Malenia sat on
a lawn chair outside reading a book when she heard the laughter of her young
cousin. She looked up and peered over
her black sunglasses to see Tapion carrying Trunks on his shoulders. “Did you guys have fun?” She called to them
from across the yard.
“Of course!” Trunks exclaimed. He jumped down from his Big Brother’s
shoulders and ran over to her. “We
tested out this game called Space Cowboy Invaders!”
“Who won?”
Malenia questioned with a slight laugh.
“I did of
course. But Tapion did pretty
good.” Trunks raised a small bag with
his hand that Malenia failed to notice at first. He reached in and pulled out a few brochures
of the different games that were available and a silver picture frame. “We got this for you.”
Malenia took
the frame and turned it over. She was
shocked to see what lay under the glass.
They had gone to a photo booth and had their picture taken
together. “Trunks, Tapion…Its beautiful.” She
looked up to see a wide smile on her cousin, and a blushing face of the
Konatsian warrior. “Thank you.”
“I’ve got to go
tell mom about this system! I really
hope she’ll consider getting it for me!!”
The young fighter ran off into the house, screaming for his mother
“you’ve got to see this!”
Tapion stood
outside, not sure what he should do. He
caught himself staring at Malenia while she studied the picture. Her words caught him by surprise. “Well, I’m glad you two had fun.”
“We did. Trunks is a fun
kid. He never seems to run out of
energy.” He smiled down at her and
fiddled with the ocarina hanging from his belt.
“Well, I guess I’ll go inside now.”
He hesitated before doing so, but when he did he found himself winking
to her.
Later that
night, Tapion was watching Trunks’ favorite movie with him. Bulma had given Trunks permission to stay up
late, seeing that Tapion was going to be leaving in a day or two. The movie was barely half over when Tapion
looked over to see Trunks curled up and fast asleep on the other side of the
couch. He had gently picked the boy up
and put him to bed, trying not to disturb his long needed sleep.
Afterwards, the
Konatsian went out to one of the porches to spend some time by himself. Sitting down on the bench and leaning back,
he gazed up at the black sky spotted with white shining stars. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath,
feeling as if he was home doing the same thing.
Tapion unhooked
his ocarina from his belt and looked at it before he brought it to his mouth
and started playing. He finished the
tune only to find that he wasn’t just playing for himself.
“I love that
song,” Malenia said standing in the doorway.
“You play it so well.”
Tapion blushed
and looked down at the instrument. He
hardly noticed that she took a seat right next to him, their bodies almost
touching. “I’m glad you like it,” was
all he could think of to say to her.
She smiled and
did something that shocked Tapion to no end.
She kissed his cheek. “Sorry,”
she said blushing herself and looking down at her knees.
Tapion ignored
her apology and started playing again, more for her than him this time. He continued to play, even when he felt
something against his shoulder. Opening
his eyes, he saw Malenia’s head leaning against him, her eyes closed and a
small smile spread on her lips. He
mentally chuckled to himself.
Light began to
hit Tapion’s eyes. He opened them to see
the sun starting to rise ahead of him.
Opening his green eyes completely, he found that he was still outside on
the bench, where he had been the night before.
He had slumped down a bit, and was surprised he didn’t slide completely
off.
It was good
that he didn’t, however. If he did, he
would’ve given Malenia a rude awakening, for she had curled up on the bench
next to him, her head and one hand on his lap.
She was still asleep when he looked down, not being able to stop himself
from smiling. He couldn’t help admitting
that he was falling for her.
She stirred a
bit in her sleep, obviously feeling her makeshift pillow moving a bit. Tapion looked back up to the pink and orange
sky ahead. He hated to wake her, but
thought she’d enjoy seeing the Earth seeing light for the first time that day.
Gently shaking
her shoulder and softly saying her name, the human girl awoke to find herself
still on the porch. “Look at that,” she
heard Tapion say. She looked up to see
the rising sun, something that her country saw first every single day.
Sitting up, she
felt an arm resting behind her as she viewed the amazing display of
nature. “Its
beautiful.” She looked up at Tapion, who
still looked straight ahead. “I wish I
could wake up to this every morning.”
