Sweet as sun,
Warm as night,
I sit and think about what is right.
Sunlight dancing on a lake,
Seeing pictures movies can't make.
Moonlight dripping from the trees,
A Jackal contemplating what it sees,
A warrior by day,
A poet by night,
A woman waiting for the fight.
A race of people at her toes,
Yet all she think of are her foes.
So is this really a woman it sees,
A warrior on her knees.
Bearing the weight of many lives.
From cities of men,
To simple bee hives
Yet she is not alone in this task
She's with a boy with a haunted past.
He is her angel.
He is her life.
He will bare her burden with no strife.
Their Angel of Death,
Her Angel of Life.

----------

Bulma had just finished a new invention she called the portal machine, "Trunks do you wanna try it out first, or do you want me to?" Bulma grinned at Trunks look of total disbelief at her.

"You're gonna actually test that thing with people?" Trunks asked her incredulously.

"I've already sent through a rat and a dog, with heart monitors and cameras attached to them and nothing has happened to them, that world through the portal is much the same as our world, just not so much destruction" Bulma replied evenly.

"Ok." Trunks replied reluctantly, "I'll go." As Trunks stepped through the portal something terribly wrong happened...

----------

Caryn woke suddenly to her annoying alarm clocks "MEEP! MEEP! MEEP!" She reluctantly dragged herself out from under her vivid scarlet conforter to roll over and slap the snooze button.

She rolled out of bed and trudged down the hall past her older sister Allison's room, to note that she was up and curling her hair and looking at herself in the mirror while practicing what to say to her newly acquired boyfriend, Zack Hall, whom is captain of the wrestling team. He had just been named the hottest guy in school by the Golden Highschool's school paper.

It wasn't like he didn't deserve the title, with his short spiked blond hair, his broad shoulders and powerful arms. His face was beautiful with its small broad nose, his smooth arched eyebrows and blue eyes. He would also fit the award for the dumbest boy in school, too, Caryn thought wryly to herself.

She walked past her brother Johnny's room to see him still asleep, which didn't surprise her at all. He barely went to school anyway and he always hung out with his stupid little stoner friends who got high all day.

Caryn finally got to the bathroom and saw her reflection in the huge mirror that covered most of the wall. She wasn't one of those beauties who flashed it about everywhere, she had long wild black hair, with a small strait nose, and black perfectly arched eyebrows, in reality. Caryn was a mini image of her older sister in every way except for her eyes. Instead of the common brown eyes which ran in her family, she had brilliant dark green eyes with long thick lashes which shaded them.

Though Caryn and her sister looked the same, they dressed completely different. Instead of Allison's traditional 'the tighter the cloths, the better' attitude Caryn normally wore a baggy sweatshirt or a baggy black or white T- shirt with black or blue slightly baggy jeans. She didn't like flaunting around her looks because she didn't want to be another damn wannabe pop star.

After getting out of the shower and getting yelled at by little stoner Johnny, Caryn went to her room and got dressed into her regular black sweatshirt, and a pair of blue jeans. She put her hair up in a sloppy bun with a simple ink pen then grabbed her book bag, a breakfast consisting of several stacks of toast, and she headed out the door hoping she wouldn't miss the bus and have to get nagged by Allie again for having to get a ride with her.

As she started down her street she was unfortunate enough to run into Mrs.Coulter, the crazy lady of the neighborhood. Today Mrs. Coulter stood in her front yard wearing a pink flowery nightgown and watering her lawn with a non-running hose while mumbling under her breath about how the angel of death is coming and how he's going to destroy the earth. Caryn waved to her hand lightly and said "Good morning," gaining a slight nod of Mrs.Coulter's head in response.

As Caryn approached her bus stop she was met by her best friend Kimberly VanDuyn, who had blond hair and made Caryn laugh at her outlook on life. Kimmy looked at everything with a fondness and complete blissful image, like nothing could be better in life then just being alive. "Good morning!" Kimmy chirped in her almost annoying bird-like voice, "Whatcha doooin?"

"What does it look like I'm doin, I'm walkin to flippen school," Caryn replied to her cheerful voice with a sardonic smooth one while trying not to burst into a broad grin.

As the girls approached the bus stop they were met by their highly hyper friend Jeffery Lakey who, with brown hair that always falls into his sea gray eyes, looked like he always laughed, (which he did.) "She has arrived. You are more beautiful than a toadstool on a rainy day!" Jeff greeted them with his normal essence of terrible flattery that he always took turns teasing Kimmy and her about.

"Hey Jeff, what's up?" she casually asked him.

"Oh, nothing much, just waiting painfully for this living hell called school to end." Jeff said this in a light airy voice lined with grimness.

"Oh, come on, we only have threee days till the year is over, then we become the big people in high school." Caryn said this with a blissful look on her face.

All three of them then said in the same dreamy voice "Seniors."

They were snapped out of their dreamlike state by the big yellow piece of crap the school called a bus and the usual "Sit the hell down!" greeting from their bus driver Ms.Kaminsky. She was an older woman with greying hair who was very overweight but always called the freshmen kids on the bus fat little S.O.B's.

As the bus pulled into the parking lot of Golden Highschool Caryn was able to marvel at how much the school looked like a sweet little place when in reality it was, as Jeff often called it, 'The hell with no exit'.

Once again Caryn was jerked out of her marveling by Jeff, "Come on toadstool, it's time to attend the hell with no exit once again." With that he went his separate way to his first class which was American History with the dreaded Mrs. Emsminger while Kimmy and Caryn went to their lockers then on to their Algebra Class with the very strange, but cheerful, Mrs.Mangle, who had short blonde hair and was pleasantly plump in looks.

After and grueling session of Algebra, which neither of them understood in the least, the two girls went to their Language arts class which was taught by a very buoyant woman by the name of Ms.Thatcher, who gave the girls a warm smile and began the class by shaking her wrists to make the many bangles on them to jangle merrily.

After receiving homework which included reading seven chapters in the book 'To Kill a Mocking Bird', they both decided to skip going to access and just have a longer lunch instead. Outside the school Caryn and Kimmy met up with a group of friends consisting of Jeff, of course, Hollie Fraser, who was very tall at six feet two inches and had curly hair that added another four inches to her height, and a girl that was Hollie's direct opposite, Renne Willard. She was very short and tiny with long strait brown hair but whatever she lacked in size she made up for in energy. Jeff always referred to her as 'the hamster on speed'. They also met up with their very weird, but down to earth, friend Elizabeth Greene, who had long thin dark brown hair and always had a look of boredom on her face except for when something really got her excited.

As the group of friends headed to lunch Caryn turned around to see a figure disappear behind a nearby car; she shivered and felt that someone was watching her all through lunch. After getting back from lunch and dragged through Science, Spanish, and Band Practice Caryn and her group of friends met up as school ended and decided to meet up again later that night at Caryn's house to hang out if her mom didn't mind too much.

When Caryn got home she immediately went down to her room, sat down at her oak writing desk that she had convinced her mom to buy her earlier that year, and pulled out her huge mound of homework and a pencil. She was in the middle of doing the never ending Algebra problems when she suddenly felt a chill go down her spine. She quickly spun around just in time to see a shadow pass across her window. "Now this is really giving me the creeps!"

She decided to put aside her stack of homework for a little bit and go upstairs, when she went upstairs she walked into the kitchen to find her mother, Dawn, doing her daily Wuzzles out of the newspaper like she has done for the past seventeen years ever since Caryn was born. "Oh, hello honey, how was your day at school?" her mom asked without looking up from her paper.

Caryn replied with the same dry voice she always used when she answered that daily question "How good can school get? Well, I guess it was alright for a Monday."

She dug in the fridge for something quick and simple to eat before finally deciding on an orange and about six corn dogs and heading up into the living room to vedge out on the couch and watch cartoons while her mom continued her Wuzzles and eventually picked up a book to read. "Oh, yah, mom can some of my friends come over to hang out around four today?" she yelled down to her, just remembering.

"They always do." her mom called in a voice that told you she was occupied with something else at the moment and didn't want to be bothered right then.

The next couple of hours till four Caryn spent watching the Looney Toons and some anime shows. "I cant believe you like these type of shows," Jeff complained as he came in and saw her lying down on the couch and watching Dragon Ball Z.

"It's a good quality show so don't hassle me about it or I'll whip out some Goku moves on you," she replied as she stuck up her fists acting like she was going to fight him.

"No doubt that you couldn't or anything, I'm sure you could..." he replies this while pushing her legs off the couch and sitting next to her and currently becoming absorbed in the cartoon.

