Disclaimers: I do NOT own these Characters. And for those of you who do not know this, in the anime Haruka and Michiru are not cousins, they are actually a couple. Sorry for those of you who aren't into that sort of thing, but that's just too bad!! XD
Chapter Six: A New World
'Oh Kami, what happened? Kuso, I hurt!' Trunks was still a little out of it. He could hear whispers all around him, and a crackling sound as if he were near a bonfire. "He's waking up!" He managed to open his eyes a crack and turn his head.
He was on a floor on a mat with a thin blanket covering him, his sword lying next to him. Ami was beside him with the same things covering her. She didn't look so good. There actually was a bonfire, and it was next to her. He turned his head to the other side. He couldn't make out the figures, but there were many of them. It was as if they were all sitting in the shadows, just out of reach for him to see. Strange considering there was a huge fire behind him. 'My eyes must still need to adjust.' They were all sitting on their knees behind one in particular.
By the sound of the voice it was a woman, and she was chanting out something strange and making complex hand movements. He sensed something weird about her and immediately became suspicious. The energy she was channelling was all headed in his and Ami's direction, but his mind was too fogged up to process what it was though. His mind did register one thing however, Ami had told him about strange monsters that would use all kinds of spells to attack their victims. Where were they? Were they captured by some weird creatures?
If they were in trouble then he would get them out of it! Ami was next to him and by the look of it, still need his last senzu bean. He grabbed his sword and jumped to his feet and got into a fighting position so quick they all let out startled gasps. It sounded like they were all girls! Trunks inwardly groaned, He was still dizzy and didn't feel like fighting. At least a bunch of females shouldn't be able to put up too much of a fight. 'Oh, man am I ever dizzy! I wish I don't have to move around so fast for a fight.'
"It's alright, calm down. You're with friends." It was a male voice that said this.
"Who are you and where are we!" He demanded as threateningly as he could.
"My name is Darien and your at the Hikawa Temple. We're Ami's friends."
Trunks relaxed a bit when he heard that but didn't fully let his guard down. They could easily be lying. He turned his head slightly to see Ami still on the floor, sweating and shivering beneath her blanket. "What were you doing?" He asked suspiciously.
They all got up and stepped forward to reveal seven women, one girl who looked to be about ten years old, one guy with short black hair, and two cats with cresent moons on their foreheads. 'Must be Luna and Artemis.' He thought, remembering Ami's explanation for the guardian cats "We were healing the two of you." Said the one with long raven hair. "You only suffered from an energy drain so you woke up first, but Ami's condition is worse. She has a deep wound and we need to heal it. So please, calm down so we can get back to work." She said pleadingly.
Trunks looked over at where Ami lay and then turned back to them. "If your healing her then your going too slow." He said as he re-sheathed his sword and layed it on the ground. He then turned around and took the small bean out of his pocket and knelt down preparing to give it to her.
"Hey what's that! Don't give that to her!" Screamed the girl with short blonde hair. "It's a senzu bean and it'll heal her instantly. So calm down." He said, as he popped it in her throat and massaged her neck to get it down.
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath when he was finished, and when Ami finally opened her eyes and sat up there was a huge sigh of relief. "We're back!" She cried out happily as she threw her arms around his neck. "Yes, Ami. We're in your world now." Trunks said calmly as he tried to hide his blush while hugging her back warmly and thanking Kami in heaven for not letting someone else die on him. He was so relieved that she was alright. If there were to be another death on his watch, because he (once again) was too weak to do anything to stop it, then he really didn't know what he'd do. He cared for her too much to just sit back and watch her get hurt.
Ami smiled brightly for being in Trunks' arms and being back home. For a moment she didn't think she could beat Majin Buu and was getting a little afraid until Trunks came back. She then looked over his shoulder to see most of the girls giving her the death glare for hugging "Their Guy". That was how a guy whom they tried to get was always described as. "Theirs." Meaning no touching.
She both nervously and regretfully let go of him at the sight of their faces, and he did the same but without seeing the looks that her "friends" were sending her. Ami glanced back at all her friends still sending disapproving looks her way and her heart fell. 'With all of them around, what interest will he have in me?'
Trunks saw the look on her face and became worried."Are you alright, Ami?" He asked with concern clearly in his voice.
She looked up at him and gave him the bright cheery smile that she had mastered long ago when she was really upset. The only person in the room who wasn't fooled was Usagi who frowned, immediately knowing where the source of her discomfort came from.
"I'm fine, Trunks, just a little tired that's all."
"Oh, well then you should lie back down then."
"Actually, you need the rest a whole lot more than she does." The girl with long raven hair said.
"You must be Rei." Trunks said fondly, remembering Ami's description of all her friends. 'So these are the ones who saved me.'
"Yes, I'm Rei. And from I can sense, you're a whole lot weaker than she is because of that little bean thing you gave her." She pointed out
"I'm fine, really." He tried to stand up but when he did his head immediately swam and the room spun around. He was about to fall over and Ami tried to get up so she could catch him but Makoto beat her to it. He fell backwards into her arms and she tried to help him stand up straight.
"You're still weak." She stated the obvious from behind him. Trunks still tried to make light of the situation though. He didn't want people to worry over him, but damn, was he dizzy! Why wouldn't the room stop spinning? He then chuckled as if he was just fine. "I guess I'm just a little dizzy."
"You must be. From what we saw, you had to supply the power for Ami's key all by yourself." Makoto said with a hint of venom dripping from her voice at the accusation which caused Ami to wince. It wasn't her fault she passed out. She was injured.
"It's not her fault. I'm actually impressed that she managed to stay conscious long enough to use it." Trunks said quickly coming to her defence. "I'm just glad she's ok."
Ami smiled brightly at hearing this. At least he didn't seem to blame her for anything.
Rei heard the concern in his voice and tried to take his mind off of her. "Um...Come with me, Trunks." She said softly in a voice that sounded slightly more girlish than usual. "I have a spare room you can sleep in. It's not much, but we still weren't expecting you two here for another few days."
"You didn't have to do that y'know." He said, blushing while still leaning on Makoto for support. She was just standing there practically in heaven as she held him up.
"And just where were you planning on sleeping?" She asked with a light smirk.
His blush got deeper. "I...Uh......." 'What WAS I going to do?' He thought frantically. He forgot that he would have nowhere to stay when he came here. He looked around the strange room with everyone in it. His duffel bag with all of his and Ami's things was here, but there were no Capsule houses inside. At the sight of his red face Rei chuckled. "I guess that answers that question." She said while getting on the other side of him to help Makoto get him to the spare room.
"Hey, I'll come with you!" Minako said while running up to them, desperate for a little attention from Trunks. "You guys help him stand and I'll lead the way. Okay?" She chirped while flicking a hand through her blonde hair in an attempt to be seductive.
Trunks looked over at Ami as if to ask why there were so many people coming with him. He was just a little weak not deathly sick! She just shrugged her shoulders to answer his unasked question. He then sighed and let the girls cart him off to his room. He was a guest here and couldn't be rude after all.
When all four of them left the room Usagi practically ran up to Ami and whispered excitedly to her. "Tell me that you snagged him in that other world or else I'll be pissed!" Ami looked a little shocked at her friend's choice of language, but shook her head no anyway. "What? Why not?"
She was about to answer until Haruka marched up to her threateningly. "You TOLD him about us?!" She practically yelled. "Why did you do that? He could be a threat! He has more power than all of us put together! And now he knows who we are!"
"B-but Haruka, Pluto never said that I couldn't while I was with him, and besides he's just like us anyway." Ami stuttered out. Haruka could be VERY intimidating when she wanted to be.
