Disclaimer: If I owned this hunk of a Saiyan, would I (a) be sitting here writing this, (b) have him leave after one measly storyline, or (c) have him chained to my bed? If you answered (c), you are correct. If not, you need serious professional help. I own Alyssa only, everything else is FunMATION's love child. (And whoever is responsible for Beyblade.)

Chapter Two: Agony, Ecstasy, and Saiyan PMS

I collapsed in exhaustion on one of the beds, groaning in pain as my sore muscles screamed in agony. Muscles I hadn't even known I had were cussing me out and at the moment I loathed Trunks for his Saiyan healing. Just standing fifteen minutes to shower was pure, unadulterated torture and now that I was sprawled across the bed I vowed to never get up again.

Trunks chuckled as he walked out of the bathroom wearing only gi pants. "Tired Chibi?" he teased.

I groaned and reached over to pick up my wet towel, flinging it at him. Luckily, my aim was sharpening every day, so I hit him square in the face with it. "Shut up Trunks."

"What's wrong?"

I gave him an incredulous Look. "Muscles I never even knew I had are screaming obscenities at me."

Trunks' face softened into a sympathetic look and he came over to sit gently next to me, touching my arm carefully. "Roll over."

I gave him a questioning look but he just motioned again for me to turn onto my stomach. I made as much of a shrugging motion as I could stand and flipped over onto my stomach, hugging my pillow to my chest and resting my chin on it sullenly.

Gentle hands cupped the back of my neck and I nearly moaned in pleasure as they systematically worked the tension from my muscles. I turned my head to the side as Trunks gave me the most amazing massage, reflecting on past few weeks. It had been odd waking up in his arms, but indeed a pleasant surprise. He was a good teacher, tough when he needed to be and gentle when it was sorely needed.

Most of all, Trunks never let me give up, no matter how frustrated I had gotten. I had had trouble forming my own ki weapon in particular. Nothing I tried was right for me and I was about ready to give up on it entirely. But I knew that I'd be back out there tomorrow, ready with a fresh mind and renewed determination.

The nights we spent mostly talking--it seemed that Trunks didn't like the quiet either, and he was always asking me questions about my life in my dimension. There were some questions I wasn't comfortable enough with him yet to answer, but he never pushed them. Conversely, there were questions I found myself asking about his own life that Trunks wasn't quite ready to answer yet, and I tried my best to give him the same consideration.

Still, I learned more than the series had even hinted at, and found myself liking the lavender bishounen more and more with every story he told me about himself and his world. Even his happiest times were dimmed by the androids' cruelty and the strength of character he had kept after it all amazed me to no end.

His quiet voice brought me out of my thoughts gently. "Alyssa?"

"Hmm?" I murmured.

"Who did you have a crush on?"

"Huh?" I yawned drowsily.

"You said that you 'admitted to having a slight crush' on one of us when you were ranting to Goku. Who was it?"

I tried to keep my eyes open and failed. "You."

The last thing I remembered before the darkness overtook me was his hands stilling on my back and then all was black once more.

* * *

(Trunks POV)

My hands froze on her lower back as what she said sunk in. She had a crush on me. This beautiful, brave, iron-willed woman had a crush on me. Me, the man who got his own best friend and sensei killed. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to her. A man would have to be blind to not want her. It wasn't just her looks either. She had an innocence about her that shined brightly around her like a halo.

Despite her proud façade, I knew she was struggling to keep up with me but no matter what happened she never gave up. It had been three weeks now that she had tried to form her own unique ki weapon and failed each time. But each morning she got up and tried again with a strength of will and determination that astounded me. Watching her train her body to complete and total exhaustion each night just to keep up with me, I knew without a doubt that she would have made one hell of a Saiyan.

Even Father would respect her if he saw her now and that was no easy feat. My Saiyan instincts were screaming at me to possess her, to make her my mate--that she was my equal. Gohan had known very little about his own Saiyan heritage, but he had told me that when our instincts went wild around a woman, we would have her or die trying.

Alyssa made a sound in her sleep and rolled over, causing my hands to slide across her taut stomach and up her shirt. I held my breath as they stopped inches from her breasts, groaning aloud at the temptation. I snatched them away and sprinted for the bathroom, locking the door behind me and sliding down it with a groan. I held my head in my hands for a few minutes, cursing my instincts and the girl wreaking havoc with them, then stood up and wrenched the shower on cold full blast.

I took a deep breath and unlocked the bathroom door after a long, ice cold shower, opening it and peering out almost fearfully. Seeing that Alyssa was still sound asleep on her bed, I breathed a sigh of relief and slid into my own, staring up at the ceiling until I fell asleep. A small warmth curling into my side woke me up with a start and I looked down, almost groaning out loud when I saw that she had gotten up in her sleep to seek out my body heat. Her head was resting over my racing heart and her hand was lying on my stomach, twitching as her eyes moved rapidly behind her eyelids.

