"Trunks-chan?" Her son looked up and tried to look calm.

"Hai, Okaasan?" She handed him a list of supplies. "Would you mind going out and seeing if you can find any of these things?" He nodded. "Hai, I'll go," Bulma smiled brightly as he stood up and made his way to the door, glancing over his shoulder at Areku before walking down the hall.

Bulma listened to her son's steady footsteps fade and turned back to the regen tank. "I don't know how you managed to get her here in time, Trunks," she muttered. "But I hope she knows you saved her life,"

She sat down at her computer and began to check the calculations she had worked on for the past three years. 'We may need these after all,' she mused.

When she heard Trunks open the front door several hours later, she saved her work and shut off the system. It wasn't time for anyone- not even her son- to know what she was doing. Not yet.

"Okaasan?" Trunks' head appeared in the doorway, then he stepped inside. "I found everything," Bulma raised her eyebrows.

'That was fast,' she thought, glancing at her watch. To her dismay, Trunks sat back down in the chair to watch Areku. 'Oh, well,'

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At 9, Bulma left to go check on everything and go to bed early. As she passed Trunks, she looked down and paused. "She'll be okay, Trunks. And it's not your fault, either."

Trunks stared wide-eyed at his mother. Sometimes she was just too perceptive.

Around midnight Trunks fell asleep in the uncomfortable chair, too exhausted to stay awake anymore.

An hour later Areku's eyes slowly opened.

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Areku blinked a few times and her vision cleared enough for her to see where she was, although it was still somewhat blurred by liquid that completely surrounded her. 'How did I get here?' she wondered, then noticed Trunks asleep on the chair and smiled slightly.

She closed her eyes again and focused, making sure she had no injuries. Normally she didn't use the element of Fire- it was too dangerous and she didn't have enough control over it. Oh, well. At least she'd done a lot of damage to the jinzouningen.

After all, that was what she was there for. Not to get involved with anyone, especially a half- Saiya-jin. Even if he was the best guy she'd met aside from her niichan.

At the memory of her brother, her eyes filled with tears. They'd been so close. . .and he'd died because of her. Because she'd denied that one person what he wanted one too many times. And he'd murdered her brother and friends because of her. She could've just done what he wanted and they would still be alive.

'I'm so sorry,' she whispered mentally to the awful memory of her past. That had been the real reason why she'd started going all over the universe, helping people. To stay away from the one that haunted her dreams when he got too close. The one that wanted to either have her or kill her. Sadly Areku remembered her brother's words- *Don't give into him, Areku-chan. Ever. It's your life and your choice of who you want to spend it with. Just don't let it be him,*

Faintly, she heard a mechanical note sound and Trunks was instantly on his feet. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel. The minute she was out, he hugged her tightly. "Doushitano??" he asked, holding her back at arms' length. "Fine," she replied in what she hoped was a normal tone of voice. The next thing she knew he was kissing her and all her thoughts of who he was, what he was, disappeared. *....Your life, your choice. . .* came back to her. He pulled away, blushing. "I- I'm sorry," he stammered. "Why?" Just then Bulma appeared in the doorway- or rather, Areku noticed she was there.

"It's about time," Bulma grumbled, but there was a smile in her eyes. "She was hurt pretty badly," Trunks reminded her. "I don't mean that," "Huh?" Bulma rolled her eyes. "I mean it's about time you two came to your senses about each other," she clarified. "How long-" Areku began, but Bulma cut her off. "Ever since you first came here," Areku's eyes widened. She hadn't been interested in him then. . . "But I-" "It was the looks my son kept giving you," she explained simply. 'Looks??' Areku turned to stare at Trunks, who was blushing and looking down at the ground.

"As cute as this is, could you do it tomorrow?" Bulma yawned, turning toward the door. "I want you both in your rooms and in bed in five minutes, okay?" They nodded and she left, calling "Good night!" over her shoulder. "I wish my okaasan was like that," Areku said wistfully, turning back to Trunks. "I guess I'm going to see you tomorrow- or later, anyway," She gave him a quick hug and headed to her room, knowing he was watching her. Areku blushed, running her tongue over her lips. That demi- Saiya-jin was definitely interesting.

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Trunks watched as Areku walked down the hall to her room. She was okay. Alive, breathing, and walking. No thanks to him. And yet she didn't seem to mind that it was his fault.

'I hope she stays here for a long time,' he thought, blushing, as he headed for his own room.

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Yeah, I bet he does. By the way, Areku is based on the 'deeper' side of a certain fanfic author. So this is kind of like that author getting to be the coolest (lack of another description at the moment) guy, ANY species, in the universe's girlfriend. That includes Son Gohan and I thought he was kinda cute. . . . .hmm. . . . .

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