She crossed her arms and eyed her as if she were thinking about what she just said. When it looked like she was about to protest this again, Usagi had to help. "C'mon, Haruka! This is Pluto we're talking about! She wouldn't send Ami off into a weird dimension to save someone if he could be a danger y'know."
Haruka got an annoyed look on her face at this point, simply because she knew that her princess was right. Michiru came up behind her and took her hand before giving it a reassuring squeeze. "We also trust Pluto, Usagi. It's just that we would have preferred to know about this and have a say in the matter as well, instead of coming home to find that all of you have been busy without us." She said.
"And besides," Haruka continued while turning her attention back to Ami. "Aren't you a little weak to be taking on missions like this? You almost died, Pluto could have sent someone stronger to get him if it was so important."
"I......I had the biggest advantage." She whispered with her head down. Haruka was making her feel like she had done something wrong, when in truth she had just saved a human life from torture and destruction. She missed her friends a lot, but she didn't think that the first thing they would all do when she got back was criticize her and hit on Trunks.
"How would you have the biggest advantage?" Haruka asked curiously. "It was her visor and ability to make a fog appear." Usagi stated proudly. "AND her powers over ice."
"Oh." She said dryly while trying to show how little she actually cared, when in truth it still annoyed her.
Suddenly Hotaru made herself know by speaking up. "Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, can we go home now? It's past midnight and I have school tomorrow." They both looked at her and slowly nodded their heads. Haruka sighed. "We'll talk about this later, I suppose. I just wish that you all could have waited for us, but if Pluto and you think that he won't be a threat then I guess we'll just have to trust your judgment, Usagi." She didn't give Usagi a chance to say anything back. She just turned around and left with Michiru and Hotaru following closely behind.
Ami let out a sigh of relief when they were gone. She thought for a moment that Haruka would literally rip her head off for telling Trunks about them. "Hey don't worry about them, Ami. You did the right thing." Darien said reassuringly.
She looked up at him and smiled thankfully. "Thank you."
"And besides." Artemis said, while standing next to Luna. "It'll be great having another male member of the group around! There are just way too many girls!" He then started to laugh until Luna and Usagi shot him death glares that shut him up almost instantly. Darien knew better so he kept his mouth shut.
Everyone had forgotten about Chibi-Usa who was still in the room at this point. She was still sitting in the shadows watching them with a fearful and nervous tension around her while biting at her nails. 'Oh no! He's here sooner! That'll give me less time to find away around this! What am I going to do? I have to find a way to stop it! It won't be fair!'
Rei suddenly walked back into the room looking very proud of herself and interrupting Chibi-Usa's thoughts. "He's out like a light!" She stated happily. "I gave him some of my special herbal tea the would make him sleep and help restore his energy."
Ami looked behind her and didn't see Minako or Makoto. "Where are the others?" She asked.
Rei looked behind her and scowled when she didn't see Minako or Makoto. "They were supposed to be following me!" She said angrily. Then she just shrugged it off. "Oh well. It won't be my fault if he wakes up to find those two whacko's in there staring at him!"
"I thought you gave him something to help him sleep." Darien said, confused. "Ya, sleep! Not put in a coma!" She said before sighing. "I suppose he'll need at least one person in there at a time to make sure that when he does wake up he'll get everything he needs. But since that most likely won't be until tomorrow I'm going in there to kick them out!"
She stopped in the doorway and turned towards Ami. "Hey, your mom is still brainwashed so you can stay here for a few days until it wears off, if you want."
Ami smiled at hearing this. It was at times like this when she knew that she really did have friends. Perhaps they just didn't know that they could hurt her feelings on occasion when they joked around. "Thank you, Rei. That's very kind of you."
"It's no problem at all!" She said, waving her hand dismissively. "Usagi, can you take her to your guest room? I don't have anymore spares and I need to get those two out of Trunks' room before they drool on him or something."
"Sure thing." She said enthusiastically. "I'll take Chibi-Usa home then." Darien said. He stretched out his hand for her to take and she ran to him. They left with Luna and Artemis close behind. "Bye, Usagi. Bye, Ami." Chibi-Usa called. The others just waved before leaving.
Rei then left and Ami picked up her duffle bag with all of her and Trunks' clothes in it before following Usagi down a hall. She had slept here more than Ami had and so she knew her way around in the living areas outside the Temple.
"Are you staying here too, Usagi?" Ami asked on the way there. "Yup! This is so great! You and I'll be sharing a room! This will be fun! I'm glad you got here earlier!" She thought for a moment at her last statement. "How did you get back so early anyway?" She asked looking over her shoulder.
"Trunks told me about those little senzu beans that heal all energy drains and wounds, so we figured that if he took one he could power up the key and we could come back sooner." She explained. Absentmindedly, she reached up to her neck to grab at the key and was surprised to find that it was gone. "Oh no! Where is it?" She asked frantically.
Usagi stopped. "Don't worry, Ami. Pluto has it." She said calmly. "She does? Why?" Ami asked confused. Pluto had told her that when she was done with it she wouldn't ask for it back. So why would she have it? Not that she didn't trust her, but she became very fond of the little jewel that she was given. It was her little reminder of both Trunks and the time they had spent together.
Usagi sighed. "Evidently when that thing was chasing you two there was an actual *overload* of energy. They key was damaged and might not work again." Ami blinked. "I can't believe it! Trunks can produce enough power to actually *break* the key, when all of us put together could barely get it to work! That's amazing!"
"You might not want to tell him about this, Ami." Usagi said somewhere in between being serious and being sad.
"Why not? It's not a big deal. We won't need it again anyway, Trunks is already here." Usagi stepped closer and put her hand on Ami's shoulder. "When you were gone, we were all talking and... well... we thought that when we got him here, he would most likely want to go back to his worlds past. Where everyone was still alive. So we would use your key to send him there, but if it's broken then we'll just be getting his hopes up if we say anything."
Ami was shocked. The thought that her key could not only be used to save Trunks, but also send him away had *never* crossed her mind. How could she be so stupid? Of course he would want to see his family again if given the chance. Why would he stay if there was a way back? She inwardly groaned. She liked him so much, but she wouldn't be able to keep him here against his will if he didn't want to stay.
She wouldn't say anything to him yet. Not until she knew for a fact that the key wouldn't work, but if Pluto could fix it then she would have to tell him about it. It wouldn't be right to deny him his family for her own selfish reasons. Honestly, she didn't know whether or not to hope that the key could be fixable.
She felt so ashamed of herself. They weren't even dating and she was acting like his leaving would be some big loss on her part. He probably didn't care about her as anything more than just a friend anyway. The only ones who would really miss out would be Makoto, Minako, Rei, and maybe even Hotaru. The ones who actually *had* a chance with him.
She sighed. "You're right, Usagi. We shouldn't tell him about it until we know for a fact that it will work or not." She nodded her head and they both continued on to their room, ignoring the whispered argument they heard between Rei, Minako and Makoto as they got closer to the guest rooms.
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The next day everyone was back at the Temple for a scout meeting. They were all seated at their usual places around the square table in Rei's room, discussing the totally hot guy two doors down the hall, much to the annoyance of Luna and Artemis. It was one o'clock in the afternoon, and Trunks was still asleep.
"Kami Rei, I thought you said that, that tea you gave him was supposed to help him sleep, not knock him out!" Minako grumbled miserably. She didn't really want to be here today. In fact she was originally planning on calling them claiming to have a cold or something in order to get out of being there. She was supposed to go out shopping with some other friends from school, but she blew it off to come here and maybe get a chance to speak to Trunks. Unfortunately the stuff that Rei gave him to help him sleep seemed to be *keeping* him asleep and it looked like she wouldn't be getting her chance to do that anytime soon.
