The sun blazed gold, lighting up everything in sight. A few cumulus clouds dotted the azure sky, giving a false sense of peace. It would have been a beautiful day if not for the clash of power: one fighting for freedom, the other for destruction.

Grinning evilly, the jinzouningen twisted his arm further back and brought her knee upward, crushing his gut repeatedly until he howled in pain. The pain was too much and he dropped out of Super Saiya-jin, trying to catch his breath as Juuhachigou finally let him go- and started to send off another ki blast. Just as he was about to give up, he 'heard' a voice in his head. *Don't freak out,* it said, and there was suddenly someone in front of him, blocking the jinzouningen from view. He heard the twin jinzouningen cry out in surprise. Barely holding on to consciousness, he sensed for the new person's ki and was shocked to discover it was stronger than his. Especially since the person in front of him appeared to be a girl.

Mirai Trunks heard a voice shout "Power of Lightning!" and finally blacked out.

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The girl whirled around when she felt the young Saiya-jin's power sink way too fast. 'Please tell me I'm not too late!' she prayed, diving after the now-unconscious Trunks. The jinzouningen, who had been surprised by the sudden attack, now charged up for a blast in retaliation. The girl noticed just as she came in contact with the Saiya-jin. She grabbed the sleeve of his coat and they disappeared, leaving Juuhachigou to scream threats and profanity to the ruins she and her 'oniichan' had created from the city.

The girl reappeared about a mile or so away and began calling to Trunks, trying to wake him up.

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Trunks could hear a female voice calling to him from what seemed to be a long distance and felt a damp cloth being applied to his face, gently cleaning it. "If you don't wake up I can't heal you!" she was saying, sounding slightly panicked. He fought the urge to sleep and opened his eyes, only to find another set looking directly into his. "Finally!" she sighed. "It's not nice to scare people like that." "Who- who are you?" he asked. "I'll tell you in a minute. First I need to know if you'll let me heal you. It might hurt,"

Unable to move or say anything, he just nodded. If she was lying, he wouldn't really be much worse off than he already was. And for some reason, he trusted her. Maybe it was the fact she'd just saved his life. "Good," she said, placing her hands on his chest and closing her eyes. For a moment nothing happened, then he started to feel warm. Looking up at the girl, he noticed tears form in her closed eyes and her ki rose. He felt his injuries start to disappear and relaxed, letting the warm energy engulf him, making his nerves tingle with a pleasant sensation. She'd been wrong- it was the opposite of pain.

A few minutes later she opened her eyes, looking extremely exhausted. Like she was ready to faint. "Doushitano?" she asked. He nodded, realizing he felt better than he had in a long time. "What about you?" he asked, noticing her ki had dropped to below human level. "Hai. I just need a few minutes, okay?" With that, she closed her eyes again. Apparently she didn't think he'd be stupid enough to kill her.

Trunks sat up and looked around, feeling somewhat vulnerable on the ground. They weren't too far from the place she'd first appeared- he could hear the jinzouningen still searching for them even through the densely wooded area. He turned his attention back to the girl. 'She's beautiful!' he thought, his eyes widening as he blushed.

She looked about 16 or 17, with long golden-brown hair pulled back in a braid that seemed to reach her waist, a slightly tanned complexion, and now that they were open again, large brown eyes. She wore a pair of semi-tight jeans and a loose top, both of which were blue and bordered in silver thread. He also noticed a strange gem that hung on a delicate silver chain around her neck. He took a closer look and realized the gem was engraved with what seemed to be the Saiya-jin symbols for Love, Life, and four Elements- Fire, Water, Wind, and Lightning. They were slightly altered, but still close enough to decipher with what little he knew of that language.

"Your jinzouningen tomodachi is probably having a pretty bad hair day," she commented, laughing quietly. "You want to know who I am, right, Trunks-san?" He blushed at the title. "Um, yeah," he replied carefully, ready to grab his sword- just in case. She eyed his position and raised an eyebrow. "You can't possibly want to slice me with that sword, can you?" she asked, a hint of fear in her voice as she inched back slightly.

Trunks blushed and relaxed about a millimeter. "Uh, I guess not. How do you know who I am?" "One thing at a time, please. My full name is Lady Arekandera of Temoc," "Lady Arekandera?" he repeated. Arekandera blushed. "Hai. But I don't like titles, princess or not, so please call me Areku." His eyes widened. "Princess??" She blushed again. "Hai. Firstborn. As I said, I don't like titles. Stick to Areku," "Okay. Somehow I'm getting the feeling you don't really like being a princess," "Your feeling is right. The only reason I put up with it is because I get to fight, so I don't have to deal with- never mind,"

Curiosity got the better of him, shy or not. "What?" he asked before she could continue. Areku blushed. "Well, because I'm a princess, a lot of people seem to think they can get their hands on some 'easy money' through marrying me," she said reluctantly. "Oh. Please continue," "Anyway, my parents are hoping to convince me to stay home by showing me how awful the 'outside world' is. That's why I'm here. I usually go to the places that don't have-" she broke off abruptly and blushed, looking down. "Don't have what?" She shook her head. "Please tell me what you're talking about!"

