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Chapter IV"Memories in dust"

"We do not remember days

we remember moments

~Cesare Pavese

"Bulma and Vegeta are coming back?!" Renai exclaimed happily, "that's great news! I haven't seen little Trunks in ages, he must be so big now!"

Mr. Briefs nodded, "they tried sending us photo's but that didn't work somehow… I guess it's because there about 2 months away." He chuckled… then he paused, he seemed to be in deep thoughts. "Oh, how silly of me, I never thought about that!" He immediately turned around, "I'm in the lab if you need me, I just got a great idea for a new invention for Capsule Corps!" He disappeared, heading towards his lab.

Mrs. Briefs smiled lovingly, "I guess it's his way of preparing for their return, it has been quite a while indeed."

Renai started calculating; she was now 20 years old. When her parents died she was 15, and that was the same age when she started living here…

***Flashback***

"Girl, can you hear me?" A concerned voice entered her mind, yet she still floated in complete nothingness. She could feel someone was pressing a cold towel against her forehead, and covering her body… But somehow she didn't know if her eyes were open or closed, she couldn't even see if the colour around her was black or white. It was just nothing.

There were more voices, female and male. They tried to wake her up, and she could feel and hear them doing so, but she could not respond, she could not move.

'What happened to me?' She wondered, 'I don't remember anything except…' Her parents, she could remember them clearly, how her mother used to practice lines with her. Her sweet perfume, she always smelled like lilies. And her father, his beautiful deep voice that told her many stories and sang her many songs. They were almost like a dream now, so real and yet so perfect… But deep inside she knew that when she would wake up, they would be gone…

She had no idea how it happened, but suddenly she snapped out of it and woke up. At first she was so disorientated that all she could see were blurry faces, then she slowly came back to her senses. She could see people looking at her, sitting around the bed, she never saw them before. There was a bald guy sitting at her feet, he had six dots on his forehead, he was rather small. Next to him stood a taller man, with short black hair and scars on his face, he was quite handsome. On her right stood a woman with minty blue/green hair and a pretty and friendly face, she had a baby in her arms with light purple hair and blue eyes. On her left she saw another tall guy, muscular, with funny black hair and a very friendly face.

'Who are these people?' She asked silently, 'they look so… unusual.'

"I'm glad your awake," the blue-haired woman with the baby spoke, "we were worried you'd be in a coma or something."

"You sleep vaster than Goku after his standard 10 bowls of rice." It was the small bald guy that had spoken, he chuckled.

"Hey, I don't always fall asleep after I eat, Krillin!" The funny-haired guy responded offensively. A little silence occurred, and then they both laughed loudly.

"Excuse me," Renai softly interrupted the laughter, "but could you tell me who you are, and where I am?" 'And what happened to me,' she thought after that.

"Oh, how rude of us," the blue-haired woman said, "I am Bulma, and this is my son, Trunks." She pushed the baby into Renai her arms, he immediately started pulling her hair.

"Gaaaa!" He cheered happily, Renai couldn't help but adore him immediately. She stroke his hair and he smiled.

"The tiny bald guy over here," continued Bulma, followed by a "hey!" from the person in question, "is Krillin."

Krillin gave Bulma an angry look, then he nodded to Renai, "nice to meet you."

"That guy next to him is Yamcha, and the big guy over there is Goku." The guys bowed to her in respect and she nodded to them, she couldn't do much more whilst lying in bed.

"Nice to meet you all, my name is Renai Asuki, thank you for your hospitality…"

"It's not me you should thank, it's T-…" But before Goku could finish sentence Bulma interrupted him quickly.

"Eh hehehe," she laughed, giving Goku a look of warning, "Goku is just being modest. He found you outside near the forest and took you here, to Capsule Corps."

"Capsule Corps?" Renai repeated, "that big company? Wow!"

"I'm glad that you're okay," Goku smiled at her, "unfortunately we can't stay much longer, since we have a tournament to win!"

"And a monster to destroy!" Yamcha added. They bowed at her one last time and then the three men left the room, leaving Bulma, Trunks and Renai behind.

"Trounament?" Renai echoed, "do they mean…?"

Bulma nodded, "yep, the Martial Arts Tournament, held by Perfect Cell."

"You mean they are gonna take place in that? But he is a monster!"

"It's nothing those guys can't handle, I'm sure of that." Bulma assured her.

"You don't understand…" Renai said in a dreary voice, "he killed my parents…"

Renai started crying unstoppably and was being comforted by Bulma, even little Trunks stopped pulling her hair and looked at her with big eyes.

She visited her house later that day, but the household had already left and there was a big FOR SALE sign on one of the windows. She couldn't believe her eyes, her house, her family, her life… Everything was taken from her…

Bulma, who had accompanied her, immediately ran towards the girl and held her tight. "Don't worry, Renai. I know a lot of terrible things happened to you, that you didn't deserve, but things will be better, believe me. I've seen it happen a lot, the end of the world… But every time it somehow turned out alright, you just gotta have faith!"

"How can I have faith?" She cried, "my parents are dead, my house is sold, I'm twelve years and I don't have a family, or a home!"

"There, there now," Bulma hushed, "cry as much as you want, you have all the right. But don't worry about anything now, Renai. You can live with me and my parents, I am sure they would love another person being there, especially a lovely girl like you!"