She knew perfectly well that the others had their sights set on him, but she would be damned if the goddess of love would be outwitted at her own game. So she would be here and maybe charm him with her great looks and winning personality. She giggled at the thought of her and Trunks holding hands and kissing in the park. 'This will be SO easy!' She thought excitedly. The only thing currently in her way was the fact that he wasn't around to speak to.
"Calm down already, Minako!" Rei replied irritably. "I guess I just put a little too much herbs in the tea I gave him. It's no big deal y'know!" Her hands were so shaky when she prepared the tea for him yesterday that she didn't really notice how badly she was overdoing it. And when he told that it tasted great she knew her face turned red.
Not like the amount of sleeping he was doing mattered. Trunks needed the rest anyway and right now was Chibi-Usa's turn to watch him. She inwardly snickered, remembering how angry Makoto got a being kicked out. It was all just one big competition on who he would see first when he woke up.
Rei pretty much gave up her hopes that such a polite and handsome man would be interested in her however, when he made another comment about how happy he was for Ami's safety just before dozing off. The others didn't catch the mixture of worry and relief in his voice when he said that, and she could sense his aura fluctuate like a heartbeat when he mentioned her name. So she would step aside from the game like a good friend and let Ami have him with no trouble at all.
The strange thing was, from what her psychic powers were telling her, Ami didn't seem to notice that she had already won the game. Oh well. It would be a little fun trying to play match maker with those two anyway. She just had to try and get Minako, Makoto and Hotaru to try and take that hint that for once there was a guy in their "Hands Off" category.
Minako pouted a little. Ami had her nose in a book, pretending to read it while paying close attention to the conversation around her that Makoto suddenly jumped into. "Well I wish that he would have at LEAST gotten up at noon! I made a special lunch for him to eat and now he won't even get to enjoy it." She said while crossing her arms.
Makoto wanted a chance to impress the cute new guy who for once didn't look like her old boyfriend, but was disappointed when she had been sitting there for the past three and a half hours and still not one chance to speak to Trunks presented itself. They would fit so perfectly together! She grinned at the mental picture of the two of them sitting on a blanket on a hillside, having a picnic. 'Maybe he can even show me some of his fighting moves!' She thought excitedly. The idea of sword fighting was definitely exciting! They seemed to have the most in common so they should click the easiest.
"He's so cute! I can't wait to get a shot at him!" She said out loud without realizing it until it was too late. Everyone in the room just stared at her while she blushed furiously. Usagi frowned a little as she saw Ami's face fall at the statement, but she didn't say anything.
Rei spoke up on Ami's behalf. "Who says it will be you who gets him?" She asked sternly. It was annoying her how they were all starting to act like a bunch of fourteen year olds again over a boy. Unfortunately everyone in the room seemed to think that she was referring to herself when she said this and a giant argument broke out between the three friends at this point. Usagi and Ami just sighed and shook their heads, grateful that the outers weren't here to witness this disgusting display. They all had to either work or stay in school, so they wouldn't be around until later tonight.
Down the hall in the next bedroom, Trunks was lightly snoring in bed, while Chibi-Usa watched. Making sure that there would be someone around to explain things for when he woke up. She had never felt so guilty about anything in her whole eleven years of life as she watched him sleep in the chair beside his bed. It just wasn't fair. He shouldn't have to choose like that! "I'll help you I promise." She whispered.
Trunks groaned and turned over. Chibi-Usa found herself holding her breath as he slowly opened his eyes and sat up, shielding his eyes from the light coming through the window. He looked around a bit before his eyes rested on her and he lowered his hand. "Hello." He said politely, not sure of what to make of this small child in here with him.
"Um, hi." She said back shyly. "Um...I'm Chibi-Usa." She said while stretching out her hand for him to take. He smiled at her at politely took her smaller hand into his bigger one and lightly shook it before letting go. "The one from the future, right?" He asked, still smiling with interest while remembering the description of pink hair in odangos.
She blushed a little. "Hai." She replied, nodding her head. His smile never faltered. "You and I have something in common then, I guess."
She gave him a bright smile of her own. He was easy enough to get along with. "Ya, I guess we do!" She said while standing up from her chair. "Everyone's in the next room, They'll be glad that you finally woke up." She told him.
"Finally?" He asked in confusion. "What time is it?"
"One o'clock." She answered simply.
"Oh no!" He yelled hopping out of bed quickly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be rude and sleep so late!" He quickly bowed and apologized trying to find his sword and bag so he could get dressed in some clean clothes since he'd slept in his old clothes last night.
"Don't worry about it." She said, waving her hand dismissively. "It's not your fault. The tea that Rei gave you was just a little too strong that's all."
"Oh" He said blushing. He was so embarrassed. Trunks wanted to make a good impression on these people not seem rude or intrusive.
"Anyway" She continued. "Your duffle bag is under the bed. Ami put it in here when she was done with it last night."
"Thank you." He said while getting on his knees as he reached for the bag that had all of his spare clothes in it. "And don't forget to wrap your tail around your waist when you come out." Chibi-Usa said, absentmindedly as she prepared to leave so that he could change. Trunks stopped what he was doing immediately and slowly turned his head towards her. "H-how do you know about that?" He asked almost fearful.
"I'm from the future, remember? And besides, it's in plain sight right now." She said pointing at it. Trunks turned his head and gasped. There it was, waving lazily around in the air behind him. 'The stupid thing must've come undone when I was sleeping!' He thought angrily at himself for being so careless with it.
His anger subsided quickly, however when he looked into Chibi-Usa's bright and smiling face. 'She *would* know since she's from the future. So I guess I can trust her to not tell anyone until I'm ready to let them know.' He reasoned with himself. "Thanks. I'll try to be more careful with it next time." He said softly. If he could trust anyone it would be another time traveller who saved the past. Right?
She just nodded her head and ran lightheartedly out the door with her pink pigtails swinging behind her. She quietly shut the door and leaned her back up against it, more determined to make Pluto help her to find another way around this unfair fate. He trusted her. She could feel it when he dismissed the fact that she knew about his tail so easily. She felt so awful. She didn't feel like she was worthy of anyone's trust at this point, not with the secret she was keeping.
Trunks finished dressing soon enough and came out of his room wearing similar clothes to what he was wearing yesterday with his sword on his back and his tail wrapped securely around his waist and underneath his shirt. Chibi-Usa pasted on her fake smile for him and motioned him to follow her. "Everyone's in that room." She said pointing to the one that was two doors down. He nodded his head and politely followed her.
She opened the sliding door and they could both see everyone seated around a square table on the floor in the middle of a large room. "I'm sorry I slept in so late." He immediately apologized to them while bowing his head. Chibi-Usa may have explained to him that it wasn't his fault, but he still felt a little guilty for it. He was a guest here and shouldn't be acting so rude.
"That's alright." Rei said to him warmly.
"Ya, don't worry about it! It was Rei's fault anyway!" The brunette with the ponytail said jokingly. Makoto if he could remember Ami's descriptions right.
"Why don't you sit down, Trunks?" The girl with the long blonde hair in a red ribbon offered, while moving over to make room for him next to her at the table. He smiled at the offer before he caught sight of Ami sitting on the other end of the table reading a book. His heart beat quickened a little at the sight of her. She looked *really* good in those reading glasses.
"Thank you." He said politely, while going to take a seat next to her. Minako scowled lightly at this but said nothing. Usagi beamed at the sight. Maybe there was a chance for them after all. Chibi-Usa went and sat in a corner of the room.
