Trunks walked down the long hallway of Capsule Corporation, not even stopping to look out the picture windows or to make sure that he looked presentable. He wanted to talk to her now, before any more time was wasted. And he definitely wanted to know why she had been acting so strangely detached at the party. It was late in the night now, but he had a feeling that she would still be up. Knowing her, she was probably down in the laboratory actually, still working on one of her experiments and still avoiding him. But he knew that he should check her room first; if anything, he might catch her off guard by doing that. She wouldn’t have anywhere to run then, and he knew that as soon as he started talking to her, she would want to bolt. If there was one thing he knew about Tayhei, it was that she didn’t like discussing feelings and emotions. He actually had a feeling that she would rather have both arms ripped off than listen to what he had to say to her.

He approached her door quietly and stopped there, waiting for a moment. He could hear noises from inside and there was a faint yellow light glowing from underneath the door. She was definitely in her room. Without bothering to knock, he pushed the door open silently and stared.

Her usually neat room was even neater than usual and much more….empty. A monstrous pile of clothes lay on her bed, along with a shiny silver suitcase, but that was all. Almost every other evidence of her life in that room had been cleared away, just as if someone had come along with an eraser and blotted out all of her belongings. Her purse lay on the floor along with a briefcase that he knew held a computer and a small white backpack that he recognized from the first time he had ever seen her --- at the airport. Tayhei stood beside the pile of clothes on her bed, mechanically folding dresses and slacks and placing them into the suitcase; her back was to him, but he could tell from the way that she was moving that she still had that blank, scarred expression on her face. He stepped further inside the room and narrowed his eyes, then slammed the door shut behind him. As if she had known that he was there the entire time, she didn’t even flinch when she heard the slamming of the door --- she just continued to fold her clothes and stuff them in the suitcase.

He folded his arms over his chest and glared at her. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” She snapped without looking back at him. She quickly folded another article of clothing into a neat square, and then placed it into the corner of the suitcase, arranging it on top of a pair of high heels. “I’m leaving.”

The casual words managed to hurt him even more than the sight of her packing. She was leaving? His mind spun helplessly at the thought, and he watched her with unblinking eyes. They had come this far, gone through so much, and she was leaving. It made him sick to think that she was so eager to go away --- made his heart ache to see her packing so quickly, like she couldn’t get away fast enough. He knew that she had been troubled at the party, but he had not expected her to be up here packing, on her way out the door. And it wasn’t as if she were just going away on a holiday; she had already packed up her most prized possessions and her bedding had already been stripped. She was leaving for good. The thought of it caused his stomach to flip again and he stared at the back of her head, not sure what he was supposed to do. She was determined enough; she was strong enough. He just couldn’t believe that she was really going to do it. He didn’t want to believe that she was really going to leave. Everything had just settled down --- their lives were going to be normal for once. He had honestly thought that they would continue on with the natural progression they were making --- he had assumed that their relationship would finally become normal as well.

“Where are you going?” He demanded, sounding a little angrier than he wanted to.

She didn’t answer his question; instead, she merely lifted the lid of the suitcase and snapped it shut with a resounding click. Her hands rested on the lid for a moment and she bent her head down, avoiding his gaze. “I don’t have enough room in here for all of my belongings. Tell Bra that she can have anything she wants from my closet. Everything that I’ve left here is hers.”

He hadn’t even thought of Bra. With the onslaught of his own feelings and emotions, he hadn’t even thought to consider his little sister. If Tayhei left, Bra wouldn’t just be devastated, it would kill her. Too many people had already walked out of that little girl’s life. She didn’t need another to abandon her as well. Tayhei and Bra had a very special relationship --- or so he thought. He couldn’t believe that Tayhei planned on just leaving without so much as even saying goodbye to her. Actually, he couldn’t believe that Tayhei was leaving at all. Of all people, she should know how much this would affect Bra. Tayhei had always been the protective one, doing what was best for Bra. And now she was just leaving without even giving a reason --- just walking out on the little girl that admired her and loved her so much. Bra looked up to Tayhei like a sister --- loved her like a sister. It was just simply going to kill Bra when she found out that Tayhei had left. Bra didn’t care about clothes or belongings --- she just wanted Tayhei in her life.

