts were somewhere else, and he would glance at his mother's laboratory door every few minutes. It had been days since he walked in there with that girl. Now he found himself thinking about what she might look like when she was all fixed up, and more importantly if she was okay. Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, his head full of questions that needed answering or else they would drive him crazy.
Chapter Three
Waking up a few hours before dawn, Trunks found himself immediately thinking about that girl again. He couldn't go back to sleep, so he tried to shrug off the thought and got something to eat. While eating his toast, Trunks heard muffled voices within the lab. His heart leapt in excitement, but then he suddenly felt childish for being so ecstatic. He casually leaned back against the counter as the lab door opened. Not being able to control himself, he ran to the entrance. Only his mother was there, though, and he heard the faint sound of water in the shower running.
Bulma smiled at him. "She has gotten her strength back, and right now she's taking a shower, then after that you'll get to meet her!"
Trunks let out a sigh of relief. Finally, all those questions in his mind would go away.
"I'd better get breakfast ready for her. She hasn't ate a whole lot for the past couple days, so I'll make it big!"
Bulma hurried around the kitchen, preparing the food as Vegeta walked in.
"Is it dead?" he asked flatly.
Bulma shot him an angry glance, but was surprised by his curiosity towards the girl.
"As a matter of fact, she is alive and in very good condition. She's quite pretty too!"
Bulma turned back to her food but continued talking to the two men.
"At first I thought she would be ugly from being on the streets, but she's actually extream-."
Bulma cut herself off as she heard the echoing of footsteps in her lab. The door creaked open slowly, and everyone, even Vegeta, waited anxiously.
Chapter Four
Well, here I go.
The young woman, slowly and cautiously, stepped out of the lab doorway.
Trunks couldn't believe his eyes. She was beautiful, even if she was a little thin from hunger. Her hair was a continuous wave of bronze silk, resting on her fragile shoulders. In her depthless sea-green eyes he could see the universe, as if she was the sovereign of all things that breathed. The only flaw on her was a small lightning shaped scar on her cheek, a token of the terrible times she had been through before. Dressed in an big lavender sweater, belonging to his mother, and white clam-digger pants, she continued to walk forward.
Seeing the hypnotized look on her son's face, Bulma tried hard to suppress a smile.
"Uh, Trunks now don't be rude. Introduce yourself to her!"she cried softly, giggling.
The stranger saw the boys Adams-apple bob as he swallowed and stretched out a large, callused hand.
"I....I-I'm Trunks" he managed to stutter the words.
The woman looked at his hand, and suddenly remembered this greeting. You were supposed to take hold of the other person's hand and shake it up and down.
"Kora" she said coolly in a deep voice, welcoming his hand as she extended hers.
Trunks looked at her long, slender fingers and wondered if she would twist away in a cloud of smoke, awaking him from this dream, when he touched her.
At the same time, they grasped each other's hand. Not exactly in a hand- shake, for their hands did not move, and neither did their set gaze within each other's eyes.
It was then Trunks knew she was in fact real. He could feel her touch not only on his hand, but snaking up and down his spine.
"Uh...do you want something to eat, Kora?" Bulma asked quietly.
After managing to break the moment, Bulma pointed to a plate as Kora released her hand from Trunks', but her eyes never left his.
Vegeta glared furious at her. She's hiding something and I know it! Her ki is unlike anything I've ever come across.
"Okay, woman, who are you?" snarled Vegeta, earning another angry look from his wife.
"VEGETA!" she shot. "DO NOT TREAT OUR GUESTS LIKE THAT!"
Frowning, Kora looked into his eyes. Vegeta could see the pain in her eyes, and for some reason his stomach lurched. That isn't sympathy I'm feeling, is it? No...no way. Impossible.
He shook it off and crossed his arms, waiting for her reply. Exhaling a sigh, Kora began to tell her short life story. Short, because she couldn't remember past five years ago.
"I actually don't know where I came from. All I can remember is waking up alone, and making my way towards this city. Don't ask why this one. All I know is that I've been traveling all around for five years. Something drew me here. It's driving me crazy because I can't figure out why." explained the girl.
Bulma looked at her with intense sympathy. All my life, I've been so lucky! I'm rich, I've had a loving family...this girl can't even remember her parents, let alone who she is...
"Now, I'm trying to figure it out. Hopefully I'll find something out..."Kora sighed, smiling weakly, as if it took effort to look happy.
"Well, you're welcome to stay with us as long as you like."Bulma smiled. It would be great to have the company of a girl for once, since her mother was usually on vacation with her father.
In protest, Vegeta opened his mouth, but Bulma silenced him with a glare.
