Korin (remember the white cat?) was meditating in a small dark room on top of his tower. He had focused his mind and was sensing peace in Earth's small part of the universe. Or so he thought.

Like a streak of lightning, a dark presence swept across Korin's mind.

"Eh? What's this?"

Korin focused his mind, concentrating hard to find the source of its dark power.

'Hmmm...I'm sensing a strange energy signal...My goodness! It's incredible!...It's still too far away from planet Earth for me to determine how powerful it is but I don't like the feel of it...I don't like it at all...Should I tell Trunks?...No, no, best not to worry him. Besides, there's still no telling where that power level is headed. No, the best thing I can do is to continue training Sara; all I can do is prepare her for what may come. As long as nothing distracts her, things may work out.'

Sara awoke the next morning. She yawned, stretched, yawned again and wiped the tears from her eyes. (Ever notice that whenever you yawn your eyes water? I would explain but I doubt you want to hear another science lesson.)

Sara climbed out of bed ad stepped onto the cold floor. Sara scrambled over to the dresser and began searching for some clean clothes, especially socks!

As Sara got dressed, she couldn't help thinking about last night. ("Hmm... Gee, I wonder why?" SARA! "Sorry, please continue.")

Sara remembered the kiss. How could she forget?! The clear night sky, Trunks's strong arms wrapped gently around her, pressing her lips against his… Sara blushed just thinking about it. ("Why do I blush just thinking about it?" Because you do, now shut up.) Sara's stomach flurried with excitement...and hunger! She was happy that she had been kissed by Trunks and all, but hey, a girl needs her breakfast. Especially a Saiyan girl!

Sara continued to reminisce as she climbed down the stairs. After the kiss, Trunks led Sara to the house, leaning on his shoulder. Once they managed their way to the house, Trunks gave Sara a Senzu bean. The minute Sara ate that bean, the pain was gone, her ankle was healed and she felt fine. In fact, she felt better than fine; she felt great! Of course, this only left two more Senzu beans, but what was the worst that could happen? Bulma had asked what had happened while they were training but neither Trunks nor Sara spoke a word. It was really none of her business anyway. The last thing Sara needed was for Bulma to get all gaga on her. Sara could just picture it: "Ooh...you two make such an adorable couple! Hey, Trunks come over here and sit with your girlfriend while I go get my camera!" Bulma would practically be drooling all over them. Sara wondered what Trunks was thinking right now...

Trunks was quietly eating his breakfast. He stirred his food around his plate as he grew lost in deep thought. He, too, was stuck on the kiss, but not quite as fondly as Sara was... After he saw Sara get hurt, he rushed to her side. All he wanted was to help her get back to the house, but then, all of a sudden, they were staring into each other's eyes. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her closer, and then... He still was not' sure what in the sweet name of Kami compelled him to do this, but somehow he got caught up in the moment, and they kissed. But should they have?

I mean, come on, they had only known each other for what-a few days? This was kind of sudden.

'What if Sara thinks I took advantage of her?' Trunks thought. What did she think of him? What did he think of himself? 'Ugg...I feel like scum!' Well, I guess that answers that question, doesn't it? (Ahem.) Let's continue, shall we?

Sara walked in the kitchen (and yes, Trunks was wearing a shirt this time) Bulma, who had been fixing more food on the stove, turned and smiled as Sara entered the room.

"Good morning, Sara, did you sleep okay?"

"Good morning. Yeah, I slept well."

"Well, that's good. Hey, come on in and sit down. I'll fix you some breakfast."

Sara looked at Trunks sitting at the table. Trunks didn't look up from his food. He didn't say anything either; he just concentrated on his plate. He didn't even bother to move his long purple bangs from his face.

'Uh oh,' Sara thought.

Was Trunks mad at her? Maybe he thought she had been too forward last night.

'Oh God, he must think I'm a total slut!' Sara's good mood immediately dropped. She had been so excited about their kiss, but now she wished it had never happened.

("What's happening here?!" Shhh, I'm trying to put in some complications. Ya know, give the story a more interesting plot. "But-but..." Oh, come on, Sara. A little drama won't hurt. "This is a fanfic, not a soap opera!" Sorry but I can't stand too much mush. I mean, nobody just falls in love and then SNAP, they're a perfect couple. Don't worry; I'm just trying to move the story along a little. "Fine...")