Kimmy, Hollie, Elizabeth, and 'hamster on speed' showed up around four-thirty and, like always, all of them just sat on the couch and vedged out on their new favorite cartoon for about an hour. When DBZ was over they all decided to go for a walk to avoid Allie and her 'dumb dumb' boyfriend.

As the friends went outside they saw one of their enemies watching them from across the street. Trent Vincellette was the group's biggest rival. Caryn and Trent grew up together and used to go out before Trent started getting mad at all the time because she and Jeff spent time together after one of their huge fights. Ever since Caryn kicked him out of a speeding car he spent his time trying to make Caryn's life a living hell.

I bet he was the one watching me in my room earlier today, the sick fuck. Caryn thought to herself as she glared at him across the street. She would probably still be in love with him. With his shoulder length black hair and his coal black eyes he was the picture of a god. The only thing that gave him the look of a human was his nose which was now slightly crooked from getting it broken by Caryn. When Caryn's mom heard about it she asked her what had happened and all she said was, "He got me mad so I gave him what he deserved."

Jeff rubbed his small button nose and mentioned something about not getting it broken by a girl like some people did just loud enough for Trent to overhear. He made a rude gesture at them and went inside his own small green house.

As the friends all walked down the street, talking about nothing in particular, they stopped at a park only to see a strange boy leaning against a pole that supported the swings watching them. He was about the same age as Caryn and her friends. His eyes were a perfect clear blue, his hair was a strange violet color that was almost white and hung down just a little past his ears and kept falling into his eyes. He was well muscled and wearing a black tank shirt with loose black pants that tied at the waste.

Caryn had the sudden urge to run her hands through his hair at that moment. The strangest thing of all was the sense of power that hung around the boy. There was also a sense of familiarity about him. Her friends, changing their minds about hanging out at the park, turned to walk away. She reluctantly turned to follow, looking back over her shoulder as she felt a little flutter of something in her stomach. What she saw made her heart skip... the youth smiled at her before turning and walking away.

She and her friends decided to hike up the mountain that lies in front of her neighborhood. Caryn soon forgot about the youth at the park.

----------

Trunks sensed the power immediately when the group of youths had approached the park where he had come out of the portal. He had no idea what happened after he had stepped through the portal. One minute he saw his mother running from operation deck to operation deck, the next thing he knew he was watching her through a hole in space that was growing smaller by the second. The last thing she yelled to him was, "Hold on, Trunks! Hold on!"

This had happened six months ago, since then Trunks had found out that he was in a country called The United States of America, in a town called Golden in the state of Colorado. He found a job at the local restaurant called Burger King; he had even found a small apartment that he could barely afford and things were much more different for him than he was used to.

The whole time he had been here he had been sensing for aliens beings stronger than the average human, until now. He had faintly sensed something or someone that was different from all the other humans but he couldn't locate the source by its ki. He finally found out that that it was a her, and a very pretty 'her' at that.

When the group of youths appeared from around the bend he sensed the strange power that was emanating from it. When they saw him, and immediately decided to go somewhere else, Trunks deliberately flared his ki to see if it got a reaction and, sure enough, the girl with the long black hair and emerald green eyes turned her head to look at him.

Trunks couldn't help himself, he broke into a broad grin. He wasn't alone after all.

----------

Caryn couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her all through the hike up the mountain. As always, she was the first one up the mountain and, as always, she had to wait for all of her friends for about forty-five minutes before they were all together at the top.

"Did you see that weird guy?" Kimmy asks with a wrinkled nose, "It's not like he wasn't gorgeous just... he just gives me the creeps. What about you, Caryn?"

Caryn, who was staring off into space thinking about that stange guy and that weird fluttery feeling she got right before she turned around to see him smiling at her, "What? Oh, the guy with purple hair.... yah he gave me the creeps." she replied absently, thinking about that soft lavender hair and those ice blue eyes.

"She likes him." Jeff stated, looking at her facial expression.

The others joined in.

"Definitely."

"Majorly."

And Kimmy's "Yup."

"I do not like him, I don't even know his name for god's sake!" Cayn replied incredulously.

"You do too like him!" chirped in Renne. "Can tell by the look on your face. You got that same face when you saw Jackass for the first time," (Jackass is Renee's name for Trent.)

Caryn gave up and put her head in her hands, turning bright red.

"All I can say is, you better be careful with him. I get the feeling he's dangerous." Hollie put in her words of caution, like any other time they thought of something.

"Yah, he gives me the major hibby-jeebies." Elizabeth put in shuddering.

The group of kids sat in silence while watching the sun go down in brilliant pinks, blues, and violets. They were unaware of the threat who had followed them up, watching them, waiting for his chance to strike.

As the group split up to go home darkness was well upon them. "See ya, Caryn." all her friends called as one by one they went their separate ways.

As she walked down her dark road she kept thinking about the purple haired youth, "I just cant get him outta my head." she said to herself while shaking her head in an attempt to clear it of her unrational thoughts about the pale haired youth but to no avail. Finally she stopped all together, closing her eyes and sighing as an image of the boy with those deep ice blue eyes showed up behind her closed lids. When she opened her eyes, she jumped when she saw Trent standing in front of her. She hadn't even heard him come over. "What do you want Trent?" she asked him in a sour voice.

"What do you think I want?" he answered with a sly grin.

Caryn, more than a little suspicious, peered at him closely before saying in a bored voice, "If you're just going to play your stupid immature games with me, Trent, get out of my way."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Trent said in an amused voice, an evil grin spreading across his face.

Caryn made to walk past him but he calmly stepped in front of her. She tried going the other way and, once again, he blocked her way. "Get out of my way now!" she growled at him in a deadly voice, "or else...."

"Or else what? You'll break my nose again? Ha! I'd like to see you try!"he said this in a light mocking tone with steel underlying it.

"Ok." she said with a grin, and with that her hand shot out in a fist ready to connect with flesh.

He calmly caught it, grinning. She stood there in shock, her eyes bulging. They looked like they were going to pop out of her head. She quickly recovered and tried to pull her hand free but he held it fast and then started squeezing.

She heard her knuckles crack inadvertently. She tried wrenching her hand away as the pain grew, his knuckles weren't even white. By the look on his face he could have been idly watching fish swimming in a pond. Except, if that were true, he would be watching the fish being eaten one by one by a hungry cat. His eyes had a crazy gleam and they were slightly glazed. Caryn was more than a little afraid by now.

"Let me go Trent, or you'll live to regret it!" she snarled at him.

With that he let go of her hand and backhanded her. She literally flew off her feet and landed a couple of yards away on some person's lawn. She lay there a second trying to get her bearings before what he had done sunk in. "You hit me!" she said in a flat, almost humored voice, "You actually hit me!" now there was anger and shock lacing her voice, "You actually had the balls to hit me!" she practically screamed at him.

She calmly got up and walked slowly over to him. He stood there smirking at her but as she came closer he saw that deadly determination in her eyes and uncertainty flickered in his eyes. "That was a big mistake." She said it in a flat dangerous hiss. With that, she slammed her fist into his jaw as hard as she could, sending him flying at least twice as far as she had when he had hit her. "Like the taste of your own medicine?" she asked him, a cruel grin on her face.

He lay there on his back, shaking his head and trying to clear it. She walked over to him, planning on kicking him while he was down, but as she swung her foot back to deal the painful blow his hand shot out so fast the she didn't even see it until it was firmly latched onto her ankle. With one yank her feet were yanked out from under her. The last thing she saw was her own feet before she hit her head on a large rock. She passed out as a great roaring filled her ears.

----------

Trunks was flying to his small apartment when he felt that strange girls ki again. This time much stronger, though. He stopped abruptly and flew directly over where she was only to see a black haired figure pull her legs out from under her. When she fell and ceased moving, he went down a little closer to see clearly.

He saw that the black haired figure was a young man looking to be about the same age as the girl. Suddenly he saw the young man raise his palm so that it pointed directly at the unconscious girl lying on the pavement. A gigantic ki blasted from his hand, heading strait for her.

Blurring, Trunks placed himself directly in front of the unconscious girl and braced himself for the blast. It was stronger than he expected, much stronger. He was pushed back by the blast to where his feet were right in front of the unconscious girl's face. When the blast stopped it had raised a cloud of dust. Trunks could barely see anything. When the dust finally settled, he stood there looking at the young man who was now whistling a little tune while walking away from the blast.

Trunks threw as small ki blast, aiming just above the young man's shoulder. The blast singed his hair as it went past. Just before the blast was going to collide with a dark sleeping house, Trunks made it veer up out harmlessly into space.