Trunks was extremely glad that this girl was staying with them. He had totally fallen head over heels with her in a matter of seconds. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, even after being in two different timelines. He would've gone home by now, but Bulma begged him to stay for a long time. Trunks went back to the future to tell his 'other' mom, and she allowed him to stay with his younger mother. "Well, you need some clothes if you're living in imy/i house." joked Bulma, "How about we go shopping today?"
A light went on in Kora's face. She had seen people in the malls through the outside windows, and she had always wanted to buy something. Of course, she didn't have the money.
"A--Are you sure?"stuttered the girl.
"Of course! In fact, we can go right now if you'd like!"
"Sure!"
Grinning from ear to ear, Kora followed Bulma out the door. Trunks trailed behind, even
though he wasn't verbally invited.
Shaking his head, Vegeta ate his cold breakfast and got into his training suit.
Chapter Five
With the wind whipping through her hair, Kora looked at the world from a different point of view; through the window of a car door. It was so wonderful, speeding smoothly along in a safe, secure vehicle. Absolutely nothing like stumbling through vast cites; feeling like you could die at any moment and it would be wonderful. Death was sure better than anything she had been through.
Through half closed lids, Trunks smiled to himself in the backseat as he looked at the newcomer riding shotgun. Kora couldn't look happier like this; she looked like a curious child seeing the world for the first time.
Finally taking a seat and getting her head inside the car, Kora took a peek back at Trunks and smiled at him at she flipped the hair from her eyes. Flushing, he meekly smiled back and turned his head.
Taking her eyes off the road, Bulma noticed Kora smiling at her son.
"Handsome, isn't he?" she asked quietly, and slyly winked at her.
Kora nodded. After all, in the streets there wasn't anybody to teach her to hide her feelings.
"He's your son, right?" questioned Kora, but it sounded more like a statement.
"Uhh...yes." mumbled Bulma. Not wanting to make Kora think she was crazy, she left out the fact that he was actually her son from 20 years in the future.
"Wow, you must be older than you look! Or he's younger than he looks; you two don't look that far from each other when it comes to age. If you told me he was your brother, I would've believed you more I think!" grinned Kora, but had a suspicious glint in her eye. It went unnoticed by Bulma, though.
"Heh heh...yeah...I guess it's a bit of both...he's...uh...18."
"Really? I would've guessed about 25, give or take a few years."
"Heh...yeah."
Changing the subject, Bulma decided to ask Kora what she would like to buy at the mall. While Kora sounded off a list in her head before telling her, Bulma glanced into the rearview mirror; at her son. With his chin cupped in his hand, his gaze rested on Kora. Smiling to herself, Bulma nodded at every word Kora said.
A bitter, gentle wind swept throughout the city, rousing papers and cans on the street where a tall figure stumbled about all alone on the fractured, vacant pavement. Covered in frayed clothing and a dark cloak, the figure continued walking on. It trembled.
(God, it's cold…)
Looking beyond the street-lights to the end of the deserted road, it spotted a dome-shaped building, it struggled to muster every ounce of strength within to walk to it.
Chapter One
Bulma awoke, the sun heating her eyelids and leaving her temporarily sightless when she opened them. Quickly looking at her surroundings after her eyes readjusted, she realized that she had fallen asleep in her lab once again. She stretched her arms backward with a yawn, making her computer chair squeak as her weight shifted back.
She hazily got up from her chair, and walked out of the room and towards her kitchen. As she went by the living room, she spotted her husband and son from the future asleep, one lounging on the couch and the other curled up on the floor. Bulma smiled to herself.BR
(At least Vegeta watches T.V. with him. Who knows what next...maybe they'll hold a conversation for more than a minute.)
Stifling another yawn, still in her morning daze, Bulma decided to take a cup of coffee out with her onto the porch before her walk.
(You shouldn't sleep that long, Bulma, it makes you lazy the rest of the day!)
She opened her front door and looked outside.
Chapter Two
Trunks awoke to the sound of glass shattering.
(Jesus, what was that?)
He shot up from the floor and looked around to find the front door open. He ran towards it, and Vegeta followed after he whispered a few profanities under his breath.
Bursting out the door and onto the porch, he found a ghost-white Bulma. She looked at him with wide eyes and pointed a shaky hand towards the bottom of the steps. His eyes fell upon a person, laying on the ground close to them.
"Is it...........dead?" she questioned with a whisper.
He walked down the steps cautiously, and grabbed the stranger's wrist. A pulse barely beat against his fingertips, and he looked up at Bulma through his long lavender hair. She was still flustered.