Tapion didn’t
say anything. It was as if two angels
were pushing their heads closer and closer together. The Konatsian could feel the softness and
warmth of her mouth against his, both their eyes closing slowly as they engaged
in a kiss.
They parted
just as slowly as it started, both looking deep into the others eyes. Malenia tried her best to think of something
to say, as did Tapion. Both sat in the
silence for a long while. The sound of a
bicycle’s bell going by startled them.
They saw the paperboy riding by, throwing the morning paper into the
front yards of the houses along the street.
“You know
what’s nice?” Malenia asked him. Tapion
looked eager for her answer. “Taking a walk at this time of morning. No one’s up yet, so it’s just you and the
animals searching for their breakfast. I
used to do that a lot when I was little.”
Tapion stood up
and extended his hand towards her.
“Let’s go then,” he said smoothly.
“MOM!” Trunks yelled as he skipped down the stairs. “Where’s Tapion?”
Bulma looked at
the time, seeing that her son slept much later than normal, now that it was
almost
“I really don’t
know, dear,” she replied. “I haven’t
seen him or Malenia all morning.”
“Malenia too? What’s
this world coming to anyway?” He slumped
down into a chair just to jump back up to his feet. “I think that’s him!” He said as he felt Tapion’s life energy
coming closer. Trunks ran to the front
door and burst through only to stop dead in his tracks.
“Hey Trunks!” Tapion said with a large smile on his
face. However, that smile faded when he
saw the rather confused expression on his little friend’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
Malenia asked.
Trunks just
stared at the two. His sight went
downward to see two different hands interlocked. He looked back up at Tapion, this time
looking rather upset. “How could you?”
He started.
Tapion sensed
the anger in his voice, becoming confused himself. “How could I what? I don’t understand.”
“You can’t!” Trunks yelled at
him. His eyes began to weld up with
tears, making it very noticeable that he wasn’t happy.
“What’s wrong Trunks?” Malenia asked.
“You better
stay away from her!” Trunks yelled.
Tapion looked at his companion then at the young boy in front of
him. “You’re not supposed to be with
her! How could you?! I thought you were my big brother!”
“Trunks…”
“I hate
you! I hate you!” Trunks repeated to
Tapion. At that moment, he ran inside,
not even bothering to close the door behind him.
Tapion had
released Malenia’s hand and started after him.
However, Malenia stopped him before he could do so. “I’m not going to let him think of me as some
criminal!”
“Give him time
to cool off.” She paused and looked down
at the print her foot made in the grass.
“I think I know why he’s angry with you.”
Tapion looked
at her with his eyebrow raised. Malenia
sighed. “Last year, I had a boyfriend
that wanted me for one thing. I didn’t
see this until he tried to get what he wanted.
When I told him no…” She stopped and lifted up the side of her shirt
just high enough to show him a scar.
“He did that to
you?” She nodded. “But what possess him
to think I’d do that to you? He should
know I wouldn’t hurt anyone I cared for.”
She shook her
head. “Its
probably because of what I told him. He
was asking me how Greg was and I told him by accident. I didn’t mean to, but you know with Trunks
you have to finish what you’ve started.
I told him that I hated Greg, and I’d never go out with another guy for
a long time because I was afraid of what they would do. I was mad at that point, so I really didn’t
mean I what I said.”
Tapion turned
his vision to the house. “I’m sorry
then…” he started, his voice seeming a bit tight.
“Oh, that
happened a while ago. I don’t think
about him anymore of course.”
“No,” Tapion
replied looking away. “I don’t think you
and I are going to work out. This just
adds to it…”
“What are you
talking about?”
“Malenia, you
and me are too different. I’m not from this planet, not to mention this
timeline. Now my friendship with Trunks
is on the line. I cherish that kid…and I
couldn’t bare to live on knowing that he hates me. I’m truly sorry…” Tapion left Malenia
standing alone on the front lawn, watching him walk away.
Tapion went
inside to find Bulma yelling up the stairs.