“You’re just going to leave, then?” Trunks accused her viciously, his sky blue eyes blazing. He stalked up to her and pointed to the framed picture of his sister that was still sitting on the top of Tayhei’s dresser. “Do you have any idea how much you mean to that little girl?”

She shrugged, but he could see that she wasn’t as nonchalant as she was pretending to be. Her eyes shot over to the picture and quickly looked away again. Tayhei turned so that she wouldn’t have to face him and busied herself with locking the suitcase. Her voice came out thin and weak, as if she were trying to convince herself as well. “Bra is old enough to be able to understand. She’s much more mature than you might think.”

It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself, sounding furious and sadly pathetic at the same time. “What about me?”

“What about you?”

It was a good question. Did he honestly have evidence that she cared for him? Not really, unless he counted the pictures from the future world. But that was not his Tayhei, and the Trunks and those pictures was not him. This was a different relationship all together, and he wasn’t certain how she felt about him. There were times when he thought that he felt something from her --- times when he could see more in her eyes than just ice and anger. And there had been times when he had touched her and felt his own heart melt, just to realize that she hadn’t brushed him away or snapped him. Sometimes, it almost felt as if she were silently begging him to touch her --- as if she would die if she didn’t have a gentle hand to guide her. He didn’t think that it was loneliness, though he knew that Tayhei was just about the loneliest person that he knew. Regardless of her coolness towards him and her vicious comments, there was something else hiding in her heart. He was almost certain of it.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

She laughed bitterly and spun around to face him. Her bright green eyes were full of fire and anger. “I find that incredibly hard to believe, Trunks.”

He met her gaze instantly and his voice came out in a growl. “Well, believe it. You’re not going anywhere. I know what you’re trying to do, and I’m not going to let you do it. Life isn’t something that you can run away from, Tayhei. It will always follow you; it will always be there. I know that sometimes it might seem hard to accept and painful to endure, but you should never try to run away from it. You can’t escape life; you can’t escape destiny.” He reached out to place a hand on the small of her back, drawing her closer to him. “And you can’t escape love.”

The last words had touched her. He could see it shimmering in her eyes before she bent her head down. Long strands of golden hair fluttered loose from her ponytail and fell over her face, shading it from his view. He had been right then; she just kept running and running away from all of the things that scared her. It had all started with her sister’s death. She didn’t know how to face that kind of pain and loss, so she just ran away from it, hoping that being in a new place and meeting new people would end the heartache that she must have been suffering from. And now that she had done this --- now that she had made this wish, this sacrifice, all of that pain was coming back. And when you added that confusion and frustration that love so often brought, it explained why Tayhei had wanted to get away. He felt sorry for her instantly, and regretting being so angry with her. Tayhei wasn’t inconsiderate and cold --- she was just scared. She had too many emotions running through her at the moment to be able to concentrate on anything. She was hurt.

But he wasn’t here to hurt her or cause her pain; he was here to help her. To love her. And somehow, he knew that he could make her understand that. The vulnerable side of her --- this terrified girl in front of him, only made him care more for her. His heart reached out to her and a protectiveness like nothing that he had ever felt before nearly overwhelmed him. For some reason, as he gazed at her shiny golden locks and held onto the small of her back, he felt as though he had been here before; he felt as though they had had an argument similar to this, where pride and fear and protectiveness mixed together with each other until they could no longer be distinguished as separate entities. He didn’t know where and he didn’t know how, but he had a feeling that it had something to do with time and space, and a passion so strong and unbreakable that it had been strung from world to the next.