The young man whipped around and stared in shock at Trunks standing there with death in his eyes. He soon recovered from his shock, "Who are you? And what do you want with that?"

The violet haired youth just stared at him with those deep cold eyes that promised him a lot of pain if he wasn't careful. "I could ask the same to you." The pale haired youth stated in a dry voice.

"I'm just taking care of some business. Quite frankly I don't think it's any of your business." Trent replied in a cold clipped tone.

The youth smiled at him. Tt was a cold tight smile but there was something else, too. There was contempt in it, like he knew something that Trent didn't. "Quite frankly, I think it is my business." The pale haired youth said.

The two raced at each other, all that could be seen was a flurry of fists and feet going at each other. Just as abruptly as it began the two separated, each in fighting stance... measuring each other. Trunks knew he could end this very quickly, this guy wasn't at all as good as he acted like he was. This other guy was reckless and tried to go as fast as he could, not caring if his blows landed or not. This would be a piece of cake. Trunks' grin was grim and dangerous. He was way over his head.

He had to get out of this fight fast but how was the question. Trent thought this over and over as he realized this guy wasn't an ordinary human being.

Trunks wasn't shocked when the strange youth took off running down the street with inhuman speed. He was surprised, however, to find that his opponent couldn't fly. He shook his head, all his enemies in his own world could at least fly. This world was really different.

Trunks heard a slight moan behind him, he remembered the black haired girl. He crouched down, looking at the extent of her injuries; there was a slight bruise on her left cheek where the guuy must have hit her. He gently lifted her head to see that the back of her head was tacked with partially dried blood. Without a thoughtm he picked her up in his arms and took to the air, flying towards his apartment.

----------

Caryn woke up with a pounding in her head like a hammer hitting an anvil. She slowly opened her eyes to see a white cracked ceiling, with a cobweb in every corner. This isn't my room, where am I? Her head was spinning again; she was terribly confused and a little scared. She started to slowly try to sit up and got as far as propping herself on one elbow before she had to stop to massage her temples.

What I wouldn't give for and Advil right now she thought wryly as she felt the back of her head where most of the pain seemed to be emanating from. her fingers connected with dried blood plastered to her scalp, her hair was a complete mess. She finally forced herself to sit up straight and take in her surroundings a little further.

The room was practically empty except for the exceedingly ugly brown sofa that she was sitting on and a small glass coffee table with a tiny T.V sitting on it. In the corner of the room was a tiny kitchen with a small seemingly broken fridge standing desolately across from an old dirty stove with an equally dirty teapot. There was a hall leading down to what looked like a tidy little bedroom with a bathroom a the side of it. The bathroom door abruptly opened and Caryn found herself looking at the pale haired youth from the park.

He was dressed only in a white towel that covered his lower waste. He was very finely muscled with rich tan skin. He had an angular face with a small pointed nose. His face itself looked to be made of ice, like his deep blue eyes. His violet hair was disarrayed from the towel he had been drying it with.

When he saw Caryn was awake, he just stared at her; finally, after evidently remembering what he was wearing, he reddened slightly and hurried into the back room. He was out again in only a matter of minutes; he was fully dressed in a white tank shirt and some slightly baggy jeans. "How does your head feel?" he asked in a slightly raspy, yet clear deep voice. "It feels like it's gonna explode but other than that I feel fine," Caryn replied in a sarcastic tone. "Do you have any Advil or anything for this?" she asked as she gently prodded the back of her head, "and do you think it would be alright if I used your shower to wash the blood off my head?"

The youth replied immediately, "There's Advil in the cabinet and the shower's all yours if you want it."

She nodded and went into the bathroom. She immediately found the Advil in the cabinet, it looked quite old like it had belonged to the last residents of the apartment. She swallowed it then undressed and hopped in the shower. After finding a sponge under the sink she gently dabbed at the back of her head to get all of the dirt and blood off it. Then, very painstakingly, she washed her hair.

After that was done she got out and found a towel to dry her hair with. She then looked at the state of her clothes, both her pants and shirt were partially covered in dry blood, and dirt was all over them. These definitely wouldn't do. So she wrapped another towel around her and stepped into the hall. The purple haired guy was at the stove cooking something that smelled positively delicious. When he saw her, and what she had on, his cheeks slightly reddened and he looked down at the food he was cooking.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but do you have any old clothes that would maybe fit me? Mine are covered in blood and dirt." she asked politely. Once again that sense of familiarity struck her but she quickly shook it out of her head. There was no way he could be him.

"I think there might be a tank that would fit you, and some sweatpants, in the bottom drawer in my room." he said this all without looking up even once.

Caryn grinned at how embarrassed he was as she went into the back room. The room was just as empty as the rest of the apartment. The only pieces of furniture in here were an old brass bed and a large dresser with peeling paint. She promptly checked the bottom drawer of the dresser and found a pair of sweats and a black tank shirt. She had to tie the string on the pants around her waste before they could stay up and she had to roll up the legs thoroughly before she could walk without tripping. The tank looked like someone had cut some holes in a sheet and let her wear it so she bundled the hem up and tied it in a knot at the base of her back so it wouldn't be loose around the waste. She tied knots at the shoulders so it wouldn't show as much cleavage. With the outfit done, she stepped out the door to see a table full of food.

----------

Trunks was making breakfast when she got out of the shower with only a towel on her head and a towel around her body, he could see the curves that her sweatshirt and jeans thoroughly hid. He could have just stood there for all time, looking at her if it was his choice. He told her where to find some clothes when she asked if she could borrow them. After she had gone in to dress he finished a breakfast consisting of four plates of French toast, two plates of pancakes, a large plate of sausage, some eggrolls and a pitcher of orange juice, and he wasn't even close to being done.

When the black haired girl came out she was wearing a black tank and some black sweats all rolled up to make them smaller. The shirt was pulled tight across her chest and waist by knots in the back and at the shoulders. Once again he felt himself redden.

She was starving when she finished dressing and the food was a very welcome sight. She sat down at the table and waited politely for the pail haired youth to sit down across from her. When he did, they both started to shovel food into there mouths. Caryn had always been able to eat way more than anyone else in her family, except for her father, her mother always told her. She had a different father than her sister and brother, that's where she supposed she got her green eyes.

As she and the pale haired youth slowed their eating, she asked him a question that she was surprised she hadn't asked earlier, "What's your name anyway?" Once again that sense of familiarity sprung up insider her.

"Trunks, and yours is?"

This answer made her choke on the piece of sausage she had been chewing. When she finally cleared her wind pipe she asked in a breathless voice, "Your kidding right?"

He gave her a strange look then said, "No, why do you think I'm kidding?"

She started taking deep even breaths, trying to control her heart which was beating against her chest so hard she could swear it was going to crack a rib. Finally, her vision started blacking out, she felt herself falling. And then it happened.

Trunks saw this and he caught her before she could hit the floor. He gently laid her down on the couch and tried to wake her up. He wondered why she blacked out after he said his mother was Bulma. He was partially confused and partially worried about it. As the girl woke up and looked at him he asked her what her name was.

"Caryn, Caryn Lee" she answered dazedly. "You can't be Trunks. He's just a character on a cartoon show, he's not real." she said this more to herself than to Trunks.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking very confused and a little wary.

"You are not Trunks. Trunks is a fictional character, he's not real!" she yelled at him in panic.

He yelled right back, "Of course I'm real! How can I prove to you that I am Trunks Briefs?"

She took a deep breath to calm herself before she finally figured it out. He was probably one of those psycho fans who made himself believe he was Trunks. She grinned at him, "If you really are the real Trunks, fly for me?" she said, unsure of what the answer would be.

The fake Trunks looked at her confusedly, "Ok..." With that, he stood up and levitated a couple of inches off the ground causing the carpet to flatten as if being blown by a fan.

She was speechless. She just sat there, eyes popping and jaw hanging out.

Trunks grinned at her reaction. "Now do you believe that I'm the real trunks?" he asked her seriously.

She nodded then a mischievous glow came to her eyes. A slow grin spread across her face. "I bet you're wondering how I knew your mom was named Bulma, huh?" she asked slyly.

"Yah, that is on my top ten questions to ask you as soon as you stop passing out at everything that shocks you." he replied with a wide grin.

"Hey, don't make fun of me! If you knew what I know you'd be shocked, too!" she laughed whiled punching him in the arm. She was surprised at how hard it was. For one instant their eyes locked, her bright green ones transfixed on his ice blue ones as they came closer. She was now close enough to feel his breath on her cheek.

There lips met, the kiss was light and sweet. Trunks wrapped his hands around her waist gently and brought her against his chest. The kiss deepened. She wrapped her arms around his neck, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. His hands started moving on their own accord. He ran his hands through her silky ebony hair as their kiss deepened.

