In the long minutes after Mirai Trunks had seen Vejiita step in and save his mother and Tayhei, two feelings shot through his heart. The first feeling was relief. The relief swept through him immediately, cool and pure, just like a drink of ice cold water after a long, hot day. He relished in this relief for a moment, letting out the breath of air that he had been holding in and forcing his heartbeat to calm back down to his original pace. Then the second feeling hit him --- anger that was so thick and dark that he actually saw red. At first it was anger at Juuhachi-gou, for the female jinzouningen had once more managed to try and hurt something that he held dear. Then his fury settled in on his mother.

She had knowingly gone out into the middle of a battle. She had knowingly put herself and Tayhei in danger. And if it hadn’t been for Vejiita, both of those women would be dead right now. It was true that both of them had probably wanted to come out here and both of them were partly to blame. But his mother had been the adult in that situation, and more importantly, his mother had been driving. For whatever reason, she had chosen to ignore the fact that she was putting herself and Tayhei in terrible danger and drove straight out into the fight. For someone who was supposed to be a mature and reasonable adult, for someone who had seen firsthand the kind of damage the jinzouningen could do, it had been a completely unintelligent and irresponsible action. The anger bubbled up fast and burned his throat as he dropped down to the ground and stalked over to the floundering Capsule Car. He jumped up onto the concrete ledge and turned to the window of the driver’s seat, ready to explode in anger. But he stopped short and most of that anger faded away when he saw the frightened, guilty look on his mother’s face.

She was obviously upset. She had just gone through probably the most terrifying experience in her life. Her hands were shaking, her deep blue eyes were glazed with tears, and her mouth was twitching and trembling with oncoming tears. She looked through the window at him with a horrified, guilty expression, moving a long turquoise strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. She knew that she had been wrong; he could see it in her eyes. She was swimming in guilt and that guilt would probably remain in her heart for a very long time after this. This was not the sort of thing that was easily forgotten. But she knew what she had done and was sorry for it. And because he loved her, he forgave her.

He bent down and gingerly opened the car door, peering inside at both her and Tayhei. In the passenger seat, Tayhei looked very small and tired, with a tight fist still clutching the fabric of the seatbelt. Her beautiful green eyes weren’t misted over with tears, but they were wide and scared. Her other hand was braced on dashboard, and he could see her arm shaking slightly as she looked back at him. His eyes did a quick glance over both of them, assuring himself that there was no blood and no injuries. They both looked healthy and unharmed, but the fear was so thick in the air that he could almost taste it. His eyebrows wrinkled in concern. “Are you okay?”

“Hai.” Tayhei answered him softly. She moved to open her door and get out of the car, but he signaled for her to wait. Instead, she just slowly undid her seatbelt and sat there, looking at him with wide green eyes. “We’re both fine. A little shaken, but fine.”

As carefully as he could, he reached down and helped his mother out of the Capsule Car, pulling her to her feet beside him. When her feet touched the ground, her knees wobbled slightly and put out a hand to steady her. “Okaasan, what were you doing?” He asked her with inquisitive sky blue eyes. “Why did you do this?”

“I wasn’t thinking, Trunks….I just….”

“That’s right.” He snapped before he could stop himself. He felt bad, but the fact that they had both come so close to death just scared him. “You weren’t thinking. You were almost killed and you almost took Tayhei down with you. I’m sure you had your reasons, Okaasan, but that was pretty damn irresponsible.”

She looked down at her feet, the guilt falling into her features once more. “I know.”

“It wasn’t all her fault.” Tayhei spoke up from inside the Capsule Car. Trunks settled his mother down in a sitting position and then flew around to the other side of the car. He opened the passenger side door and found Tayhei there, staring up at him with those same beautiful green eyes. He felt sick when he thought of what could have happened to her. Not only would he have lost his last chance for love in this life, but he didn’t think he could take seeing her die again. It made his heart ache just to think about it; just to remember what it had been like the last time.

“I wanted to come out here too.” Tayhei continued as he pulled her to her feet. “Well, I didn’t want to drive practically right out the center of the battle, but I wanted to come. And I was the one that originally drove here. You can’t blame your mother for all of it. She just got a little over eager towards the end.”

He nodded in understanding and then shut the door behind her, causing the car to wobble back and forth on its perch. At least they were both unharmed. That was really all that mattered, anyway. The important thing was not whose fault it was; it was that the two of them were safe. “I guess as long as you’re both okay….Just don’t give me a scare like that again. I thought my heart had actually crawled up and jumped right out of my throat. I think this little episode just shaved off about ten years of my life.”

On the other side of the Capsule Car, his mother let out a soft chuckle. “Me too, and I didn’t even think I had that many years left.”