Ami put her book down on the table and took off her glasses. "Sleep well, Trunks?" She asked. He blushed a little at the question. "Um...Hai." He said while nodding his head. Makoto and Minako seemed to get a dreamy look in their eyes at the sight of his pink cheeks. A pink face and purple hair accented his features very nicely in their opinion.
Trunks looked around the table. He could see Luna and Artemis sitting off in a corner, but they were just keeping quiet, watching him with interest. Trunks smirked. 'They probably don't know that I know they can talk yet.' He thought to himself.
Then his manners caught up with him. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He said while offering his hand to Minako, since she was the closest, to shake. She took his hand, giggling like a thirteen year old at the attention, but he didn't seem to notice. "It's good to meet all of you." He said while letting go of her hand and offering it to Rei who gladly accepted it. "Thank you all for saving me." He said politely. "It was our pleasure." She said.
"Ya, we would do it a thousand times over, so don't you worry." Makoto said as she shook his hand next. Trunks then turned his attention over to Usagi who was sitting on the other side of Ami, and he offered her his hand. He then took note of how her hair was done up. "You must be Serenity-Hime." He stated while they politely shook hands.
"Yes I am. It's very nice to finally meet you, Trunks" She said, letting go of his hand.
"Ami's told me so much about you all." He said a little excited to be around living people for the first time in a long time, but not just that, people that he could also relate to, in a sense. He could discuss certain things with them that he wouldn't be able to do in his own world. Like his powers for instance, and they could do the same with him.
"Anyway, Trunks." Rei started. "I got my grandpa to give you a job here. You get a room here and your basic duties would be to just help Chad clean up and work in the gardens, but Grandpa runs a martial arts school here too so when he sees how skilled you are I'm sure that you'll get an immediate promotion. You can have it if you want." She said.
Trunks couldn't believe his luck. "Sure! I'd love to stay here! Thank you so much! I really don't know what to say!"
She just smiled at him. "Your welcome. Oh, and you won't have to do anything until the day after tomorrow, so that should give us plenty of time to get you acquainted with the Temple and with the city."
"Hey, that's a great idea!" Makoto almost shouted. "As your first day here you should enjoy it! We could take you to see all the sights and have some fun around town too!"
Ami then spoke up. "There's an exhibition at the art museum if you want to go, Trunks. I heard it's really good."
Trunks was about to agree to this until Minako said something first. "C'mon, Ami! The art museum? Art is boring! I'm sure that he wouldn't want to see that!" She rested her elbows on the table as if she was getting bored at the mere mention of something like that. "Besides, They probably didn't even have art museums in his world. How is he supposed to know what he's looking at?"
Trunks was a little taken back at that statement. He also felt a little insulted too. Everyone in the room except for Minako, seemed to catch on to the insulting thing that she had just said, and were all shaking their heads in embarrassment. "Actually, we did have museums and art galleries in my world y'know." He said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"Really? I thought that your world was war torn." She said a little surprised. Ami groaned. Only one thought entered her mind at this point. And it was 'dumb blonde!'
"It was, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't keep our own cultures. The androids couldn't be everywhere at once and some cities did just fine for years on end. We had all the things that this world had, and in some cases were even farther ahead in certain areas. It was just a little hard to enjoy it all."
"So you could actually go out and see these things?" Minako asked.
"Well, *I* couldn't. I was always out fighting. I've never been to school or went to a museum before in my life." He rested his own elbows on the table, saddened by the thought of what he couldn't of had. "I was always home schooled. Mom was just too afraid to send me off to a public school with all the attacks going on."
Minako looked at everyone surrounding the table to see their scowling faces. She suddenly caught on to how stupid what she said was. "I'm sorry." She whispered, lowering her head in shame. Just because he had to fight his whole life didn't mean that he came from a world of people who were ignorant to the good things life had to offer.
"Don't worry about it." He said lightly. At least she apologised. He then turned towards Ami. "I'd like to go with you the art exhibit when you have the time, Ami. I should learn a little about this world if I'm going to be staying anyway."
She smiled at him. "That's great. We could also take you to a few good restaurants, the park and maybe the arcade too. We haven't been there in a long time!"
Everyone in the room aside from Usagi was pretty shocked to hear Ami suggest doing something fun for a change, but they all did a good job in hiding it.
"Y'know." Usagi said, looking at her watch. "We could get going now if you want. It's one o'clock so we could go see a lot of things and still get home only shortly after dark."
"Are you sure?" Trunks asked. "I don't really want to be a bother."
"It's no bother at all!" Ami insisted. "We should all go out anyway. It'll give the others a chance to get to know you better. Besides we all haven't just gone out on the town for no reason in a long time and you could use a nice relaxing day!" Everyone quickly nodded their heads in agreement for Trunks to see.
He couldn't help but smile at them. "Alright then. I guess it could be fun." He turned towards the two cats who were still eyeing him and smirked. "Are the two of you coming along too?" He asked. They looked shocked at being spoken to. "You know we can speak?" Artemis asked. Luna jabbed him in the gut when he said that and scowled at him.
Trunks nodded his head. "And you're not surprised by this?" Luna asked almost confused by his calm manner. "No. There was actually a talking cat in my world too. His name was Karin, he was a white cat and he carried around a cane and walked on two legs." Trunks slowly bowed his head. "He's dead now, though." Ami placed a hand on his back. She knew about Karin the cat and felt awful for him.
They both sighed. "We might as well stop pretending to be stupid animal then and go with them." Artemis said. "Oh, and you should leave that sword here, Trunks." He added.
"Why?" Trunks asked in confusion.
"People around here don't normally carry around weapons like that. You should leave it here with me and I'll fix it up so you can carry around later. Okay?"
"Um...sure." He replied, un-clipping his sword and reluctantly placing it in the centre of the table. Makoto just eyed it with real interest as Artemis hopped on the table and sat down next to it.
"You're not coming, Artemis?" Usagi asked. "No. Too many girls for my taste." He replied almost laughing while all the females in the room gave him an evil glare to shut him up.
"What about you Chibi-Usa? Aren't you coming?" She asked the little pink haired girl who was sitting off in the shadows. She just shook her head. "I have a few other things to see to. Maybe tomorrow."
Usagi just shrugged her shoulders. "Alright then. We'll see you when we get back."
"Well then lets go." Rei said, standing up. Everyone got up with her and headed for the door while Luna gracefully hopped on Usagi's shoulder and made herself comfortable for the ride.
They all walked down the Temple hall together, Minako and Makoto making bets on who would get Trunks while they went, and stepped outside. The first thing Trunks took note of in the Temple yard was all of the beautiful blooming orchids, filled with pink blossoms that swirled in the wind. "Wow." He whispered in awe at the sight. He wasn't used to seeing such sights.
Rei giggled at his shocked expression. "And just think, you get to live here!" she said proudly.
He smiled at her gratefully before walking up next to Ami, who smiled back up at him shyly when she saw him. Minako and Makoto saw this and they both practically fought over who got to stand on his other side on their trip.
As they all walked towards the Temple steps that led down to the street, no-one noticed the small glowing pink blob that twitched with anticipation off in the shadows of the nearby bushes. Waiting to become whole again to make it's attack.
To Be Continued...............................
A.N: Ok to clear a few things up, the reason why I am Using both Japanes and American names (Eg. Darien instead of Mamourou) Would be because I either don't know them, don't know how to spell them or don't like them. And to answer Kaiya there will be a few more chapters, and maybe even a side story when I'm done! ^_~ Won't tell you what it's about though. That could spoil my super sad tear jerker ending!!!! I love being an author. It gives me so much power over what cruel things I get to do to my characters!!!!! MWUHAHAHAHAHa....Cough...Cough!
