Tayhei had been there all morning, sitting on the exact same park bench in the exact same pose. She wasn’t sure what had guided her to this place or what had possessed her to leave Mirai Trunks that note, but now that she had done it, she was beginning to regret it. Not that she was frightened of what might happen --- she was stronger than that. But she had to admit that she was nervous about it. What had seemed to be nothing more than the ramblings of a drunken woman the night before, were suddenly beginning to seem more real. Now that she had had time to think about the future warrior --- to think about the looks that he had given her and the words that he had said, it made sense. That was the part that made her nervous; she could deal with drunken ramblings, but she didn’t know the first thing about open, honest feelings of love. One thing was for sure though: she couldn’t go on not knowing. She had to find out the truth and had to face the very difficult and inevitable decision that she was going to have to make.

So she had slipped into Mirai Trunks’s room, silent as a wraith, clutching the note in her small hands. She had allowed herself a peek at him, and had smiled to see that he was passed out on top of the comforter, still wearing his clothes from the day before. Although the future warrior was a grown man, he looked amazingly childlike then, with his hands drawn up close to his face and his body sprawled out over the bed. Seeing him like that made her heart soften slightly, and she wondered what the Trunks of her own timeline slept like, and if he ever let his guard down in such a way. She had tucked the small piece of paper into the sheath of Mirai Trunks’s sword, because she had a feeling that the weapon never left his side. When he picked it up later and went to strap it on, he would undoubtedly notice it.

The note was important, because she didn’t really want anyone else to know about this. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed or that she was ashamed to know of what had happened in the future world --- it was the fact that they were in a way, playing with forces much greater than them. She probably should have never known about what happened in the future world. Time and events and romances should work out on their own without any kind of encouragement or hindrance from the outside. But Mirai Trunks and Mirai Bulma had already altered this world once, and Tayhei had a feeling that they had just done it again. It was unavoidable, really --- the two timelines could never come together without possibly changing the course of life here. Mirai Bulma had told her some things that she definitely shouldn’t have. But just because Tayhei knew the truth about these things now didn’t mean that anyone else should know. She had a strong feeling that these things should be kept secret, especially from the other Trunks.

That was probably the thing that was bothering her the most: Trunks. Hearing what Mirai Bulma had to say about her son and the Tayhei of the future timeline brought up a lot of unwanted feelings and emotions. She had never been quite sure what she felt for him --- most of the time, she pushed those thoughts away before she even had time to ponder them. But she had to admit to herself that she knew something was there. Most likely, because she was stubborn and because he was stubborn, it would take a long while before those feelings surfaced, if they ever surfaced at all. But hearing about Mirai Tayhei and Mirai Trunks had filled her with a lot of new and unwelcome emotions. In fact, the first thought to appear in her mind after Mirai Bulma had told her, was: maybe there’s hope for us after all. Instead of feeling something for the future warrior or being swept up by his obvious love, she thought of his counterpart, and the feelings that she had been desperately trying to suppress for so long now.

Of course, she would rather be burned alive than ever admit that to anyone.

She sighed and looked down at her watch again, only to see the second hand creep up towards the noon hour. She leaned back against the bench slightly. He would probably be here any minute now. Instantly, her stomach began to bounce and churn with nervousness again, and she calmly put a hand over it, trying to calm the queasiness that she felt. She had picked this beautiful, busy park to provide some distractions for them, but she didn’t think that it was working for anymore. Perhaps she had been here too long, but the effect of the happy children and the cheerful birds in the trees had already worn off. With a smooth hand, she brushed back a golden strand that had escaped from her ponytail and searched the park with narrowed green eyes, looking for a glimpse of lavender hair or the glint of metal.

It was an extremely busy day in East Capitol Park. Evidently, there was a birthday party going on in the playground, and children were running all over the place wearing birthday hats and carrying brightly wrapped packages. Their parents stood in clusters, chatting loudly and chasing the children that had run off with the party food. Vendors and performers wandered through the winding paths, singing and shouting and laughing with anyone they came across. Some people were simply sitting on benches, feeding pidgins and squirrels or reading the paper; others strolled through the grass hand in hand, gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes. The aroma of barbeque and pine was comforting, the park was clean, the air was fresh. It all made Mirai Trunks feel content as he entered the park gates and walked through the soft grass, searching for Tayhei.

It was odd that Tayhei would choose such place to meet him, although she very well may have done it on purpose. If she needed to talk to him about something that might possibly upset the two of them, it would be better to do it in a place like this. One couldn’t help but smile and feel lighter when they watched children run and laugh. A park wasn’t a place where you could stay angry or depressed. Although he did feel comforted by the casual, happy atmosphere of the place, he had to admit that he was still a bit frightened of what might happen here today. Her request to meet him had been so sudden. She hadn’t said anything to him the day before that indicated that she had heavy thoughts on her mind. It was true that she could possibly just want to go to the park and have a good time, but he had a feeling that that was not the case. He could practically feel that there was something weighing on her mind.

