I have to apologize for not writing in this journal more often.  I have been extremely busy lately, but I just have two things that I must write down.  Life is fickle.  I have learned that in my existence on this planet, but each time I witness death, or come so close that I can taste it, I am reminded of it again.  Love hurts.  I have also learned that, but only recently.  Trunks left for the past today, both of us at the age of 21.  I was devastated to have him leave, but something else distracted my grief....

----Tayhei's journal: Volume 2;  Page 72
 

"Matte!  Trunks!  You can not leave until I teach you how to work the machine!" Bulma cried, grabbing her son by the collar of his jacket and yanking him backwards.  Trunks backpedaled and almost fell to the ground.

"Iie Kaasan!  I know how to do it." He assured her in an annoyed tone.  "I have done it before!"

Bulma put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look.  "Don't you speak in that tone to me, young man!  I'll have you know that I have made some major changes to the time machine and it is not the same."

"Kaasan!  You don't understand!  I have to leave before--" Trunks broke off as Tayhei quietly entered the room and stood in the doorway, her hands clasped tightly behind her back.  "Before I have to say good-bye." He finished in a sad voice.

Bulma frowned deeply.  In the short time that she had met Tayhei, she never doubted the effect the girl had on her son.  They were drawn to each other like magnets, so in love that they couldn't keep themselves apart for longer than twenty-four hours.  It was almost comical the way they danced around one another, each trying to love as desperately as they were trying to break away.  In Tayhei's eyes, she saw herself, young and free; in her son's eyes, she saw her husband, but different somehow, free from years of pride and anger, never hiding the love he had for that girl.  It seemed as though herself and Vejiita had been reincarnated into these two young lovers, this time free to love each other.

Tears stood out in her deep blue eyes as she watched Tayhei fall into Trunks's arms, her eyes watering with tears.  Her heart ached for them both, being separated for the first time, unable to stop the inevitable pull of the past.  It was her fault, really, that they were being separated, but she knew that the people in the past, including her younger self were counting on them.  She had lost Vejiita in this dimension, but she would rather be burned alive then lose him in another.  He had been too much of a good thing to let anyone miss out on him.

She approached the time machine and crawled inside, making sure that everything was working correctly and the right date and time had been entered.  Her eyes closed tightly, and she said a prayer to Kami, where ever he may be, that her son would come back to her and Tayhei.

Trunks held Tayhei close, softly stroking her silky blond hair and reveling in the warmth that her body gave him.  She pulled away momentarily and he stared so deep into her light eyes that he felt he was drowning in them.  He was drowning in them, in her, in everything that they shared; it was so peaceful and happy to be with her, touching her hair, holding her warm hand, smelling the intoxicatingly delicious smell of mangos.

"Kuso.  I don't want to leave, Tayhei.  I don't want to leave you.  What if something happens while I'm gone?" He panicked, touching her soft cheek with his knuckles.  He didn't want to lose her.  Not again.

She gazed up at him with sorrowful eyes and shook her head roughly. "Iie, Trunks-kun.  You must go.  You can't give up!  They're counting on you!  I am counting on you." Tayhei lowered her head and studied the floor of Bulma's workshop.  "The jinzouningen must be stopped, whether they are in our dimension or not."

Tayhei is right.  No matter how much I love her, I can't stay here when there are others out there that need my help.  I am really going to miss her though.  And worry too....

"Hai.  I will go." He decided.  "When I come back you will be waiting, ne?  No running off with some young handsome fool." He teased.

She offered him a rare smile and hugged him tightly.  "I will be here.  You have my word." She promised, and winked up at him.

"Trunks?"  Bulma's voice called from the other side of the workshop, near the time machine.  "It is time."

He heart constricted at those words, and he closed his eyes shut tightly, trying to regain his confidence.  His eyes fluttered open to reveal Tayhei, staring up at him with a sad smile, a single tear falling from her wet green eyes.  "Don't worry, Tay-chan.  I will be back." He assured her.

Trunks leaned down and kissed her softly on her lips, saving the taste of her for memory and inhaling the sweet scent of exotic fruit.  She pulled her lips away from his and gave him one last smile before he dropped his arms from her body, feeling instantly cooler.  He lifted her small hand dramatically to his lips, and kissed the back of it lightly.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow...." He said softly, quoting the famous poet, Shakespeare.  She nodded her head in agreement, no longer looking sad, but proud of him.  He was glad she was proud. All his life he longed for people to have trust in him, pride in what he was doing.  If he didn't receive it from the inhabitants of the underground city, or a father that he never knew, he would receive it from the woman he loved.

He crawled into the time machine and gave his mother and Tayhei one long last look before flashing a victory sign and closing the door.  Once inside, he finally let the tears fall, swiping them away with the back of his hand before they could fall to the floor of the time machine.  Fear, excitement, but most of all, regret, were courses through his veins as he started up the time machine and began his journey to the past.
 