After quite some time of silence and 'I don't dare look up!'s, Trunks and Sara finally finished their breakfast. Then, without speaking a word to each other, they put their dishes in the sink and went off to different rooms.

Bulma was completely dumbfounded.

'Wait, did I miss something? Yesterday you could've sworn those two were the best of friends, and today they're acting like they can't stand one another. Geez, can't those two make up their minds? Sigh, what's a mother to do?...Well, one way or another, I'll get those two together, even if I have to drag them into the same room, but first...I've got to clean up this mess.'

(Laura and Sara face falter.)

Trunks went to his room, sat on his bed and turned on his radio. It took him a while to adjust the dial to get a good, clear reception. These days it was nearly impossible to find a station that had good reception because there weren't too many radio stations left that the androids hadn't destroyed. After a few minutes, Trunks gave up; there probably wasn't anything worth listening to anyway. Instead, he just fell back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. It was quite boring, actually; there's not too much excitement to be found in a plain white ceiling. Trunks sighed. He was bored out of his skull, and a little stressed out. How was it that he could fight against killer androids and freaks like Cell, but he couldn't figure out how to deal with a situation like this? Trunks closed his eyes and just laid there for a few minutes, then got up, changed his clothes and walked outside. He was going to go take a walk, clear his mind a little.

Meanwhile, Sara had found a quiet little guest room out of the many rooms and hallways. ("Why don't I just go back to my room?" Because you don't feel like walking back upstairs.) It was a cozy little room, not much different from hers, actually. The only difference was that there were no bed sheets or a mirror. Sara flopped down on the bed. Sun poured in through the windowpane and warmed Sara's body. After a while, it got too warm, but Sara really didn't feel like moving.

"Meow."

"Huh?"

Sara rolled over to the edge of the bed and looked under. She met a huge pair of white eyes. Kitty had been asleep under the bed and was now sitting up in the far corner. ("KITTY!!!!!" Danika and Laura rub their ears) Sara smiled. She reached out and with one hand, scooped up Kitty, held her close, and stroked her black fur.

'I can see why she was Trunks's Grandpa's favorite,' she thought. 'When you're alone and don't feel like talking to anybody, it's nice to have a little pet just to hold and keep you company.'

Kitty didn't seem to mind the sudden disturbance from her nap. In fact, she enjoyed the attention. But even though Sara tried to preoccupy herself with the small cat, she couldn't help but wonder if Trunks was still mad at her. She tried to shake her mind off the subject; why should she care about some stupid little kiss? It didn't even matter much anyway, right? …Then why did she feel so horrible?

Eventually, the time came when Sara had to go to Korin's. Not saying a word, Trunks flew Sara to Korin tower. The two completely avoided eye contact. Flying didn't seem that much fun anymore.

Sara sat down on the floor in front of Korin. She tried hard to clear her mind and focus, but as you can imagine, it was nearly impossible!

Korin noticed Sara's lack of enthusiasm. "Something troubling you?"

"Huh?" Sara looked up; the last thing she needed right now was for Korin to start reading her thoughts. Korin only gave a concerned look.

"You look like they've cancelled Christmas. You don't have to be a mind reader to tell when someone's feeling down in the dumps."

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"I see."

Korin decided not to try and read her mind. It might be better just to let her work things out on her own. Besides, they had lots of training to do.

"Let's begin training, shall we?"

"Right."

Sara spent three whole hours practicing bringing out her energy. She was getting better at it; each time felt easier than the last. Korin was very impressed by Sara's progress, but deep in the back of his mind, he could still sense that strange power level from before, and this time it felt even stronger.

'It's getting closer…I still can't tell exactly how powerful it is, though. But there is one thing I can tell, yes, it's as clear as day: this new power is evil. I can feel it in my bones, brr… It makes my fur stand on end just thinking about it.' Korin looked at Sara again. 'Sara's power grows each day, but will it be enough? If only she could remember her past, her Saiyan heritage. She might remember how to fully bring out her power. I would help, but not even I can read memories long forgotten. We're running out of time. I don't know if Trunks can face this power alone…'

"Korin?…Hello? Anybody home?"

"Huh?" Korin was broken out of deep thought. It looked like he had lost track of time.

"I was asking if I was done for the day…"

"Oh, yes, of course."

Sara headed to the door, then turned around.

"See you tomorrow."

"Mm-hmm." Korin had gone back into deep thought.

Sara just shrugged her shoulders and left the room.

Not saying a word, Sara walked over to Trunks, who had been waiting for her. Trunks, too, said nothing.

Yajirobe looked at the two suspiciously.

"What's up with you two? Get in a fight 'er something'?"

Sara gave Yajirobe a cold glare, then turned back to Trunks.

"Jeesh, sorry I asked."

Soon Trunks and Sara were flying back towards Capsule Corp.

Sara looked down. Below, tiny houses and trees just seemed to quickly blur by. However, Sara wasn't as fascinated by the scenery as she used to be. She looked up at the sky. It was a nice day; the sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud in sight. This only held her attention for a matter of seconds, then, once again, Sara found herself looking for something to keep her occupied on the flight home.

Trunks, too, was a little uneasy. He would have much preferred a little more distance between them for a while, but unfortunately, the only "distance" at the moment was 50,000 feet from here to the ground. So as you can guess, separation wasn't exactly a good idea right now. Needless to say, the trip back home was not fun.

After what seemed like forever, Capsule Corp.'s main building came into view. Trunks began to lower his energy, and prepared to land.

Once on the ground, Sara let go of Trunks. He gave a slight cough, and they went into the house.

Bulma was waiting for them. She had hoped that the flight to Korin tower would bring them back to normal, but that hope was immediately crushed when she saw their neutral faces.

"So, how'd it go?"

"…fine," Sara said. Trunks said nothing.

Bulma sighed and went into the kitchen to start fixing dinner. 'The way to a Saiyan's heart is through his or her stomach.' Bulma figured that maybe after they both had something to eat, they would start to break the ice a little. 'Okay, I'm gonna whip up a huge roast beef and mashed potato dinner, along with some great veggie side dishes for Sara. Heh, after knowing Goku for so long, I've learned that the one way to get a Saiyan out of the blues is to let them stuff their faces. And once these two are back to their old selves, I can get back to getting them together!'

With a huge look of confidence, Bulma pulled out some pots and pans. This was a foolproof plan, or so it seemed.

Trunks and Sara sat down for dinner. Both were silent. And neither of them looked hungry. They remained silent…and it was really starting to get on Bulma's nerves!

'Man, what's with these two? They haven't spoken to each other all day! All this quiet is driving me CRAZY!'

Bulma looked up. Neither Trunks nor Sara had even touched their food.

'Ugg! I thought for sure that dinner would help! My God, since when is a Saiyan not hungry?! Huhh…I've got to think of something or else I'm gonna flip!'

Bulma turned her attention towards her son.

"So, Trunks, are you going to give Sara another martial arts lesson after dinner?"

Trunks was taken aback by this sudden suggestion.

"I…hadn't really thought about it…If she wants to, sure…"

Bulma smiled, then quickly turned to Sara.

"Well, how 'bout it?" Bulma edged closer into Sara's face until Sara finally had to back up her chair so that Bulma wasn't three inches away from her face. Sara grew nervous; Bulma could really be intimidating when she wanted to be. Fearing Bulma might attack if she said no, Sara agreed. "Uh, sure…that sounds…fine to me…"

Hearing this, Bulma immediately pulled out of Sara's breathing space.

"Great! Good to hear it!" 'Heh heh, my plan's working perfectly.'

Soon, Trunks and Sara were walking out towards the open field. The grass was lush and green, with just a few hints of dewdrops lingering here and there. The sun had just set, the sky grew dark, the stars came out, shining more brightly than ever, and of course the fireflies' glow gave them plenty of light. The dirt was soft and slightly damp under their feet, the air felt cool, but there was no breeze.

Trunks found a decent spot and got his footing.

"Alright, same as last time… you attack and I'll block."

Sara nodded and searched for her footing on the ground, but try as she might, she just couldn't seem to get into a good fighting stance.

Trunks sighed.

"Look, this isn't working; we can't just 'not talk to each other' for the rest of our lives…"

Sara agreed. "Yeah, but what do we do now?"

"Let's just try to forget about it, go on with our lives. Let's just try to be friends, that way we can get back to training."

"Oh,…okay…yeah." The disappointment in Sara's voice was more than obvious. She didn't want to just forget about it. She didn't want to pretend it never happened. It did happen, and she couldn't forget about it, and she didn't want to be "just" friends. Sara loved being with Trunks, she truly did, but… up until now, it had never occurred to her that he might not feel the same way. Trunks was the only thing in her life that actually made sense. After all that had happened, she thought they were coming closer together, but now it seemed like they were drifting apart.

