Absentmindedly Trunks rubbed his shoulder. It was too early in the season for there to be any senzou ready, so he, Kulilyn, and Gohan had had to recover the old-fashioned, slow way, and he was still sore in a few places.

But now it was time for him to go home, back to the future. He would miss this time, where everyone but Son Gokou still lived, including his father, but he couldn't stay here and risk further changing history. It was unspoken, but they all knew this would be his last trip here.

His mother, this younger version of her who was holding a much younger version of himself, leaned a little closer to him and whispered, "Try to come back one more time." She winked slyly. "I wanna see who you get married to."

He could feel heat spreading across his face, but he stammered, "H-hai, Kaasan." She laughed briefly, and for a short moment he couldn't help wondering how the child in her arms was going to turn out around her and Vegita. He quickly dismissed the thought; the kid would probably be a brat. "Sayoonara, Kaasan."

"Ja ne, Trunks," she returned. "Don't forget your promise. Come back when you get a girlfriend."

"Hai, Kaasan," he repeated. He'd already said his goodbyes to the others, so he raised his hand and waved to them all, ignoring the pain the simple movement caused; the pain inside him was not so easily dismissed. He would miss these people, a lot. As calmly as he could, he called out, "Sayoonara, minna!"

He rose into the air and landed easily in the seat of the time machine. The correct coordinates had already been programmed into it, so that he'd safely return to his own time only a short time after he'd left this last time. He really didn't want to do this...

With a heavy heart, he activated the time machine. It started perfectly, moving up in the air aobut twenty feet then vanishing from his friends' sight.

Somewhere far above him, a young god looked down apologeticly. "Gomen, Trunks-san," Dende apologized, "but you're the only one I can send on this."

* * *

There was an explosion, and it startled the blonde-haired woman from her reverie. She automatically ran through the possibilities of what it could mean. Either another building had collapsed or the Animates were on another rampage, she decided. She listened carefully. When the noise was not repeated within a few minutes, she decided to investigate.

The sound had come from the far edge of the city, and she had to pick over piles of debris three times her own to reach her destination. Finally, with a sigh of defeat, she spread her white wings and flew the rest of the way. What she saw stopped her in midair.

There was a machine of some sort; it was apparently what had exploded when it impacted with one of the few standing skyscrapers. How did it get past the shield? her mind screamed, but she pushed the thought aside. Maybe...

She frowned. The possibilities of someone surviving such an impact, if indeed this ship of whatever sort it was heralded help of some kind, were slim to none. But she had to look, even if only to be disappointed. She flexed her wings once and slowly lowered herself to the wreck.

Glass littered the area around it. Some of it was from the skyscraper; some of it was too thick to have come from such a mundane source. As she glanced around, the building groaned ominously; it was only a matter of time before it collapsed. There was blood on the ground, a thin trail leading away from the debris, as if someone or something had been thrown out in the collision. Keeping a careful eye on the structure around her, she followed the trail to its source.

He looked about twenty or so with shoulder-length lavender hair. He wore a denim vest over a black tanktop with baggy black pants and brown boots, and he was absolutely gorgeous...

She frowned and shook her head. There wasn't any time for that. He may have managed to survive the crash, but there was no way he could live through an entire skyscraper falling on him. With another frown, she regarded him again. He wasn't too tall, but she could tell he'd be heavy, probably too heavy for her to move alone. But, besides the Animates, she ws the sole survivor of this vast city; she could hardly go get help. Besides, even if she could, the building would be down before she could get back. She had to move him, now and alone; there was simply no other choice.

With a brief grimace, she pulled off her gloves. The last thing she wanted was for them to slip off and cause her to drop him and injure him further. He was already bleeding from more places than she could count; she probably shouldn't even be considering moving him. But it was better this than allowing a building to fall on him. She sighed once more and offered up another quick prayer, then she gently wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted him.

Sweat broke out all over her at just the sheer effort it took, but she got him off the ground. Her wings strained as she flew the twenty-foot distance it was to the outside, free of the building. A matter of seconds after she had cleared it, the entire skyscraper collapsed.

She watched with wide blue eyes as it crashed and fell in huge piles. They had come very close to being buried alive, definitly not the fate she wanted. She shivered just once at the thought of it, then she stretched her wings and flew to her sanctuary. She'd have to leave him alone there long enough for her to retrieve medical supplies from the nearly demolished hospital.

31 Jan. 2000

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