Fourteenth Chapter!!
Confused, you cock an eyebrow and look at him. "What is it?" you ask. "Well, I was wondering if you might be up for going to look for another dragon ball tomorrow." he says, a tinge of hopefulness in his voice. "I mean, I could use your help. And I'm not sure that Piccolo can hold out for much longer." More than willing to assist, you nod back at him. "Sure, no problem." Smiling, Trunks turns back towards the fridge and, extracting a jog of water, pours himself a glass. "Thanks. I think I'll go to bed, then." he says, taking a sip. "I'll see you in the morning, kay?" Grinning tiredly, you nod and give him a wave. "Sure. Night." you say, turning away and walking down the hall. Once you reach your room, you change into your nightclothes and lay down on the bed, feeling exhausted. As your eyes close, your thoughts drift to Trunks. You remember earlier in the day when he had taught you to form a ki blast, how his chest had pressed gently into your back as he assisted you with the feat. Feeling a small grin creep onto your face, you open an eye and extend your hand out in front of you, concentrating your energy and forming the white sphere of light. The soft heat that radiates off of it reminds you of Trunks' light touch whenever he brushed past you or tapped your shoulder to get your attention. After a few seconds, you open your eyes in a mixture of confusion and embarrassment. 'What is wrong with me?' you wonder, closing you eyes again and pressing your hand to your forehead. Before you can ponder these thoughts any longer, you exhale tiredly and feel yourself drift into a deep slumber.
The next morning you feel yourself wake suddenly. Eyes snapping open and sitting up in bed, you glance around, perplexed. All of a sudden, you remember that you had planned to go searching for a dragon ball today, so you slide out of bed quickly and make your way to the bathroom. Washing your face and dressing yourself in a pair of tight jeans and black tank top, you walk out into the hallway and into the kitchen. Wondering why no one is there, you check the clock: 6:39 A.M. Confused as to why you woke so early, you open the cupboard and ruffle through it, searching for some type of breakfast food. Finding a box of cereal, you pour some into a bowl and fill it to the brim with milk, sitting down at the kitchen table and eating slowly. 'I wonder what time Trunks gets up.' you think to yourself. After finishing your meal, you stand up in order to put the bowl in the sink when you hear a noise behind you. Turning, you see Trunks standing a few feet away, dressed in a pair of black boxers and loose green tee shirt. "Hey ****." he says, rubbing his eyes sleepily and brushing a tousled strand of lavender hair away from his face. "You're up early." Smiling, you turn to face him. "Yeah. Want some cereal? I already got it out." Nodding appreciatively, Trunks reaches for the box and pours himself a dish. "Thanks. So, ready to go looking for the dragon ball today?" You make a slight noise of agreement. "Yeah. I'm kind of excited for the whole thing. Getting to meet all of your friends, I mean." You wash your dish and sit down at the table next to Trunks, yawning. He smiles. "Yeah, I think you'd like them." After a few moments of silence, Trunks finishes his food and stands up. "I checked the dragon radar last night," he tells you. "It looked like there was a ball a few miles to the east. I couldn't get the exact location, though. I thought we'd try to find that one today." "Okay." you say simply, standing up beside him. "I have to get dressed first, though," he says, turning away and walking down the hallway. "See you in a minute." Nodding, you turn back to the chair and sit down, tapping your fingers against the table and wondering absentmindedly what Trunks will be wearing.
A few minutes later the demi-saiyan returns, dressed in a pair of black jeans and (yes, ladies, what you've been waiting for) a tight black undershirt. His hair has obviously been combed and he appears much more awake. "Okay, let's go." he says, waving a hand at you. Following him down the hall and into the carport, Trunks opens the dented door of the yellow craft you had ridden in previously and you walk inside, plopping lazily into the back seat. Seating himself in the drivers seat and adjusting a few levers, Trunks raises the machine into the sky, pulling the dragon radar out of his pocket and glancing at it before adjusting the helicopter's path and shifting it into autopilot. Standing up and walking to the back, he sits down in the seat next to you and looks back at the radar. "We're going in the right direction," he says, sliding the device into his left pocket. "It's only about five miles away. It shouldn't take too long to get there." "Cool." you say, looking out the window. Suddenly, the memory of your encounter with Cell enters your mind and you look back at Trunks. "What if Cell finds us again?" you ask worriedly. "I don't think he's looking for us," he tells you. "Cell is smart enough to know that it's wiser for him to get android 17 before I can. He'd rather get more powerful as soon as possible than risk me ruining that chance." Finding his words comforting, you smile slightly and look back out the window out at the grey sky. "It's been raining a lot lately." you muse, deciding to change the topic to avoid making yourself more nervous. "Yeah, it has." you hear Trunks' voice close behind you. "I guess because it's almost autumn." Nodding, you watch as Trunks raises himself from the seat and walks over to the craft's steering device. Pressing a few buttons, he checks his radar again and smiles pleased when it begins to beep in loud repetition. "It's really close," he tells you as the machine begins to lower itself towards the ground. "The ball should be somewhere in this area." Feeling the helicopter lurch forward as it lands on the earth, you walk over to the door and slide it open, stepping outside.
