Chapter Ten – Vanished

She woke up very abruptly, getting to her feet and clenching her fists.

"Whoa, easy, Tara, it's just me." Trunks put up his hands, palms forward in a reassuring gesture. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm not. Satisfied?"

"Not quite. When I saw Vegeta return to Capsule Corp. alone, I knew something happened. I'd hate to say 'I told you so'."

"Then don't." A tear ran down her face. "My head knows you're right, my heart just doesn't want to listen to anything rational right now."

Trunks walked up to her and gently wiped the tear off her chin. She quickly backed away until her back was against a tree.

"Don't do that," she said softly. "It's not right, Trunks. You know I love someone else. Besides, you're not from this dimension. What future could we possibly have together?"

"So you did think about us as a couple," he said.

"Of course I did! In a way, you and Vegeta are both out of my league! He's supposed to be with Bulma, and you're supposed to go back to your own timeline someday! I'm lost here, Trunks, really lost. I need some time to figure things out." She turned around and wanted to take off, but Trunks grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered: "You cannot run away from me, Tara." She felt his warm breath in her ear and shivered. She was tempted to give in, but then her pride came into play and she punched him in the face, causing him to let go and hit the ground.

"You're as stubborn as your father, Trunks," she said. "Always determined to have your way."

Lying on the ground, he looked up to her. "You're wrong. All I want is for you to be happy."

"We'll see about that." She took off.

Days went by and Tara was nowhere to be seen. Vegeta's patience had come to an end. He knocked on the door of her room. No answer. He opened the door and walked in.

"Tara? Are you there?" She wasn't, he couldn't feel her ki. He walked up to the bed and suddenly did feel a ki behind him. Not hers. It was Trunks's.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Trunks asked aggressively.

"None of your business. Just wondering where the hell Tara is right now."

"She told me she needed some time to figure things out," Trunks said and turned around to leave the room.

"She didn't leave this room willingly," Vegeta growled softly.

Trunks stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Vegeta.

"Why do you think that?"

"Hah! Halfbreed. Get over here. What do you smell?"

Trunks went up to the bed as well and sniffed the air.

"I'm not sure…"

"That's the smell of fear, kid. My guess is that she was surprised in her sleep and somehow dragged out of here."

"Impossible, no one is stronger than she is!"

"Do you really believe that, kid?"

"Would you stop calling me 'kid' all the time?" Trunks looked at Vegeta furiously, but lost the staring contest.

"Alright, Vegeta. Call me whatever you want. We have to find her, that's more important than our little vendetta."

"We? Oh, no! I'm not taking you with me! You'll only slow me down!"

"Sure, Your Royal Pain in the Ass. A Super Saiyan would not come in handy when you're up to something even stronger than Tara. You have nothing to say about this. I'm coming with you. Period."

Vegeta was surprised by the fire in the youngster's eyes. It seemed so familiar… But he couldn't remember where he had seen it before. He nodded.

Trunks wasted no time, got his sword and they took off, following the faint smell which belonged to Tara.

"You stay here, kid. I'm going in."

They had landed on a giant rock which appeared to be hollow. Tara was in there somewhere, but her ki felt really messed up.

"No way! I'm coming with you!"

"Listen," Vegeta sighed. "I don't trust this cave, or whatever it's supposed to be. I don't know what's in there, but it overpowered Tara. We've got to be careful, I need you out here to watch my back."

Trunks considered arguing with Vegeta, but it sounded perfectly clear and very logic to him.

"Okay, I'll stay. But how will I know if you need help in there?"

"You'll know," Vegeta stated. "You have Saiyan blood, don't you?" He left Trunks standing there with a puzzled look on his face and went into the cave.

It was dark; an unnatural darkness that Vegeta had never seen before. It affected all his senses and seemed to sedate him. He felt sleepy, but ignored it and kept walking. He had to find her and get her out of there. Whatever lived here, it was beyond evil. For the first time in his life, Vegeta was scared so bad he felt the loss of control over himself.

"Come to me…" That was her! He ran up to the sound of her voice.

"Tara?"

"Vegeta, you found me!" She ran towards him and threw herself into his arms.

"What the hell happened?"

"It doesn't matter now… You're here, that's what's important…" She kissed him and he instantly felt something evil slipping into his mind, poisoning his body and taking away his will to fight. He tried to push her away, but sank to his knees instead.

'Tara…' He could only think her name since he could no longer speak.