Trunks laid Caryn on the couch while exploring her perfect body with his hands. First kissing her cheek then nibbling on her ear lobe. She moaned quietly while exploring his exquisite body, memorizing it. He was kissing her neck and moving down her shoulder when the phone rang loudly. He reluctantly stopped kissing her and stood up and got the phone. It was a telemarketer.

He turned around, after hanging up rudely on the salesman, to see Caryn gathering up her things and putting on her shoes. He went and grabbed one of his smaller jackets that he had bought with his weekly salary. He gently put it on her, tugging it strait. She smiled at him weakly, her eyes full of longing just as he knew his were. "Don't go and try to get yourself killed again. I don't know if I'll be around to scare him off next time." He said in a concerned voice.

"I don't go out looking for trouble, trouble comes to me." she said with a wry smile.

He gave her one last long passionate kiss before she walked out the door and down the street to the bus stop. After she was out of sight he leaned against the door, sighing heavily before going to take a cold shower.

----------

Caryn hurried to the bus stop. Her heart was beating heavily and her breathing was heavy, her face flushed. When she got on the bus she remembered that she hadn't been home all night. Her mom would be frantic. She hurriedly took out her cell phone and called Kimmy.

"Hello?" Kimmy answered in a cheery voice.

"Hey, Kimmy, has my mom called you lately?" she asked in an anxious voice.

Kimmy replied in a slightly worried voice, "No. Why do you want to know?"

She let out a relieved sigh, "Ok, if she calls tell her I spent the night at your house and that I'm in the shower. Make sure you tell your mom, too. I'll tell you everything in a bit, ok? Bye." she hung up and got off the bus to head towards Kimmy's house.

As she knocked on Kimmy's front door she was once again set back by the extravagance on the place. It was a huge new house that was built about two years ago. It had 10 bedrooms and a bath for every one. It was large and ash gray just like all the other huge houses on the block.

Caryn heard thumps and curses that were Kimmy coming down the stairs that lead to the door. It swung open to reveal a red faced, and out of breath, Kimmy. "I'm dying to know where you've been all night or, should I say, who were you with all night?" she said with a giggle while leading Caryn upstairs to her bedroom.

The room was decorated in green and not just any green, bright green. Her bed was green, her curtains were green, even her floor was green. Kimmy got the idea after watching the movie Dr. Dolittle 2. She thought that the green room at the end was sooo cool so she made her mom let her do all that stuff to her room. Caryn sat down in one of the many green beanbag chairs that were situated around the room. Kimmy plomped down on the bed and looked at her anxiously. When she just looked at her, Kimmy rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Sooo, who was it? Tell me everything, I've got lots of time." she said with a rueful grin.

Caryn laughed at her and started at the beginning. Kimmy quirked her eyebrow when she told her about the fight between her and Trent. She was really shocked when Caryn told her who had rescued her. Caryn left out the kiss that had taken place before she left, she also left out the fact that Trunks was an anime character that was in the wrong world.

Kimmy slightly deflated when she figured out that Caryn hadn't slept with him. "You let a hotty like that walk away unscathed? I can't believe you! So, if you don't want him... can I have him?" Kimmy said with a laugh while ducking the bright green flying object that was thrown at her.

When she got home her mom gave her the "You've got to be more responsible" lecture. Caryn, having memorized it already, twiddled her thumbs and waited patiently for it to end with a "Go to your room and think about what you've done wrong" thrown at her. She didn't object to her mother's wishes. Once in her room, she picked up her stereo and headed to the bathroom. She didn't need a shower, she just needed to relax.

As she got un-dressed she caught the reflection of her back in the mirror and stared at the small circular scar that was at the base of her back. Her mother had always told her that she had gotten it as a baby when she had a birthmark removed but now Caryn started thinking otherwise. While she turned the shower on as hot as it could go a million questions ran through her head. Why do I have green eyes when everybody else in my family has brown? Who was my father? Where did I really get that scar? Questions like these ran through her head a million times over.

By the time she got out of the shower her mother was stomping furiously on the ceiling to make her get out. "Ok, ok! I'm out already! You can stop your damned stomping!" she yelled at the ceiling. She wrapped her hair in a towel then herself as well. She walked down the hall to see her sister making out with her dumbass boyfriend again. She ignored them and went into her room.

She shut the door and locked it, making sure she would get no unwanted guests walking in on her while dressing. That happened quite often in her house. She sat down on her scarlet bed and put her head in her hands. She finally made up her mind to ask her mom and to make sure she got the whole truth. She was sick of living in a world of lies. After she got dressed, she went upstairs with a determined gleam in her eyes.

She found her mother in her usual spot at the kitchen table doing her Wuzzles. Her mother looked up when she walked into the kitchen, smiled at her happily, already forgotten the lecture she had given her earlier, then went back to her Wuzzles. "Mom?" she said in a determined voice, "I need to talk to you."

Her mother looked at her confusedly. "What about sweetie?" she asked, her voice full of concern at the look in Caryn's eyes.

"I want you to tell me the truth about my dad." Caryn made it as a statement, not a question.

"What about him honey?" her mother asked, starting to get suspicious of her intentions.

"I want to know how he died, first off." she said in a 'and please don't lie to me' voice.

"Well, he died in a fire like I've told you before." her mother said it in a confused voice, peering at her carefully.

"Mom. Please don't lie to me." she said in a pained voice.

Her mother sighed heavily, "Well I guess there's no way to get around it. Your father did not die in a fire. To tell the truth, he died in a fight." her mom slumped her shoulders and closed her eyes.

"We're not talking about some bar fight that got out hand, huh?" Caryn said, wanting to slump her shoulders like her mother was doing now.

"No, he died in a serious martial arts fight and it was a fight he couldn't win either. Now, is that all you wanted to know honey?" her mother asked with pain filled eyes that were begging her not to ask more.

She looked away from those eyes and asked her next question. "What was my father? And I'm not talking about 'well he was a good man', stuff... I want to know what he was. Where was he from?"

This question shocked her mother, who was clearly not expecting it. "Well, he was human, of course." her mom said in an unsettled voice.

"Mom, I know that's not true. What was he?" she said in a stern voice.

"I told..."

"Mom."

"He was hu..."

"Mom!"

"He was.."

"MOM!"

Her mother sighed heavily once again. "Ok, but don't freak out. I know you won't believe me. Your father was an alien called a Saiyan warrior." she said this while slouching even lower in her chair.

Caryn stared her strait by saying, "Thought so." and walking out the door.

----------

As she walked down the street she was aware of everything around her. She was especially aware that Trent was silently following her. She strolled along and acted like she was going to Kimmy's house. When she got there she abruptly broke out into a run, as fast as she could go, and ran down the street at close to 50 mph. She took a couple of sharp turns to make sure that she lost Trent and then headed off at a steady pace towards Trunks' small apartment.

When she was about a mile away from his place, she walking through a small grove of trees to make the trip shorter, she heard the crunch of boots behind her. She spun around to meet her attacker only to find nobody was there. As she turned around she practically stepped into a punch that hit her square in the nose. She crashed through the tree that was behind her amd land on the ground about ten feet away.

She sat there for a minute before opening her eyes to see Trent walking toward her with a crazy gleam in his eyes. On instinct, she got up quickly and braced herself for the next attack. He charged at her and hit her hard in the stomach. The breath went out of her and she fell to her knees gasping for air. He then hit her in the back of the head and she flew to the ground.

She painfully got up to face him. He had his hand up, palm facing her. She immediately crossed her arms across her chest, braced her feet, and ducked her head behind her arms. When the blast hit her it was like being strapped to an electric fence. She fought for her life against the pain. The last thing she saw was a vision of thousands of android-like beings being made in a long line and her friends and family being tortured by a laughing Trent.

----------

Trunks was watching TV when he heard two small knocks on his door. After a minute he heard it again. He walked over and opened it to find Caryn, blood covering her entire body. There were burns and cuts from her head to her toes and the ends of her hair were singed off. He knew immediately that all this damage had been caused by a ki blast and a pretty powerful one, at that. It was a wonder she wasn't killed by it. He caught her as she collapsed in a bloody heap in his arms. He gently washed her and dressed her wounds then he trimmed off her singed hair, it was now just below the tops of her ears.

When she awoke she immediately recognized Trunks apartment. She tried to call his name but her throat was as dry as paper and all that came out was a rough croak. After building up some spit, then swallowing it, she was able to whisper his name. He came to her side immediately. When she saw him she tried to smile but it hurt too much.