Bye for now!
Chapter Six: A New World
'Oh Kami, what happened? Kuso, I hurt!' Trunks was still a little out of it. He could hear whispers all around him, and a crackling sound as if he were near a bonfire. "He's waking up!" He managed to open his eyes a crack and turn his head.
He was on a floor on a mat with a thin blanket covering him, his sword lying next to him. Ami was beside him with the same things covering her. She didn't look so good. There actually was a bonfire, and it was next to her. He turned his head to the other side. He couldn't make out the figures, but there were many of them. It was as if they were all sitting in the shadows, just out of reach for him to see. Strange considering there was a huge fire behind him. 'My eyes must still need to adjust.' They were all sitting on their knees behind one in particular.
By the sound of the voice it was a woman, and she was chanting out something strange and making complex hand movements. He sensed something weird about her and immediately became suspicious. The energy she was channelling was all headed in his and Ami's direction, but his mind was too fogged up to process what it was though. His mind did register one thing however, Ami had told him about strange monsters that would use all kinds of spells to attack their victims. Where were they? Were they captured by some weird creatures?
If they were in trouble then he would get them out of it! Ami was next to him and by the look of it, still need his last senzu bean. He grabbed his sword and jumped to his feet and got into a fighting position so quick they all let out startled gasps. It sounded like they were all girls! Trunks inwardly groaned, He was still dizzy and didn't feel like fighting. At least a bunch of females shouldn't be able to put up too much of a fight. 'Oh, man am I ever dizzy! I wish I don't have to move around so fast for a fight.'
"It's alright, calm down. You're with friends." It was a male voice that said this.
"Who are you and where are we!" He demanded as threateningly as he could.
"My name is Darien and your at the Hikawa Temple. We're Ami's friends."
Trunks relaxed a bit when he heard that but didn't fully let his guard down. They could easily be lying. He turned his head slightly to see Ami still on the floor, sweating and shivering beneath her blanket. "What were you doing?" He asked suspiciously.
They all got up and stepped forward to reveal seven women, one girl who looked to be about ten years old, one guy with short black hair, and two cats with cresent moons on their foreheads. 'Must be Luna and Artemis.' He thought, remembering Ami's explanation for the guardian cats "We were healing the two of you." Said the one with long raven hair. "You only suffered from an energy drain so you woke up first, but Ami's condition is worse. She has a deep wound and we need to heal it. So please, calm down so we can get back to work." She said pleadingly.
Trunks looked over at where Ami lay and then turned back to them. "If your healing her then your going too slow." He said as he re-sheathed his sword and layed it on the ground. He then turned around and took the small bean out of his pocket and knelt down preparing to give it to her.
"Hey what's that! Don't give that to her!" Screamed the girl with short blonde hair. "It's a senzu bean and it'll heal her instantly. So calm down." He said, as he popped it in her throat and massaged her neck to get it down.
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath when he was finished, and when Ami finally opened her eyes and sat up there was a huge sigh of relief. "We're back!" She cried out happily as she threw her arms around his neck. "Yes, Ami. We're in your world now." Trunks said calmly as he tried to hide his blush while hugging her back warmly and thanking Kami in heaven for not letting someone else die on him. He was so relieved that she was alright. If there were to be another death on his watch, because he (once again) was too weak to do anything to stop it, then he really didn't know what he'd do. He cared for her too much to just sit back and watch her get hurt.
Ami smiled brightly for being in Trunks' arms and being back home. For a moment she didn't think she could beat Majin Buu and was getting a little afraid until Trunks came back. She then looked over his shoulder to see most of the girls giving her the death glare for hugging "Their Guy". That was how a guy whom they tried to get was always described as. "Theirs." Meaning no touching.
She both nervously and regretfully let go of him at the sight of their faces, and he did the same but without seeing the looks that her "friends" were sending her. Ami glanced back at all her friends still sending disapproving looks her way and her heart fell. 'With all of them around, what interest will he have in me?'
Trunks saw the look on her face and became worried."Are you alright, Ami?" He asked with concern clearly in his voice.
She looked up at him and gave him the bright cheery smile that she had mastered long ago when she was really upset. The only person in the room who wasn't fooled was Usagi who frowned, immediately knowing where the source of her discomfort came from.
"I'm fine, Trunks, just a little tired that's all."
"Oh, well then you should lie back down then."
"Actually, you need the rest a whole lot more than she does." The girl with long raven hair said.
"You must be Rei." Trunks said fondly, remembering Ami's description of all her friends. 'So these are the ones who saved me.'
"Yes, I'm Rei. And from I can sense, you're a whole lot weaker than she is because of that little bean thing you gave her." She pointed out
"I'm fine, really." He tried to stand up but when he did his head immediately swam and the room spun around. He was about to fall over and Ami tried to get up so she could catch him but Makoto beat her to it. He fell backwards into her arms and she tried to help him stand up straight.
"You're still weak." She stated the obvious from behind him. Trunks still tried to make light of the situation though. He didn't want people to worry over him, but damn, was he dizzy! Why wouldn't the room stop spinning? He then chuckled as if he was just fine. "I guess I'm just a little dizzy."
"You must be. From what we saw, you had to supply the power for Ami's key all by yourself." Makoto said with a hint of venom dripping from her voice at the accusation which caused Ami to wince. It wasn't her fault she passed out. She was injured.
"It's not her fault. I'm actually impressed that she managed to stay conscious long enough to use it." Trunks said quickly coming to her defence. "I'm just glad she's ok."
Ami smiled brightly at hearing this. At least he didn't seem to blame her for anything.
Rei heard the concern in his voice and tried to take his mind off of her. "Um...Come with me, Trunks." She said softly in a voice that sounded slightly more girlish than usual. "I have a spare room you can sleep in. It's not much, but we still weren't expecting you two here for another few days."
"You didn't have to do that y'know." He said, blushing while still leaning on Makoto for support. She was just standing there practically in heaven as she held him up.
"And just where were you planning on sleeping?" She asked with a light smirk.
His blush got deeper. "I...Uh......." 'What WAS I going to do?' He thought frantically. He forgot that he would have nowhere to stay when he came here. He looked around the strange room with everyone in it. His duffel bag with all of his and Ami's things was here, but there were no Capsule houses inside. At the sight of his red face Rei chuckled. "I guess that answers that question." She said while getting on the other side of him to help Makoto get him to the spare room.
"Hey, I'll come with you!" Minako said while running up to them, desperate for a little attention from Trunks. "You guys help him stand and I'll lead the way. Okay?" She chirped while flicking a hand through her blonde hair in an attempt to be seductive.
Trunks looked over at Ami as if to ask why there were so many people coming with him. He was just a little weak not deathly sick! She just shrugged her shoulders to answer his unasked question. He then sighed and let the girls cart him off to his room. He was a guest here and couldn't be rude after all.
When all four of them left the room Usagi practically ran up to Ami and whispered excitedly to her. "Tell me that you snagged him in that other world or else I'll be pissed!" Ami looked a little shocked at her friend's choice of language, but shook her head no anyway. "What? Why not?"
She was about to answer until Haruka marched up to her threateningly. "You TOLD him about us?!" She practically yelled. "Why did you do that? He could be a threat! He has more power than all of us put together! And now he knows who we are!"
"B-but Haruka, Pluto never said that I couldn't while I was with him, and besides he's just like us anyway." Ami stuttered out. Haruka could be VERY intimidating when she wanted to be.