(A pulse, barely there. And here's what I wanted when I found Gohan lying so lifeless in the rain that night.)
He sighed. "We need to get-" Trunks cut himself off. He gently flipped the person onto their back, and he inspected their face. A woman, but he could've been told otherwise. She had very rough features; he figured that was from being on the streets. Tenderly, he picked her up in his arms.
"Her. We need to get her inside. She's still alive, but if we don't get her treated soon, it might turn out differently."
Bulma nodded quickly, and dashed inside, but first bumped into Vegeta. He shrugged her off and continued towards the door, where Trunks was next to walk in. The Prince looked at the heap of black being carried by his son.
"What is that?" he asked with a frown on his face.
"We found her lying on the ground. She's still alive but she's hanging by a thread."
"Her?" Vegeta questioned. It barely looked like a person at all.
Trunks turned her towards him, and Vegeta looked at her face.
"Humph. You should've just let it die. Probably won't live long anyway. And even if it does live, it will just be useless. Another weakling human. What is the point?" Vegeta smirked when he saw a scowl form on his future son's face.
Trunks turned and walked towards his mother's lab to fix up the girl. Vegeta shrugged and flew out the front door and into the sky, something he did for hours each day.
Hurrying into his mother's lab, he glanced at the hard features on the strangers face. With the cuts and roughness displayed on her face, he decided that she wasn't very comely. She actually looked more like a boy when he thought about it.
Bulma pointed to a bed by a few machines, and Trunks laid her down on it. "You'll have to leave now," Bulma smiled at him slyly, "I might have to remove some clothing so I can fix her cuts up, and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate you watching her like that."
Trunks blushed slightly when he realized that he had been starring at the girl the whole time, then nodded with his departure.
Sitting on the couch, Trunks looked at the T.V., the neon glare filling his sky-blue eyes. He wasn't really paying attention to what shows were on, though. His thoughts were somewhere else, and he would glance at his mother's laboratory door every few minutes. It had been days since he walked in there with that girl. Now he found himself thinking about what she might look like when she was all fixed up, and more importantly if she was okay. Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, his head full of questions that needed answering or else they would drive him crazy.
Chapter Three
Waking up a few hours before dawn, Trunks found himself immediately thinking about that girl again. He couldn't go back to sleep, so he tried to shrug off the thought and got something to eat. While eating his toast, Trunks heard muffled voices within the lab. His heart leapt in excitement, but then he suddenly felt childish for being so ecstatic. He casually leaned back against the counter as the lab door opened. Not being able to control himself, he ran to the entrance. Only his mother was there, though, and he heard the faint sound of water in the shower running.
Bulma smiled at him. "She has gotten her strength back, and right now she's taking a shower, then after that you'll get to meet her!"
Trunks let out a sigh of relief. Finally, all those questions in his mind would go away.
"I'd better get breakfast ready for her. She hasn't ate a whole lot for the past couple days, so I'll make it big!"
Bulma hurried around the kitchen, preparing the food as Vegeta walked in.
"Is it dead?" he asked flatly.
Bulma shot him an angry glance, but was surprised by his curiosity towards the girl.
"As a matter of fact, she is alive and in very good condition. She's quite pretty too!"
Bulma turned back to her food but continued talking to the two men.
"At first I thought she would be ugly from being on the streets, but she's actually extream-."
Bulma cut herself off as she heard the echoing of footsteps in her lab. The door creaked open slowly, and everyone, even Vegeta, waited anxiously.
Chapter Four
Well, here I go.
The young woman, slowly and cautiously, stepped out of the lab doorway.
Trunks couldn't believe his eyes. She was beautiful, even if she was a little thin from hunger. Her hair was a continuous wave of bronze silk, resting on her fragile shoulders. In her depthless sea-green eyes he could see the universe, as if she was the sovereign of all things that breathed. The only flaw on her was a small lightning shaped scar on her cheek, a token of the terrible times she had been through before. Dressed in an big lavender sweater, belonging to his mother, and white clam-digger pants, she continued to walk forward.
Seeing the hypnotized look on her son's face, Bulma tried hard to suppress a smile.
"Uh, Trunks now don't be rude. Introduce yourself to her!"she cried softly, giggling.
The stranger saw the boys Adams-apple bob as he swallowed and stretched out a large, callused hand.
"I....I-I'm Trunks" he managed to stutter the words.
The woman looked at his hand, and suddenly remembered this greeting. You were supposed to take hold of the other person's hand and shake it up and down.
"Kora" she said coolly in a deep voice, welcoming his hand as she extended hers.