Trunks' eyes were filled with concern and his voice was thick with it, "Who did this to you Caryn? Whoever did, I'll make them pay. I promise."

She shook her head at this promise. "No, I want to beat him myself. Let me have my revenge." Her voice was barely a whisper but underneath was hatred and rage.

"But you don't even know how to fight. How are supposed to beat this guy?" he asked, confused.

"You have to teach me. Teach me everything, no matter how long it takes. Please, Trunks? Please teach me?" Caryn asked, her voice raspy with a pleading look in her eyes.

"But what about your family?" he asked, knowing she had already made up her mind.

"I'll leave them a note telling them I'll be alright." she whispered in a pained voice.

He hesitated before answering her question. "Well, I guess... but first you must get well."

Trunks flew her home after she had rested for awhile then he decided to keep watch over her house until she was ready to leave.

Caryn stayed home for a week after that. She spent most of her time with her friends and her mother, knowing they would take her leaving the hardest. When she was healthy, and not wincing every time she took a step, she went outside one night and beckoned the person that had been watching her family for a week.

Trunks glided down from the tree he had been sitting in. He caught her eyes with his and took her hands, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She took one last look at her sleeping household then turned back to Trunks "Yes, I left a note for each of my family members telling them that I was all right and that I would be back when I was done with a certain task. I'm sure my sister and brother will be clueless about what I'm doing but I think my mom will have a guess, though." She ducked her head, going on in a lighter voice, "Anyway, we better get going before someone wakes up and sees us."

At that moment Trunks looked like he wanted to kiss her but she turned away before she could get trapped in those beautiful blue eyes. He silently waited for her to climb on his back before shooting off into the night.

----------

It felt like Caryn had been on Trunks back for hours already. The moon had sunken into the west about an hour ago and there were shades of pink in the sky. She hadn't had any sleep all night for fear of falling off. "Where are we going anyway?" she asked, craning her neck trying to see his face in the dim light.

"A place where I used to train in my world. It should be about the same geography, we'll be there in about an hour. For now, try to get some sleep." he replied, turning his head to look at her.

"How the hell am I supposed to sleep when I think I'm gonna fall off at any minute?" she asked him in a mocking incredulous voice.

"Fine." he said in a mischievous voice right before he rolled over and she went flying down towards the swiftly oncoming ground. She screamed as she drew closer to the ground. Just as she was about to hit it she was caught in a pair of strong arms that flew rapidly away from the tree littered earth. She boxed his ears when she had got her breath back and her heart had slowed down to a normal pace. "What was that for?" he asked in a mock hurt voice while trying not to grin.

"You know damn well what that was for! You scared the hell out of me!" she yelled at him, her cheeks flushed with irritation.

"What? You said you couldn't sleep on my back so I put you in my arms." Trunks replied in a soft voice, looking at her with gentle eyes. It was impossible for Caryn to stay mad at him so she just snuggled closer in response and fell into a deep sleep immediately.

----------

Caryn awoke to sunlight shining brightly in her eyes. She opened them just to shut them immediately for being blinded by the sun. She put her arm over her face to shield her eyes before sitting up and looking around. She was in a vast desert, from what she could tell. There was sand doons stretching as far as the eye can see. She was sitting under a large tree which was the only one in sight. The sun was directly over her and it was scorching hot.

She looked around for Trunks but found him nowhere in sight. She shrugged and got to her feet to stretch her tired muscles, walking over to the base of the tree to find a huge keg of water and a bundle of dried food. She could tell her stay here would not be very comfortable.

When Trunks got back he brought with him a huge dead animal that looked somewhat like a gazelle. She looked at it doubtfully. All Trunks did was smile at her and drop it at her feet. His smile was not so pleasant. "Clean it, then skin it. It's going to be a long time before you're going to be able to hunt for yourself."

Caryn gaped at him in shock before she shrugged and got out a knife she had brought with her. She would take what she was given without complaint being that she was the one who asked him to train her. Now the problem was, how the heck was she supposed to do this? After plenty of corrections by Trunks, she got the hang of gutting and skinning animals.

He taught her to hunt by day and to fight at night. It was going quite well in her opinion. The weather was grueling, they got massive sandstorms, and she had to be careful about her skin. She got sunburned terribly within the first week that she was there. After that, she tanned a very dark brown.

About a month of getting beaten and bruised by Trunks at night, and getting bit and chased by animals that did not want to be killed by day, she came back to their camp at the huge tree to find Trunks waiting for her patiently. She went and sat next to him with a confused look on her face. He was usually out doing something about this time of day. What he did on his long trip, she had no idea. This had only happened twice, once to tell her to hide from a chopper that he had seen earlier in the day and the other was to warn her about a massive dust storm coming her way.

They sat in silence together before he finally spoke. "You must learn how to fly." At this, he looked at her with a slight grin excaping his cool appearance as her dropped jaw and eyes widened.

He started her flying lessons the next day at dawn. She learned surprisingly fast for a 'semi-normal', as he called her. It only took her three days to learn enough. He was amazed at how fast she was learning, she was getting close to his strength when he wasn't a Super Saiya-jin. She was very powerful. He had no idea she would have anywhere near this amount of strength, it also puzzled him a great deal. How can a human generate so much power? This had been one of his biggest puzzlements that he was trying to figure out.

He kept training her as hard as he could, sparring with her till she couldn't even move let alone fly. She would always insist on getting back to camp on her own so he would leave and she would arrive at the camp about two days later.

He was having a harder and harder time trying not to show his feelings for her. They hadn't talked about that kiss at his apartment since it happened almost a year ago. He didn't know what would happen after she had finished her training. He was almost fearful of what she would do after she returned home.

Caryn got back to camp early one day with a huge water buffalo for dinner. When she got back there she wasn't surprised to find that Trunks was gone. She dismissed the worry that built up inside her whenever he wasn't near and dragged the carcass over to the small stream they used for butchering. When she was about halfway through getting the hide off the dead animal she felt the familiar funny feeling in her stomach that announced Trunks was near. She heard him land lightly and start walking over towards her.

"When will dinner be done?" he asked. She heard the smile in his voice.

"After I'm finished gutting, skinning, and slicing it up. The killing part is already done." She turned around to grin at him. Her hair was all disarrayed from the long flight and she was covered in dust and sweat from the hot day.

"How about I take over so we don't get poisoned from your cooking again?" he laughed as she slugged him in the leg, laughing.

"My cooking isn't that bad." she said while standing up and planting her fists on her hips.

"That's what you think." He dodged her second slug that was aimed at his chest and grabbed it as she tried to hit him again, laughing all the while. As he held onto her hand their eyes locked for a brief second which felt like an eternity.

She quickly pulled her fist back as if burned and lowered her eyes. She coughed lightly then said in an embarrassed voice, "Well, I'm going to go get cleaned off before dinner. I'll be back in a while." At that she took off into the air off towards the south.

Her heart was pounding so hard that she thought it would break her ribs, her breathing was coming in quick short intakes as she flew through the air towards a small waterfall about a hundred miles from their camp. She hadn't told Trunks about it because she liked it to herself.

The waterfall itself was beautiful. The water ran from an underground spring so it seemed to shoot out on a hole in the side of a cliff. There was a large pool at the base of it filled with crystal clear water. It didn't look very deep at first sight but when she swam to the middle of it she couldn't touch the bottom no matter how deep she dove. There were palm trees and large boulders surrounding the pool which offered shade.

As she landed at the beach of the pool she pulled off her clothes and flew up to the top of the cliff so that she was just above the water fall and dove in. The cold water hit her in a rush. She swam to the surface and sighed as she floated on her back. It felt good to be clean and cool. She swam in circles on her back for a couple of minutes before she stopped under the waterfall to wash her hair. She started singing a song that she used to hear all the time back home by Dido, it always used to help her relax. As she washed about a week's worth of dust, sweat, and grime off her body she sang:

"I didn't hear you leave,
I wonder how am I still here,
I don't want to move a thing,
It might change my memory,
Oh, I am what I am,
I do what I want,
And I-can't have..."

----------

Trunks finished butchering the buffalo that Caryn had brought and decided to go find her before he started cooking it. No matter what he said about her cooking it was still better than his. He took to the air and sensed for her ki . He was surprised to find it so far off. I wonder what she's doing so far away? he thought before going in a straight line to the south.

He cloaked his ki just to be safe. He didn't want to embarrass her or anything by showing up unannounced when she might be with another guy. The thought automatically made rage bubble up in him. He surpressed it, she had every right to be with another guy, it's not like he would be sticking around for long anyway. No matter how much it pained him he would never belong in this world but, then again, if his guesses were right, neither would Caryn.

