Two little boys were racing. First one to the Son house got all the food, a more than healthy wager, considering both boys were moving at speeds that surpassed human vision.
"Come on, Goten," the older boy called over his shoulder. "You must not be very hungry; you can go a lot faster than that..."
He stopped suddenly, and Goten slammed into him. Two figures blocked the path to the Son house. One was so far in the shadows, it was impossible to distinguish anything about him. The other was a woman with long whitish-blonde hair wearing a long coat and very high-heeled shoes; she had a star shape on her forehead, and she seemed to be very short. She smiled and looked very closely at him, then she glanced back over her shoulder at her companion. "Ne, I thought you said he was just a baby."
"He was, the last time I was here, Usagi."
She shook her head then returned her attention to him. "Ohayoo gozaimasu, Chibi Trunks. Konnichi wa, Goten."
He dropped into a fighting stance, Goten following suite. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"And why are you here?" followed Goten.
"Atashi wa Tsukino Usagi," the woman replied.
"And him?"
The man in the shadows laughed shortly, and the woman gave him a very curious look over her shoulder. When she did, she turned enough that the boys could see a Capsule Corp. logo on the sleeve of her long coat.
Goten looked a bit closer at the man in the shadows. He could tell he had hair a little longer than shoulder-length. Unlike the woman, he was dressed more for the heat, wearing a denim vest that was sleeveless and a tanktop. He took one step closer to the woman in the coat - and Goten choked before he could back Trunks up. "T - Trunks-kun?" he whispered, elbowing his friend in the side. "He's you!"
* * *
"Took you long enough to get back here, Trunks," Bulma scolded. Usagi grinned as Trunks hung his head. "What's your name?"
"Tsukino Usagi, Bulma-san," the blonde answered respectfully.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty, as of today. Trunks-kun decided this would be a good birthday present."
"How long have you two been. . . together?" continued Bulma. This time both of them blushed and didn't meet her eyes. "How long?"
"Four years," Trunks answered slowly.
"This December," Usagi finished.
Chichi smiled at the squirming pair. "So you're from his time, Usagi-chan?"
"Not exactly, Chichi-san."
"From here, then?"
"Not exactly, Chichi-san."
"From when then then?" Bulma interrupted.
"1995, Bulma-san."
The older woman almost collapsed. "Twelve hundred years in the future?!? But - how?"
"It's a long story, Kaasan," Trunks smoothly interrupted before Usagi could answer.
"And you have plenty of time to tell it to us, Trunks," Bulma answered sharply. Chibi Trunks laughed at his older counterpart's discomfort.
"Bulma-kaasan said the same thing," Usagi remarked, a smile on her face.
"Bulma-kaasan?" Chichi repeated. She glanced over at the blue-haired woman beside her and shrugged. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable and take off your coat, Usagi-chan. We are having a heat wave."
Usagi frowned momentarily and glanced over at Trunks. He shrugged as if to say there wasn't too much choice in this situation. She closed her eyes briefly, and the star vanished from her forehead. She slowly pulled off the coat and folded it over her own arm, adjusting the knee-length dress she wore now.
* * *
"Why is a girl from so far in the future in your world, Trunks?" Bulma had to ask the young man before her. Usagi was in the kitchen with Chichi.
"Her world was completely destroyed. After I left here that last time, Dende sent me there to help her defeat her enemies."
"Then she came back with you. I see now. Are the two of you getting married?"
An immediate blush hit his cheeks. "Soon. Probably when we get back."
"Trunks, do you love her?"
"Very much."
::Fin::
13 September 2000
Okay, ending was horrible, I know, but I had to get it out of the way. Well, here it is, my second completed seperate saga atter Hope. I hope everyone enjoyed this one as much as I did, and I really hope for lots of e-mail on it.
I'm sorry it took so long for this final episode to come out, but I am a busy person with school, work, a full load of courses, and moving into a new site - and a domain name. So bear with me everyone till I at least get the domain name finished.