Disclaimer: Am turnip. See? No blood. No owning of stories either.
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CHAPTER 3: FLASHBACK, PART 2
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Rose felt someone grab her arm as she fell, halting her downward progress gently by changing direction. It was the boy. He set her down on more stable ground just outside and then landed beside her. "Are you all right?" His voice was a husky tenor, full of concern for the stranger he had just prevented from dying. She somehow instinctively trusted that concern, that it was genuine. That meant he was indeed a friend to this world. Well she HAD been looking for confirmation.
She nodded. "Nothing seems to be missing. Thanks."
"Good. You should probably get out of here. This place could fall apart any minute." He levitated into the air, preparatory to flying out himself.
"Wait! Let me come with you." She didn't know why she'd said that, but she meant it. He looked a bit surprised. "Please! I have nothing here, and I need to get to the nearest Capsule Corporation building. I have to get the rebuilding started, and I'll need supplies."
The boy shrugged and picked her up, holding her in his arms like an infant as she put her arms around his neck for balance. White flame that wasn't hot enveloped them both and he took off like a shot. It was invigorating, and the view once they got out of the ruined city was breath taking! She decided that once the rebuilding was well under way, she'd see if this kind of flight was possible for a normal person. Not for the first time, though certainly for different reasons than before, her hands itched to have a tricorder in them. How did he do it?
The flight didn't last too long. They landed in front of a slightly dilapidated dome building. A woman with blue hair came running out as he put her down. "Trunks! Did you do it? Are they gone?"
He nodded and smiled at her, a relieved smile with just a hint of pride in it. "Nothing but scrap. We don't have to worry about them ever again. Master Gohan and the others can rest in peace now."
They decided to celebrate that night instead of going over Rose's plans for how to organize the rebuilding efforts. Bulma brought out a couple bottles of wine that she had been saving since before an old friend of hers named Goku had died of a heart virus and all of the boxes of picture albums that were lovingly stored in the lab's basement. The memories flowed with the wine, and by the time they were all thoroughly drunk, Rose felt that she knew them and their lost family and friends just as well as they did. Having never drunk anything stronger that synthahol wines, she was the first to pass out.
x x x
She had awakened in a strange bed, and it took her a moment to remember where she was through the thick pain in her head. She thought, *Well, I've done stupider things than drink myself senseless before starting a major project, but at the moment I can't think of any.*
She threw off the thick cover that one of her hosts had put over her the night before and headed for the wash room she saw at the back. She went in and turned on the cold water in the shower, thrusting her head under it to ease the hangover. She decided not to take a full shower, taking a rag out of the cupboard and scrubbing herself by hand. It was about this time that she realized that she had no clothes to change into. She was far taller than her blue-haired hostess, but maybe Bulma had something she could wear. She hated to put the dirty clothes from the previous night back on.
Not expecting anyone to be in her room, she walked back into it with nothing but a towel on. Trunks was there, some loose garments draped over his arm. He was surprised to see her and he flushed furiously as he noticed her state of undress. She was a little embarrassed herself, but she saw him looking her over. Grinning, she said, "Were you planning on staying?" The young Saiyan came to himself, and blushing even more, he stammered out a negative and left. She giggled as the door shut behind him. She admitted some attraction to him, to herself, but he was only eighteen, nineteen at the most, while she was twenty-five. She didn't think she would ever want to pursue a relationship with someone that much younger than herself.
Rose got dressed in the clothes Trunks had left for her, a white tee shirt and blue pants that looked like they were meant to fight in. They were loose enough that the fact that they were designed for a man didn't make much difference. It seemed that Bulma had solved the clothing problem by raiding her son's wardrobe.
She went down stairs and ate breakfast with the Briefs family. As she was still feeling slightly queasy, she only ate dry toast and some fruit, and she tried to avoid watching Trunks eat. She'd never seen such an appetite!
Later, they all three started working on the designs that Rose'd had in her head ever since she'd been building shelters. They utilized a lot of Federation technology, things that Rose had learned at the Academy when she had considered becoming an engineer, but Bulma had no problem figuring out the designs and was even able to improve on several of them.
Rose became one of Capsule Corporation's top consultants, both in security and design. Often, Bulma would take the Federation designs and tweak them until they were not only more efficient, but smaller and more streamlined as well. She wasn't worried about the Prime Directive. Bulma never had any trouble understanding any of the concepts and more than once, she'd thought that B'Elanna Torres would have truly enjoyed having such an innovative and flexible mind to work with on Voyager. After all, the woman had built an interdimensional time machine without any recourse to the warp engine, a form of technology which had hot yet been discovered here. She had designs for a spherical impulse-driven ship, but there was nothing on the planet faster than full impulse. So as long as she didn't mention anything about the warp engine beyond the very basic scientific principles behind it, she was not violating that directive.