It took Trunks a full three minutes before his mind was able to work properly again. During the split second that Juuhachi-gou’s attack had gone flying towards Tayhei in that Capsule Car, he had been more frightened than he had ever been in his life. His heart was still pounding in his ears, his breath was still irregular and stressed, and his fingers were still numb and tingling. He didn’t even know if he had said anything, or if his mouth had happened at all. All he remembered was seeing the attack race towards the Capsule Car and feeling his stomach knot up into a tight ball of fear and sickness. He might have even fallen to his knees, had Goten not been there to reach out and steady his shoulders. It had felt as though the other half of his body was in that car, about to be exploded into a million tiny pieces and thrown into the surrounding fire.

He knew that she had survived though. Both Tayhei and Mirai Bulma had been saved. He had seen his father step in at the last minute, meeting Juuhachi-gou’s attack with a blast of his own and lightly tossing the Capsule Car and its two passengers to safety. It was just like his father to show up at the last moment when no one expected him to. When it was important enough, his father could be a brave and noble man. The women in the car were safe. But he was still jittery. That sick feeling of fear was still with him, greasy and churning in this stomach. His body was still shaking, and a shiver went down his spine as he lifted his head up to see over the haze of smoke that was still rising from his father’s attack. He couldn’t see the Capsule Car anymore, didn’t know what was going on.

He turned to Goten anxiously. “Are they okay?! I can’t see!”

At his side, Goten squinted through the thick smoke and leaned forward. “They’re okay. Mirai Trunks just helped them out of the car.”

“What were they thinking!?” Trunks suddenly cried out, lifting a hand up to brush away the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. Both he and Goten had already dropped their ki and let their bodies transform back to their normal states, but he could still feel the power right on the surface. As angry as he was over the situation, he probably could have turned back into a Super Saiya-jin in less than a second. “What made them possibly think that they could come out here --- in the middle of a battle, and expect to get out of it alive? I swear, Tayhei has no concept of intelligence at all.”

“We don’t know what went on, Trunks.” Goten reasoned thoughtfully. He let out a big breath of air, one that he had undoubtedly been holding in for quite a while. He looked shaken as well, pale and hollow. He turned towards him with wide, dark eyes. “They might have come out here for a good reason.”

Shaking his head vehemently, Trunks all but spat out the words. “No, I know exactly what happened. Tayhei thought she was missing out on the excitement, so she dragged Mirai Bulma out to the city with her.” He paused for a moment, the anger inside of him reaching a near boiling point. She could have been killed. She could have died. Tayhei had been so close to death that he had practically felt it reaching out its claws and gripping onto her soul. “And when she wasn’t satisfied with her view, she decided to zoom right in, practically on top of Juuhachi-gou’s head. And all because she just can’t stand not being the center of attention. She just couldn’t stand not being a part of all the adventure.”

“I don’t know, Trunks. That doesn’t sound like Tayhei.”

“The hell it doesn’t!” He spat out in reply, crossing his arms so tightly across his chest that it hurt.

“Well, I guess we should go over there and find out what really happened.” Goten suggested. “Vejiita can take care of Juuhachi-gou. We should probably make sure that both Mirai Bulma and Tayhei get out of the city and back where it’s safe. I don’t feel comfortable with them wandering around the battlefield like that.”

Mirai Bulma knew that they were in trouble the second the two boys landed next to the Capsule Car and jumped down to meet him. Goten, the dark haired warrior that had so much of Gokuu in him, just looked a little shaken and worried, but Trunks was actually baring his teeth, and his sky blue eyes were glinting with an anger so strong that made her teeth chatter. Fortunately though, the anger was not directed at her; it was directed at Tayhei. The younger girl spun around to face Trunks, crossing her arms in defense as he stalked towards her with his hands clenched at his side. Blind fury clashed against stubbornness and pride, as the two faced off, glaring. Wearily, Bulma leaned up against her son’s shoulder and watched as the drama unfolded. She just hoped the inevitable fight would not result in injury.

“What the hell did you think you were going to accomplish, Tayhei? I swear --- you have got to be the most idiotic woman alive!” Trunks screamed at her, then pointed up at the Capsule Car, which was still tittering on the tip of the burnt concrete block. “You could have been killed. You do realize that, don’t you? If Otousan had shown up half a second later, you would be lying in an incinerated heap on the ground right now!”

Tayhei glared at him fiercely, her green eyes glinting in the sunlight. “Why do you care?!”

“I don’t care.” He assured her, practically spitting with anger. A clenched fist came up and waved itself in front of the young girl’s face. Next to her, she felt her son stiffen slightly, but he did not move. The younger Trunks continued to rant. “I just know that Bra would be pretty damn upset if her idol was annihilated because of some ridiculous decision to go chasing after the jinzouningen!”