She was holding a spatula in her hands, while pancakes were busy burning
on the stove.
“Trunks! Come down
here now!” She yelled up to him.
“NO!” came a
voice from upstairs.
“What’s your
problem?!” She asked yelling at him.
“I hate
Tapion! He’s after Malenia!”
“How do you
know that?”
“I saw
him!” There was a moment of
silence. “I swear that if she gets hurt,
I’ll hunt him down and kill him myself!”
It was after
Trunks’ statement that Bulma noticed the shaken Tapion. She quickly looked up the stairs and then at
Tapion, knowing well that he heard everything that was being said.
“Tapion, I’m
sure he doesn’t mean it…” Bulma started.
“No Bulma, I’m sure he means every word of
it…” Tapion started to walk up the stairs.
“Where are you
going?”
Tapion looked
at her over her shoulder. “Home.” He continued
upstairs and was gone down the hall.
Tapion stopped
at Trunks’ door, as he was about to leave.
He thought that maybe enough time had gone by that the boy would’ve felt
better about everything. He hesitated at
first, but took the second to give chance a try. He gently tapped his knuckles on the door,
hearing footsteps coming towards him.
Trunks opened
the door. Tapion noticed that he must
have been still crying, for there were freshly tearstains still present on his
cheeks. Tapion opened his mouth to say
something, but Trunks cut him off quickly by slamming the door in his
face.
Tapion looked
down at the door before continuing. He
heard a noise behind him and looked back, thinking that Trunks was coming after
him. His hopes were shot down when he
saw his own sword lying on the floor. He
picked it up and looked at it, remember how he gave it
to Trunks when he was leaving the first time.
His own eye shed a sudden tear and he went on downstairs.
Bulma waited to
see if Tapion came back inside, having changing his mind to leave without
settling this. She heard the opening of
a capsule, and immediately went out to stop him.
The large
yellow time machine stood outside on the side lawn of the house. The top hatch was open and no one was
inside. Bulma double checked to make
sure that she wasn’t missing anything, but then noticed a figure sitting with
his knees up and leaning against the building.
The blue haired
woman sat down next to him and waited for him to speak. However, he just continued to hold his head
in his hands and stare at the ground.
“Trunks’
doesn’t hate you, Tapion.” He remained
quiet. “I’m sure that if he realized
that you were leaving he’d have a big change of heart and beg you to stay.”
“I doubt it.”
Bulma took a
deep breath. “Listen, if you don’t
believe me, then come see for yourself. If he doesn’t…then I won’t stop you.” At
first Tapion seemed as if he was ignoring her gesture, but he finally agreed.
“What?” Trunks
asked from within his room after hearing a knock.
“Open this door
Trunks,” Bulma commanded.
“No.”
“Well, I just
wanted you to know that your attitude is causing Tapion to go home right
now. He’s leaving if you want to say
good-bye.”
“Good, he can
stay away forever.”
“Trunks! He came here
to see you and now you’re making him feel terrible! He’s like your brother
remember??”
“He’s no
brother! If he were, then he wouldn’t go
near my cousin like that. He’s just
another Greg.”
Bulma stopped
the argument when Tapion started to quickly leave. She jogged after him down the stairs, trying
to catch up to him. “Tapion. Tapion!
Don’t leave yet!”
“I’m sorry
Bulma, but I’m not going to stay here and cause trouble.” Tapion went through the door and headed
towards the time machine. He picked up
his pace, making Bulma stop.
“Trunks! I’m not
kidding! He’s leaving!” Bulma yelled at
the top of her lungs.
Tapion climbed
into the seat of the time machine and started setting the time for 1,000 years
in the past. He was just about to close
the hatch when he saw Malenia running towards him.
“Tapion, please
don’t leave!” She called up to him, raising her voice above the noise of the
time machine.
“I have to,
Malenia. There’s nothing to stay for
anymore,” he said back to her, not looking at her once.
“What about
me? What did I do to you?” She decided
that it was best if she just left and didn’t stop him from leaving. She knew that he was determined to make peace
at the house by leaving.
