I apoligize for the wait everyone, but what can I say? Life happens. The following chapter is told entirely in Trunks' point of view. I wanted to elaborate on his view of Xeexru and what better way to do it, than by getting into his mind. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Xeexru, Sularon, Olivatora, the Tomakas, and the Klentubians all belong to me. Do not use them unless you ask me first. As for the rest of the characters, they belong to their creator, Mr. Toriyama.

Chapter 13: Thoughts, views, and one near self-destruction.

Well... that was a new one.

I like to monitor my dreams. They let me slip away from the harsh reality of this world.

What am I saying? This isn't my world. It's not my life I'm living. My life isn't this good.

I can't recall how long I was lying there. The ceiling was not as interesting as I lead myself to believe. Finally, I decided to get up.

Pushing the blanket off me, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. The floor was colder than I had expected but the complaints left my mind as I scrounged for a pair of pants. The night before I had carelessly flung a pair of my battle combats on the floor. My mother had always scolded me for leaving my clothes on the floor, but at that point, I didn't care. Hopping on one foot, I struggled to put them on without falling over.

I looked over to the door. No, I wouldn't go out into the hallway, I might wake someone up. Instead, I walked up to the patio door and slid it open. My thin cotton shirt did little to keep the cold air off my skin. I didn't care; I could keep myself warm by more unconventional methods.

With a quick adjustment to my ki, the air warmed to a comfortable level. I slid my door shut as I stepped onto the balcony. Perhaps I could go for a quick flight; just enough to stir another few hours of sleep.

I would fly later, but for the moment I leaned on the railing. My long hair danced in the cool breeze.

Autumn was coming. The trees were just beginning to shift from their deep green to a vibrant orange. I could smell the morning dew already beginning to form.

"Do you always have this much trouble sleeping?" She didn't startle me, nor make me jump: I knew she had been up there all along. Her distinctive ki and the fact that she slept in the next room was enough for me to expect her presence.

"Only when I'm here." Not so much here as in the area – but this particular time line. This place and time amazed me. Everyone was full of life. Without the androids, these people were left to explore an entirely new world of possibilities and opportunities. None of them could even envision the horrific reality I called home.

Sularon sat noiselessly on the grass. His sheer size still amazed me: how could something so huge be so immature? He was machine. He ran off logic and mathematical equations. Where – amongst the jungle of wires and circuits – was there room for the temperamental infant that be constantly portrayed?

"I apologize for getting you involved with the squall today." I turned to look up at Xeexru. She was on her back, arms folded behind her head, staring at the stars.

Now that I thought about it, Sularon and Xeexru were almost complete opposites. One was a ruthless, temperamental, irrational being with the reasoning of a three year-old. The other one was Sularon.

Okay, maybe not so different, but they did have a few individual attributes. Xeexru's reasoning had a few faults, but her maturity level greatly exceeded her age. I still find it hard to believe that she's only fifteen years old. She's even more mature than my mother (but that's not really saying much)! Mentally, she's as sharp as my sword. I wonder how she'd do in school? I know Gohan was extremely bright, but he lacked the means to utilize his intellect. Xeexru would not – and could not – be fooled.

As a fighter, she's not the strongest I've ever seen, but she is the strongest girl I've ever met (android 18 excluded). She packs quite a punch – so to speak – when you're not expecting it; I should know. Speaking of punches, I still can't get over that arm of hers. That's a little extreme, who'd ever want a metal arm? She obviously doesn't care for it; I can't blame her myself, I certainly wouldn't want it. And why would they give her those sharp fingers? Doesn't seem all that necessary to me; they'd probably get in the way.

I still don't understand Xeexru's relationship with Sularon: one minute they're best friends; the next minute, they're at each other's throats. The incident earlier today (the one that put me in between a Tomakan Sularon and one very annoyed saya-jin) is a perfect testament to that.

"Don't worry about it. Do you always fight like that?" I muttered, still deep in thought.

"All the time."

What was it that Sularon had told me earlier? Every saya-jin has their own psychic abilities? Seems a little far fetched to me, but I don't know all that much about saya-jins.

