By: Beta Genius

She helped those all around the world,

all those who were affected and hurt by the Androids. But with this, she still felt empty, and didn’t know where she belonged. Except she did have one idea. Some people from all around had called her a guardian, but she would go back to the place where she was saved by her so-called guardian. She knew it was where she belonged, and didn’t care what people would think of her.

She sailed across the wind current on her wings, the feathers glistening in the cold, winter sunlight. She was in the far north now, just passing by some mountains, where she thought she might stop. While sailing to the ground, she thought she heard someone talking, and walked quietly in that direction.

“What am I doing? There’s nothing here, no evidence, no files, they were destroyed. So what am I doing?” It was a boy, no older than her, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a brown trench coat, with black pants and a white t-shirt. He seemed to be talking to himself as he walked back and forth, his hands placed behind his back. “I don’t belong here, and I can’t have come from here. But where? I don’t understand. He didn’t give me a number, and I have no-”

She slipped up on one of the loose rocks, as it tumbled off the side of the narrow path of the mountainside. Noticing her mistake, she tried to hide, but the boy had already noticed her, turning his head and pausing for a moment.

“Who are you? What do you want?” the boy questioned.

“Umm, uh,” she stumbled, trying to avoid a conversation. She didn’t want anyone to see her; no one had since she had left, actually.

“Go away. You’ve got no business being up here,” the boy stated.

“And who says?” she said.

“I do,” he replied. “Now go away.”

“Why should I?”

“You’ve got some nerve. If your from the city I already told you not to follow me.”

“Well I’m not from the city, I was just heading there.”

“Were you?” he grinned. “Then sorry but you’re off course. The city’s three hundred miles to the west still.”

“Oh,” she said, not really knowing that herself until then. “I should get going then.”

“Yeah, you should,” the boy said, tuning and beginning to walk away.

She paused as he walked out of sight, and soon thought, ‘That was unusual. I wonder who that guy was.’ She shrugged, and spread her wings apart, flying off into the sky once again.

She reached the city within a matter of hours, and spotted Capsule Corp. soon after. She flew down up to the front porch, where she stepped up to the glass door and looked inside. It was a bit foggy, but she could still she. Trunks was helping his mother unpack the groceries in the kitchen while they talked. It was something about Trunks going out soon after he unpacked the things, but the rest he couldn’t understand, but they must’ve been joking because Trunks laughed. She smiled, and thought about knocking, but decided to surprise Trunks when he walked outside.

She hid out of sight as Trunks opened the door, shutting it behind him and pausing for a minute. He sighed slightly, and began to walk forward. She jumped up on the one of the building’s roofs and decided to follow him that way, seeing where he would go.

He continued to walk on as the snow began to fall lightly. She was a bit cold, wearing a tank top and jeans, but she didn’t mind. Up on the rooftops she almost blended in with the surroundings, and no one traveling the streets noticed her.

Finally coming to the center of the city, Trunks came to memorial which she had seen before. Now, it had items and pictures placed on and around it. One of those pictures was the one of the gang on the picnic, the only one they had owned of the whole gang together. It had fallen on the ground over the night, the thumbtack that it had kept it up next to it. Trunks picked it up and placed it back on, spending a moment of silence.

With a caring smile on his face, he turned, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets, and began to walk back home. But she decided to talk to him first, and dove behind him to the ground. She quietly snuck up behind him and put her arms around his neck loosely, hugging him.

But he flinched away, not knowing who it was, and turned to see. Seeing her smiling face, his eyes widened with shock.

“Solar...? Is that you?!”

“You bet it is!” she said with a joyful tone.

“Solar, you’re back!” he said, stepping back up to her and putting his hands on her face, not believing his eyes, but happy to see her. “But I thought you wouldn’t come back.”

“I found myself empty without this place, so I came back,” she stated with a smile.

He smiled, but it soon faded as he noticed that people started to stare. “We might as well be getting out of here. I don’t think people are too comfortable with those wings...”

As he said that, she noticed that the people around were starting to get uneasy and whisper back and forth.

Trunks and Solar, eyeing the people around, began to walk back to Capsule Corp. Everything was silent for a time, as they continued to walk, but soon Solar felt a splitting pain in the back of her head and fell on one knee. Trunks looked back to see a large black rock fall into the collecting snow.

“Get out of here, freak!” someone shouted, and there was an uproar of agreeing voices.

Trunks tried to help Solar up as the rocks continued to be thrown, helping her run through the streets. When they were safe from the populated areas, or at least the ones who had been throwing stones, Solar fell back to her knees, a dizzy feeling infecting her head.

“Solar, are you okay?” Trunks asked, leaning down next to her, as she placed her hands on the back of her head.

As she lifted her hands in front, they both saw, and she knew why there was a dizzy feeling. Her hands were covered in blood, and the snowflakes falling on her head making it more apparent.

Trunks tried to help her up onto her feet again, but she was too faint to even do that. “Come on, the house is only a few more blocks away. You can make it.”