“I know that you’ve been hurt before.” He continued in a softer tone, letting his fingers find hers and gently caress her hand. Touching her now was like touching fire; it burned him all the way through, but it felt so good that he couldn’t make himself stop. He steeled himself for what he was about to say, knowing that there was no turning back. If he wanted her to stay here --- if he wanted to be with her, then he had to tell her. “You’re afraid that you’re going to get hurt again, and I’m afraid too. Believe me, love scares me just as much as it scares you. But I think we’re both strong enough to be able to give it a try. I want to give it a try. Because the thought of not being with you scares me much, much more. This isn’t just destiny --- this isn’t just me realizing that the two of us are meant to be together. This is what I want. This is what I have need. I’m in love with you.”

She looked up, and he was startled to see that her beautiful green eyes were filled with tears. There was a long moment of silence as they stared at each other, and he could see that she was going through some horrible inner battle. He knew what that felt like; he had gone through it himself. But with a person as guarded and cold as Tayhei, it was going to be incredibly hard for her to be able to open up. He watched her still, never tearing his eyes from hers, staring as she struggled to let herself hear his words --- and believe them. Finally, her mouth opened slightly and a tear trickled down her cheek. She murmured something nearly incomprehensible that pierced straight through him and made his heart stumble with a kind of joy that he had never in his life felt before.

I love you.

Then her hands were on his face, and she kissed him with so much passion that he felt it in every single inch of his body. Her lips were soft and warm; her perfume surrounded him, soft and subtle yet enough to drive him nearly insane. He kissed her back with the same amount of passion, knowing that she would be able to feel it leaking out of him, falling on her like rain. Their lips touched each other hungrily, all of their frustrations and hidden passion for each other seeping out in one rushing, tumbling tangle of raw emotion. He held a hand up to bury it in her silky golden hair, holding her head closer to him, not wanting her lips to ever leave his. He wrapped his arm wrapped around her tightly, and his fingers dug into her back, clinging to her with all his strength. Her hands moved from his face to the back of his neck, and she ran her cool fingers through his hair. Bringing her closer and kissing her even more deeply, he began to feel lightheaded and dizzy; his heart was aching so pleasurably in his chest that he thought it might break into pieces any moment. Warmth spread all the way through him, and his fingertips tingled as he ran them through her golden strands. The love was so thick and so real that he wondered how he could have never seen before.

Her kisses gradually grew slower and softer until she finally pulled away from him. Looking at her then, he swore he had never seen anything so stunning. She was so close to him that he could see the changing shades of green in her eyes, and the delicate, beautiful person that lay within. She had kept that beautiful person hidden for so long that it made his heart ache to be able to see it --- to be able to know that he was the one that had unlocked it. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were swollen and she was looking at him with an open look of love, a brilliant, wicked smile on her face. “This isn’t going to be easy, you know. I’m not an ordinary girl.”

He gave her a smile in return, bringing her closer to him and letting his lips gently brush against her forehead. Love swept through him, touching every inch of his body and ever corner of his soul. He reached out a hand and touched her chin softly, guiding her lips back to his. Not easy at all, but not impossible either.

Hours grew into days, days grew into weeks. And Tayhei hadn’t left the confines of her laboratory for that long, obsessed with making this work. She knew that there were certain individuals who felt neglected, but she simply couldn’t help it. It wasn’t that one thing was more important than the other; it was just that she had until the end of time to be with a certain someone. She expected him to be able to wait for her. She had told him in the very beginning that it wouldn’t be easy --- he should have taken her more seriously. Luckily, she was finished now. Almost finished, anyway. There was still one more small detail to still work out, but one detail was perhaps more important to her than anything else. After weeks and weeks of hard work and absolute dedication, she had finally accomplished what she had wanted to accomplish. She didn’t regret the time that she had spent either, because she knew that had done the right thing. She had done something so good and pure that she could feel the thrill of running through her veins like wildfire.