My father would be ashamed. His only son – prince of the saya-jins – doesn't know anything about his own race. Actually, that's not true. I know about super saya-jins. I kind of have to, I am one. Unfortunately, that's pretty much all I know. I wish Gohan had explained more to me before he died.

If only Gohan was alive to see what I've done. I was able to save his father, my father, and all of the friends I've come to know.

Was Xeexru my friend? I guess so; friends are nice to each other, and we're nice to one another. No, not nice, civil. We're civil with each other. I'm civil with her. I wouldn't call threatening me, attacking me, or yelling at me, civil. But does that make us friends? Beats me.

Maybe she had her reasons for being so... stubborn (but I'll never tell her that again). She did lose her planet, her father and her friends. Friends? Did she have any friends? She's not exactly the sociable type. Sularon did say that she used to be a lot nicer. That, is definitely hard to believe. Her intentions are honest – she fights for the same reason I do. Her attitude is a different story. She reminds me of my father.

I'm glad my father's back to normal. Mom was worried about him.

Won't I have some stories to tell when I get home! I had already told Mom about the androids, Cell, the hyperbolic time chamber, father, and even Xeexru. My mother had been particularly interested in what I had to say about Xeexru. I guess she never expected there to be another saya-jin, let alone a female one. Can't say I ever expected her to show up either. She is an interesting addition to our little saya-jin club, clique, team, group – whatever you want to call us. Frankly, I'm surprised she hasn't left yet, she's had a few reasons to leave, and she has the means to do so. There just isn't anything here for her.

"What are you staring at?" Oops. I had ended up staring at her while I had been thinking. She stared back at me with annoyance.

"Sorry. Guess I was just thinking too hard."

"Don't try to exert yourself." She muttered sarcastically as she looked back up to the night sky.

"What are you looking at?" It probably wasn't any of my business, but maybe we could strike up a reasonable conversation.

"The stars." Should have seen that coming.

"Anyone in particular?" Why did I bother, this wasn't going anywhere.

"That one." Then again, maybe I was wrong. She pointed to the southern horizon. "The bright one."

"Is that your sun?" Could I get through this without getting yelled at, or threatened, or punched?

"One of them." So far, so good.

"A binary system?" I could barely remember what my mom had taught me about astronomies.

"Trinary." Was that even a word? Maybe it is where she comes from. Three suns. I wonder what'd it be like. If I do this right, she just might tell me.

"It must be strange to have that many suns."

"To you, maybe; to those who live there, they would think it odd that you only have one sun." Good point.

"Don't you miss being there?" I should be careful. I thought she was going to be angry, but instead, she showed mild curiosity when she looked down at me.

"All the time." Second time she's said that. In any case, I'm on a roll. She adverted her attention back to the stars.

I felt like an over-sized frog as I leaped onto the roof. The breeze seemed cooler up here. I adjusted my ki again. I made sure to take a seat a few feet away from Xeexru: far enough for me to react in case she wanted to hit me again.

"Why not go back?" Don't get me wrong, I wasn't intentionally trying to get rid of her, it was an honest question.

"They don't need me anymore." That's not a very good reason.

"That doesn't mean you can't stay with them." She glared at me.

"Who are you to tell me what I should do?" I went too far. "You don't even know me."

"Would you listen to me if I did?" Uh oh. I'm getting one of those looks; just like the ones my mother gives me when I get a little stubborn. This couldn't be good.

She sat up, resting her elbows on her knees. With her head sitting on her metal hand, her eyes flicked in a brief moment of thought.

"Maybe." An indifferent shrug followed.

Curse my parent's stubborn genes, I just had to say something more didn't I?

"Fine, what do you want to know?" I know I sounded stupid.

"What?" Oh no. She seemed annoyed.

"You said that you didn't know me, so I'm trying to change that." Xeexru frowned at me. This couldn't be good.

"I know who you are. It's you that doesn't know me." She had a point. I knew her name, her ship's name, her general fighting style, and an abbreviated version of her life story. I knew who she was, just not who she was. Not to mention she had said that before (I failed to acknowledge it).

"Fine, care to share?" I blame my mother for this part of my stubbornness.