She crossed her arms and eyed her as if she were thinking about what she just said. When it looked like she was about to protest this again, Usagi had to help. "C'mon, Haruka! This is Pluto we're talking about! She wouldn't send Ami off into a weird dimension to save someone if he could be a danger y'know."
Haruka got an annoyed look on her face at this point, simply because she knew that her princess was right. Michiru came up behind her and took her hand before giving it a reassuring squeeze. "We also trust Pluto, Usagi. It's just that we would have preferred to know about this and have a say in the matter as well, instead of coming home to find that all of you have been busy without us." She said.
"And besides," Haruka continued while turning her attention back to Ami. "Aren't you a little weak to be taking on missions like this? You almost died, Pluto could have sent someone stronger to get him if it was so important."
"I......I had the biggest advantage." She whispered with her head down. Haruka was making her feel like she had done something wrong, when in truth she had just saved a human life from torture and destruction. She missed her friends a lot, but she didn't think that the first thing they would all do when she got back was criticize her and hit on Trunks.
"How would you have the biggest advantage?" Haruka asked curiously. "It was her visor and ability to make a fog appear." Usagi stated proudly. "AND her powers over ice."
"Oh." She said dryly while trying to show how little she actually cared, when in truth it still annoyed her.
Suddenly Hotaru made herself know by speaking up. "Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, can we go home now? It's past midnight and I have school tomorrow." They both looked at her and slowly nodded their heads. Haruka sighed. "We'll talk about this later, I suppose. I just wish that you all could have waited for us, but if Pluto and you think that he won't be a threat then I guess we'll just have to trust your judgment, Usagi." She didn't give Usagi a chance to say anything back. She just turned around and left with Michiru and Hotaru following closely behind.
Ami let out a sigh of relief when they were gone. She thought for a moment that Haruka would literally rip her head off for telling Trunks about them. "Hey don't worry about them, Ami. You did the right thing." Darien said reassuringly.
She looked up at him and smiled thankfully. "Thank you."
"And besides." Artemis said, while standing next to Luna. "It'll be great having another male member of the group around! There are just way too many girls!" He then started to laugh until Luna and Usagi shot him death glares that shut him up almost instantly. Darien knew better so he kept his mouth shut.
Everyone had forgotten about Chibi-Usa who was still in the room at this point. She was still sitting in the shadows watching them with a fearful and nervous tension around her while biting at her nails. 'Oh no! He's here sooner! That'll give me less time to find away around this! What am I going to do? I have to find a way to stop it! It won't be fair!'
Rei suddenly walked back into the room looking very proud of herself and interrupting Chibi-Usa's thoughts. "He's out like a light!" She stated happily. "I gave him some of my special herbal tea the would make him sleep and help restore his energy."
Ami looked behind her and didn't see Minako or Makoto. "Where are the others?" She asked.
Rei looked behind her and scowled when she didn't see Minako or Makoto. "They were supposed to be following me!" She said angrily. Then she just shrugged it off. "Oh well. It won't be my fault if he wakes up to find those two whacko's in there staring at him!"
"I thought you gave him something to help him sleep." Darien said, confused. "Ya, sleep! Not put in a coma!" She said before sighing. "I suppose he'll need at least one person in there at a time to make sure that when he does wake up he'll get everything he needs. But since that most likely won't be until tomorrow I'm going in there to kick them out!"
She stopped in the doorway and turned towards Ami. "Hey, your mom is still brainwashed so you can stay here for a few days until it wears off, if you want."
Ami smiled at hearing this. It was at times like this when she knew that she really did have friends. Perhaps they just didn't know that they could hurt her feelings on occasion when they joked around. "Thank you, Rei. That's very kind of you."
"It's no problem at all!" She said, waving her hand dismissively. "Usagi, can you take her to your guest room? I don't have anymore spares and I need to get those two out of Trunks' room before they drool on him or something."
"Sure thing." She said enthusiastically. "I'll take Chibi-Usa home then." Darien said. He stretched out his hand for her to take and she ran to him. They left with Luna and Artemis close behind. "Bye, Usagi. Bye, Ami." Chibi-Usa called. The others just waved before leaving.
Rei then left and Ami picked up her duffle bag with all of her and Trunks' clothes in it before following Usagi down a hall. She had slept here more than Ami had and so she knew her way around in the living areas outside the Temple.
"Are you staying here too, Usagi?" Ami asked on the way there. "Yup! This is so great! You and I'll be sharing a room! This will be fun! I'm glad you got here earlier!" She thought for a moment at her last statement. "How did you get back so early anyway?" She asked looking over her shoulder.
"Trunks told me about those little senzu beans that heal all energy drains and wounds, so we figured that if he took one he could power up the key and we could come back sooner." She explained. Absentmindedly, she reached up to her neck to grab at the key and was surprised to find that it was gone. "Oh no! Where is it?" She asked frantically.
Usagi stopped. "Don't worry, Ami. Pluto has it." She said calmly. "She does? Why?" Ami asked confused. Pluto had told her that when she was done with it she wouldn't ask for it back. So why would she have it? Not that she didn't trust her, but she became very fond of the little jewel that she was given. It was her little reminder of both Trunks and the time they had spent together.
Usagi sighed. "Evidently when that thing was chasing you two there was an actual *overload* of energy. They key was damaged and might not work again." Ami blinked. "I can't believe it! Trunks can produce enough power to actually *break* the key, when all of us put together could barely get it to work! That's amazing!"
"You might not want to tell him about this, Ami." Usagi said somewhere in between being serious and being sad.
"Why not? It's not a big deal. We won't need it again anyway, Trunks is already here." Usagi stepped closer and put her hand on Ami's shoulder. "When you were gone, we were all talking and... well... we thought that when we got him here, he would most likely want to go back to his worlds past. Where everyone was still alive. So we would use your key to send him there, but if it's broken then we'll just be getting his hopes up if we say anything."
Ami was shocked. The thought that her key could not only be used to save Trunks, but also send him away had *never* crossed her mind. How could she be so stupid? Of course he would want to see his family again if given the chance. Why would he stay if there was a way back? She inwardly groaned. She liked him so much, but she wouldn't be able to keep him here against his will if he didn't want to stay.
She wouldn't say anything to him yet. Not until she knew for a fact that the key wouldn't work, but if Pluto could fix it then she would have to tell him about it. It wouldn't be right to deny him his family for her own selfish reasons. Honestly, she didn't know whether or not to hope that the key could be fixable.
She felt so ashamed of herself. They weren't even dating and she was acting like his leaving would be some big loss on her part. He probably didn't care about her as anything more than just a friend anyway. The only ones who would really miss out would be Makoto, Minako, Rei, and maybe even Hotaru. The ones who actually *had* a chance with him.
She sighed. "You're right, Usagi. We shouldn't tell him about it until we know for a fact that it will work or not." She nodded her head and they both continued on to their room, ignoring the whispered argument they heard between Rei, Minako and Makoto as they got closer to the guest rooms.
***********************************************************
The next day everyone was back at the Temple for a scout meeting. They were all seated at their usual places around the square table in Rei's room, discussing the totally hot guy two doors down the hall, much to the annoyance of Luna and Artemis. It was one o'clock in the afternoon, and Trunks was still asleep.
"Kami Rei, I thought you said that, that tea you gave him was supposed to help him sleep, not knock him out!" Minako grumbled miserably. She didn't really want to be here today. In fact she was originally planning on calling them claiming to have a cold or something in order to get out of being there. She was supposed to go out shopping with some other friends from school, but she blew it off to come here and maybe get a chance to speak to Trunks. Unfortunately the stuff that Rei gave him to help him sleep seemed to be *keeping* him asleep and it looked like she wouldn't be getting her chance to do that anytime soon.