As he flew on he spotted a green spot on the horizon and Caryn's ki led straight to it. As he got closer he picked up the sound of rushing water. As he got closer, though, he heard another sound all together. It took him a second before he realized what it was. It was singing. She was the last person he cold ever imagine singing, yet there it was. He didn't recognize the song but it had a soothing effect. He landed in some palm trees beside a crystal clear pool that was positioned under a waterfall. He was shocked at how beautiful this place was. She must come here to relax.

He didn't spot her right off but he soon did. She was bathing under that waterfall, completely naked. He respectfully looked away but he couldn't help but notice the circular scar at the base of her back. He did stare at that, however. The only people he knew with that scar were people who had had surgery to remove a tail. That could only mean one thing, she was Saiyan.

----------

After Caryn was done washing all the dirt and grime off her skin she took her time flying back to camp. Trunks had been at the waterfall, though he had only been there for a few minutes. Caryn could've sensed that ki anywhere, she had spent hours memorizing the feeling it made in her stomach. What puzzled her, though, was that he was so shy about this. If he wanted to tell her something he could've just yelled it at her but instead he just flew off. The only reason for his actions, that she could think of, was that he was a peeping tom but she refused to think that of him. Trunks wasn't one of those stupid perverted boys that she knew at school.

Once again, thinking of home brought a pang of homesickness washing over her. She missed her family and friends terribly. It had been almost one year since her leaving. Most likely all searches for her had been abandoned after a year. The authorities probably thought she had just ran away. Tears glistened in her eyes as she flew back to camp.

----------

Trunks sat and thought for quite a while after he had arrived back at camp. How could she be Saiyan? Even if this was a whole different world, there was no other being even nearly as strong as she was. The whole matter eluded him completely. He decided to put it out of his mind. Caryn would tell him about her heritage when she was ready, then and only then.

----------

When Caryn arrived back at camp she found all of her and Trunks' belongings packed up into small bundles that would easily fit on their backs. The meat from her recent kill had been cooked in a way that she had first discovered shortly after arriving here, very slowly for about an hour until it turned into a hard jerky like substance, but she could only do this using a very small energy beam or else it wouldn't work.

She walked around the camp several times before she finally sensed Trunks coming. She decided to sit on the ground and wait for him to arrive. When he did get there he was holding a plain wooden box in his hands. The box looked to be made of cherry wood with a plain brass lock on the front of it. When she asked him what it was he replied in an even voice, "It's a good luck charm. Open it up and see."

Caryn looked at the box then slowly opened it to reveal a small silver ring with small plain polished gem set in the middle. She could barely make out very small writing in some language surrounding the jewel. As she looked closer and could barely make out the writing. "What does it mean, Trunks?" she asked, looking up at him.

"You will know what it means when you are ready," he said, gripping her hand in his. Abruptly he broke into a grin and got a mischievous glint in his eyes, "But right now it's time to get you home."

For a second Caryn only looked at him then broke into a broad grin, "Really, you mean it? I get to see my family and friends again?" she said as she jumped on him, wrapping arms and legs around him and kissing his cheeks ecstatically. Suddenly she stopped and looked at him, not letting go, "So you think I'm ready? Am I done with my training? Because if I'm not, I'm not going anywhere."

"Would I really say that you're ready to go home if you weren't?" he replied in a dry voice.

With that she went back to hugging him and kissing him. All at once, he hugged her closer to him and kissed her on the lips. His hands snaked around her back to touch the scar at the base of her back. She gasped in shock and pleasure as his fingers slowly circled that spot. He grinned at her reaction and captured her mouth with his again. He gently laid her down on the ground under the shade of the vast tree and they were occupied for a long while.

Afterwards Caryn lay awake, bathed in moonlight lying under the tree, thoroughly wrapped in Trunks' powerful arms. She was in bliss. She was going home, she was happier than she had ever been in her life. She missed all of her friends painfully. She missed her mom's presence, even if she was just doing her Wuzzles. She missed Kimmy's ditziness and Jeff's stupid flowery names for her. She even missed her sister Allie. Allie would have graduated by now and was probably off to college. Without realizing it, tears of joy and tears of homesickness started running down her face.

As if sensing distress, Trunks' arms tightened reasurringly around her and he nuzzled her neck whispering, "You'll never be alone as long as I'm here." She turned her head and gently nipped his nose with her teeth. He grinned and nipped her ear while she fell into a deep blissful sleep.

----------

Caryn woke up with Trunks' arms still wrapped around her pleasantly. She gave a sigh of content then she remembered where she was going today. She was going to get out of this blasted desert once and for all! She gave a small squeak of excitement and gently peeled his arms for around her before getting up and getting dressed in her shorts and shirt which she had made out of one of the wildebeest she had killed for supper a while back. The outfit was of a dark brown, almost black, color and it was softer than any cotton she had worn back home.

After she was done dressing she decided it was time to wake up Trunks. As she turned around to do so she was startled to find him awake and watching her with those icy blue eyes. "So, I see you're awake." She said as she bent down to gently kiss him. "Thank you." she added quietly as he smiled up at her and propped himself up on one elbow.

"What are you thanking me for? You're the one I should be thanking." he said, smiling and earning himself another kiss.

"Thank you for last night, thank you for training me, thank you for this ring and, most of all, thank you for you."

He had slowly stood up throughout her little thank you speech. When she had finished he gently kissed her and whispered, "I should thank you, not the other way around."

For reasons unknown to Caryn, she suddenly turned beat red and quickly changed the subject, "Hurry up, sleepy head. I want to get home and beat Trent's ass as soon as possible and I want to introduce you to my mom and family. My sister will have a fit."

This earned Trunks a round of blushes. He got dressed in some cotton baggy pants and his regular tank top shirt. He didn't like the leather homemade clothes, he said they made him itch. As Caryn walked by him to pick up her pack, she couldn't help but pinch his butt as she passed. He looked at her in startelment then mock scowled at her.

----------

After they had all of their supplies and packs ready they took to the air. As they flew along Caryn studied her ring that Trunks had given her. The stone was an impossibly deep green. The reflection it gave off from the sun was gorgeous and the writing around it... what language was it? Where was it from? How did Trunks get it? All these questions and more were buzzing through her head as he reached over and gently held her hand in his.

When she saw the distant shoreline of the United States she squeezed Trunks hand for reassurance. I wonder how mom is, and Allie, and even Johnny? I've been gone so long now. Maybe they're mad that I left so quickly. I could've sent them just one letter. No, because then they'd know where I'd gone and so would my enemies. God! I miss them so much. With that she shot forward going twice the speed she had been flying in her hurry to get home.

As they were flying over the Appalachian Mountains out of nowhere shot a energy beam which hit Trunks hard in the side. He fell toward the ground gaining speed. Caryn raced down to catch him. She helped him up as he surveyed the damage. It wasn't that bad, it just looked bad. "Where the hell did that come from?" he demanded angrily.

"Beats me, I'll go check it out." she stated plainly and, before he could protest, she was shooting off to the area where Trunks had fallen from the sky.

As Caryn neared the spot where they had been flying when he had been hit another beam shot towards her. She easily swatted it away. The only reason the earlier one had even harmed Trunks was because they had been taken by surprise. She shot down to wear the beam originated and landed quickly in a clearing of some pine trees only to see a figure dart through the forest.

She cursed under her breath, she hated it when she had to chase things on foot. Flying was so much easier. She quickly caught up to the fleeing attacker and tackled the person into some brush, easily pinning them. As she got a better look at the person she was restraining she found that it was a young girl no older than 14. She had bright red hair with deep black eyes that were shining with defiance.

"Why did you shoot at me!?" Caryn asked in a growl.

"I won't tell you anything, you mechanical bitch!!" the girl yelled back at her.

Now Caryn was starting to loose her temper. "I'm not mechanical, you little wretch! I've come to fight those demons. Now, what I want to know is, why the hell did you shoot down my partner and try to shoot me!?"

The girl looked shocked at the words that were coming out of Caryn's mouth. "What? How can you fly then?" the girl asked, ignoring her question.

Caryn let the girl up, seeing the defiance replaced with curiosity. "I learned from a friend."

At this answer the girl shot another energy beam at Caryn, snarling. Caryn caught it and shot it harmlessly into space. "Will you stop doing that please?" she said, exasperated. But, before she could say anything else, she felt Trunks' ki coming nearer.

Trunks landed lightly beside the two girls. "I see you caught her. What a surprise." he said with a grin to Caryn.

"I'm not the one that got hit by her." she replied evilly.

