Trunks stood in front of his bathroom mirror, his eyes dull and sleepy, with his lime green toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. It had been a long night. A really, really long night. And now that he was finally alone in his room and had time to think about the whole situation, it made it seem even longer and even more stressful. Slowly he brought his hand up to his toothbrush and began brushing his teeth, still staring at his reflection. As far as he could tell, he looked just about half-dead. His normally perfect lavender hair was messed up and the cowlick that he had struggled with that morning was acting up once more, sticking straight up in the back. His eyes were red, his face was pale, and even his eyes seemed to lack their usual brightness. He just felt tired. The prospect of crawling into bed, laying his head down on the pillow and pulling the covers up over him was unbelievably tempting. He had practically galloped up the stairs in delight after showing his guests to their rooms, knowing that he was finally going to get his much-needed sleep.

Unfortunately though, as he scrubbed his back molars he had a suspicion that once he did in fact lay his head down on that pillow, he would not be able to sleep. He had far too much on his mind at the moment to be able to drift off and dream. He hadn’t been sleeping well at all lately, either. It had been one thing after another: if it wasn’t his mother’s death, it was his father’s reaction to his mother’s death, and if it wasn’t his father’s reaction to his mother’s death, it was his sister’s reaction to his father’s reaction of his mother’s death. It was all so confusing that it made him feel like his head feel like it was about to explode. And now he had the added stress of having two other people to deal with now: his mother from the future and himself from the future. They had of course decided to drop into his world at the most confusing and tumultuous time possible. Honestly, was life ever going to let him catch a break?! Frustrated, he spit into the sink and rinsed, wiping his mouth on a nearby towel.

He certainly thought he had already dealt with enough in his short lifetime. He had definitely fought his share of enemies by now, including one that was supposedly the strongest enemy of all time, his father had died on him and been brought back, his mother had died on him, he was taking care of his little sister all on his own, and he had put up with Tayhei’s antics for nearly a year now. Surely life would grant him a few breaks after all that he had been through. But no! Instead fate had thrown him yet another obstacle to happiness, plopping these two beings from the future right into his lap.

He and Mirai Trunks were already off on the wrong foot, though he wasn’t sure what he had done wrong. He had been friendly at first, but it felt like ever since he had been touched by Tayhei’s evil influence, he had been cold and standoffish. It actually kind of made him feel bad, considering he had looked up to Mirai Trunks ever since he was a small child. In the future world, Mirai Trunks was a hero: he had been the one that saved the Earth --- by himself, on his own. No one, not even Gokuu himself could claim something like that. He had wanted to make a good impression on his future counterpart, to show him that he was worth something as well. Unfortunately, he wasn’t doing a very good job so far.

He flicked the bathroom light off and padded back into his bedroom, tugging down his drawstring pants as he walked. He cast them aside and practically collapsed face first onto his bed, letting out a huge sigh of frustration.

The worst part of it all was Mirai Bulma. He could already tell that she was going to cause a significant change in his world, though he didn’t know what it was. It could end up badly, very badly, especially if his father ended up getting involved. He had to admit that he simply wasn’t ready to see her; it had been too soon after his mother’s death. He knew it had hurt Bra deeply as well --- he had seen the look on the little girl’s face when she rushed past him and up the stairs. In time, he would probably be able to look past the identical face and the identical voice and be able to see that it was a different person. But Bra was too young to understand. She would never be able to look at Mirai Bulma without seeing her mother and that was bound to be painful and confusing for everyone involved.

I guess I’ll just have to wait it out and see what happens. He thought with a sigh, rolling over so that he was able to look up and see the ceiling. Luckily the two travelers from the future weren’t going to be staying there long; hopefully nothing too earth shattering would happen within the next week or so.

Emotionally exhausted and physically worn-out, Mirai Bulma closed her eyes and let her head sink back into the soft down pillow. She knew that coming back to the past timeline, to this other dimension, would be stressful, but she had no idea just how stressful it would really be. There had been so many things here that she just plain hadn’t been expecting. There were too many new things that she had to process in her mind now. She flipped over on her side, snuggling the soft lavender sheets closer to her face. It felt good to be home, if she could actually call it that. Some of the rooms were different, just as she had expected them to be. She didn’t honestly think that everything in this world would stay exactly the same as she remembered it. Times had changed over the years and so had Capsule Corporation. She could accept that. She supposed it would just take her time to get used to the other things as well, such as the little girl that she would never be able to have, the death of the other Bulma, and the disappearance of Vejiita. Those were just things that she would have to accept as well.

