Hey, you guys! I finally caught DBZ on t.v. I haven't seen it in forever.
Anyway, as some of you know, there was a wreck near my place the other day, and the phone company says it'll be sometime near the end of this week when it gets fixed, so my updates may take a while, like this one did. Gomen!
Surprisingly, this turned out to be a rather long chapter. Maybe it can appease your update appetite for a short while. Oh yeah, remember, if I take the time to write it, it's important. The dream in this chapter isn't just a dream, so READ IT, unless you wanna be lost.
Oh yeah, I'm about to start a new fic, and believe me, this one is going to be interesting.
Chapter XV - Dancing By Moonlight
Marron sighed happily.and snuggled closer to him. This was perfect.
"I love you," he murmured into her hair.
"I love you too." She moved her head from his chest, to look into his eyes, but she couldn't make out his face. Instead, it was a blur of colors, which turned black as she awoke.
Marron opened her eyes slowly, reluctant to leave her blissful dream world. She noted her own peaceful smile, and it widened. For days, she had been without those horrible nightmares.
She was so content, and the only thing that plagued her mind, was the fact that they had stopped so suddenly.
Was Trunks actually over Rayne?
Epica watched her sister proudly.
Elese was kneeling slightly over a sleeping Trunks, her hands hovering above his forehead, sweat covering their brows.
She had been at it all night, and every night for more than two weeks. Connecting the minds of two rather stubborn--okay, so Trunks was 57% more stubborn than Marron, and he knew that she was doing this, but still, it was not an easy task. Actually, most of the stubbornness was due to the fact that Trunks's subconscious knew that it wasn't Rayne's dreams that he was making and appearance in.
'Oh well,' Epica thought, 'what he doesn't know won't kill him, though I just might.' As usual, she was growing antsy. In her opinion, the process was taking far too long. She was sure that it would be much easier for them to simply tell Trunks that Marron was Rayne, and he was in love with her. That way, he could just seduce her.
But, no. Her sister was too much of a romantic.
Elese started trembling, and blinked a few times, before opening her eyes, and focusing them on Trunks.
His eyes snapped open, and he looked up at her, his face conveying a mixture of anger and pleasure.
"Enjoy?"
He glanced away, then returned her gaze, and asked, almost menacingly, "How come I can't see her face?"
Both of the spirits were silent, searching for a plausible answer that might appease the Saiyan Prince.
"Umm, well, if you see her, then she sees you," Elese fumbled.
"Wait--she can't even see me? What good will that do?"
"She knows it isn't Go--Reese." Epica had nearly said "Goten." "That's all that matters."
Trunks smirked. "Well, one thing's for sure; he is a grease ball." He chucked as he got up, and headed for the shower.
Elese leaned back, and gave a sigh of relief. "Well, we dodged that bullet."
"Yes. The session went well?"
She nodded tiredly. "Quite, in fact. I think the plan is going rather smoothly. A couple more weeks, and everything will be cemented."
What the spirits didn't know was that Trunks had a plan of his own. (Damnit, everyone's got a plan in this fic. It's like a construction site.)
{INSERT FOREBODING MUSIC HERE.}
Trunks stretched out his legs, and propped them on the huge, oak desk. He glared at the spirits, who were playing his Game Boy.
"I do not like this game, Tetris," Epica commented. "It is boring. What happened to the Zelda game?"
"I turned it into Tetris," Elese replied, not taking her eyes from the tiny screen.
Epica filtered through the small stack of games. "All of these are Tetris," she concluded.
"Not true. There is one Pac Man."
Trunks observed the two quietly, before becoming frustrated, and slamming his fist into the desk. The force made the wood creak and swoon, before finally settling. When he lifted his eyes from it, the startled spirits were staring at him curiously.
"Pent up anxiety, Boy?"
"Hmph, the two of you are getting nothing accomplished. I could already have Rayne if you would just tell me where to find her. In fact, you wouldn't even have to tell me. I'm sure I can find her."
"So, what are you saying?" Elese set down her game.
"Hello? I'm saying that neither of you are doing me a bit of good. Maybe you were sent here to make my life Hell."
"And how are we making a Hell out of your life?"
"By dangling Rayne in front of me every night, and hardly even letting me so much as touch her. It's not even getting us any closer to our goal," he nearly shouted.
Marron poked her head into the office. She looked around the empty room curiously, before meeting Trunks's surprised gaze. "Is there a problem?" she asked quietly.