He brushed aside her remark with a smirk. "So, what have you gotten out of her, pupil?" he asked, making the last word an insult.

"I think she's a renegade but could things have gotten that bad while we were gone?" Caryn answered, turning serious.

"We've been gone only a year. It's very possible that things could have turned for the worst." he answered thoughtfully.

At this, Caryn turned paper white. "I've got to get home. If anything has happened to them...I'll never be able to forgive myself." She and Trunks flew off towards the small town of Golden with no idea what they were in for, leaving a very startled young woman running to tell her band about the attack.

----------

As Caryn and Trunks neared her home the signs of destruction and hard times littered the countryside. Instead of Caryn breaking down like he had expected of her, a determination and deadly rage replaced the tears and sorrow that should have been there. He stopped her when they were about twenty miles from her home. "We can't just go rushing into this. We have to have a plan, a line of action." he said gently, looking into her emerald green eyes.

After some extensive planning and arguing they decided that they would first go to Caryn's house and see if they could find out more information about the supposed androids. As they approached the house on foot, to mask their ki's incase one of these supposed androids could sense them, they discovered that the house was being guarded by a number of young men and women. Some were playing cards and there was even one reading a book.

As Caryn browsed the faces of the guards she found something that shocked her more than anything in the last year. Two guards, both young men she remembered as being bullies at school, walked out of the house with a bruised and bleeding Jeff between them. Without thinking, she leaped out of her hiding place and at the guards. She landed lightly in front of Jeff's captors.

The guards looked startled but, seeing her small frame, they smirked at her. "Get out of our way, girly, before you get hurt." The taller of the two said smirking smugly.

She suddenly broke into an evil grin. "Why don't you try, Ricky." She made his name into an insult, hatred and disgust laced her every word.

The two guards looked startled that this girl, whom they had never seen, knew his name. They quickly recovered, though, and through Jeff aside, charging at her with inhuman speed. She easily fended them off with a series of punches and kicks. She ended the fight quickly with two small energy beams to both of their stomachs. They went flying into the nearby fence.

Caryn yawned and dusted off her hands but went into fighting stance when she saw the rest of the guards coming towards her. She wasn't afraid of the ones who were at the front of the procession cracking their knuckles and anticipating the fight, she was afraid of the ones near the back who were moving stealthily and who were observing their surroundings and judging the best place to attack her from. They were the dangerous ones.

The first guard was about to attack when Trunks suddenly came to Caryn's side, "If we fight all of them at once it will take too long and some will escape, so I'm going to do this the easy way ok?" he whispered into her ear. She gave him one quick nod, never taking her eyes off her opponents.

Trunks suddenly powered up into Super Saiyan. All of the guards standing around them were blown back harshly by the immense power that was emanating off of Trunks' body. They landed unconscious and scattered about with the pair of fighters in the middle of it all.

"Well, that was easy." she said cheerily while looking at Trunks and feeling all the raw energy that was surrounding him. She had to admit, seeing it in real life is much better than in the cartoon. She suddenly remembered poor Jeff lying on the ground where he'd been dropped. She bent over and checked his pulse. He was alive but his pulse was weak. She quickly picked him up and opened her front door only to be almost stabbed by a figure with ebony hair.

Her eyes opened wide as her sister came rushing at her, head down, eyes closed, and screaming for all she was worth. Caryn shifted Jeff's body to enable her to grab the knife out of her screaming sisters hands. "My God, Allie! What do you thing you're doing? Trying to kill your own sister? And we haven't even been fighting!" she laughed as Allie opened her eyes to see her younger sister standing before her with Jeff slung over her shoulder.

"It can't be! It is! It's you! God, I'm so glad to see you Caryn!" Allie threw herself at her and began hugging her tightly. Caryn was surprised to find that she was about six inches taller than her big sister.

Caryn, still holding Jeff, hugged Allie with one arm. "Umm.. can I put Jeff on a bed before you kill him?" she asked while laughing at her little big sister's enthusiasm.

"Oh! Of course, of course." Allie said, a deep sadness returning to her eyes.

After laying Jeff down on the couch where she used to watch TV, she went down into the kitchen to have a cup of tea with Allie. "What happened to the guards?" Allie asked, looking alarmed.

"Don't worry, we took care of them." Caryn said, gently sipping her tea.

"But..but... how could you... I mean. They'll send more, we have to get out of here. However well you distracted the others, more will come and I can't stop them from arresting you or me." Allie said with disdain in her voice and fear running through her.

"No, they won't. We can take care of you and ourselves and we didn't just distract the guards, they are unconscious as we speak." Caryn said, grinning smugly as she sipped her tea some more. She returned to pure seriousness and asked the question she was fearing the answer to. "Where's mom?"

Allie stared into her tea and a single tear dripped down her cheek. "They killed her, Caryn. Those bastards killed her!" she cried out, tears streaming down her face.

A single tear rolled down Caryn's cheek as she asked "When?"

"About three months ago, he killed her." Allie answered.

"He?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"That bastard, Trent. He came here one night wanting to know where we had hidden you. When we said we didn't know, he shot mom with this thing... It looked like a giant ray of light." At this Allie started crying hysterically.

Caryn clenched her hands so hard that blood silently dripped to the white tile floor. Pain and rage filled her. She slowly got up from the table and whispered, "I'll make him pay for this."

Allie looked at her with wide tear filled eyes, "You can't. I don't know where you've been this last year, but Trent's not human anymore. I don't think he was ever human. You might have become strong, Caryn, but you can't go against those beams of his." Allie said desperately.

"Oh, really." Caryn said, holding her hand palm up and balancing a ball of pure energy in her hand. It wasn't very big, only about the size of a baseball, but it was powerful enough to be able to blow up a city. Allie stared in shock at her. Without listening to Allie's protests about how that couldn't be possible she gently asked, "Where's Johnny?"

Allie snapped out of her stupor and replied shakily, "He leads a small resistance group that is somewhere near the mountain."

Without saying another word Caryn walked out the front door to where Trunks was standing, silently watching over the place. "I need to get all of my friends here now before any more can be hurt. Will you get Kimmy and Renne while I get Elizebeth and Hollie?"

Trunks nodded. He had heard her sister crying and telling her about their mother. He suddenly gave Caryn a tight hug, his arms encircling her protectively as she sobbed into his shirt. He held her for a couple of minutes while he stroked her hair gently, "It will get better, I promise." he whispered comfortingly into her hair.

When Caryn stopped crying, she gently stepped back from him and smiled gratefully. Trunks nodded in understanding. She whispered a quiet thank you then headed off towards Renne and Hollie's houses. Trunks headed in the opposite direction.

----------

As Caryn landed in Hollie's front yard she was met with the same situation as at her own house, except that there wasn't as many guards at this place. She easily took care of them with a simple power up, like what Trunks had done earlier, except that she wasn't able to go Super Saiyan therefore there were some left standing.

A young man on the right of her quickly shot an energy beam. She lightly raised her hand and over powered it with one of her own. The man was burned to ashes immediately. She flinched at the death scream the boy let out. With that, all the guards remaining quickly turned and started running away.

She stepped lightly into the house, carefully checking for anybody with a weapon who might be running at her. The house appeared empty but, as she checked a small bathroom, she sensed a very small ki signal coming from a wall in the corner. "Hollie? Hollie, I know you're in here. It's me, Caryn! Everything's alright now, you'll be safe." she spoke in the most soothing voice she could. Almost immediately the wall where she had sensed the ki began to slide out in an almost door-like way. Caryn stood in shock as Hollie's curly topped head peaked out and stared at her in wide eyes.

As Hollie and Caryn walked out of Hollie's house Hollie gasped at the amount of guards encircling them. There were near to thirty of these android humans, all in the ready stance. Caryn cursed rudely and shoved Hollie back against the side of the house. She immediately went into fighting stance.

The guards made the mistake of coming at her one at a time. She easily disintegrated them with a powerful ki blast. Finally they decided to come at her as one. She fought them and blocked most of the hits and kicks they were throwing at her. She was still on the defensive. Finally, after feeling a fist hit her in the stomach and slam her to the ground, she got mad. She flew at her smirking attackers and easily finished them off with a Kamehame-ha wave that she had taught herself.

She looked back at Hollie after the fight was done. Hollie's eyes looked like they were about to pop right out of her head. Caryn fought down a giggle that rose in her throat at the sight of her large friend. "Sorry about that." she said, now breaking into a large grin.

Hollie quickly recovered from her stupor and, to Caryn's shock, glared at her with one hand on her hip while tapping her foot. Caryn took on an innocent look, or as innocent as she could manage. Hollie just glared at her then, in a motherly tone, she asked sternly, "Where have you been all this time?"

