And oh! Of all tortures

That torture is worst

Has abated- the terrible

Torture of thirst

For the napthaline river

Of Passion accurst:-

I have drank of a water

That quenches all thirst:-

~Edgar Allan Poe

****

"We only have a few more hours until daylight."

"Doesn't surprise me."

"Are you tired?"

"No."

"Stay with me?"

"Where else would I go, woman?"

"I don't know."

They had made their way to the balcony, eventually, after putting Saliya to bed. Although Vegeta still felt immensely agitated by that situation, he had decided to wait until later to investigate her story.

The curtains that shielded the entrance of Bulma's bedroom fluttered as if invoked by restless wraiths, their smooth motion swayed by the wind. The night sky was clear with no clouds in sight, and the stars couldn't have been brighter.

"That planet over there," Bulma indicated acknowledging a far away star. "Aeris, I've heard it's beautiful, much like Chikyuu."

"There's an odd species on that planet that have blue hair, almost the same color as yours. They're all feminine beings and run around the forests without worry. Everything there exists in harmony…" Vegeta looked down darkly. "Or at least it did."

Bulma's eyes widened once she realized what he was suggesting. Vegeta gripped the balcony railing in remorse and bent himself down as if to hide his own disgust. Softly, Bulma put a slender hand upon his own. Vegeta, head still turned down, barely betrayed the hint of a smile in his shadowy solace. And then he looked up and smirked dryly, staring blatantly at the star.

"I'll never be able to escape it all, will I? All of the pain I caused. Yours… theirs… it won't ever leave me."

"And neither will I." Bulma reached over to his face and gently moved him to look at her. "You shouldn't feel such guilt for actions you couldn't control. I'm sure at the time you felt completely justified. And maybe, just a few times, you were. Either way, you can not dwell on the past. Just look at what that did to us! Two years gone because of our stubborn pride and unforgivable grief. You're good Vegeta, that evil part that wasn't even you in the first place, died years ago." Vegeta frowned and turned away. Crossing his arms, he shook his head.

"How can you say that I can just forget all of it? Or that I'm not evil at all anymore! We both know that's not true. You remember the last time that everyone was so sure I was good! And still evil was brought back to me."

Bulma walked up behind him.

"And just why was that evil summoned? So you could defeat the enemy and save Chikyuu! Anyone willing to do something so great could not have evil in them!"

Vegeta growled.

"Don't deny my character woman, I'm not a saint!" He turned around with a snarl, the ferocity he felt radiating through his eyes. His look could have sent a grown man running.

Bulma smiled.

"That's for damn sure! You're an arrogant bastard!" She came forward to embrace him and stared playfully up to his angry eyes. "But I still love you."

****

He wondered aimlessly through the forests of Remina, being careful to silence his steps. Ironically, it wasn't so he could capture his prey, only that Chimera longed for encumbering silence to blanket his mood.

The great beast wasn't sure what to feel, or how to feel it. Bulma was gone from him now, he was sure of it. He was so happy for her, and yet the void would return with her absence. Although she had never completely filled it, he had always convinced himself she was all there was. Bulma had been Chimera's beacon to recall his heart from that lonely island it had been buried in for so long.

So why did he feel that there was more to it all than her? Wasn't she his perfect counterpart? The perfection that he was completed by? And yet her departure from his side would not kill him, as it should have. Or was he just numb from it all?

Chimera had long ago accustomed himself to that single unsure feeling that seemed to overwhelm his mind every now and then. After all, he and Bulma had not completely bonded, and thus their partnership could not be complete. However, it seemed to Chimera as if that shouldn't have mattered.

For a being so old and wise, Chimera was at a loss.

****

He wasn't a fool, or deaf for that matter. He'd heard the footsteps and felt the ki. So what had happened to the person? Had his father killed the intruder?

No, the ki still existed, though a little more faint now.

Trunks walked quietly down the hall. He followed the ki signal through the winding corridors, and wished to Dende that his mother had posted maps on the walls. The place was a damn labyrinth.