"No, Marron. Everything's fine, thank you. I was having a conference call."
"Conference call? I didn't see anything about one in today's schedule. Do you need me to take notes or something?" ("Or some...thing..." Seriously, if you haven't been reading LOVE TO HATE YOU, you need to.)
"No, it wasn't very important. I do, however, need you to go out for a few things."
"Oh?"
"Yes." He grabbed a piece of paper from his printer, and a pen from the canister, and extended the objects towards her. "Make a list."
She shrugged and walked to the chair in front of him, took the things he offered, and sat. "What do you need?"
"Go to the American Food Store (I wonder if they have those in Japan.) on Rasu Lane. Get 30 pounds of ground beef--lean, 120 hamburger buns, about 150 slices of cheese, and 50 bags of Lays potato chips." To her raised eyebrow, he replied, "What? You can't eat just one."
She shook her head, and jotted down the last items. "You know, I get overtime for any out-of-office trips, right?"
"Of course." He pulled out his wallet, and handed her a huge wad of cash. "Keep the change."
"Whatever you say," she smirked before sauntering out of his office.
"That should keep her busy for a while," he informed the spirits. "Now, let's get down to business."
MUCH LATER... (like that night)
"Alright, he's unconscious," Epica informed Elese.
"Good." She relaxed, and placed her hands over his forehead.
She connected her mind with his.
"What do you see?"
"An image of a woman. I bet you can't guess who it is."
"Perhaps Rayne?"
"How did you know?"
"Spiritual intuition, I suppose." Epica made herself comfortable on the nightstand, and watched her sister go to work.
For about an hour, there was only silence, then suddenly, Elese began to cry out.
"No, Trunks. Stop! You don't know what you're doing. You have to stop!"
Trunks knew exactly what he was doing. He finally managed to block her from his mind, as he kept the connection with Rayne--well, at least who he thought was Rayne.
Elese's body stiffened, then she shuttered, as she was knocked out of the trance.
"What happened?" Epica asked, the panic clear in her voice.
"I lost control. Or better yet, he took it."
Epica's eyes clouded over. "Marron," she said hoarsely.
Marron's head spun from side to side, as she looked around. She had paused to catch her breath. She knew that he was right on her heels; knew that she didn't want to be anywhere near him. She couldn't remember ever being so scared.
She took in her surroundings. Huge stone walls, with never-ending halls. Her guess was that she was in a castle. She wore a beautiful, silver dress, that looked as though it had been made just for her. She had never seen anything like it.
There was a horrible screeching noise--the sound of stone being scraped by metal. His sword.
'This is just a dream,' she assured herself. But why did it feel so real? And why had her nightmares suddenly returned?
She heard his footsteps getting closer, and set off down the hall once again.
"It will do you no good," he called, almost mockingly. "You know when I want you badly enough, I will have you."
She knew he was right. She quickened her pace, if that was possible, and finally saw a door. She fumbled with the knob, and once inside, struggled to close it quietly. She sat on the massive bed, trying to gulp some of the precious air that she needed.
The scraping became louder and louder, until it halted, directly outside of the door.
Her body froze, inside and out, momentarily. Then, a small sigh of relief escaped her throat, as the scraping continued, and slowly faded away. Her heart once again leapt back into action. She closed her eyes and began to relax.
A hand began to caress her cheek softly. More tears rushed to her eyes, and she tiredly lifted them to the icy blue gaze of the man, who stood before her. As always, she couldn't recognize him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know who he was anyway.
"Miss me, Milady?"
"W-why?" she managed to choke out, through her sobs.
"Because I love you," he stated, as though it explained everything.
"Please...don't--"
In a flash, he had her on the bed, pinioned beneath him, his knees beside her hips, and his lips on hers, in a punishing kiss.
She forced her head backwards, and managed to break contact. "No. NO!!!!" she screamed.
His hands gripped her wrists tightly, and he glared down at her. "Why do you refuse me?" he demanded.
"I--I..." she faltered.
He loosened his grip on her left arm, and a finger began to trace lightly over the ugly scar, which still remained on her hand. "Such a shame," he whispered. He suddenly moved to retrieve something from his boot.
She wiggled around, trying to see what the object was. A beam of bright light pierced her eyes, as she caught a glimpse of the short blade.
He kissed her gently, before slightly pulling away, in order to drag the dagger across her scar, reopening the wound.