Caryn ignored the question and answered with one of her own, "What happened to your bathroom wall?"

At that Hollie blushed fiercely, "Oh, that? That's been there for years. I made it when I was younger, to hide my work."

Caryn raised an eyebrow and looked at her skeptically, "What work?"

But, before Hollie could answer, she saw several figures running towards them at full speed. The would-be attackers made the mistake of running in a tight group for safety. Caryn rolled her eyes then shot a quick ki beam at them. They were consumed by a large explosion. She quickly told Hollie to get on her back.

"What in the world for?" Hollie asked in confusion but, nevertheless, got onto Caryn's back. Hollie squealed in fright and clung tightly to Caryn's neck as she took to the air.

As they neared Elizabeth's house they found it completely deserted judging by the dust and cob webs that had collected on the stairs. "Where is everybody?" Caryn asked confusedly.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, idiot. Elizebeth belongs to the resistance group that your brother leads."

Caryn stared at Hollie for a moment the asked, "Where is this resistance group?"

"It's inside the mountain. I was able to help them build the headquarters in a hidden cave system that runs through the mountains."

Caryn decided to meet Trunks back at the house and then take everybody to the so-called resistance group.

----------

As Caryn neared her house she wasn't surprised to find Trunks was already there with Kimmy and Renne who looked pale from the flight. As she and Hollie landed Kimmy and Renne looked at them in shock. They then both launched themselves at her, hugging her wildly. As Caryn looked up she saw Trunks smiling at her.

Then she saw Jeff stagger out onto the porch. Jeff was amazed at how much Caryn had changed. She had always been beautiful but now she was like a golden goddess. Her skin was a deep tan and her hair was longer and wild. He could see the muscles in her stomach and legs ripple when she moved with a grace he had only glimpsed before. But the most noticeable change was the deadly, almost feline, way she moved. It seemed like she watched in all directions at once. He immediately knew that Caryn was no longer a young teenage girl, she was now a woman and a dangerous one, too.

When Caryn saw Jeff walk out of the house she went over and gently gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. "How do you feel?" she asked him gently.

"Good as new, pearl of my heart!"

At this answer, Caryn and all her friends laughed, "Yup, he's definitely ok!" they all laughed together.

Caryn became aware of Trunks shifting selfconsciously in the background. She called him over.

Jeff spotted the purple haired youth, whom they had seen at the park that day last year, walk over and slip his hand into Caryn's. He could tell that they were more than just friends by the way Caryn looked at him with such kindness and love... The way Jeff had always dreamed she would look at him.

"Guys, this is Trunks. Trunks, this is Elizebeth, Hollie, Jeff, and finally, Kimmy." Caryn said as she introduced all her friends to Trunks. She blushed at the wink Kimmy through at her.

Trunks respectfully shook all their hands and gave them a warm smile. They all grinned back, except for Jeff. Surprisingly he radiated pure coldness towards Trunks. This troubled Caryn greatly.

----------

Later that night the group decided, after an hour-long discussion, that they would meet up with the resistance group the next morning at dawn. Caryn then went out to spend time with Trunks as he kept guard. She silently walked up to him and gently slipped an arm around his chest and kissed his cheek lovingly. "Any sign of them yet?" she whispered into his ear.

He shook his head no while taking hold of her hand, "They should have attacked by now. They must know somebody's here, that many guards don't just disappear." he whispered worriedly. "Either they are a bunch a morons or they're planning something."

"I'm afraid the latter one is right." Caryn said in an equally worried voice, "But what could they think up? It's not like Trent is very smart or anything. He had always been kind of slow." Caryn said almost to herself with a thoughtful expression on her face. They were silent after that, thinking their own thoughts and getting lost in the star littered night.

----------

The next morning Caryn went around and roused all of her tired friends who were still under the sweet spell of sleep. While they had all gotten a good night's rest Trunks and Caryn had kept a vigil all night to make sure they slept safely.

They decided that Caryn would carry Kimmy and Renne while Trunks would carry Jeff, Elizebeth, and Hollie up to the mountain. But when they told the plan to Jeff, he refused rudely. "I will not be carried up like a helpless baby. I'll walk before I let him carry me!" he yelled at Caryn when she pulled him aside.

"Why are you being such a jackass all of the sudden!?" Caryn yelled back at him, anger lacing her words.

"Why do you come back all moon eyed over a loser like that? I've seen the way you look at him, I know you've slept with him!" Jeff retaliated.

At this comment Caryn became more confused than angry. "So what if I've slept with him! It's never seemed to bother you before when I would go out with guys!" she yelled at him, rage and confusion filling her voice.

"But you never slept with those other guys and you never actually loved any of them either! He's just made you into another slut to add to the collection he probably has wherever he's from. You're no better than a common whore!" Jeff raged at her.

Caryn punched him at this remark, as hard as she could, before she realized what she was doing. Punching him as hard as she could will kill him! She quickly ran to his side but, before she got there, he rolled over onto his back and shot a large ki blast at her without warning. She had just enough time to cross her arms over her chest and brace herself before the blast hit her. She was pushed back about a hundred yards before stopping, her shirt and pants smoking. She quickly looked up to find that Jeff was gone.

Trunks had felt Caryn's ki raise rapidly and he immediately rushed to where she had led Jeff to talk. There was something peculiar about Jeff but he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. When he arrived at the site where Caryn was standing he was shocked to see her at the end of a hundred yard trail, having evidently been pushed back by a semi-powerful ki blast.

He quickly ran to her side, blurring in the process and catching Caryn in his arms as her knees gave way. "What happened? Where's Jeff?" He asked worriedly.

She just shook her head and mumbled "He's one of them. I can't believe it. He's one of them." Trunks knew immediatley what must have happened.

The others finally caught up to Trunks and Caryn to find them walking side by side, both with determined and unreadable looks on their faces. "What's wrong? What happened to Jeff?" Kimmy asked worriedly.

"Forget about Jeff. He's one of them." Caryn snapped, her voice like steel. After those short words, all were silent.

----------

Caryn and the others were sitting inside at the table. Trunks, as always, was keeping watch outside. Everybody was in a very depressed mood. It was bad enough having people who you had grown up with turn evil but it was a whole different story when it was someone you knew and loved.

Finally, Caryn spoke. "We will go on as planned but instead of everybody going up the mountain we will just have Elizebeth, Renne, and Hollie go up. Got it?"

They all looked at her in shock, "Where are you going to go?" Kimmy asked, already knowing the answer.

"I will be going after Tr---..." all of the sudden Caryn felt Trunks ki raise drastically. She immediately flew down the stairs and out the front door.

She got there just in time to see Trunks standing in front of a large cloud of smoke. From within that cloud flew a large energy beam which hit Trunks in the chest. She screemed as the beam passed through Trunks's body and she caught him as he fell. Blood was soaking everything, including Caryn. She quickly looked around her, trying to find the assailant but with no success. This was a hit and run job.

She turned back to Trunks. He was staring at her with a small sad smile on his face. "I love you." he whispered while weakly reaching up and touching her face. With that, his hand went limp and he closed his eyes for the last time.

Kimmy was the first one out of the house and saw Caryn gently rocking back and forth, tears streaming down her face. Trunks' body was lying on the ground, his head in her lap. She immediately knew what had happened and sank to her knees. She started crying for the pain her friend must be feeling.

Suddenly the ground started shaking violently. Kimmy looked up to see that the tears and anguish that had been in Caryn's eyes had now turned to pure rage and anger. Kimmy fell over on to her butt as Caryn let out a wild scream. It sounded like a thousand waterfalls hitting the ground at once. The scream turned into a roar. Caryn's hair was flying up wildly, blown by an invisible wind. All at once Caryn's hair turned to a bright gold and her eyes gleamed turquoise with rage. Her scream abruptly stopped. Kimmy knew then that Caryn was not only powerful, she was a Saiyan...

Caryn felt as though her heart had been ripped out and crushed into the ground by a spiked boot. She knew nothing, smelled nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing but the blinding screen of pure rage. She suddenly became aware of screams and curses flying around her. All of her senses kicked in at once, sharpened by her new power. She was able to see the different colors in a hair with a single glance. But the first thing she saw wasn't hair, it was the deep calamitous red of blood.

She gently put Trunks' head down on the cement and stood up. She was in a deadly grace. No faults, no weaknesses, just a pure hatred and rage at everything around her. She whipped her head around to see Kimmy being thrown across the room by Trent. There were others around him but he was at the lead. At that, she powered back down to her normal form.