Renai looked up at Bulma, through her tears, "you- you really mean that?" She sobbed.

Bulma nodded, "absolutely, Renai! From now on, Capsule Corps will be your home, and the Briefs will be your family. My friends are your friends, come on!"

They walked back towards Bulma her helicopter, hopped in and flew back to Capsule Corps, back to Renai her new home…

***End flashback***

Renai snapped out of her thoughts when the phone rang, Mrs. Briefs was in the kitchen and Mr. Briefs in his lab, so Renai picked up the phone. "Good afternoon, Capsule Corps, this is Renai speaking, how can I help you?"

"Hey Renai! Wow, you almost sounded like Bulma there."

"Hey Krillin, how are you?"

"Well, as good as it gets with a fiery wife and an energetic daughter," he laughed loudly.

'Yep, that's Krillin alright, hasn't changed a bit.' She thought to herself, laughing quietly.

"Was there something you needed to ask?" Renai asked him politely.

"Yeah, actually. You know, it's gonna be Marron her birthday tomorrow, she will turn four years old. And 18 and I thought that it would be nice to give a big party, everyone together again, ya know?"

"Oh, that sounds great, Krillin! Count me in! I will warn the others about it."

"Great, thanks a lot Renai. Oh, by the way, any news from Bulma yet?"

"Yes, actually. They're on their way home. They were able to clearly communicate with us since they just arrived in our solar system. They should be here in week or so."

"You think I should postpone the party, so they can join?"

"Yeah, we could turn it into a birthday and welcome home party, with a ball and music and food and everything!"

"Well… I hate to spoil your fun, kid, but that sounds rather expensive."

"Oh Krillin, I am sure Capsule Corps will finance it."

"Oh right, haven't thought about that, good idea." He chuckled. "I'll tell it to Marron and 18 and we will make arrangements, together with your help of course."

"Excellent, I can't wait!"

"Take care Renai, say hi to Mr. and Mrs. Briefs from me, will ya?"

"Will do, Krillin, see you soon!"

She put down the phone and immediately went to find Mrs. Briefs, together they went to Mr. Briefs in his lab and talked about the party. Of course they both approved of it.

"Now first things first," Renai thought out loud, "I need to buy the perfect dress…"

She jumped in one of Capsule Corps flying cars and drove to the heart of the city.

It was crowded for a weekday, and there were so many shops! She hopped from store to store, boutique to boutique, mall to mall, but everywhere she went, the dresses just weren't right.

"Oh man, bummer," she sighed, "I guess I am never going to find the perfect dress."

She was about to give up when something caught her attention, "oh…my…gawd!" She exclaimed, looking at the dress in the window of a fancy looking store she hadn't seen before. "That dress is perfect, I HAVE to try it on!" She quickly run into the store and asked the shopkeeper if she could try on the dress, the lady took the dress from the mannequin and handed it to Renai.

A few minutes later she walked out of her dressing room and headed towards the mirrors, there was one in front of her, one on the side and one behind her, so she could see all her sides.

"It really suits you," she shopkeeper said smoothly, "you look like a princess."

Renai couldn't agree more, the dress was divine! It was strapless, the base colour was lavender, but there was dark purple silk around it, just under her breasts, it didn't completely cover all the lavender. The dress ended above her knees. "I'll take it!" She yelled happily.

She got back into her own clothes and headed towards the registry, only to find out that she hadn't enough money with her.

"Oh, Kami-sama! I finally find the perfect dress, and I can't afford it? That's hilarious."

"I'll pay for it," it sounded next to her. He popped up out of nowhere, bought the dress and guided Renai back outside where he gave her the bag with the dress inside.

"There you go, love, it does look divine on you!"

She had been so surprised by purple-hair's appearance, and then by the fact that he bought her dress, that she couldn't immediately respond.

"How come you keep popping out of nowhere!" She scold him.

"It's not very nice to be yelling at the man that just bought you such an expensive dress."

"I never asked for you to buy it!" She yelled.

"But you didn't stop me either." He answered smartly, a smirk visible on his handsome face.

"You surprised me, that's all!" She defended herself.

"Hm, I though you'd be a little more grateful, but I guess you're not really good at saying thank you." He sounded hurt, and she immediately regretted her reactions.

'Why do I have to shout at him all the time, I don't know why but he just makes me so… emotional…' She sighed deeply and touched his arm.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "thank you for buying me this dress, I will pay you back though!"

He turned around and gave her a dreary smile, "don't bother, Renai, it's okay…"

"Eh?" She looked at him with confusion.

"It won't work, I can see that now… If you keep jumping into a defence, there's no way I can ever reach you…"

"What are you talking about?" She felt uneasy.

"You very well know what I am talking about, Renai." He held her by her shoulders and looked at her with piercing eyes, "you locked away your past and closed the door to your heart at the same time. You want to love, but you forgotten how…"

"That is… not true!" She cried out, "who are you to say such things!"

"Damn it Renai, stop being ignorant! Take of that blindfold and accept the past! Trying to forget it because it's too painful, isn't the way to deal with it!"

"You… I…" Her voice broke and she couldn't hold her tears back any longer… "I hate you…" She whispered, she turned around and ran away, dropping her bag at his feet in her hurry.

"Oh, Renai," Trunks sighed, "when did it ever started to be so complicated?"

He grabbed the bag, swiped the dirt off and flew away…