He found her when he rounded a corner in the path, sitting perfectly still on a worn bench. The bench was beneath a tree, and halfway in the shade, littered with a skittering of bright green leaves and pink blossoms. He loitered behind the trunk of a pine tree for a moment, merely watching her as she waited for him, looking down at her watch with an anxious expression on her face. Something in her bright green eyes struck him as amazingly poignant then: they were strong and nervous at the same time --- full of that same innocent expectancy that he had seen thousands of time before. She was wearing an uncharacteristic outfit: simple cutoffs and a white tee shirt. Though the outfit might possibly have astounded anyone else that knew her, Mirai Trunks took it in stride --- if it weren’t for the delicate white sandals on her feet and the fact that her long golden hair was tied at the nape of her neck, she could have easily passed for the girl that he had been in love with so long ago. The thought of it made his heart swell, and he sighed and leaned his head against the tree for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

He was afraid of what might happen here, of what she might ask. There had been a point in time when he wasn’t afraid to tell her anything, when he and Tayhei were so close that it was almost as if they didn’t even have to tell each other anything. But things were different now. This was not the girl that he knew; this was a girl that knew nothing about him or about their past together. If he let his heart spill what he had been holding in for so long, if he said too much, he would frighten her. And frightening her would mean a serious decrease in his chances. As it stood now, he couldn't afford to make mistakes like that: he was losing time. They would need to return to the future world soon, with or without Tayhei. And if he didn’t start putting his plans into action, he would lose his only opportunity to find love again. He simply couldn’t do that to himself. He knew what it was like to be in love --- to be in love with her, and he didn’t want to lose his last chance to have that again.

Taking a deep breath, Mirai Trunks stepped out from behind the tree and strode towards her. His feet made no sound on the littering of green leaves from the tree, but she sensed him anyway and looked up, with half a smile on her face. Instantly, his heart began to feel something; as if it were hanging on the edge of an incredible, life-changing moment. Hope swept through him as he stared into her eyes, and somehow he knew that in that very instant, things started to change. He could feel it changing, like the sunlight creeping up the sides of the hills and pouring into a valley; things were brightening and hope was flourishing. Whatever happened next, and from then on, Trunks suddenly felt that things would work out in the end. The two of them stared at each other for a long while, not quite sure of what to say.

Recovering quickly, Tayhei gestured towards the empty space on the bench beside her with a wide smile. “Go ahead and sit down. I had to fight off a whole pack of squirrels for this bench, so you might as well take advantage of it.”

A group of kids went sailing by them in a rush, most of them carrying balloons and ice cream cones. Trunks smiled at them as they went past, thinking of the students that he taught back in the future world. Most of the children there had been robbed of their innocence already --- it was hard to stay naïve in a world with so much obvious destruction. But there were certain times when even the most serious of his young students would break a smile, and he imagined that they might be inclined to run through the streets with ice cream someday as well. He glanced over at Tayhei and found her smiling as well, watching the children with unreadable green eyes.

“It sure is a nice day.” She remarked in a conversational tone. Although her voice sounded casual, her body language was screaming ‘discomfort’. She was sitting up perfectly straight and rigid, with her hands tightly gripping the edge of the bench. She looked over at him with a nonchalant smile, but he could see that there was something serious weighing on her mind. In that crowded park, with all of the children and all of the crazy antics of the performers, she looked extremely out of place. He thought the two of them must look as though they didn’t belong in that park at all; the park was a place for laughter and playing and relaxation, but they both had too much seriousness and frustration in them to seem as anything even close to relaxed. Making an effort to look more comfortable, he leaned back on the bench and placed his hands behind his head. He eyed her with a small smile, wondering what it was that she was attempting to not talk about today.

“It is,” He began carefully, “but I’m certain that’s not what you asked me here to talk about.”

She looked down and studied the worn wood of the bench beneath her hands. “No, it’s not. I need to know some things. Some things about the future world.”

He looked over at her quickly, unable to control his surprise. He thought that he had quelled any kind of questions about the future world already. The night that they had spoken in the kitchen, he had told her more than he probably should have, anyway. It just wasn’t time yet to talk to her about everything, to tell her what he had felt for her in the future world. He had thought that he had come here prepared to do so, but now that he was actually faced with her, it was much more difficult than he ever could have imagined. Could he honestly sit here with her in this busy park and tell her that she had once meant everything to him? It just didn’t feel right --- It was too fast, too sudden, and his head spun with what he was certain was the inevitable disappointment. He tried to cover it though, tried to hide the fact that any of these thoughts were in his head. Instead, he merely smiled at her, hiding a world of fear behind his eyes.

“What would you like to know?” He offered casually.