Again, guilt swept through Bulma’s heart. Trunks was right. If something had happened to the two of them, it would have affected so many people, hurt so many lives. But he was wrong to think that it had all been Tayhei’s idea. The younger girl had told her very plainly that she didn’t want to get any closer to the fighting. She had warned her that it wasn’t a very smart idea, but Bulma had just ignored her. She had been selfish and wrong and she knew it. It wasn’t right to just stand there and let Tayhei take the blame for her actions. She straightened up and let her eyes grab the ranting boy’s attention, her face falling into a guilty, sad expression. “It wasn’t Tayhei’s fault. I was the one who wanted to get closer to Juuhachi-gou.”

“You shouldn’t have even been out here at all!” Trunks howled. “Do you two even bother with common sense?! I am seriously considering dragging you both outside of the city and beating the hell out of you! You could have been killed!”

Goten looked up sharply at the desperate tone in the boy’s voice, his dark eyes soothing and still. “Calm down, Trunks. They’re okay. It’s over.”

“No, no. It’s never over. She’s always going to pull asinine stunts like this, trying to get herself killed. I swear it’s like you’re on a death mission, Tayhei! Can’t you just stay out of danger for two seconds?! One of these days you’re going to be in trouble and no one is going to be around to save you. What are you going to do then, Tayhei?” He challenged her, jutting his chin and glaring at her fiercely. “Snappy comebacks and spiked heels don’t save lives. I actually wish that my father hadn’t stepped in and saved your ass --- maybe you would have gotten some sense knocked into your head before you died.”

“Well, he did step in and I didn’t die.” Tayhei snarled at him. Her defensive stance took on a more offensive one and she took a threatening step towards him. “You’re just going to have to accept that.”

“Maybe I don’t want to accept it!”

“Leave her alone!” Mirai Trunks suddenly shouted over their yelling. He stared down at his younger counterpart with cool blue eyes. “It’s over.”

Bulma could sense that her son was pouring every ounce of effort into remaining calm. She could feel the tension though; it hung in the air above him like a cloud, dark and threatening. And his body was completely rigid, as if he were ready to spring into attack at any moment. She didn’t blame him for feeling that way. She knew that if they had been in the future world and someone had said those same things to Tayhei, Trunks would have beat the hell out of him. He had always been so fiercely protective of her, had always tried to keep her from harm and shelter her from any kind of discomfort. But this was not his Tayhei and this was not his world. And this wasn’t just some stranger that was verbally attacking the girl --- it was the younger version of himself.

Besides, Bulma had a feeling that the anger behind the boy’s words was fueled by something much more than disgust and fury. His young, handsome face was sickly pale, and she could see the beads of sweat that were trailing down his temple. He was shaking too, shaking and numb and nauseous. She could see it all in those sky blue eyes, looking past the vicious glare and right into his heart. He had been scared. He had thought that he was going to lose them --- lose Tayhei, and it had frightened him. To further prove her assumption, the boy suddenly darted his eyes away from the girl, studying the cracked pavement below his feet.

“Are you hurt?” He asked Tayhei. He voice was still angry, but it had lost its edge. It was softer now, and Bulma could hear the bit of concern that was hiding there. Uncomfortable, his arms came up and crossed over his chest. He looked so much like Vejiita then, too prideful to show any kind of emotion, but too concerned not to ask. Bulma felt her heart ache for the boy. They must have given him quite a scare. It wasn’t easy to shake up Saiya-jin blood or affect them on that kind of emotional way. The feeling wasn’t that evident in the boy’s eyes --- no one else probably even noticed it. But after all the time that Bulma had spent with Vejiita so long ago, she knew how to recognize such things.

“They’re both fine.” Her son answered angrily, and his haunted blue eyes moved to meet his younger counterparts, glaring.

The younger Trunks glared right back. “I think they can speak for themselves.”

Goten threw up his hands in frustration and looked at all of them with exasperated dark eyes. “Stop fighting!! I’ve had enough! Mirai Trunks is right. It’s over. It doesn’t make sense to keep mulling over the details again and again. It’s done with. It’s over. Trunks, you and I will take the girls back to Capsule Corporation. The Capsule Car doesn’t appear as if it’s going to work again, and I want them out of here before the fight between Juuhachi-gou and Vejiita starts getting too brutal.” He paused for a moment, then shot a glance over to the future warrior. “Mirai Trunks, you can stay and help Vejiita with the fight, but try to remember what we told you at the Son House. Juuhachi-gou needs to be restrained, not killed.”

Next to Bulma, her son seemed to relax a bit. He stared back at Goten with a serious expression, but most of the anger had drained out of his eyes. “Your father is here as well, along with Piccolo and your grandmother. They have Juunana-gou.”