Trunks looked at her long, slender fingers and wondered if she would twist away in a cloud of smoke, awaking him from this dream, when he touched her.
At the same time, they grasped each other's hand. Not exactly in a hand- shake, for their hands did not move, and neither did their set gaze within each other's eyes.
It was then Trunks knew she was in fact real. He could feel her touch not only on his hand, but snaking up and down his spine.
"Uh...do you want something to eat, Kora?" Bulma asked quietly.
After managing to break the moment, Bulma pointed to a plate as Kora released her hand from Trunks', but her eyes never left his.
Vegeta glared furious at her. She's hiding something and I know it! Her ki is unlike anything I've ever come across.
"Okay, woman, who are you?" snarled Vegeta, earning another angry look from his wife.
"VEGETA!" she shot. "DO NOT TREAT OUR GUESTS LIKE THAT!"
Frowning, Kora looked into his eyes. Vegeta could see the pain in her eyes, and for some reason his stomach lurched. That isn't sympathy I'm feeling, is it? No...no way. Impossible.
He shook it off and crossed his arms, waiting for her reply. Exhaling a sigh, Kora began to tell her short life story. Short, because she couldn't remember past five years ago.
"I actually don't know where I came from. All I can remember is waking up alone, and making my way towards this city. Don't ask why this one. All I know is that I've been traveling all around for five years. Something drew me here. It's driving me crazy because I can't figure out why." explained the girl.
Bulma looked at her with intense sympathy. All my life, I've been so lucky! I'm rich, I've had a loving family...this girl can't even remember her parents, let alone who she is...
"Now, I'm trying to figure it out. Hopefully I'll find something out..."Kora sighed, smiling weakly, as if it took effort to look happy.
"Well, you're welcome to stay with us as long as you like."Bulma smiled. It would be great to have the company of a girl for once, since her mother was usually on vacation with her father.
In protest, Vegeta opened his mouth, but Bulma silenced him with a glare.
Trunks was extremely glad that this girl was staying with them. He had totally fallen head over heels with her in a matter of seconds. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, even after being in two different timelines. He would've gone home by now, but Bulma begged him to stay for a long time. Trunks went back to the future to tell his 'other' mom, and she allowed him to stay with his younger mother. "Well, you need some clothes if you're living in imy/i house." joked Bulma, "How about we go shopping today?"
A light went on in Kora's face. She had seen people in the malls through the outside windows, and she had always wanted to buy something. Of course, she didn't have the money.
"A--Are you sure?"stuttered the girl.
"Of course! In fact, we can go right now if you'd like!"
"Sure!"
Grinning from ear to ear, Kora followed Bulma out the door. Trunks trailed behind, even
though he wasn't verbally invited.
Shaking his head, Vegeta ate his cold breakfast and got into his training suit.
Chapter Five
With the wind whipping through her hair, Kora looked at the world from a different point of view; through the window of a car door. It was so wonderful, speeding smoothly along in a safe, secure vehicle. Absolutely nothing like stumbling through vast cites; feeling like you could die at any moment and it would be wonderful. Death was sure better than anything she had been through.
Through half closed lids, Trunks smiled to himself in the backseat as he looked at the newcomer riding shotgun. Kora couldn't look happier like this; she looked like a curious child seeing the world for the first time.
Finally taking a seat and getting her head inside the car, Kora took a peek back at Trunks and smiled at him at she flipped the hair from her eyes. Flushing, he meekly smiled back and turned his head.
Taking her eyes off the road, Bulma noticed Kora smiling at her son.
"Handsome, isn't he?" she asked quietly, and slyly winked at her.
Kora nodded. After all, in the streets there wasn't anybody to teach her to hide her feelings.
"He's your son, right?" questioned Kora, but it sounded more like a statement.
"Uhh...yes." mumbled Bulma. Not wanting to make Kora think she was crazy, she left out the fact that he was actually her son from 20 years in the future.
"Wow, you must be older than you look! Or he's younger than he looks; you two don't look that far from each other when it comes to age. If you told me he was your brother, I would've believed you more I think!" grinned Kora, but had a suspicious glint in her eye. It went unnoticed by Bulma, though.
"Heh heh...yeah...I guess it's a bit of both...he's...uh...18."
"Really? I would've guessed about 25, give or take a few years."
"Heh...yeah."
Changing the subject, Bulma decided to ask Kora what she would like to buy at the mall. While Kora sounded off a list in her head before telling her, Bulma glanced into the rearview mirror; at her son. With his chin cupped in his hand, his gaze rested on Kora. Smiling to herself, Bulma nodded at every word Kora said.