“I need to know about my future counterpart. I need to know about what she meant to you, and most importantly --- I need to know why you’re here.” She informed in him simply, and looked up to meet his eyes for the first time. They were cool and green and full of a mixture of curiosity and anger.

Mirai Trunks felt the world falling slowly out from under him.

“Mirai Bulma told me some things last night. At first I didn’t believe them. I almost didn’t want to believe them.” Tayhei shook her head slowly, then reached over to place her hand on top of his. It felt warm and gentle against his skin, and so familiar that he thought he might burst into tears. She smiled softly; she was looking into his eyes, but her gaze was distant. “But the more I think about it….It just feels right. I don’t know much about fate or destiny, but I do know that I felt something when I first saw you. Please don’t take this the wrong way: I don’t think it was love or anything even close to it. I am not saying that I fell in love at first sight. I don’t believe in that. But there was a feeling there.”

He swallowed hard. “I felt something too.”

“I think maybe it was hope.” Tayhei theorized, and she moved her hand away from his again. Carefully, she brushed back a strand of golden hair that had escaped from her ponytail and drew her brows together in concentration. “I had always wondered about who I was supposed to end up with….For a long time I didn’t think there was anyone out there for me at all. Even when I met Trunks and Goten, I still didn’t believe that I was destined to be with anyone. And then you showed up, and it felt as though all of that suddenly changed.”

“We are destined to be together.” Mirai Trunks whispered quietly. “I wouldn’t have found you here otherwise.”

“Are we?” She questioned gently. “I was thinking last night about love and timelines and destiny. It seems as though everyone in the separate timelines had identical partners. There was a Mirai Vejiita and a Mirai Bulma, a present day Vejiita and a present day Bulma. The same with the Son family as well. For each timeline, there is a set relationship between the two. So if you want to talk about fate and destiny, then it seems to me that you are not the one I am supposed to be with.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that. We are different. Mirai Tayhei and I met after the jinzouningen. The jinzouningen altered the timelines, changed things. It created differences between the two timelines.” He frowned in concentration, trying to form the words in the right way. "Mirai Tayhei and I came together to fight the jinzouningen and their destruction, but you don’t have that here. Because I altered this timeline by bringing Gokuu his heart medicine and warning everyone of the future, I changed everything. That means that maybe you and this Trunks….maybe you aren’t meant to be together at all.”

She looked down again, biting her lip. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this earlier? I feel like I am being pushed to make a decision before I’m ready.”

He turned towards her instantly, fighting off the urge to take her in his arms. She may be a different girl, but the protective instincts were still buried there inside of him. “I was going to tell you everything, Tayhei. Just not right away. It would be too much for you to take, and with the jinzouningen and everything….It just didn’t seem like the right time to tell you about the future world, about why I was here. I didn’t mean to hurt you or insult you. I just had to get you back. You have to understand how much I loved you --- or, I loved the future version of you. When she died, it killed me. I lost every last shred of happiness that I had been holding onto. I tried to live a normal life and get over everything that happened in the past. I got over Gohan’s death and I got over the horror of the jinzouningen; I rebuilt cities, I rebuilt my home, I rebuilt my life. But you….I just couldn’t seem to get past what happened. I couldn’t let go of you. You were like the missing part of me….There was this empty, gaping hole in my heart that you left when you died.”

Tayhei shook her head. “It wasn’t me. I’m not her.”

“But you could be.”

“I don’t know if I can. I don’t even know you, really.” She paused, and raised her hands up to her temples as if her head was starting to hurt. “This is all happening too fast. I don’t know if I can leave my life here. I don’t know if I could just walk away and leave everyone and everything: Bra, Goten, Capsule Corporation, Trunks….”

Mirai Trunks began to feel sick. He could understand that it would be hard for her to leave her life, but she had to understand how perfect it could be if she were able to come back with him. He would never hurt her, he would take care of her, he would treat her the way that she deserved to be treated. And the fact that she would bring up his younger counterpart made him want to simmer with jealousy. If the other Trunks had that much of a hold over her and she was that connected with him, she would never be able to go back to the future world with him. And he knew that he would never try to pursue anything at all if he knew that there was even the slightest chance that the two of them were supposed to be together. He knew what it was like to be in love and have someone special to hold onto --- he didn’t want to deny anyone else that feeling, even if it meant that he would be hurt in the process. “I’m not asking you to leave anything.”

“Yes, you are!” She exclaimed suddenly. He began to see just a taste of the anger that he had heard about since he’d been here --- the anger that he’d rarely ever seen in his own Tayhei. She stared at him with blazing green eyes, her mouth in a deep-set frown. “You want me to be a part of your life again….Well, that’s not as easy as it seems. Maybe it’s easy for you, because you have an empty space that I can fill. But I don’t have any empty spaces. I have been living my whole life up until this moment, knowing that I was on a set track and building everything up. I have been preparing myself to live my life, not someone else’s. I don’t think I can do that.”