She knew perfectly well that the others had their sights set on him, but she would be damned if the goddess of love would be outwitted at her own game. So she would be here and maybe charm him with her great looks and winning personality. She giggled at the thought of her and Trunks holding hands and kissing in the park. 'This will be SO easy!' She thought excitedly. The only thing currently in her way was the fact that he wasn't around to speak to.
"Calm down already, Minako!" Rei replied irritably. "I guess I just put a little too much herbs in the tea I gave him. It's no big deal y'know!" Her hands were so shaky when she prepared the tea for him yesterday that she didn't really notice how badly she was overdoing it. And when he told that it tasted great she knew her face turned red.
Not like the amount of sleeping he was doing mattered. Trunks needed the rest anyway and right now was Chibi-Usa's turn to watch him. She inwardly snickered, remembering how angry Makoto got a being kicked out. It was all just one big competition on who he would see first when he woke up.
Rei pretty much gave up her hopes that such a polite and handsome man would be interested in her however, when he made another comment about how happy he was for Ami's safety just before dozing off. The others didn't catch the mixture of worry and relief in his voice when he said that, and she could sense his aura fluctuate like a heartbeat when he mentioned her name. So she would step aside from the game like a good friend and let Ami have him with no trouble at all.
The strange thing was, from what her psychic powers were telling her, Ami didn't seem to notice that she had already won the game. Oh well. It would be a little fun trying to play match maker with those two anyway. She just had to try and get Minako, Makoto and Hotaru to try and take that hint that for once there was a guy in their "Hands Off" category.
Minako pouted a little. Ami had her nose in a book, pretending to read it while paying close attention to the conversation around her that Makoto suddenly jumped into. "Well I wish that he would have at LEAST gotten up at noon! I made a special lunch for him to eat and now he won't even get to enjoy it." She said while crossing her arms.
Makoto wanted a chance to impress the cute new guy who for once didn't look like her old boyfriend, but was disappointed when she had been sitting there for the past three and a half hours and still not one chance to speak to Trunks presented itself. They would fit so perfectly together! She grinned at the mental picture of the two of them sitting on a blanket on a hillside, having a picnic. 'Maybe he can even show me some of his fighting moves!' She thought excitedly. The idea of sword fighting was definitely exciting! They seemed to have the most in common so they should click the easiest.
"He's so cute! I can't wait to get a shot at him!" She said out loud without realizing it until it was too late. Everyone in the room just stared at her while she blushed furiously. Usagi frowned a little as she saw Ami's face fall at the statement, but she didn't say anything.
Rei spoke up on Ami's behalf. "Who says it will be you who gets him?" She asked sternly. It was annoying her how they were all starting to act like a bunch of fourteen year olds again over a boy. Unfortunately everyone in the room seemed to think that she was referring to herself when she said this and a giant argument broke out between the three friends at this point. Usagi and Ami just sighed and shook their heads, grateful that the outers weren't here to witness this disgusting display. They all had to either work or stay in school, so they wouldn't be around until later tonight.
Down the hall in the next bedroom, Trunks was lightly snoring in bed, while Chibi-Usa watched. Making sure that there would be someone around to explain things for when he woke up. She had never felt so guilty about anything in her whole eleven years of life as she watched him sleep in the chair beside his bed. It just wasn't fair. He shouldn't have to choose like that! "I'll help you I promise." She whispered.
Trunks groaned and turned over. Chibi-Usa found herself holding her breath as he slowly opened his eyes and sat up, shielding his eyes from the light coming through the window. He looked around a bit before his eyes rested on her and he lowered his hand. "Hello." He said politely, not sure of what to make of this small child in here with him.
"Um, hi." She said back shyly. "Um...I'm Chibi-Usa." She said while stretching out her hand for him to take. He smiled at her at politely took her smaller hand into his bigger one and lightly shook it before letting go. "The one from the future, right?" He asked, still smiling with interest while remembering the description of pink hair in odangos.
She blushed a little. "Hai." She replied, nodding her head. His smile never faltered. "You and I have something in common then, I guess."
She gave him a bright smile of her own. He was easy enough to get along with. "Ya, I guess we do!" She said while standing up from her chair. "Everyone's in the next room, They'll be glad that you finally woke up." She told him.
"Finally?" He asked in confusion. "What time is it?"
"One o'clock." She answered simply.
"Oh no!" He yelled hopping out of bed quickly. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be rude and sleep so late!" He quickly bowed and apologized trying to find his sword and bag so he could get dressed in some clean clothes since he'd slept in his old clothes last night.
"Don't worry about it." She said, waving her hand dismissively. "It's not your fault. The tea that Rei gave you was just a little too strong that's all."
"Oh" He said blushing. He was so embarrassed. Trunks wanted to make a good impression on these people not seem rude or intrusive.
"Anyway" She continued. "Your duffle bag is under the bed. Ami put it in here when she was done with it last night."
"Thank you." He said while getting on his knees as he reached for the bag that had all of his spare clothes in it. "And don't forget to wrap your tail around your waist when you come out." Chibi-Usa said, absentmindedly as she prepared to leave so that he could change. Trunks stopped what he was doing immediately and slowly turned his head towards her. "H-how do you know about that?" He asked almost fearful.
"I'm from the future, remember? And besides, it's in plain sight right now." She said pointing at it. Trunks turned his head and gasped. There it was, waving lazily around in the air behind him. 'The stupid thing must've come undone when I was sleeping!' He thought angrily at himself for being so careless with it.
His anger subsided quickly, however when he looked into Chibi-Usa's bright and smiling face. 'She *would* know since she's from the future. So I guess I can trust her to not tell anyone until I'm ready to let them know.' He reasoned with himself. "Thanks. I'll try to be more careful with it next time." He said softly. If he could trust anyone it would be another time traveller who saved the past. Right?
She just nodded her head and ran lightheartedly out the door with her pink pigtails swinging behind her. She quietly shut the door and leaned her back up against it, more determined to make Pluto help her to find another way around this unfair fate. He trusted her. She could feel it when he dismissed the fact that she knew about his tail so easily. She felt so awful. She didn't feel like she was worthy of anyone's trust at this point, not with the secret she was keeping.
Trunks finished dressing soon enough and came out of his room wearing similar clothes to what he was wearing yesterday with his sword on his back and his tail wrapped securely around his waist and underneath his shirt. Chibi-Usa pasted on her fake smile for him and motioned him to follow her. "Everyone's in that room." She said pointing to the one that was two doors down. He nodded his head and politely followed her.
She opened the sliding door and they could both see everyone seated around a square table on the floor in the middle of a large room. "I'm sorry I slept in so late." He immediately apologized to them while bowing his head. Chibi-Usa may have explained to him that it wasn't his fault, but he still felt a little guilty for it. He was a guest here and shouldn't be acting so rude.
"That's alright." Rei said to him warmly.
"Ya, don't worry about it! It was Rei's fault anyway!" The brunette with the ponytail said jokingly. Makoto if he could remember Ami's descriptions right.
"Why don't you sit down, Trunks?" The girl with the long blonde hair in a red ribbon offered, while moving over to make room for him next to her at the table. He smiled at the offer before he caught sight of Ami sitting on the other end of the table reading a book. His heart beat quickened a little at the sight of her. She looked *really* good in those reading glasses.
"Thank you." He said politely, while going to take a seat next to her. Minako scowled lightly at this but said nothing. Usagi beamed at the sight. Maybe there was a chance for them after all. Chibi-Usa went and sat in a corner of the room.