Shutting the door, you take a few seconds to observe the area around. It is a mostly woodland area with many tall coniferous trees, their deep brown trunks (Me: Heheh, trunks, Trunks! Sorry, I couldn't resist ^^;) glistening with rain. The one major difference between this area and the others that you had visited before was the fact that a large river could be seen about twenty feet away, rushing swiftly. Ming drifting back to the whooshing sound of the waterfall, you turn towards Trunks. "How far are we from the dragon ball?" you ask, looking curiously at the dragon radar in his right hand. "About 27 feet." he says, handing you the contraption. "The ball's at a different altitude, though. I don't understand why." Confused, you tilt your head. "Different altitude?" you ask. "Yeah. Like it's higher or lower than ground level," he says, taking back the offered radar and holding it slightly in front of him. "Well, let's see if we can find this thing." After a few minutes of wandering, you hear the radar emit a loud buzzing sound. "The ball's only a few feet away." Trunks says, looking confused. "I don't-" Suddenly, he tears his eyes away from the contraption and looks to the area in front of him, noticing that he stands directly in front of the river. "It must be underwater," he concludes, looking down into the water. Glancing over to him, you furrow your brow. "Underwater?" you repeat. "How're you going to-" You're voice dies in your throat when you see Trunks beginning to remove his shirt. "Dive in and look around for it, of course." he says, unlatching his belt. "I can hold my breath for a pretty long time, I should be able to find it." Slipping free of his pants and standing in front of you clothed only in black boxers, Trunks turns toward the river. "I'll be right back," he says, throwing you a small grin and jumping forward. He collides with the water's surface and disappears under it, the resulting splash flinging a considerable number of small droplets onto you.
Tearing your eyes away from his discarded clothing and kneeling beside the water's surface, you stare down into the rushing abyss of blue. For what seems an eternity you look down into the water, wondering if Trunks is okay. Finally, you see his head break the water's surface a few feet away. Taking a deep breath and brushing soaked strands of purple hair out of his eyes, Trunks gives you a pleased grin. "I saw it," he says, taking another breath. "But it took me awhile to find it, and I couldn't last long enough to go down and get it." Excited, you stare happily down at him. "Hey, can I come see it?" you ask eagerly. "I think I can hold my breath long enough." Nodding, Trunks grins. "Sure. The water's nice, too." Discarding your shoes, you run up to the waters edge and, without another thought, dive in. As the cool fluid soaks through your clothing and comes in contact with your skin, you widen your eyes and exhale, staring over to Trunks. Smiling, he gestures for you to follow and you do so, enjoying the light, cool sensation; After about a minute of swimming, Trunks halts and points down to a cluster of sea grass. Squinting, you are able to make out a shining, spherical object resting in the center. Giving you a thumbs up, Trunks swim over to the mass of plants and slides his hands around the ball, raising it up into his arms. As he does so, you propel yourself forward in an attempt to make your way over to him when you feel something wrapped around your leg. Afraid and beginning to run out of oxygen, you look down and see a strand of some sea plant constricted around your ankle. Feeling an intense need to return to the surface, you pull violently at the plant, groaning when it's grip tightens. Feeling yourself begin to get light headed, you scream Trunks' name in panic and wave your arms about, the popping in your ears increasing. After a few moments, Trunks turns towards you, eyes widening when he notices you are restrained. He darts quickly over and slides his hand behind the plant, tearing your ankle free. Feeling your vision begin to blur, you close your eyes tightly and begin to try to swim upwards. Suddenly, you feel Trunks' bare arms wrapped around your shivering body and, thinking of nothing but the need of safety, wrap your arms weakly around him and bury your head into his chest. For the next few seconds, you aware of nothing but the sensation of rapid rising and the feel of Trunk's warm body pressed protectively against yours...