It wasn’t really her invention. It had been in storage for years, covered in dust and waiting in the depths of Capsule Corporation. It had been created as a test of strength and intellect, Bulma’s way of measuring herself against the impossible. Being able to invent was enough; she had never needed to use it. She had simply locked it up with a self satisfied smile on her face, knowing there was nothing in this world that could hold her back. The limits that were normally placed on things like time and life had all but disappeared for her; in that moment, she knew for certain that there was nothing she could not do. Tayhei had watched all of this with wide green eyes, not sure what had impressed her more --- Bulma’s intellectual brilliance or the woman’s capacity for confidence and certainty. She had been the only one to witness this invention; Bulma deemed it too dangerous and powerful for ordinary Capsule Corporation staff to be working on. Tayhei had lived in Bulma’s workshop for days, listening to the woman tell her animated, vivid stories from her past.

Tayhei had loved her. Back then, she didn’t know how to feel it or express it, but she knew now that it had existed in her heart. Capsule Corporation, Bulma, this extraordinary extended family….They had given Tayhei her first taste of what love and friendship could truly be. She had been too afraid to take in that kindness at first, not exactly sure if she could trust it. But things had changed now --- so many things had changed. Her heart, which had once been covered by layers and layers of ice had finally begun to melt, and her eyes had been opened to the world as it really was: unstable, unbalanced, and unknowing, with so much warmth and beauty that it sometimes took her breath away. There really was a plan of destiny; she knew that now. If she closed her eyes, she could actually see it stretching out in front of her, entwining life after life into an intricate web of silver and light. They were all connected in way; all of their lives melded into a vast expanse of laughter, pain, love, heartache, and triumph.

It wasn’t really her idea, either. It seemed as though both Bulma and Mirai Bulma had guided her on this journey. Even though they were not really with her, their spirits were so vivacious and vivid that she could practically see them in the room now anyway. She knew that they would both be proud of her and what she had accomplished. Their words and kindnesses were what pushed her to finish this project; even when she grew tired and frustrated, she refused to give up on it. Because neither of those women had ever given up on anything and she owed it to them to follow through with what she had started.

She dipped the thick brush into a jar of black paint, coating it on all sides. Swiping the ends on the rim of the jar, she let the excess paint fall, then lifted the paintbrush up. She ran a hand over the cool yellow metal first, thinking of the word that had been written in this place before --- the word that had meant so much to so many people. Then she caressed the metal with her brush, writing with quick, fluid strokes.

A figure appeared at her side, moving as quietly as the breeze. “What are you writing?”

Green eyes looked up to stare into green eyes. Tayhei smiled softly, as if recalling a memory. “A message to the future, I suppose.” She leaned back, her eyes glazing over with the thought of the memory. She knew just how much this message would mean to someone --- how much it meant to her. Theirs lives really were connected, but those silver webs did not stop at the boundaries of space and time; They went straight through, from one world and dimension to the other, never ending, always changing, always moving. Destiny was so much more vast and so much more powerful than any of them would ever truly realize. She smiled again, her green eyes sparkling. “Just be sure to show it to him.”

Half of a smile appeared. “I will.”

The figure joined two others, seated above her under a small dome of glass, each wearing the same expression of expectation. Tayhei replaced the paintbrush in the jar and stood back from Bulma’s invention. She clasped her hands behind her back and stared at each one of them with softened green eyes, knowing in her heart that she was giving perhaps the greatest gift of all today --- the gift of life and love. They would go back to a world that was not expecting them, a world that had longed for them so long. Hearts would be mended and souls would be set free once more; arms that ached to hold would be able to hold again, and those that needed comfort and support would finally have it. There would be no need for hope in the future world any longer. There was a crackle of electricity in the air, and a pull from another dimension, guiding the figures away from her and into their own world. The time machine flashed and then disappeared into the void of time and space, leaving nothing behind but a jar of paint and the affirmation of what she had written along that cool metal surface: