The Trial of Sailor Earth ~ Ch 7
"Listen carefully because no matter how irritating he becomes I will only say this once." Piccolo began. Everyone stared at him in fascination, and Lysandria looked quite worried. What could she possibly have forgotten. She remembered everything. Every last detail had been ingrained in her memory for centuries.
"As I said, Kami knew her family well, and watched her and her brother grow up. But it wasn't just the two of them. There was a third. Her father was a very fast talker and had cemented a treaty with his cousin the king. Marriage of his son in return for immunity for the Moon Kingdom and Earth. The Kings son was sent to Earth, and grew up with the twins."
Everyone looked interested by this sudden twist of events, even Vegeta, who remained bored and impassive looking on the outside. Lysandria however was shaking her head in horrified denial. She remembered none of this! It wasn't true. It couldn't be! But she knew of Kami. Her mother had trusted him implacably. He wouldn't lie!
Trunks for his part had his eyes closed and was fighting off a flash-back. He didn't know if what Piccolo was saying was true, but he suspected it was. Kami was above reproach. But so far they had nothing to do with Trunks' dreams. They were probably totally unrelated. He mustn't jump to conclusions.
Piccolo continued relentlessly. "The three of them grew up together and Lysandria and Gallin, the Saiyajin, fell in love. They were going to be married when she turned eighteen, after she joined the Sailor Scouts. When Beryl's forces attacked, Gallin was away at his brother's coronation. He died before he reached Earth on his way back, swept up in the battle against Beryl. Lysandria couldn't bear living all those lives without him, so by the third life after that, she had completely blocked the memory to protect herself. But now, along with the return of the Scouts, he has been reborn. Now! I have done my part perhaps that old fool will allow me to meditate in peace."
Lyandria didn't hear the last part. All she heard was the phrase, "Gallin was away at his brother's coronation". It swept her back to the dream she had had the night before.
****
"Do you have to go? Couldn't you just send a messenger? Or could I go with you?" She sounded so lonely one would think he had left already. He shook his head.
"No. I must go to Vegesai to witness my brother's coronation. He will take the throne now that my father is dead. As soon as the ceremony is over, I will return, and then…" he grinned "We can get married."
She smiled up at him. "But why can't I go with you?"
****
"Don't worry. I'll only be a few days. A week at the most. You won't notice I'm gone!"
Glaring, she punched him playfully. "Liar! I will to notice!"
He caught her arm mid-swing and used his other hand to capture her face so he could steal one, last passionate kiss, invading her mouth almost as if he wanted to take something to remember her by while away, her taste, her feel, her touch.
Finally he let her go, and walked out of the gardens, heading for his space capsule. Before he vanished from her sight, he looked back once more. She was standing breathless and smiling among the colourful life of the garden she loved. That was the last time he saw her. He rounded the corner and walked slowly to his capsule.
****
As Trunks listened to Piccolo's words, he slowly but surely lost his battle against the flashbacks, and he relived again all he had dreamed over the past few weeks. He bid farewell to the winged girl in the garden. He died returning to Earth. Phrases he had heard over the past few hours swam around his head.
"I used to have Wings as Princess of the Earth Realm."
"Gallin was away at his brother's coronation."
"He died before he reached Earth on his way back, swept up in the battle against Beryl."
"He has been reborn"
It all fitted together. It made sense. Was it possible that his dreams were memories? Memories of a past life, in which he had been engaged to Lysandria?
Before he could figure out exactly what all this meant, he was pulled out of his thoughts by a low cry from Lysandria. Her face had gone white and her eyes were wide. She stood up with a look of shocked horror on her face, and ran out of the room. They heard the front door slam behind her, and muffled sounds of crying through the window as she rushed down the path and out of sight.
There was a moments confused hesitation before Trunks leapt up and dashed after her. Soon there was silence. The rest of the inhabitants of the room looked at each other in confused worry, except for Piccolo, who looked uncharacteristically self-satisfied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Trunks got out of the house, Lysandria was no-where to be seen. He finally found her at the very end of his family's extensive gardens, curled up beside the lake. She was oblivious to his approach, rocking back and forth, sobbing heart-brokenly.
Trunks' arms itched to go to her. He just wanted to hold her, to tell her he would make it all ok. He blinked, as a sudden revelation hit him. Whether or not he had loved her in another life, he loved her now. The though of her being unhappy hurt, and the idea of being without her was terrifying. He blinked in shock. He loved her. The strange, beautiful girl who had only recently come into his life was now the most important thing in it.
Spurred on by this new revelation he walked towards her. He yearned to sweep her up in his arms and tell her how much she meant to him, but for now he would have to content himself with comforting her in her distress.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lysandria had no concept of the outside world. She had run down the garden in tears and stumbled to a halt by the lake. There she sat for what seemed like forever but could only have been minutes, rocking backwards and forwards, tears streaming down her face.
She couldn't understand it. She had forgotten him. She knew that now. Every few seconds a new memory surfaced, bringing with it the depth of her love for the man whose memory she had betrayed. The scenes that flashed to her mind were familiar scenes, of her and her brother involved in everyday tasks, but the familiar scenes had been subconsciously edited by her before, and now in was not just her and her brother, but Gallin also. She couldn't believe she had forgotten, even if it was to protect herself. And now, reminded of him after so long believing she had never known love, she suffered the pain of his sudden loss afresh.
****
"Hey those are MINE! Hands off you pig!" shouted Lysandria at her brother in mock fury, reaching out to swat away the hand that had snuck into her pouch of sweets. She swung so hard she nearly overbalanced, in her usual childish manner very unfitting of her sixteen years. Another hand grabbed hers on the way and she blinked as Gallin used this convenient leverage to pull her towards him and grab a kiss.
Dahall grinned at the pair and took advantage of her distraction to grab a neat handful of sweets from the bag. When the pair finally looked back at him he innocently showed them his catch. "Look what I just found in my bag!" he announced. "I forgot I had them!"
Lysandria pretended not to notice the two wink at each other when she looked away as Dahall threw Gallin half the sweets in payment for his part in the heist. It was typical of the two of them, to gang up on her like that. But since that was usually their method of distracting her, she wasn't complaining. She'd raid his sweets later anyway. Whoever said sixteen-year-olds should act like adults?
****
How could she have forgotten? She had loved him so much, known him all her life, and mere decades after his death she had rearranged every memory she had so that she had no recollection of him. He had truly been dead to her. She had betrayed his memory heartlessly and completely, without remorse. And she had done it sub-consciously, without any actual effort. How simple it had been for her to forget all he had meant to her. She truly was a shallow person.
She gave a start as two strong familiar arms wrapped hesitantly around her, and threw herself into them gratefully, burying her face in his chest. The arms enfolded her more confidently in a strong comforting embrace, and Trunks held her as she cried.
Her shoulders shook as she poured out her grief, and it tore his heart that he couldn't think of anything to say to make it all ok again. All he could do was hold her tighter and wait for her grief to run its course.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sailor Pluto left the scouts soon after her revelation, saying she couldn't abandon the gates of time for long. After she left there was a long moment of silence while the scouts looked at one another. "Well," said Sailor Moon slowly. "It's hard to admit it but we have made a mistake, all of us. And it's up to us to put it right. We're going to have to find her. She should have been one of us from the beginning, and butter late than never to fix things. But how can we find her? We told her to leave!"
The shell-shocked scouts smiled at their princesses well known forgiveness. Now that her origins were revealed, Serena had almost forgotten their previous distrust in enthusiasm to put things right.
Rei answered thoughtfully, "Just after we met here for the first time, Gohan turned up. He was looking for her, and seemed really upset that we had told her to leave. He's probably a friend of hers. We could go visit him and ask him?"
Mina shook her head happily. "No guys! If she knows Gohan she knows Trunks, and his house is nearer. Let's go there instead!" Lita nodded enthusiastically, hoping Gohan would be there anyway, and Amy sighed. "Stop getting side-tracked! I know you guys like those boys but we have work to do!"
Darien spoke for the first time. "No." Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Not today. Tomorrow. I need some time to think. If she's my… sister?" he stumbled on the word, "then I've hurt her horribly. I need some time to think first."
The scouts nodded, knowing that family was very important to Darien since he had lost his. They wandered off for some Hot-Chocolate, and spent the evening pondering how horrible it must be to live alone for so many life-times. That night they dreamed flash-backs, and finally truly remembered the girl who had almost been one of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
An immeasurable time later, Lysandria's sobs showed no signs of abating. Not only had she betrayed her love by forgetting him utterly, but now, after she had promised to wait for him forever, and had subconsciously kept that promise for centuries, never falling in love, Bulma said she was falling for her son! And she didn't have the strength to deny it any more while clinging to him as a drowning man clings to wood, desperate for something to keep her from drowning in the flood of memories that threatened to overwhelm her.
Trunks didn't know what to do. The one he loved was curled up in his arms crying her heart out and he couldn't think of any way to help. In the end he decided that he couldn't bear it any more, and went for the direct approach.
"I love you." He whispered, just loudly enough to be heard above her crying. It was hard for him to say himself, so he tried repeating it. "I love you so much I can't bear to see you cry like this." Her tear streaked face looked up at him in an astonishment that almost made her forget her worries. Thrilled by this positive reaction he continued, almost unable to stop himself. "I love you now as much as I loved you all those years ago. It's me. I am Gallin. Reborn to be with you, and I won't let anything separate us again, I promise!"
Something clicked in her mind. The feeling she had had of deja-vu when they first met, the near irresistible attraction she had felt for him since then, and the dream she had the night before, it was all true. It was him. And she loved him so much!
His admission made, he looked down at her with his heart in his eyes, waiting for a response. The one he received terrified him until she spoke. Her eyes began streaming again and she threw herself against his chest sobbing again. When she was able to speak again it was a broken apology. "I'm… so sorry!… I forgot you!… I can't… believe… I did that! Can… you ever… forgive.. me??" She stopped to draw a shuddering breath amidst sobs.
Trunks nearly laughed with joy. She wasn't rejecting him she was sorry! And sorry for what? For nothing! There was nothing to forgive! As far as he was concerned there was only one way to put a quick end to her guilt, and that was not a lengthy explanation of why she was guilt free and how much he loved her.
Without a second thought he stood up, picking her up effortlessly as he did so, and dropped her in the lake.
The sudden cold water put a stop to her guilt, crying and memories almost instantly. "GALLIN! I mean Trunks!! How COULD you!!" Trunks winced. He had forgotten how shrill she could be when displeased. Then he grinned as he realized that he had never heard her be shrill in THIS life, and that the boundaries between then were thinning already, and obviously were for her to considering her little name error. Or was it even an error?
She struggled out of the lake, dripping wet, glaring at him, until she saw the grin he couldn't hold back. Unable to stay angry herself amidst relief, she stumbled back into his arms and held him tightly, noting smugly that she soaked him back in the process.
They didn't bother speaking. There was no need. Now that they had realized who they were the memories were flowing back so swiftly that it was as if they had known each-other forever.
Finally Trunks spoke up. "Will you stay with me? Stay here? Please?" She shook her head. "You needn't even ask silly. Where else would I want to be?"
All of Lysandria's heartbreaks over the past 24 hours seemed trivial compared to the smile she received back. Hand in hand they returned to the house to tell everybody the good news.
~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the house tension was unbearable. Bulma and Chi-chi had put their foots down when Gohan and the two boys had tried to go see if everything was ok. They had said that the two needed 'space'. Now Chi-chi was explaining to Goku again exactly what the implications of the whole story was, the boys were watching out the window for and sign of return, and everyone else was watching TV. The only one who seemed truly nerve-free was Piccolo, who sat in the corner looking bored. Even Vegita seemed to be doing a good job of hiding an interest in what was happening.
Finally the boys jumped off the sill whooping and raced out shouting that they were coming back. When they came into the sitting room Lysandria seemed to have recovered her composure, and was amazingly enough succeeding in carrying a 6 year-old half Saiyajin squirming under one of her arms, proof enough that she was no normal girl. The other hand was entwined in Trunks', while he carried the other struggling half of the terrible two-some.
They refrained from letting down their burdens long enough for Trunks to say "I am the Gallin Piccolo spoke of. Lysandria is going to stay with us now. Grins broke out all round, with obvious exceptions, and Bulma and Chi-chi rushed over to hug the new arrival to their select group, careful to avoid the kicking youngster she carried. No doubt soon she would be so integrated into their number that they would berate her as happily as they told off the others.
Just as Gohan, Goku, Krillin and Yamcha were congratulating Trunks on his good luck; Bulma's mobile phone rang. She picked in up, listened for a few moments saying "yes" every so often, and hung up smiling. "Good news!" She said to Lysandria. "All your stuff has arrived at Capsule Corp offices, and they have some papers for you to sign regarding your inheritance."
Lysandria looked confused. "I don't have an inheritance!" Bulma, Gohan and Trunks smiled secretively at one another, but the momentary lull was enough for the two youngsters to break free, and in no time an all out war had broken out on the floor of the living room involving Lysandria, Gohan, Goten and both Trunks. Goku joined in happily and Bulma sighed. This new girl would fit in just fine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delona shrieked in ecstasy as she felt the last bonds on her prison break. They had held her there since just after the fall of the moon kingdom, when the young idiot daughter of the Queen of Earth had bound her there. But no mystic chains could last forever, and now she was free! Free to once again come to rule mankind as she had once almost succeeded in doing. But first, revenge.
Her incorporeal presence soared towards the city where victim slept soundly, oblivious to the malice directed at her.
"Listen carefully because no matter how irritating he becomes I will only say this once." Piccolo began. Everyone stared at him in fascination, and Lysandria looked quite worried. What could she possibly have forgotten. She remembered everything. Every last detail had been ingrained in her memory for centuries.
"As I said, Kami knew her family well, and watched her and her brother grow up. But it wasn't just the two of them. There was a third. Her father was a very fast talker and had cemented a treaty with his cousin the king. Marriage of his son in return for immunity for the Moon Kingdom and Earth. The Kings son was sent to Earth, and grew up with the twins."
Everyone looked interested by this sudden twist of events, even Vegeta, who remained bored and impassive looking on the outside. Lysandria however was shaking her head in horrified denial. She remembered none of this! It wasn't true. It couldn't be! But she knew of Kami. Her mother had trusted him implacably. He wouldn't lie!
Trunks for his part had his eyes closed and was fighting off a flash-back. He didn't know if what Piccolo was saying was true, but he suspected it was. Kami was above reproach. But so far they had nothing to do with Trunks' dreams. They were probably totally unrelated. He mustn't jump to conclusions.
Piccolo continued relentlessly. "The three of them grew up together and Lysandria and Gallin, the Saiyajin, fell in love. They were going to be married when she turned eighteen, after she joined the Sailor Scouts. When Beryl's forces attacked, Gallin was away at his brother's coronation. He died before he reached Earth on his way back, swept up in the battle against Beryl. Lysandria couldn't bear living all those lives without him, so by the third life after that, she had completely blocked the memory to protect herself. But now, along with the return of the Scouts, he has been reborn. Now! I have done my part perhaps that old fool will allow me to meditate in peace."
Lyandria didn't hear the last part. All she heard was the phrase, "Gallin was away at his brother's coronation". It swept her back to the dream she had had the night before.
****
"Do you have to go? Couldn't you just send a messenger? Or could I go with you?" She sounded so lonely one would think he had left already. He shook his head.
"No. I must go to Vegesai to witness my brother's coronation. He will take the throne now that my father is dead. As soon as the ceremony is over, I will return, and then…" he grinned "We can get married."
She smiled up at him. "But why can't I go with you?"
****
"Don't worry. I'll only be a few days. A week at the most. You won't notice I'm gone!"
Glaring, she punched him playfully. "Liar! I will to notice!"
He caught her arm mid-swing and used his other hand to capture her face so he could steal one, last passionate kiss, invading her mouth almost as if he wanted to take something to remember her by while away, her taste, her feel, her touch.
Finally he let her go, and walked out of the gardens, heading for his space capsule. Before he vanished from her sight, he looked back once more. She was standing breathless and smiling among the colourful life of the garden she loved. That was the last time he saw her. He rounded the corner and walked slowly to his capsule.
****
As Trunks listened to Piccolo's words, he slowly but surely lost his battle against the flashbacks, and he relived again all he had dreamed over the past few weeks. He bid farewell to the winged girl in the garden. He died returning to Earth. Phrases he had heard over the past few hours swam around his head.
"I used to have Wings as Princess of the Earth Realm."
"Gallin was away at his brother's coronation."
"He died before he reached Earth on his way back, swept up in the battle against Beryl."
"He has been reborn"
It all fitted together. It made sense. Was it possible that his dreams were memories? Memories of a past life, in which he had been engaged to Lysandria?
Before he could figure out exactly what all this meant, he was pulled out of his thoughts by a low cry from Lysandria. Her face had gone white and her eyes were wide. She stood up with a look of shocked horror on her face, and ran out of the room. They heard the front door slam behind her, and muffled sounds of crying through the window as she rushed down the path and out of sight.
There was a moments confused hesitation before Trunks leapt up and dashed after her. Soon there was silence. The rest of the inhabitants of the room looked at each other in confused worry, except for Piccolo, who looked uncharacteristically self-satisfied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Trunks got out of the house, Lysandria was no-where to be seen. He finally found her at the very end of his family's extensive gardens, curled up beside the lake. She was oblivious to his approach, rocking back and forth, sobbing heart-brokenly.
Trunks' arms itched to go to her. He just wanted to hold her, to tell her he would make it all ok. He blinked, as a sudden revelation hit him. Whether or not he had loved her in another life, he loved her now. The though of her being unhappy hurt, and the idea of being without her was terrifying. He blinked in shock. He loved her. The strange, beautiful girl who had only recently come into his life was now the most important thing in it.
Spurred on by this new revelation he walked towards her. He yearned to sweep her up in his arms and tell her how much she meant to him, but for now he would have to content himself with comforting her in her distress.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lysandria had no concept of the outside world. She had run down the garden in tears and stumbled to a halt by the lake. There she sat for what seemed like forever but could only have been minutes, rocking backwards and forwards, tears streaming down her face.
She couldn't understand it. She had forgotten him. She knew that now. Every few seconds a new memory surfaced, bringing with it the depth of her love for the man whose memory she had betrayed. The scenes that flashed to her mind were familiar scenes, of her and her brother involved in everyday tasks, but the familiar scenes had been subconsciously edited by her before, and now in was not just her and her brother, but Gallin also. She couldn't believe she had forgotten, even if it was to protect herself. And now, reminded of him after so long believing she had never known love, she suffered the pain of his sudden loss afresh.
****
"Hey those are MINE! Hands off you pig!" shouted Lysandria at her brother in mock fury, reaching out to swat away the hand that had snuck into her pouch of sweets. She swung so hard she nearly overbalanced, in her usual childish manner very unfitting of her sixteen years. Another hand grabbed hers on the way and she blinked as Gallin used this convenient leverage to pull her towards him and grab a kiss.
Dahall grinned at the pair and took advantage of her distraction to grab a neat handful of sweets from the bag. When the pair finally looked back at him he innocently showed them his catch. "Look what I just found in my bag!" he announced. "I forgot I had them!"
Lysandria pretended not to notice the two wink at each other when she looked away as Dahall threw Gallin half the sweets in payment for his part in the heist. It was typical of the two of them, to gang up on her like that. But since that was usually their method of distracting her, she wasn't complaining. She'd raid his sweets later anyway. Whoever said sixteen-year-olds should act like adults?
****
How could she have forgotten? She had loved him so much, known him all her life, and mere decades after his death she had rearranged every memory she had so that she had no recollection of him. He had truly been dead to her. She had betrayed his memory heartlessly and completely, without remorse. And she had done it sub-consciously, without any actual effort. How simple it had been for her to forget all he had meant to her. She truly was a shallow person.
She gave a start as two strong familiar arms wrapped hesitantly around her, and threw herself into them gratefully, burying her face in his chest. The arms enfolded her more confidently in a strong comforting embrace, and Trunks held her as she cried.
Her shoulders shook as she poured out her grief, and it tore his heart that he couldn't think of anything to say to make it all ok again. All he could do was hold her tighter and wait for her grief to run its course.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sailor Pluto left the scouts soon after her revelation, saying she couldn't abandon the gates of time for long. After she left there was a long moment of silence while the scouts looked at one another. "Well," said Sailor Moon slowly. "It's hard to admit it but we have made a mistake, all of us. And it's up to us to put it right. We're going to have to find her. She should have been one of us from the beginning, and butter late than never to fix things. But how can we find her? We told her to leave!"
The shell-shocked scouts smiled at their princesses well known forgiveness. Now that her origins were revealed, Serena had almost forgotten their previous distrust in enthusiasm to put things right.
Rei answered thoughtfully, "Just after we met here for the first time, Gohan turned up. He was looking for her, and seemed really upset that we had told her to leave. He's probably a friend of hers. We could go visit him and ask him?"
Mina shook her head happily. "No guys! If she knows Gohan she knows Trunks, and his house is nearer. Let's go there instead!" Lita nodded enthusiastically, hoping Gohan would be there anyway, and Amy sighed. "Stop getting side-tracked! I know you guys like those boys but we have work to do!"
Darien spoke for the first time. "No." Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Not today. Tomorrow. I need some time to think. If she's my… sister?" he stumbled on the word, "then I've hurt her horribly. I need some time to think first."
The scouts nodded, knowing that family was very important to Darien since he had lost his. They wandered off for some Hot-Chocolate, and spent the evening pondering how horrible it must be to live alone for so many life-times. That night they dreamed flash-backs, and finally truly remembered the girl who had almost been one of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
An immeasurable time later, Lysandria's sobs showed no signs of abating. Not only had she betrayed her love by forgetting him utterly, but now, after she had promised to wait for him forever, and had subconsciously kept that promise for centuries, never falling in love, Bulma said she was falling for her son! And she didn't have the strength to deny it any more while clinging to him as a drowning man clings to wood, desperate for something to keep her from drowning in the flood of memories that threatened to overwhelm her.
Trunks didn't know what to do. The one he loved was curled up in his arms crying her heart out and he couldn't think of any way to help. In the end he decided that he couldn't bear it any more, and went for the direct approach.
"I love you." He whispered, just loudly enough to be heard above her crying. It was hard for him to say himself, so he tried repeating it. "I love you so much I can't bear to see you cry like this." Her tear streaked face looked up at him in an astonishment that almost made her forget her worries. Thrilled by this positive reaction he continued, almost unable to stop himself. "I love you now as much as I loved you all those years ago. It's me. I am Gallin. Reborn to be with you, and I won't let anything separate us again, I promise!"
Something clicked in her mind. The feeling she had had of deja-vu when they first met, the near irresistible attraction she had felt for him since then, and the dream she had the night before, it was all true. It was him. And she loved him so much!
His admission made, he looked down at her with his heart in his eyes, waiting for a response. The one he received terrified him until she spoke. Her eyes began streaming again and she threw herself against his chest sobbing again. When she was able to speak again it was a broken apology. "I'm… so sorry!… I forgot you!… I can't… believe… I did that! Can… you ever… forgive.. me??" She stopped to draw a shuddering breath amidst sobs.
Trunks nearly laughed with joy. She wasn't rejecting him she was sorry! And sorry for what? For nothing! There was nothing to forgive! As far as he was concerned there was only one way to put a quick end to her guilt, and that was not a lengthy explanation of why she was guilt free and how much he loved her.
Without a second thought he stood up, picking her up effortlessly as he did so, and dropped her in the lake.
The sudden cold water put a stop to her guilt, crying and memories almost instantly. "GALLIN! I mean Trunks!! How COULD you!!" Trunks winced. He had forgotten how shrill she could be when displeased. Then he grinned as he realized that he had never heard her be shrill in THIS life, and that the boundaries between then were thinning already, and obviously were for her to considering her little name error. Or was it even an error?
She struggled out of the lake, dripping wet, glaring at him, until she saw the grin he couldn't hold back. Unable to stay angry herself amidst relief, she stumbled back into his arms and held him tightly, noting smugly that she soaked him back in the process.
They didn't bother speaking. There was no need. Now that they had realized who they were the memories were flowing back so swiftly that it was as if they had known each-other forever.
Finally Trunks spoke up. "Will you stay with me? Stay here? Please?" She shook her head. "You needn't even ask silly. Where else would I want to be?"
All of Lysandria's heartbreaks over the past 24 hours seemed trivial compared to the smile she received back. Hand in hand they returned to the house to tell everybody the good news.
~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the house tension was unbearable. Bulma and Chi-chi had put their foots down when Gohan and the two boys had tried to go see if everything was ok. They had said that the two needed 'space'. Now Chi-chi was explaining to Goku again exactly what the implications of the whole story was, the boys were watching out the window for and sign of return, and everyone else was watching TV. The only one who seemed truly nerve-free was Piccolo, who sat in the corner looking bored. Even Vegita seemed to be doing a good job of hiding an interest in what was happening.
Finally the boys jumped off the sill whooping and raced out shouting that they were coming back. When they came into the sitting room Lysandria seemed to have recovered her composure, and was amazingly enough succeeding in carrying a 6 year-old half Saiyajin squirming under one of her arms, proof enough that she was no normal girl. The other hand was entwined in Trunks', while he carried the other struggling half of the terrible two-some.
They refrained from letting down their burdens long enough for Trunks to say "I am the Gallin Piccolo spoke of. Lysandria is going to stay with us now. Grins broke out all round, with obvious exceptions, and Bulma and Chi-chi rushed over to hug the new arrival to their select group, careful to avoid the kicking youngster she carried. No doubt soon she would be so integrated into their number that they would berate her as happily as they told off the others.
Just as Gohan, Goku, Krillin and Yamcha were congratulating Trunks on his good luck; Bulma's mobile phone rang. She picked in up, listened for a few moments saying "yes" every so often, and hung up smiling. "Good news!" She said to Lysandria. "All your stuff has arrived at Capsule Corp offices, and they have some papers for you to sign regarding your inheritance."
Lysandria looked confused. "I don't have an inheritance!" Bulma, Gohan and Trunks smiled secretively at one another, but the momentary lull was enough for the two youngsters to break free, and in no time an all out war had broken out on the floor of the living room involving Lysandria, Gohan, Goten and both Trunks. Goku joined in happily and Bulma sighed. This new girl would fit in just fine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delona shrieked in ecstasy as she felt the last bonds on her prison break. They had held her there since just after the fall of the moon kingdom, when the young idiot daughter of the Queen of Earth had bound her there. But no mystic chains could last forever, and now she was free! Free to once again come to rule mankind as she had once almost succeeded in doing. But first, revenge.
Her incorporeal presence soared towards the city where victim slept soundly, oblivious to the malice directed at her.