Her body relaxed as she drifted off into a heavy and comforting sleep, breathing in the warm summer air that was coming in through the open window. It was silent in the room; not even the gentle ticking of the clock could be heard over the soft sounds of crickets and sprinklers outside of the house. The only movement was the gauzy white curtains as they blew back and forth in the summer breeze. Shadows cast by the moon and the trees outside moved across the room like waves, falling and rising as the filmy curtains moved in the wind.

Then there was a slight movement, and another shadow appeared in the window frame, silhouetted by the moon behind him.

He found her sleeping, laying in a mass of soft cotton sheets. She slept on her side, with her hands brought up near her head, her face relaxed and peaceful. From his viewpoint, she looked exactly the same as she always had. She even slept the same way: the sheets were all tangled up around her, positioned to keep certain parts of her warm and other parts of her cool. The heavy comforter lay at the foot of the bed, not folded in any particular order. Her hair was long; longer than he had ever seen it before. It lay around her head in heavy turquoise coils, trailing over the pillow and deep shades of green and blue in the shadows. As gentle as the summer breeze that was wafting in through the open window, he lightly ran a hand along her cheek. Her skin was still as smooth as marble and soft and warm, just as he remembered it. She didn’t move at all as he touched her, but her next breath was deeper and more content than the one before it. He could feel that her heartbeat had sped up slightly, the way that it always had before when they touched.

She was beautiful still. Nothing had managed to change that. He stared at her silently, his face reflecting nothing of the emotion that he felt. He had watched her so many times while she was sleeping. He had always enjoyed the way that she looked so innocent and vulnerable laying there, just as if she were inviting him to look at her. Before he had simply stared at her for hours, memorizing every detail of her face, touching her as lightly as a feather so that he would be able remember what her skin felt like. He had always known that she would die someday. A human aged faster than a Saiya-jin; it was scientific fact. She would die before him and he was ready to accept that when the time came.

But it had come too soon. She had been taken away from him too soon. He hadn’t had time to take everything in, still hadn’t memorized everything about her. She had simply floated away from him before he even had a chance to prepare himself for it. And now he was left with nothing. Nothing but vivid --- and incomplete memories. Except for the brats that they had had together, the only thing that remained of her was what lived on in his memory. He had planned to have her entire essence living there, planned to make it so that all he had to do in order to be with her again was close his eyes. It had happened to soon, though, and he hadn’t had time to gather the rest of the memories that he needed. He hadn’t had time to accept her departure before it had happened.

He looked down and ran a light hand over Mirai Bulma’s cheek once more. If only it were different. If only this could be his Bulma lying here in bed, waiting for him to come home instead. If only he could have done something to change everything that had happened and make it all right again. He had done many evil things in life. He didn’t consider himself pure at all. He knew that he had done nothing to make any kind of higher power have mercy on him. However, he did feel that mercy was out there. Kindness was out there. If those things hadn’t existed, then he never would have met his mate in the first place. Fate was telling him not to give up on life and not to grow bitter through all of this. He felt that everything that happened had a reason and a logic behind it that perhaps he would never be able to understand. He also felt that fate was trying to send him another message, and as he stared at her long turquoise hair and angelic face, he decided that he knew what it was.

There were no second chances.

Mirai Trunks sat at the empty kitchen table, his hands folded lightly in front of him on the smooth wood. It was dark in there with the curtains shut and the only light in the room came from the small lamp that was hung directly above the center of the table. He leaned his heavy head back and stared up at the light in a trance, his sky blue eyes unblinking. He hadn’t been able to sleep; had known from the second that he arrived here that he would not be able to sleep tonight. For some reason emotional problems had always effected him in a physical manner and insomnia was one of the ways that it accomplished this. Instead of lying in bed and being lazy, he had decided to get up and make himself a cup of tea. Of course, he had gotten lost in the kitchen, and hadn’t even been able to find the teapot, let alone the tea. So he had ended up just sitting at the kitchen table, his mind trudging over the evening’s events. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize that someone else had slipped into the kitchen.

“I didn’t think anyone else would be up.” A familiar voice said, and his thoughts shattered into a million pieces as he turned his head to stare.

Tayhei stood leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed, a smile on her face. He could barely see in the darkness, but he could make out the delicate outline of her face and the long golden strands of hair that were tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a short, white nightgown; it definitely wasn’t something that he thought he would ever see her wear. And she was staring at him with a look on her face that Trunks just plain wasn’t used to seeing. It was strange to see her. There was no doubt that it felt good; it was amazing to see her, but at the same time it felt rather unnatural. As if he was seeing something that his eyes were not meant to see. When he had first seen her come into the house earlier, he had been so overthrown with emotion that he thought he might burst into tears. But now that he had time to think about it, he wasn’t so sure anymore. The main problem was the other Trunks. He had not expected to find her at Capsule Corporation and he had definitely not expected her to be this close to the other Trunks. The boy had expressed distaste for her, but he wasn’t sure just how truthful his insults towards Tayhei had been. And that presented only problem that he thought he might come across: if this Trunks and this Tayhei were also fated to fall in love, then he did not want to interfere with their chances.