Ami put her book down on the table and took off her glasses. "Sleep well, Trunks?" She asked. He blushed a little at the question. "Um...Hai." He said while nodding his head. Makoto and Minako seemed to get a dreamy look in their eyes at the sight of his pink cheeks. A pink face and purple hair accented his features very nicely in their opinion.
Trunks looked around the table. He could see Luna and Artemis sitting off in a corner, but they were just keeping quiet, watching him with interest. Trunks smirked. 'They probably don't know that I know they can talk yet.' He thought to himself.
Then his manners caught up with him. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He said while offering his hand to Minako, since she was the closest, to shake. She took his hand, giggling like a thirteen year old at the attention, but he didn't seem to notice. "It's good to meet all of you." He said while letting go of her hand and offering it to Rei who gladly accepted it. "Thank you all for saving me." He said politely. "It was our pleasure." She said.
"Ya, we would do it a thousand times over, so don't you worry." Makoto said as she shook his hand next. Trunks then turned his attention over to Usagi who was sitting on the other side of Ami, and he offered her his hand. He then took note of how her hair was done up. "You must be Serenity-Hime." He stated while they politely shook hands.
"Yes I am. It's very nice to finally meet you, Trunks" She said, letting go of his hand.
"Ami's told me so much about you all." He said a little excited to be around living people for the first time in a long time, but not just that, people that he could also relate to, in a sense. He could discuss certain things with them that he wouldn't be able to do in his own world. Like his powers for instance, and they could do the same with him.
"Anyway, Trunks." Rei started. "I got my grandpa to give you a job here. You get a room here and your basic duties would be to just help Chad clean up and work in the gardens, but Grandpa runs a martial arts school here too so when he sees how skilled you are I'm sure that you'll get an immediate promotion. You can have it if you want." She said.
Trunks couldn't believe his luck. "Sure! I'd love to stay here! Thank you so much! I really don't know what to say!"
She just smiled at him. "Your welcome. Oh, and you won't have to do anything until the day after tomorrow, so that should give us plenty of time to get you acquainted with the Temple and with the city."
"Hey, that's a great idea!" Makoto almost shouted. "As your first day here you should enjoy it! We could take you to see all the sights and have some fun around town too!"
Ami then spoke up. "There's an exhibition at the art museum if you want to go, Trunks. I heard it's really good."
Trunks was about to agree to this until Minako said something first. "C'mon, Ami! The art museum? Art is boring! I'm sure that he wouldn't want to see that!" She rested her elbows on the table as if she was getting bored at the mere mention of something like that. "Besides, They probably didn't even have art museums in his world. How is he supposed to know what he's looking at?"
Trunks was a little taken back at that statement. He also felt a little insulted too. Everyone in the room except for Minako, seemed to catch on to the insulting thing that she had just said, and were all shaking their heads in embarrassment. "Actually, we did have museums and art galleries in my world y'know." He said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"Really? I thought that your world was war torn." She said a little surprised. Ami groaned. Only one thought entered her mind at this point. And it was 'dumb blonde!'
"It was, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't keep our own cultures. The androids couldn't be everywhere at once and some cities did just fine for years on end. We had all the things that this world had, and in some cases were even farther ahead in certain areas. It was just a little hard to enjoy it all."
"So you could actually go out and see these things?" Minako asked.
"Well, *I* couldn't. I was always out fighting. I've never been to school or went to a museum before in my life." He rested his own elbows on the table, saddened by the thought of what he couldn't of had. "I was always home schooled. Mom was just too afraid to send me off to a public school with all the attacks going on."
Minako looked at everyone surrounding the table to see their scowling faces. She suddenly caught on to how stupid what she said was. "I'm sorry." She whispered, lowering her head in shame. Just because he had to fight his whole life didn't mean that he came from a world of people who were ignorant to the good things life had to offer.
"Don't worry about it." He said lightly. At least she apologised. He then turned towards Ami. "I'd like to go with you the art exhibit when you have the time, Ami. I should learn a little about this world if I'm going to be staying anyway."
She smiled at him. "That's great. We could also take you to a few good restaurants, the park and maybe the arcade too. We haven't been there in a long time!"
Everyone in the room aside from Usagi was pretty shocked to hear Ami suggest doing something fun for a change, but they all did a good job in hiding it.
"Y'know." Usagi said, looking at her watch. "We could get going now if you want. It's one o'clock so we could go see a lot of things and still get home only shortly after dark."
"Are you sure?" Trunks asked. "I don't really want to be a bother."
"It's no bother at all!" Ami insisted. "We should all go out anyway. It'll give the others a chance to get to know you better. Besides we all haven't just gone out on the town for no reason in a long time and you could use a nice relaxing day!" Everyone quickly nodded their heads in agreement for Trunks to see.
He couldn't help but smile at them. "Alright then. I guess it could be fun." He turned towards the two cats who were still eyeing him and smirked. "Are the two of you coming along too?" He asked. They looked shocked at being spoken to. "You know we can speak?" Artemis asked. Luna jabbed him in the gut when he said that and scowled at him.
Trunks nodded his head. "And you're not surprised by this?" Luna asked almost confused by his calm manner. "No. There was actually a talking cat in my world too. His name was Karin, he was a white cat and he carried around a cane and walked on two legs." Trunks slowly bowed his head. "He's dead now, though." Ami placed a hand on his back. She knew about Karin the cat and felt awful for him.
They both sighed. "We might as well stop pretending to be stupid animal then and go with them." Artemis said. "Oh, and you should leave that sword here, Trunks." He added.
"Why?" Trunks asked in confusion.
"People around here don't normally carry around weapons like that. You should leave it here with me and I'll fix it up so you can carry around later. Okay?"
"Um...sure." He replied, un-clipping his sword and reluctantly placing it in the centre of the table. Makoto just eyed it with real interest as Artemis hopped on the table and sat down next to it.
"You're not coming, Artemis?" Usagi asked. "No. Too many girls for my taste." He replied almost laughing while all the females in the room gave him an evil glare to shut him up.
"What about you Chibi-Usa? Aren't you coming?" She asked the little pink haired girl who was sitting off in the shadows. She just shook her head. "I have a few other things to see to. Maybe tomorrow."
Usagi just shrugged her shoulders. "Alright then. We'll see you when we get back."
"Well then lets go." Rei said, standing up. Everyone got up with her and headed for the door while Luna gracefully hopped on Usagi's shoulder and made herself comfortable for the ride.
They all walked down the Temple hall together, Minako and Makoto making bets on who would get Trunks while they went, and stepped outside. The first thing Trunks took note of in the Temple yard was all of the beautiful blooming orchids, filled with pink blossoms that swirled in the wind. "Wow." He whispered in awe at the sight. He wasn't used to seeing such sights.
Rei giggled at his shocked expression. "And just think, you get to live here!" she said proudly.
He smiled at her gratefully before walking up next to Ami, who smiled back up at him shyly when she saw him. Minako and Makoto saw this and they both practically fought over who got to stand on his other side on their trip.
As they all walked towards the Temple steps that led down to the street, no-one noticed the small glowing pink blob that twitched with anticipation off in the shadows of the nearby bushes. Waiting to become whole again to make it's attack.
To Be Continued...............................
A.N: Ok to clear a few things up, the reason why I am Using both Japanes and American names (Eg. Darien instead of Mamourou) Would be because I either don't know them, don't know how to spell them or don't like them. And to answer Kaiya there will be a few more chapters, and maybe even a side story when I'm done! ^_~ Won't tell you what it's about though. That could spoil my super sad tear jerker ending!!!! I love being an author. It gives me so much power over what cruel things I get to do to my characters!!!!! MWUHAHAHAHAHa....Cough...Cough!
Bye for now!