The girl began whimpering softly and her entire body convulsed in pain and terror as she lay against me, locked in the throes of what seemed to be a gut-wrenching nightmare. I slid my arms around her tightly, holding her against me in hopes of calming her down. Alyssa convulsed one final time and laid still, curling even deeper into me as she drifted peacefully back to sleep again. Feeling her warmth seep into my body, I wasn't far after her, sliding deep into a dream with a faceless female in white and silver hair. But right before everything went dark, I registered a feminine hand sliding up and down my abdomen lightly, sending chills down my spine.

* * *

My eyes widened in shock and happiness as my ki formed and held shape, allowing me to manipulate it easily. I shot it experimentally into the void by the house and leapt into Trunks' arms, sending us both tumbling to the floor with an 'oof'.

"I did it Trunks!"

He grinned and hugged me tightly against him. "I knew you could do it. What is it called?"

I thought for a moment, then grinned brightly. "Beyblade."

Trunks blinked and tilted his head curiously. "Beyblade?"

I nodded. "There is a cartoon in my world named that. It's basically about a bunch of kids competing in tournaments. Only they fight with spinning tops instead of hand to hand."

He looked thoughtful. "And your ki spins as it heads for its victim."

"Exactly." I sighed in satisfaction and relief. "I can't believe it took me three weeks to do it."

"But you never gave up." Trunks reminded me.

I smiled. "I wanted to do your training right."

Trunks looked up at me in surprise, then a slow smile crossed his face. "You would make one hell of a Saiyan, you know that?"

I blushed. "Thanks." I said through a yawn.

"We should probably get up and go inside." Trunks pointed out, but didn't make a move to do so.

I nodded and snuggled closer to his warmth. It was freezing out here all of a sudden. "We probably should." I agreed, not moving either.

We laid there silently for a long while, then I felt his lips brush my forehead lightly. "Did you mean it?" he whispered.

I yawned widely. "Mean what?"

"What you said that first night I gave you a back rub."

I blinked in confusion, too sleepy for my brain to process his question. "Trunks, that was two months ago. What did I say?"

"Nothing." He said with an odd tone creeping into his voice.

I smiled and patted him on the stomach. "You're so cute." I murmured, the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat lulling me to sleep.

* * *

I yawned and stretched my arms, my bones making an audible pop as they moved. I looked around to see that I was back in the house, lying on the bed I had claimed. Trunks was sitting cross-legged on his, flipping intently through my writing. I didn't mind. I had never refused to let him see my work. After all, none of it was about him. My pairings of choice were Marron and Goten and Gohan and one of my original characters.

"You never write anything about yourself."

I looked up at the sound of his quiet voice. "But I do. The tone of my writing tends to reflect my emotions."

I couldn't read the look that crossed his face and I frowned in concern. "Then you're in love with Sensei."

I laughed. "No. The characters have nothing to do with the emotions."

"Then who?"

I blinked in surprise at the desperate note I detected in his voice. "What?"

"If you aren't in love with Sensei, then who are you in love with?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but closed it as I realized what he was referring to. "I-I...you really think I'm in love with someone?"

"You write with the same tone Mom always uses when she talks about Dad."

I sat back against the headboard in shock, then shook my head at myself. "That's impossible. I've been locked in here with you for six months. I haven't had time to fall in love with someone, much less the opportunity."

I blinked in surprise as his face went blank and he set the pad gently on his bed, walking out of the room. I looked around the room as if the walls would provide the answers to the questions that were running through my mind.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked the empty air, not really expecting a reply.

"Alyssa..." I heard a ghostly voice whisper, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. "We need to know your progress..."

I sighed in relief as I realized where the voice was coming from. Propping myself up against the headboard, I closed my eyes and counted backward from 100, sliding into a self-induced trance. When I opened my eyes next, I was on the platform of the Lookout, facing the group of fighters--or rather my soul was.

"How's it going in there?" Krillin asked anxiously.

"We're doing pretty good, considering. We still have a few bugs to work out of the Fusion dance, but other than that, we're mostly just concentrating on getting as strong as we can before the time is up. Goku, could I speak to you alone for a moment?"

"Of course." The tall warrior said, indicating for me to follow him into the building. "What is it Lyssa?"

"Trunks has been acting weird for a few months now. And just before you called me, he practically accused me of being in love with someone. Is there some kind of Saiyan PMS thing I should be aware of or something?" I asked in frustration.

Goku laughed. "Sounds like he's jealous."

I rolled my eyes. "Goku, get serious. Are you going to tell me what's going on or not?"

He just smiled cryptically. "You'll understand soon."

I sighed in exasperation, but before I could say anything, I felt myself being shaken and was instantly sent back into my body as a result. I opened my eyes to see worried blue eyes staring down at me and blinked in surprise when the lavender demi crushed me to him in a tight hug.

"Do you know how terrified I was when you didn't respond?"

"Kami Trunks, I was only astral projecting. Goku and the others wanted to know what our progress was."

"Well you scared the hell out of me. I thought I had lost you."

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew."

"Well I didn't."

I threw my hands up in frustration as he stalked out of the room again. "And they say we have PMS." I muttered.

===================================

Men, can't live with em, can't live without em. Review please : ).