He slowed down carefully when he recognized his mother's door. No sense bothering them… after all, if he knew his parents well enough, nothing would probably be able to bother them right now.

"Ugh…" He shook his head in disgust as the unwelcome thought entered his mind. Sex and parents were a disturbing combination indeed.

After blinking away the thought completely, Trunks continued on. The ki seemed to be getting a bit larger, and he felt it wouldn't be long now before…

"Ah ha!" He declared in a whisper as he came upon the door. "So… I wonder who's in there?" Getting a mischievous smirk on his face that could have put Vegeta to shame, Trunks slowly opened the door.

It swung open noiselessly, thank Dende, and he crept inside like a panther, closing it silently behind him. Before him was a bed with a small figure crumpled into a ball, prostrate in the middle. The being seemed abject and derelict the way it was positioned, and Trunks experienced a wave of pity, even though he didn't have a clue what it was.

Carefully, he moved forward, looking around for anything that could be bumped into and thus, make sound. Finally after quite an endeavor, he made it to the bed.

One of Remina's moons shone elegantly through the window and gently touched the being on the bed. After close inspection, Trunks soon realized it was a girl and oh Dende, was she beautiful. Strange though, her skin seemed blue in the darkness. Trunks bent forward slightly to get a better look.

Her skin WAS blue! His eyes turned into saucers. Her lips and hair were silver and her skin was bluer than this mother's hair! He bent closer to get an even better look, when…

Thwap! He was picking himself off the floor.

Somehow, she had spun a leg around and caught him off guard. He stood up and instinctively set himself in a ready stance. The girl was poised on the bed, fists clenched, eyes angry slits. She growled and displayed a bright set of straight white teeth.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh…" Trunks tried to think fast. "I saw you… well I sensed you first, and I was curious, so I found you and your skin is blue!" Trunks wanted to groan at just how stupid that had sounded. Goten was really starting to wear off on him.

Saliya stood there in confusion for awhile until the context of his words finally registered. It was then she smiled and finally laughed. Trunks looked down in embarrassment.

"Of course my skin is blue, I'm an Effian!" With that, Saliya sat down. Trunks looked up quickly.

"Galvan had blue skin."

"Well he's an Effian too!"

"Does mom know you're an Effian?"

"Mom?" Saliya arched a silver eyebrow.

"Bulma."

"Oh! Yes, of course she does."

"Ok, that makes a lot of sense. Well, what's your name?"

"Saliya."

"Pretty name," he smiled. "Nice to meet you Saliya, I'm Trunks, Bulma's son." Her eyes widened and she grinned.

"I wasn't aware Bulma had a child!"

"She had two of them as a matter of fact, me and Bra."

"I'm sure you grew up happy."

"Yeah… well until all the Chimera mess happened." Saliya looked down and frowned.

"I'm sorry."

"You had nothing to do with it!" And then he paused. "Wait, did you?" She bit her lip.

"It's late Trunks, why don't you wait till morning for the answers?" He looked up and his eyes widened.

"Oh right! I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to intrude."

"No harm done."

Trunks turned quickly to leave, but before he did he paused enough to smile and say goodnight.

"Goodnight, Trunks."

The door closed softly and Saliya was surrounded by nothingness once more. In her own painful solitude, she couldn't help but think how Trunks' smile rivaled Galvan's grin.

Damn her traitor heart.

****

Author's Note: Wow, this is starting to feel like the old days! A full nice sized chapter! Whew… I'm tired. Anyhoo… after that little insanity piece, I am back to the good ol' stuff… though I do favor inserting poetry cause it's COOL! =) Much luv to everyone…

~JZero

P.S: There will be more mermaid stuff to come!

P.S.S: If anyone recently e-mailed me about the Chimera pic, or if you are interested in obtaining a Chimera pic, please e-mail me! My inbox was messed w/ by my brother while I was gone and it seems nearly everything important was DELETED!! My apologies! =)