“I think it would be a little hard for me to sleep tonight.” He told her. “It’s been quite a day. Usually when I have a lot on my mind, sleep really isn’t an option anymore.”

She stepped across the kitchen tile silently and fell into the seat across from him, stretching her arms out in the same way that he was. Despite the fact that she was probably just as tired as the rest of them, she looked fully awake and energized. He watched her, taking in every detail of her face. Looking at her, he realized that she and his Tayhei actually were slightly different. They eyes were still a brilliant shade of green, but this Tayhei’s eyes were darker; the kind of eyes that had lost their innocence and become hardened and suspicious. Their long hair was tied back instead of loose and spilling down in golden waves, and her body was more soft and downy than muscular. This Tayhei’s figure was fuller as well; his own Tayhei had been practically starved after living out on her own in the outside world for so long, and she had never quite gained back the weight that had been lost. He didn’t mind though. They still had the same heart, and that was all he really cared about. Appearances had never been that important to him, especially not when it came to the woman that he loved.

“I suppose I can sympathize with that.” Tayhei agreed, and then she tilted her head and stared at him critically. “You seem to be a bit more talkative than when we first met.”

So, she had actually noticed. He thought with embarrassment. “I’m sorry if you were offended. I was just a bit surprised.”

“Surprised?”

He chose his words carefully and said them in a nonchalant manner. If he said the wrong thing, he could quite possibly change the events of this timeline and he certainly didn’t want to do that. “I knew you in the future world as well.”

“You know me in the future world?” Tayhei exclaimed, a wide smile growing on her beautiful face. “Am I working for Capsule Corporation there, too?”

“Something like that.” He answered. The fact that she was smiling so much made him rather uneasy. In the entire time that he and his Tayhei had been together in the future world, he had only seen her smile less than a dozen times. She had actually told him once that she did this on purpose, because she had a fear that smiles did not last forever. But this Tayhei seemed to be throwing smiles around as if she had an endless supply of them. To him, this Tayhei seemed to be what his Tayhei never could have been. She was the Tayhei that had never known pain, the Tayhei that could be free and outgoing and smile anytime that she wanted to. Despite the fact that it felt strange to see her acting in such a way, it lightened his spirits as well. It was good to see her happy and free, even if he wasn’t quite used to it.

“You were more of a guest than an employee.” He further explained, and his eyes clouded over as he went back and remembered everything. Unconsciously, his mouth drew into a heavy frown. “You had been gathering information on the jinzouningen, compiling all of your thoughts on their words and actions into a notebook. When they started fighting with each other, you were caught in the crossfire and ended up getting hurt. You were nearly dead when I found you and brought you back to the Underground City. After you healed, you agreed to help me fight the jinzouningen.”

She frowned as well, and said something that he had been half-expecting and half-dreading: “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you keep referring to me in the past tense?”

Mirai Trunks wasn’t quite sure how to answer that. It was never easy to tell someone something like this. It wasn’t easy for him to think about it. “You were killed. While I was away, helping the people of this timeline fight their jinzouningen and Cell, the jinzouningen of my own timeline attacked the Underground City. You were the only one there that could defend it.”

His eyes grew distant as he finished and his mind flew back to the moment when she took her last breath, lying in his arms. All of his hopes and dreams and plans had disappeared then, had just flitted away into the air and become nothing. His mind had grown empty and his heart had grown numb. And he had spent the next few years of his life just trying to come to grips with the fact that it had really happened. He had done everything that he could to honor her memory: he had shown kindness to strangers, built cities, took care of his mother and of children that no longer had anyone. He done everything that he could to try and bring her closer to him and in the end it had done nothing to ease his heart. It just kept right on breaking, just as it had the day that she died. It broke over and over with every day that passed when he could not be with her. He felt his eyes begin to water suddenly as he thought of how empty and cold his life had been.

“Are you okay?” Tayhei suddenly asked, and she reached out and placed a warm hand on top of his.

Her touch made his heart jump and he felt the tears building faster behind his emotionless façade as he stared into those familiar green eyes. He didn’t want to be alone anymore. But it was too early for him to start thinking about what he was going to do with this girl; this younger version of the woman that he loved.