For six months, the cities rebuilt themselves at a furious pace. Rose had been amazed at the resilience of the people. The grief and pain of loss were still thick in the air, but they were lessening now that the constant fear was gone.
Trunks made one more trip in his time machine after facing off with one more monster, something called Cell, and when he returned, he usually stuck to training in his gravity room. Bulma often muttered about that, comparing him unfavorably with his long dead father.
Rose found herself at loose ends after a while. Her engineering skills and knowledge of Federation technology were no longer really needed once the cities were back on track, and her skills as a security guard weren't in demand either. Bored on day, she wandered off to where Trunks was training. He was outside that day, training in the air above an open clearing, so she didn't think he'd take it amiss if she observed. She watched him closely as he kicked and punched at nothing, trying to figure out his style.
After watching for an hour, she began to emulate his movements on the ground, slowly and with deliberation. She found the rhythm of the exercise and started picking up the tempo gradually through each repetition until she was moving with about a tenth of his speed, and for a woman who couldn't even fly that was amazing, though she didn't know it at the time. She had been concentrating so hard that she didn't even notice when he joined her in the dance, giving her a solid target instead of the imaginary one. She became conscious of him toward the end as he changed the rhythm to challenge her, but only as a target. He stayed at the pace she had set and he never once managed to land a punch or a kick. If he had used any of his full power, of course, he would have easily flattened her, but he was a Saiyan and she was not. Finally, at one point, she managed to surprise him by completely changing styles, using some moves she had gotten from B'Elanna in a training exercise. Instead of following the graceful movements of the dance- like style that he had been using, the more aggressive Klingon moves were meant to cut down the defenses of a cunning and worthy adversary, and do it quickly.
In short, she tackled him like a linebacker after a quarterback. The lay of the land caused them to roll a bit, but she still ended up on top of him, straddling his chest and pinning his arms above his head. Stopping the motions broke the spell of the fight and she was once again fully conscious of the world around her. As well as the positions they were in. She looked into his face, his intense sapphire eyes boring straight back at her. The heat of the battle seemed to be transferring itself to other places in their minds and bodies, and adrenaline started mixing with other chemicals in their blood.
x x x
A/N: I know, leaving it at this point is cruel, but you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. This has been revised. Please tell me if you have found any mistakes.
_______________________________
CHAPTER 3: FLASHBACK, PART 2
_______________________________
Rose felt someone grab her arm as she fell, halting her downward progress gently by changing direction. It was the boy. He set her down on more stable ground just outside and then landed beside her. "Are you all right?" His voice was a husky tenor, full of concern for the stranger he had just prevented from dying. She somehow instinctively trusted that concern, that it was genuine. That meant he was indeed a friend to this world. Well she HAD been looking for confirmation.
She nodded. "Nothing seems to be missing. Thanks."
"Good. You should probably get out of here. This place could fall apart any minute." He levitated into the air, preparatory to flying out himself.
"Wait! Let me come with you." She didn't know why she'd said that, but she meant it. He looked a bit surprised. "Please! I have nothing here, and I need to get to the nearest Capsule Corporation building. I have to get the rebuilding started, and I'll need supplies."
The boy shrugged and picked her up, holding her in his arms like an infant as she put her arms around his neck for balance. White flame that wasn't hot enveloped them both and he took off like a shot. It was invigorating, and the view once they got out of the ruined city was breath taking! She decided that once the rebuilding was well under way, she'd see if this kind of flight was possible for a normal person. Not for the first time, though certainly for different reasons than before, her hands itched to have a tricorder in them. How did he do it?
The flight didn't last too long. They landed in front of a slightly dilapidated dome building. A woman with blue hair came running out as he put her down. "Trunks! Did you do it? Are they gone?"
He nodded and smiled at her, a relieved smile with just a hint of pride in it. "Nothing but scrap. We don't have to worry about them ever again. Master Gohan and the others can rest in peace now."
They decided to celebrate that night instead of going over Rose's plans for how to organize the rebuilding efforts. Bulma brought out a couple bottles of wine that she had been saving since before an old friend of hers named Goku had died of a heart virus and all of the boxes of picture albums that were lovingly stored in the lab's basement. The memories flowed with the wine, and by the time they were all thoroughly drunk, Rose felt that she knew them and their lost family and friends just as well as they did. Having never drunk anything stronger that synthahol wines, she was the first to pass out.
x x x
She had awakened in a strange bed, and it took her a moment to remember where she was through the thick pain in her head. She thought, *Well, I've done stupider things than drink myself senseless before starting a major project, but at the moment I can't think of any.*
She threw off the thick cover that one of her hosts had put over her the night before and headed for the wash room she saw at the back. She went in and turned on the cold water in the shower, thrusting her head under it to ease the hangover. She decided not to take a full shower, taking a rag out of the cupboard and scrubbing herself by hand. It was about this time that she realized that she had no clothes to change into. She was far taller than her blue-haired hostess, but maybe Bulma had something she could wear. She hated to put the dirty clothes from the previous night back on.