"No." She grumbled.

"You know most of what there is to know about me, so I think it's only fair I know more about you." That, was my father's side of the family shining through.

Xeexru flopped back against the roof again.

"Where would you get that idea?" She was getting fed up with this conversation, can't blame her though.

"Alright, you don't have to tell me about yourself in particular. How about explaining your psychic abilities." Did I really just say that? This wouldn't be good.

"How the fuck do you know about that!" I know I flinched when she sat up; I half expected her to hit me right there.

"Uh... Sularon told me." With the rage in her eyes, I suddenly realized that Sularon was going to die.

"Fucker." I couldn't tell if that was directed at me, or the ship. I decided that the comment had been directed at her ship.

"Hey! Don't be mad at him, I'm the one that asked him about it." She was fuming.

"Don't ever talk to me about it again." Oh boy... after knowing her for just a few days, I've come to learn one additional thing: there is only one way to avoid her temper. Run away. Run away very fast. But... I'm not a coward. Sure I might be a little concerned with my safety when I'm around her, but I'm not afraid of her.

Ok, maybe a little afraid.

"Sularon!" She barked. He might have been several hundred meters away, but he could hear us, and not-so-eagerly responded.

"Yes...?" He was just loud enough for our saya-jin ears to pick up.

"Commence auto-destruct sequence. Set for thirty seconds." She wasn't serious! She was actually ordering Sularon to blow himself up!

"Self-termination in thirty seconds, twenty-nine... Wha – What!" His voice snapped out of it's programmed mode for the last bit. "Xeex! Let's be rational about this!"

"You committed a form a form of treason. What's the punishment for treason?" She was almost teasing him!

"Uh... death?"

"Exactly." She hissed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Fifteen, fourteen... Xeex! Come on, it's not that bad!"

"You defied a direct order, Sularon." She said harshly.

"Ten, nine... I was given the ability to defy your orders, as long as it's in your best interest." He snapped.

"And how was that in my best interest?"

"We don't really have time for this... five, four..." I had to intervene – she was going to destroy her own ship!

"This has gone too far." She promptly turned to glare at me. "You're going to kill him!"

"Relax." Relax? Relax! Too late for relaxing, way too late.

"Two, one..." I heard him give a desperate yelp, then waited for the explosion, the mushroom cloud, and the panicked cries for help.

Nothing.

Not even a burp.

"Auxiliary timer initiated: 30 seconds to auto-destruct. Twenty-nine, twenty-eight... I have an auxiliary timer! You bluffing bitch!" I wouldn't call it a bluff; he was still counting down to his own death.

Xeexru grinned.

"You can turn it off now." Sularon said after a short pause.

"Don't you want to see what'll happen after these thirty seconds?" She was evil in almost every sense.

"No, I don't. Now turn it off." He rhymed off a few seconds in the twenties.

"Not until you agree that you should never go against my better judgment."

"Better judgment? You're just over three years old! What judgment!" I would assume that meant three years by Klentubian standards.

"You're wasting time." She was right. Sularon grumbled.

"Fine. I vow on the Military Elder's body that I'll never go against you again." He wasn't happy to say that, it was quite evident in his tone.

"Good, deactivate auto-destruct sequence." Xeexru seemed content, and flopped back down on the domed roof. I let out the breath I had been holding, and I'm sure if Sularon could breathe, he would have done the same. The ship remained silent out on the grass—he had probably fried some circuits in his frantic state.

"Was that totally necessary?" Whoops. This girl is bringing out the worst in me.

"Yes." She's a lot like my father, doesn't like to talk much. Maybe it was time to change the subject—or just leave her alone. I waited a few minutes—awkwardly mind you.

"I'm surprised you're not training." Way to go you idiot. You're sounding more and more like an imbecile by the minute, and I'm sure Xeexru would be the first to agree with you. Then father, then Sularon...

"I might only sleep one night per week, but that doesn't mean that I train for the rest of it." She never bothered to take her eyes off the stars.

"So you spend the rest of your time up here?"

"Here, or on board Sularon." I can imagine how much fun that is. They're probably busy beating each other up.