Areku sighed. "Don't have much of a chance of surviving," she said quietly. Trunks paled; he knew what she was talking about now. She cleared her throat. "Gomen nasai. I probably shouldn't have said that. I'm always getting into trouble for saying things I shouldn't. Anyway, I'm basically here to help destroy the jinzouningen." "How do you plan on doing that?" She looked him straight in the eye, completely calm. "I'm more powerful than you are,"

His eyes widened. A girl? Stronger than him? A Super Saiya-jin?? "If you don't believe me, I can prove it," she suggested. Trunks blushed and shook his head. "N-no thanks. I believe you," "At least somebody does. I usually have to waste time showing I'm not just a weak little girl. That's something you might like to know- I don't like being called 'Chibi'. Anyone that does gets proof I can beat them at just about anything," "Why would anyone call you 'little'?" Trunks asked curiously, giving her a very brief once-over and fighting the automatic blush. She shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know only my parents get away with calling me 'little' because I can't do anything to them." "Oh. By the way, how did you get here?"

"My okaasan opened a trans-space loophole from the other side of the universe," she said as if it was an everyday thing. "And the only reasons I'm telling you are because I need you to trust me and, genius though you may be, you can't open one yourself," He raised an eyebrow, blushing, and she pointed to her gem. "You've got to have one of these to open one," she explained. "Then why didn't you open one yourself?" "Because I don't know how yet, it takes a lot of energy, and the currents of space of time had to be realigned. And by a lot of energy I would have had rest for about a day before I'd have been in any shape to fight or teleport," "Okay. I think I understand, but how do you know who I am?"

"Oh, right. Gomen. Before I came here, I did a little. . . .research. The Royal Family has reports from all across the universe, on every situation of concern, whether it's good or bad. You and your okaasan have a section bigger than just about anyone else's. You two are definitely very interesting," He blushed. "Interesting?"

"Hai. Did you know we've got modified Capsules where I live? I'm even carrying a couple now!" His eyes widened. "I didn't know they were that popular," She grinned. "Don't underestimate a great invention. Anyway, I'm here to help in whatever way I can. I like those jinzouningen about as much as everyone else on Chikyuu. There's someone trying to create the same ones not too far from where I live, and they've got enough resources to make them ten times more powerful. That's one of the reasons I got to come. The other is I am a pretty good actress and I'd throw a fit if my parents just let this planet get destroyed. I've seen pictures of some of the places here and they're beautiful. Not something I want destroyed by a couple of technologically-generated freaks. Now, we can either go face the jinzouningen or your okaasan,"

"Okaasan," He didn't think she'd cause any trouble; she was certainly direct and openly honest if nothing else. He began to power up for flight but Areku shook her head. "Too easy to track. We're going to get there another way," she said, coming forward and putting a hand on his shoulder.

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Areku felt herself blush as she touched him and ducked her head so he wouldn't see. Concentrating, she focused on both of their ki's, mentally twining them together- not too much, just enough so they'd both get there in one piece, so to speak. "Think of your okaasan," she instructed, and they vanished.

When they reappeared in front of Capsule Corp., she quickly removed her hand. The sun was setting, sending beautiful colors of light washing over the surrounding area. Even if destruction was everywhere, parts of Chikyuu were still beautiful. "Sorry I didn't get here before. I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Trunks asked, sounding like he hoped she wouldn't leave. "To see if I can help anyone," He shook his head. "The jinzouningen make it too dangerous during the day. At night it's much worse, not to mention cold." She shrugged. "I can take care of myself." "Even if you say you can, I don't think you should be out at night alone, especially after what you did to Juuhachigou. Why don't you come in?"

Areku hesitated. Friendliness? From a Saiya-jin? "Just for a little while," she said, mentally telling herself to stay on guard. His report was a good one, but he was still of Saiya-jin blood. Even worse, Ouji Vegeta was his otousan.

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'We'll see about that,' Trunks thought as they walked into Capsule Corp.

"Okaasan! There's someone I want you to meet!" he called. A tired-looking Bulma appeared in the doorway leading to her lab and with his eyes, Trunks begged her not to do or say anything embarrassing until he had a chance to explain.

"Who's the pretty girl?" she asked, looking like that wasn't exactly what she'd intended on asking. They both blushed.

"My name's Areku," the princess said, "It's nice to finally meet you, Bulma-san," Bulma raised her eyebrows. "I've heard a lot about you from my parents and the computers," she explained. "Computers? And who are your parents?" Areku blushed.

"Before I came here, to Chikyuu, my okaasan made me do some research so I'd know what I was getting into by coming here to fight the jinzouningen. My parents are the king and queen of Temoc," Bulma looked surprised and raised an eyebrow in Trunks' direction. He blushed. "Okaasan, do you think she could stay here?" he asked, earning a shocked look from Areku. "Of course. We've got plenty of room and it's been too long since there was another girl around for me to talk to. Don't get me wrong, Trunks is the best son a mother could ask for, but. . ." she trailed off and smiled. Trunks was blushing again. She turned to Areku.