Tapion looked
down to see her slowly walking away. He
turned the time machine off and jumped down.
“Malenia!”
She turned her head around to see him jogging up to her. “Malenia, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to hurt you. It’s the last thing I’d want to do to you…”
She sniffed and
looked up at him, throwing her arms around him.
He held onto her tightly. “I
can’t face Trunks though…he’s already threatened to kill me.”
“I couldn’t do
that Big Brother…”
Both Tapion and
Malenia looked over to see Trunks wiping his face with his sleeve. He took a few steps toward them, but couldn’t
bring himself to look at their face, knowing he had been a brat and jumped to
conclusions.
“You’re not
really going to leave so soon…are you?” He asked, feeling ashamed.
Tapion knelt
down so he could look Trunks eye to eye.
“Trunks, I want you to know that I’d never let any harm come to your
cousin. You of all people should know
that.”
“I know…I was
just scared because I know how bad and mean that other guy was.”
“Trunks, why would I hurt one innocent girl after I tried to
protect my entire planet with my own life?” Trunks shook his head and
finally brought himself to look at Tapion’s green
eyes.
“Are you mad at
me?”
“More like scared of you.
I know what kind of power you have, and I didn’t want to upset you
enough to start blowing things up.”
Trunks
giggled. “I’m not THAT much like my
dad,” he said with a small smile. “Are
we still brothers?”
“Of course we
are,” Tapion said gently. T
Trunks then gave Tapion a hug, while
surprising him with a question. “Can I
still have the sword?”
Tapion laughed and assured him that the sword was his to
keep. He playfully nudged Trunks’
shoulder with his fist.
“Hey, don’t I
get any apologies here?” Malenia asked
with her hands on her hips.
“Yeah,” Trunks
told her as Tapion stood up. “I guess I
approve of you and Tapion.”
“Oh, well thank
you your majesty.”
“You’ve got
it!” Trunks said, his sorrow completely lifting away.
The next
afternoon was a sad one to some. Vegeta,
of course, could care less that the two visitors were going home. Now he would get more attention from his own
family. Though he pretended, at least,
not to care about their departure, he still stood outside leaning against the
house.
“I’m glad you came Tapion,” Bulma commented giving him a farewell
hug. “Come again soon.”
Tapion nodded
with a smile. Trunks came up to him and
handed him a small bag. “What’s this?”
Tapion asked.
“Look inside,”
he said as Tapion did so. “Its from me and Malenia.”
Tapion smiled
and chuckled to himself as he pulled out a silver
frame similar to the one they gave Malenia. However, the picture was a little
different. In this photo, Malenia
replaced him with Trunks. “Thanks,
Little Brother.”
Tapion put the
bag’s strings on his arm and reached into his small duffle bag that he had
brought. “I was saving this to give to you
when I left. You already know how to use
it, seeing that I taught you already.” Trunks eyed the ocarina in Tapion’s
hand. It was exactly like the one Tapion
had had made for him.
“Wow! Thanks!” Trunks exclaimed as he carefully
took it. Trunks gave Tapion a hug,
Tapion trying to avoid the handle of the sword on Trunks’ back.
Finally, but
not least in line was Malenia. She
smiled at Tapion as she came to him with open arms. He hugged her for a long moment, letting his
gloved hand run through her dark blue hair.
“I’ll miss you,” he told her.
“Me too,” she
replied. She gave him a long kiss.
“I promise to
come back.” He told her.
“Yeah, but
don’t wait twenty years, okay?” She joked.
“Of course not.”
Tapion parted
from Malenia and jumped into the seat of the time machine. He set the coordinates for 1,000 years in the
past and let the machine warm up. He
smiled and waved good-bye to the people below, giving a wink to them all.
“Come back
soon!” Trunks called.
“I love you!”
Malenia called as the hatch on the time machine started to close.
The machine
lifted off the ground and started to hover into the air. Tapion continued to wave good-bye, throwing a
kiss out to Malenia in the process.
Soon, the device disappeared with the Konatsian, bringing him home to
his real little brother that eagerly waited his brother’s return on Konat.