She cried out, and he kissed her again. She felt him moving his arms again, and a few drops of warm liquid hit fell onto her arm. She opened her eyes in time to see the new and bloody gash on his palm.
He opened his own eyes, and stared into hers, before tightly closing his hand over hers, wrenching another cry from her mouth. His only response was to squeeze her hand more, making blood drip from the sides, and the flesh tear farther. "Now, you are marked as mine," he whispered against her lips, "and no other man will touch you."
"M--marked?" she asked fearfully.
"Yes, my love. A partial bond. Now, you're mine. Forever," he said it slowly, making sure she understood every word.
Marron shot straight up in her bed, shivering tremendously. Her tears formed tiny rivulets, which saturated her nightgown. A sob found its was from her throat, every now and then, and she began rocking back and forth.
The spirits sat on either side of her, doing their best to comfort her, though they could neither be seen nor heard.
"Poor Marron. I'm so sorry," Elese whispered, tears forming in her own eyes.
They sat there in silence, watching the shaking woman, rubbing her back, and speaking soothingly.
Marron took a deep, ragged breath. "I know you're here, Elese, Epica. I can't see you, but I know you're with me. Thank you." The last was barely audible.
"He'll pay for this," Epica swore. "He's going to pay dearly."
What will Epica do to Trunks?? I honestly have no idea. If you do, let me know in your reviews, or an email! Hotaru_no_hope@hotmail.com
By the way, it this fic really that intersting, everyone keeps trying to figure out what I've got planned.
TO THE REVIEWERS:
Blueydmnstr - You should know by now, Marron will never learn. Since you're my assertive reader, did you happen to catch my little play off of The Grinch in the last chapter?? Thanks for being such a great supporter! It means a lot! Yeah, I know, I should say a lot more, but I'm kinda tired...
Burned Vamp - That's right it's getting exciting...wait, that sounded rude. What I meant was, Exciting?? Great! I know you practically knew the jest of this chapter, but I do hope the whole unveiling was more masterful. Now where are my LTHY updates?? BTW, I thought HANDS CLEAN was rather successful. Okay, true, they could have not ended up together, but that wouldn't have been quite as fun. Besides, I think endings always seem to get somewhat sappy for anyone. Just wait till you read the end of SI, in about 30 years...
Lily - Well, now we know what the spirits are up to, but what is Epica gonna do to Trunks??
Jazzy_Jasmine - *Blushing* Thanks. Mirai! Bring my friend Jazzy here a steak. Do you eat steak?? If you're vegetarian, he makes a killer veggie lasagne.
Trunksgrl06 - Happily ever after?? I dunno about that. Hmm, both of your synopsises are intriguing, but not exactly what I've prepared. DO stay tuned! I can't wait for the reactions as the end begins to develop.
Legolas Luver - Good! Now that you're dead, the real Legolas Luver can come back!
Pink Rabbit - Hrm, weird you are. Scared I am. Hrm. Well, may I offer a word of comfort?? HROTHGAR!!!!
Heather - My little voice has been nagging me for days. I shut it up with my Chem book. You know there's only one Marron, right?? She's forgotten her love for Trunks, and now suffers for breaking his heart.
Marron Brief - I think I think I know what you think I'm thinking of doing...but you're wrong. (I love saying that.) Did you finally get a chance to read all of it??
SSJ Tokya - Well, I quite enjoyed reading all of your reviews. The humor, support, and praise is much appreciated. AND, I think I've come up with a solution to our little problem. Oh Trunks! *Two Mirai Trunkses come around the corner.* Look! I cloned Mirai Trunks.
Cloned Mirai Trunks: *comes up to Shadow and starts snuggling her*
Shadow: Isn't he a sweet heart.
C.M. Trunks: *growls softly*
Phoenix: You may notice this small habit he has of purring. My cat sort of jumped into the cloning machine with Mirai.
Mirai: Yeah. I've got the scratches to prove it.
C.M. Trunks: Puurrrrr...
Shadow: Ehh well, nobody's peeeerrrrfect. *laughs at her own corny joke* Well, if you don't want him, I can always auction him off to the reviewers.
YUE'S LOVER - Mind blowing, ay?? Was it??
Let's see. *looks through cabinets* Hmm, I'm all outta food. *her eyes wander around, and fall onto a small box* Cat nip anyone?? No?? Man, I need to start staying at the WC lounge.