I shivered. The temperature was dropping quickly.

"Don't you get cold up here?" She wasn't bothered by the cold at all.

"Saya-jins are incredibly adaptable. It just all depends on where the spend most of their time." That didn't answer my question, but I didn't have to wait long for the rest. "Earth is quite warm compared to where I grew up. Very warm, actually."

"Sounds... uncomfortable." It really did.

"You make your assumptions based on your own experiences. You should learn to pay respect to those people who are not from a familiar culture or environment." She snapped. And here I thought she was in a good mood. Oh wait. She was in a good mood.

"Sorry." An intriguing thought crossed my mind. Could I turn this conversation my way? "Why don't you tell me about where you're from? That way I wouldn't have to make any more assumptions." She didn't seem to like that idea, I could tell by the look she gave me. Surprisingly though, she didn't object.

"My home planet was covered completely in ice. The average temperature ranged from -35 to -5 degrees Celsius, all depending on the time of year." Now, we're getting somewhere.

"Wow, ice?" She nodded. "I didn't think that life could be conceived in sub zero temperatures." Bring on my mom's old biology teachings.

"They can't. Not for carbon-based life forms." Not carbon-based huh? "But my planet never started off in sub zero temperatures. You have a problem with global warming, do you not?"

"Yeah, just in the last fifty years or so."

"They had the same problem on my planet, about five hundred years ago." I seemed as though I had been able to loosen her up into a more open mood. "When the Klentubians tried to resolve the problem, they ended up going too far. Instead of decreasing the average temperature by ten degrees, they had over compensated, sending the planet into a permanent ice age."

"That must have been catastrophic."

"It was. Millions of species went extinct in a matter of days." I hope we don't end up in the same situation here on Earth. "Tomakacara, on the other hand, never sustained any dramatic environmental altercations. They still—and probably always will—have an average temperature of about 45 degrees." Hot! I can't even imagine a heat like that. "Then of course, there's Cyrannu." Who?

"Cyrannu?"

"The last planet in the solar system. It's environment changes regularly." She's getting really in depth with this, but I'm not going to stop her. This is one of the first real conversations we've ever had. "Cyrannu experiences three summers and two winters per rotation. There isn't even a transition between seasons."

"So it's hot, then straight to cold?"

"Exactly. It's orbit is highly erratic. The gravitational pull from the three suns, and the effect of Tomakacara's gravity as it passes, causes the environmental changes." Now that's weird.

"You lived there?"

"No, but there are several colonies." So it was naturally uninhabited. Who'd want to live on a planet where the seasons change as fast as you change your clothes?

With her part of the conversation over, we were left in another bout of silence. I wondered if I could get her to tell me some more.

"So you were raised on... I'm sorry, I forgot the name." I knew the name, I was just trying to get her tell some more. As boring as it sounded, I was actually quite interested.

"Klentubiateur." And this would be her cue to tell me more... She didn't tell me any more, but she did look at me. She would make a great police interrogator; her stare could make serial killers confess. "What are you getting at?"

"Sorry, I was just hoping you could tell me more about where you're from." She raised an eyebrow, and then looked back up to the sky.

"You shouldn't need to be afraid of me." Afraid? Where would she get that idea? "It doesn't bother me to share that type of information. It's my own personal life that I don't like to talk about." She looked at me again, and for one of the first times since I had met her, she didn't seem annoyed. "What would you like to know?" Nothing about her personal life, huh? I can live with that.

"How about the Tomakas? They seem pretty interesting." How couldn't they be? They were huge, they built huge ships, and their ships had huge maturity problems.

"Tomakacara was not originally inhabited by the Tomakas. It had been colonized by the Klentubians a few thousand years ago." Really? "The Tomakas are silicon based creatures, which allows them to live in space for extended periods of time. They do not know where they came from, but they arrived on Tomakacara two thousand years ago, without any technological means of travel." So their bodies were their own forms of transport. "A war broke out between the colonists and the Tomakas, and in the end, the obvious combatants won. The war continued for another three hundred years until a truce was called.