Trunks was just as unhappy as she was. He didn't want to say such things, but there was already too much going on right now. Plus, he wasn't exactly sure how Sara felt about him, and he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about her… This was for the best.

"Alright, are you ready?"

Sara nodded.

"Okay then, let's go."

They trained in silence. The only sounds were made by their strained breaths after each blow. Trunks tightened up a little; Sara's attacks were a lot stronger and a lot more accurate than before. Small beads of sweat formed on Sara's forehead as she rapidly threw jabs at Trunks. She just couldn't get a hit in; his defense was nearly perfect. Maybe if she quickly changed techniques she could throw him off guard.

Sara changed positions and crouched low for a sweeping kick. But before she made contact, Trunks jumped out of range. Sara's moves were still a little too predictable. Sara charged forward, with her arm raised sideways across her chest and her hand completely flat, palm down. Sara made a swiping chop movement at Trunks's neck. Trunks immediately saw this was coming and ducked down low and backwards somersaulted away, got out of range, and quickly jumped back up to his feet.

Sara went for a sidekick, Trunks dodged. She tried for a straight punch at his face, Trunks easily caught it in his right hand. Still too predictable. Sara pecked a quick kiss on Trunks's lips. His eyes widened and he let go of her fist. He hadn't predicted That.

Sara, now realizing what she did, turned bright red.

'Holy Shit, what the Hell did I just do?! Have I lost my mind?!' She looked at Trunks.

He was silent, his eyes still wide with shock.

"Trunks?…"

Trunks looked at her, still in a state of total shock. Only one thought was running through Sara's mind: 'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!'

"Trunks,…I…I didn't mean to…I don't know what came over me, I just-"

But Sara could not finish. For Trunks had wrapped his arms around her, and pressed his lips against hers. Sara closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him.

Trunks couldn't hide his true feelings any longer. He wanted to hold Sara close, just like this, forever.

Sara no longer cared about her past, or if any of her memories ever returned. This was the only memory she wanted, this was the only memory she really needed. This one perfect moment.

A cool breeze blew through the trees, the stars shone brilliantly as if they were singing in rejoice, but none of this was noticed. Trunks held Sara tight, Sara rested her head against his chest, he was so warm. For the first times in their lives, both Trunks and Sara were truly happy.

But while Sara and Trunks were lost in each other's loving embrace, high, high up in space, a dark, cold figure, hidden in the shadows, monitored planet Earth from inside his ship. His eyes took on a cruel glow, and a sinister smile crossed his face. "Yes…this will prove most interesting indeed."

Back on Earth, high up in his tower, Korin sat down quietly on his pillow, trying to concentrate his mind..., which is no easy task when you consider the fact that Yajirobe was nearby stuffing his face; apparently he never learned how to eat without sound effects.

Korin's ears perked up, a look of shock came over his usually grinning face.

Yajirobe looked up. "Mnch, mnch, wassa maher wid ou? Mmm," Yajirobe said, while wolfing down a rice cake.

Korin was silent for a moment, then spoke. "…I sense a disturbance in the force…"

"Hmm?" Yajirobe stared at Korin, then swallowed his food. "…What are you talking about?"

Korin turned and smiled, with one hand behind his head. "Heh heh, I've always wanted to say that."

"You're a real weirdo ya' know that?" Yajirobe continued eating.

Korin turned away. 'Phew, that was a close one. That power level's getting closer. I would tell Yajirobe, but that big mouth of his couldn't keep a secret for more than three seconds.'

Korin took another look at Yajirobe, still stuffing his face.

'Well, on the bright side, there's a chance that Yajirobe would be too busy looking for a place to hide to even bother Trunks or Sara.'

Korin stood up, walked over to the edge of the tower, and looked up into the night sky. As Korin looked into the brightly shining stars, he twitched his tail and wiggled his whiskers. He couldn't help but wonder…

What could this dark new power be? Korin could already sense that it was strong, but every time it came closer to planet Earth, it grew even stronger…How much more powerful could it get?

Korin had felt many great powers before, but none as great as this… Korin had a bad feeling about this. Maybe it was because he was paranoid, or maybe it was because cats just happen to have a sixth sense about these things… No matter what the reason, Korin was most certain this new power was not a friend… Who was this mysterious new figure? And more importantly, what did it want with Earth?