The time machine disappeared with a flash, leaving the clearing outside the cave entrance to the underground city with empty space in the middle of it.  Silence fell in the outdoors, even the animals and wind seemed to halt as they noticed Trunks's disappearance.  Then the sound of crying broke the silence, a mournful, heartbroken cry that sent shivers through her body.  Tayhei cleared her mind from the numbness of Trunks leaving and realized that it was her crying, and Bulma consoling her, and arm around her small shoulders.

"It will be all right.  Trunks knows how to take care of himself." She assured her, and led her blindly back to the cave entrance.

Bulma is right.  Trunks will be fine.  There is absolutely nothing to worry about.  She told herself fiercely.  Stop crying, baka!  You look like a child.

She brushed the tears away harshly, clenching her teeth and forcing herself to shake the sadness.  Her mind cleared instantly, and her eyes dried up to their normal state, following the movements of the clouds in the sky above them.

Two figures darted out from behind a cloud, and disappearing behind another.  Tayhei froze and stared with unblinking eyes at the cloud, willing it to have been an illusion.  The figures appeared again, and she felt a cold, abiding sense of fear flood through her like a tidal wave.  Her body tensed immediately, and she practically shoved Bulma toward the cave entrance.  Juuhachi-gou and Juunana-gou, right there, and with Trunks no where in sight, Bulma, and her too, could be in serious danger.

"Jinzouningen!" She hissed at Bulma.  "Hurry and get inside!"

Bulma shrieked and ran for the cave, her turquoise hair bobbing against her back frantically, as something shot out of the air at an untraceable speed.  A glowing disc followed the woman until she tripped on a rock and fell to the ground with a loud plop.  The disc slammed into the cave walls and sliced clear through to the other side, sending bits of rock scattering across the open field like bullets.  Bulma covered her head and scrunched her body up together, screaming as dozens of small rocks landed on her body.

Tayhei rose her arms and shielded her face, turning her back on the explosion.  The jinzouningen landed in front of her, grinning at her helpless position.  Her arms fell down to her sides and she breathed heavily, clenching her fists.  "Bulma didn't do anything to you!" She snapped.  "Why did you have to attack her?!"

"We didn't have to, brat.  We wanted to." Juunana-gou informed her in a cold, smooth voice.  His face was completely expressionless to her, not angry at all, but just numb.

Juuhachi-gou brushed a bit of dust off of her shirt with her thumb and watched Tayhei with wary blue eyes.  "So, we meet again."

"Unfortunately." Tayhei agreed.  They watched her silently then, not attacking, but just watching.  A groan from Bulma averted their eyes momentarily, to see her trying to get up and not succeeding; she flopped back down to the ground and fell unconscious.  Their eyes flicked back to Tayhei, narrowing into a laughing gaze. They thought she was a weakling, a toy to play with at their convenience.  That was what the jinzouningen were all about, creating excitement for themselves out of other people's misery.

"Where is the boy wonder?" Juuhachi-gou demanded, stepping closer to Tayhei and scanning her eyes around the clearing, searching for signs of Trunks.

Tayhei grinned and raised her delicate eyebrows up at the jinzouningen.  "He is probably off somewhere killing you about now." She chuckled at their puzzled glances.  "In the past.  Trunks-kun went back in time."

They glanced at one another in confusion, then Juunana-gou glared up at her.  "We have heard rumors about an underground city.  You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.  He nodded in understanding, and stared at his sister for a moment, communicating with some mental language that Tayhei could never understand.

"Is there an underground city or not?" Juuhachi-gou snapped, placing her hands on her hips and gazing down at Tayhei with ice cold eyes.

"There is an underground city.  Several of them, actually." Tayhei informed them.  "All of the cities are connected with communications, and all of them have an access code to get into them.  If you don't have the access code, you can't get in.  There is no way you can destroy it from outside, either."

Bulma smiled with pride, feeling glad that she had been intelligent enough to think of the underground cities and how to protect the people of Earth.  It was so much more than she ever thought she would be able to do.

"And where are these cities?"

Tayhei smirked.  "You're standing right above one."

"No one is here to protect the city, ne?  We can go right inside and kill everyone in the city." Juuhachi-gou spoke, a wide grin spreading across her lovely face.  She looked over at her brother, who shared her exact same expression.

Juunana-gou looked over at Bulma, the grin folding to an interested smirk.  "Right, neechan."

Tayhei stepped in front of Bulma and crouched down into her fighting position.  "Wrong.  I am here.  And there is no way I am telling you the access code." She informed them, gathering energy between her palms for an attack that Trunks had taught her just yesterday.

The jinzouningen exchanged amused looks and then dropped into fighting positions themselves.  "Just so you are aware of this, we don't plan on keeping you around very long, brat.  You are annoying." Juunana-gou stated grimly.  Juuhachi-gou nodded in agreement, a strand of pale blond hair falling into her bright blue eyes.

"Let the games begin." The female jinzouningen mentioned in a low voice before jumping into the air and attacking Tayhei.

Chapter 16
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