"Come with me, and I'll show you where you can stay," she said, leading the way to a guest room.

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"Wow!" Areku said, turning around in the middle of the room. "It's not exactly the best, but I hope you don't mind," Bulma said. "Are you kidding?? My room is nothing like this at home!" She walked over to the large window and looked out at the nearly- black sky. "My room's like a prison or something compared to this!" She turned to Bulma and grinned. "I don't mean to pry, Areku-san, but how old are you?" Areku blushed slightly. "17." "Honto?" 'Well, she's just the right age. . . . .'

"Well, make yourself at home. If you're hungry, dinner's in about half an hour,"

She left and closed the door. Just as she was about to walk down the hall, she heard Areku's voice and pressed her ear against the door. She didn't mean to eavesdrop; she was just curious. Right?

"Hai, okaasan. I'm fine. Why did you wait so long to send me?? It was bad enough you had to let me through two miles away, but he almost died and you know it!" Bulma gasped, and there was silence for a few minutes. Apparently she was having a conversation with her mother.

"I've told you both before I want to help people, not stay at home and marry some greedy barbarian that thinks he's a prince!" Silence again.

"It's true!" Pause.

"You said I could help them, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. The people here have gone through much more than anyone should, and I'm going to help them." Another pause.

"Okaasan!! They invited me, and the last time I used one of those I got sent back home! I asked you not to adjust the Capsule house! Why should I use it again after the last attempt??"

Bulma's eyes widened. They had Capsules where she was from??

"Well, if you hadn't drilled all those formalities into me I wouldn't have told them. I want people to respect me for who I am, not who my parents are. I want to be treated like a normal person instead of a princess."

Bulma blinked in surprise. If that was what she wanted. . . . 'She's definitely different than Vegeta,' she thought, an onslaught of emotion threatening to break loose at the memory of him. "Arigatou. I will talk to you tomorrow, Okaasan. Sayonara,"

Bulma heard a click and a sigh, then quietly stepped away from the door and went to go find her son.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just as Bulma and Trunks set the last plates on the table, Areku came downstairs.

"Gomen nasai! I should have helped you," she said, looking somewhat disappointed. "You're our guest. You don't need to," Bulma replied. "But I want to! You're being very nice, especially since you don't know that much about me, and I want to help with whatever I can,"

'We know more about you than you think- and okaasan was right; she does want to be treated like a normal person- even though she's a princess and could easily be treated like one,' Trunks thought, feeling himself blush slightly.

"I heard what you did for Trunks. Arigatou," Bulma said. Areku blushed. "I would've come earlier, but I didn't know how bad it really was. Gomen nasai," "Ii desu. You've done a lot already,"

'More than you might know,' Trunks thought as he watched his okaasan smile a real smile. It had been a long time- too long, in fact- since he'd seen her smile like that.

"Anyway, I didn't know how much you eat so help yourself," she said cheerfully. "Arigatou. My appetite goes back and forth between human and Saiya-jin, I think, so I usually don't know, either," She laughed and Trunks blinked. She was beautiful when she was serious and when she was worried, but when she was happy. . . He realized he was blushing again and looked down at his plate.

After dinner, Bulma had to chase Areku out of the kitchen. "We've got robots to do that!" she said. "May I go outside?" "Fine. Go ahead, but be careful, please." "I will, Bulma-san." "Just Bulma," "Okay,"

Areku left and Bulma turned to Trunks with a Keep-an-eye-on-her-or-else look. He nodded, having no intention of letting her out of his sight.

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Areku sat on the roof of Capsule Corp., looking up at the stars. "Why?" she whispered, unaware that Trunks' sensitive Saiya-jin ears could hear everything she said.

"Why did you make me wait so long before coming? You could've at least helped Gohan-san!" A tear slipped down her face and she brushed it away, then stared at her hand for a minute before turning her attention back to the stars overhead. "You said yourself he had a pure heart! Just because I'm your daughter doesn't mean you can keep me from what I want to do! How can you just sit by while so many people die?"

She shivered as a cold breeze hit her, then held out her hand, palm up. She concentrated for a minute and a blue fireball appeared, levitating as it moved to her side. Areku watched the stars for another five minutes, then stood up. "Might as well try to get some sleep," she sighed, jumping up and out and landing gracefully on the ground below.

She straightened up and walked inside, not even noticing Trunks as he backed into the shadows.

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So, what's the deal with her not liking Saiya-jins?? Hmm. . . . I think Bulma enjoys having another person around Capsule Corp. to talk to; but what about Trunks?! Anyone find any mistakes? Please let me know if you do! Oh, and I know Saiya-jin is sometimes spelled Saiyan, don't get on my case about that!! Hai, the first chapter was pretty long. Oh, and this is my first time writing and letting someone read a fan fic of mine, so go easy on me? Please? If you aren't, I've got a princess that says she hasn't had a decent 'Vegeta-style workout' (and I quote) in a long time. Any insults I get she takes personally. Very personally. ; )

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