Not expecting anyone to be in her room, she walked back into it with nothing but a towel on. Trunks was there, some loose garments draped over his arm. He was surprised to see her and he flushed furiously as he noticed her state of undress. She was a little embarrassed herself, but she saw him looking her over. Grinning, she said, "Were you planning on staying?" The young Saiyan came to himself, and blushing even more, he stammered out a negative and left. She giggled as the door shut behind him. She admitted some attraction to him, to herself, but he was only eighteen, nineteen at the most, while she was twenty-five. She didn't think she would ever want to pursue a relationship with someone that much younger than herself.
Rose got dressed in the clothes Trunks had left for her, a white tee shirt and blue pants that looked like they were meant to fight in. They were loose enough that the fact that they were designed for a man didn't make much difference. It seemed that Bulma had solved the clothing problem by raiding her son's wardrobe.
She went down stairs and ate breakfast with the Briefs family. As she was still feeling slightly queasy, she only ate dry toast and some fruit, and she tried to avoid watching Trunks eat. She'd never seen such an appetite!
Later, they all three started working on the designs that Rose'd had in her head ever since she'd been building shelters. They utilized a lot of Federation technology, things that Rose had learned at the Academy when she had considered becoming an engineer, but Bulma had no problem figuring out the designs and was even able to improve on several of them.
Rose became one of Capsule Corporation's top consultants, both in security and design. Often, Bulma would take the Federation designs and tweak them until they were not only more efficient, but smaller and more streamlined as well. She wasn't worried about the Prime Directive. Bulma never had any trouble understanding any of the concepts and more than once, she'd thought that B'Elanna Torres would have truly enjoyed having such an innovative and flexible mind to work with on Voyager. After all, the woman had built an interdimensional time machine without any recourse to the warp engine, a form of technology which had hot yet been discovered here. She had designs for a spherical impulse-driven ship, but there was nothing on the planet faster than full impulse. So as long as she didn't mention anything about the warp engine beyond the very basic scientific principles behind it, she was not violating that directive.
For six months, the cities rebuilt themselves at a furious pace. Rose had been amazed at the resilience of the people. The grief and pain of loss were still thick in the air, but they were lessening now that the constant fear was gone.
Trunks made one more trip in his time machine after facing off with one more monster, something called Cell, and when he returned, he usually stuck to training in his gravity room. Bulma often muttered about that, comparing him unfavorably with his long dead father.
Rose found herself at loose ends after a while. Her engineering skills and knowledge of Federation technology were no longer really needed once the cities were back on track, and her skills as a security guard weren't in demand either. Bored on day, she wandered off to where Trunks was training. He was outside that day, training in the air above an open clearing, so she didn't think he'd take it amiss if she observed. She watched him closely as he kicked and punched at nothing, trying to figure out his style.
After watching for an hour, she began to emulate his movements on the ground, slowly and with deliberation. She found the rhythm of the exercise and started picking up the tempo gradually through each repetition until she was moving with about a tenth of his speed, and for a woman who couldn't even fly that was amazing, though she didn't know it at the time. She had been concentrating so hard that she didn't even notice when he joined her in the dance, giving her a solid target instead of the imaginary one. She became conscious of him toward the end as he changed the rhythm to challenge her, but only as a target. He stayed at the pace she had set and he never once managed to land a punch or a kick. If he had used any of his full power, of course, he would have easily flattened her, but he was a Saiyan and she was not. Finally, at one point, she managed to surprise him by completely changing styles, using some moves she had gotten from B'Elanna in a training exercise. Instead of following the graceful movements of the dance- like style that he had been using, the more aggressive Klingon moves were meant to cut down the defenses of a cunning and worthy adversary, and do it quickly.
In short, she tackled him like a linebacker after a quarterback. The lay of the land caused them to roll a bit, but she still ended up on top of him, straddling his chest and pinning his arms above his head. Stopping the motions broke the spell of the fight and she was once again fully conscious of the world around her. As well as the positions they were in. She looked into his face, his intense sapphire eyes boring straight back at her. The heat of the battle seemed to be transferring itself to other places in their minds and bodies, and adrenaline started mixing with other chemicals in their blood.
x x x
A/N: I know, leaving it at this point is cruel, but you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. This has been revised. Please tell me if you have found any mistakes.