"Klentubians and Tomakas lived in together in a general understanding, but they still did not completely trust each other. During the attack and destruction of my home planet," I noticed a distinct spike in her voice. "The Tomakas accepted the remaining evacuation pods and set up several areas for the survivors. Since then, both species have lived together in peace."

"The Tomakas obviously like you though, even if you grew up on the other planet." Let's see where this would take us.

"My father's pod had been targeted at Klentubiateur, but it had been the Tomakas who had reprogrammed him. He was also trained and educated by the Tomakas. The Klentubians didn't really want to have anything to do with him. It had been my father's choice to live on their planet, he figured that he'd protect them." She frowned slightly. "The Klentubian government didn't much care for my father, but he had many civilian friends. I grew up under the care of my father, and with the education given to me by the Tomakas. They accepted us as friends, not just servants, like the Klentubian government had."

"Sounds like the Klentubians are not a very happy bunch." They rejected their own protectors! You'd think that they'd be glad to have them. She snorted.

"Hardly. They are, by far, the most arrogant species I've ever encountered, and that includes your father." I couldn't believe it! She actually made a joke! Well, maybe just a half of a joke, but that was good enough for me. "They think only of themselves, and thrive on insulting each other." That might explain her attitude; I know I'd be cranky if I had to deal with the Klentubians all the time. "Don't get me wrong though, some of them are very kind, but they are few and far between."

"Hm. Sounds cheery." Xeexru snorted.

"You have no idea."

For a few minutes, silence washed over the both of us and we watched the stars twinkle above us.

"How long have you been traveling? You and Sularon I mean." I turned to look at her, but I was quite surprised when I found her sleeping. Or at least, her eyes were closed. Upon further attention, I found that she was, in fact, sleeping. This must have been one of her "I only need six hours of sleep a week" moments.

It was strange to see her so… quiet, perhaps—if I dared—peaceful. No, peaceful was too strong of a word, for she still held a small frown.

It took me a moment, but I realized that my nervousness had receded and I was on the verge of sleep as well. So much for my midnight flight—this conversation had consumed my time, and my remaining energy, but not to be wasted. I was actually beginning to believe that maybe Xeexru was a different person than the one I had been led on to see. Of course that simply could have been my imagination. I was leaning towards the latter explanation, especially after the predicament with Sularon just minutes ago.

Despite what I thought, I still had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that Xeexru was much more than merely what I had knew about her. Maybe she was just lost; trying to find her way in the world now. She had made it clear that her only purpose in life was to kill Freeza. It wasn't until that moment did I actually feel a pang of guilt. Maybe I should have left the tyrant alive. Incapacitated, but alive. Xeexru could have then enacted her revenge, instead of being left in an endless bout of guilt and self-hatred.

Slowly, I let my thoughts fade and the sleep take over.

When I awoke, it must have still been early in the morning, because the sun had not yet risen past the tops of the trees. Xeexru was gone, that much didn't surprise me—she was probably off training.

I yawned and hopped off the roof of the complex. Everyone was still soundly sleeping, and I tried my best not to disturb them.

It was nearly noon by the time everyone was fully awake. My mother made sure I was well fed, just as she always did back in my timeline. I knew this would probably be the last time I would ever return here. I was going to be busy once my mother fully reentered Capsule Corp. back into the technological market.

My mother got all teary eyed—as always—when I said my good-byes. My father was there—more than I had expected of him—but hardly ever glanced in my direction. Even Gohan had showed up, with a broken ankle and all.

I leaped into my time machine and waved good-bye to my family and friends. Just before I hit the activation button, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Xeexru leaned against the doorframe on my father's gravity simulator. Dressed in her typical training clothes and with a white towel draped over her shoulder, she watched me with vague interest. Once she realized that she had been noticed, she offered me a small (but encouraging) nod of her head. I returned it.

A moment later, the lights and colors of the time stream flowed around my machine as I careened back towards the future.

Back towards my home.

How was that? Let me know me leaving a review. I might not have the next one up until the fall due to a work term in BC this summer. Got to love the Sea Cadet Training camps. If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see in the next chapter, feel free to leave them in a review. Cheers!

Nonamewriter