As they did make it back, Trunks quickly helped her inside and set her on the couch, barely able to keep her eyes open. Trunks shouted for his mother to get in there fast to see what she could do.

After a few minutes, Solar had bandages wrapped around her head. Bulma said that she would be fine, just suffered from minor blood loss. She was still surprised to see her, and was even more surprised to see the wings in Solar’s back. It was an ingenious scientific find, but knew she couldn’t do any tests to find out what caused it, just let it be.

Trunks hung his coat up and went back to the living room, going to sit in one of the chairs. He picked up a book that was on the table, and picked off where he had left off before, while Solar slept and Bulma continued with her cooking in the kitchen.

“Solar. Hey, Solar, wake up,” Bulma said, shaking her shoulder.

Solar opened her eyes, waking with the soft glow of a lamp on the table.

“Mrs. Bulma?” Solar questioned.

Bulma laughed, and turned to head back into the kitchen. “It’s good to see you’re awake. I thought you would’ve been unconscious for days with that head wound. But now that your awake, would you like anything to eat?”

“Sure! I haven’t eaten in days.”

“Really? No wonder you’ve been sleeping so long,” Bulma said, opening the pot of soup and dishing some out into a bowl.

“Well, how long have I have been asleep?”

“Oh, about twelve hours, but time goes by quickly around here.” She walked back into the living room and handed the bowl to Solar as she sat up.

Quickly, Solar began to scarf down the soup. Bulma sat in one of the other chairs, waiting for her to finish. But before she could, Bulma asked, “So, what’s it like having...wings?” She just couldn’t help asking.

“I don’t know,” Solar shrugged. “Normal, I guess. It’s just like having another pair of arms.”

“Really? Well tell me, how are you able to control them?”

“Same way you do arms; nerves. Just the bones are connect to the rib bones which are filled with nerves and muscles that control the wings. It’s simple.”

“Hmm, seems more complex than that...but oh well.”

Solar quickly finished up her soup, and set it on the table next to her. She looked up around the room, seeing Trunks fast asleep with his arms crossed in the same chair he had been sitting in before. She turned back and stood up, walking to the door.

“Where are you going?” Bulma questioned.

“I’m just going to go look around town. Is that alright?”

“Don’t you remember how you got that wound on your head? Those people out there aren’t very happy about you being here. If you are going to go out, wear that long coat in the closet. It will cover your wings perfectly, making it seem like you don’t have them at all.”

“Well, alright. Are you sure?”

“No problem. Just be sure you wear it out there, okay?”

She nodded, and reached into the closet, grabbing the coat. After putting it on and buttoning up, she shut the door behind as she walked out, and began to run into the city.

She reached the town square soon enough, and it didn’t seem like anyone recognized her. Maybe before no one saw her face, so they couldn’t possibly notice her without her wings. Looking around, she entered a small shop, selling all sorts of things. There were medical kits and foods, along with jewelry and things like that.

Solar looked around in the display cases, and saw several things that looked nice, except one thing caught her eye the most. It was a necklace, containing a small charm of a gem. She didn’t know what kind of stone it was, but it was of different shades of blue with black lines cutting across it, separating the colors. She stared at it for a moment, just before the owner of the store stepped up to her.

“Pretty little thing, ain’t it? And there’s only a handful left in the world, too. Sad, but true,” said the shop owner.

“How much is it?” she asked.

“Three thousand. That’s the lowest I can possibly offer.”

Solar swallowed hearing the price, and smiled. “Well, unfortunately, it’s a little too expansive for me. But I must say it’s very pretty.”

She turned and was about to head out the door, when something else caught her attention. It was the boy from before, reading the back of a book in the far back of the shop. She noticed him look up at her for a brief moment, but he quickly turned back to his book.

She opened the door and walked out, but a single feather falling into sight and landing on the ground outside, the door shut behind. Before it was out of sight though, the boy noticed the feather fall, and watched out the window for her to leave. When she did, the boy put the book back on the shelf and left out the door. He knelt to the ground and picked up the feather, looking at it closely.

He turned his head in the direction of Solar, and put the feather in his coat pocket, walking after her.

As she walked along the street, her foot made imprints in the fresh snow. All was quiet, except for little voices scurrying about now and then. But while there was no voices and no sound of wind, all she could hear was her footsteps... and someone else’s. When she stopped, there was one last step before they stopped too, and she knew someone was following her.

When the buildings began to get closer and closer, she slowly began to walk faster, and soon ran. She turned a corner and quickly another, trying to fool whoever was following. Indeed she did, and they ran right passed. Rapidly she followed, and kicked them to the ground. She kept a foot on their back, so they were unable to move.

“Why are you following me?!” he questioned angrily.

The person laughed slightly, opening his hand with the feather still in it, and said, “Are you the angel I hoped for?”

Solar blinked with question, soon after the boy sitting up suddenly, Solar stumbling back. She sat on the ground as the boy stood, still holding the feather in his hand. He had a strict look on his face, and she gritted her teeth. But surprisingly, he smiled and held out a hand to help her up. She refused his help, though, and stood up herself.

She dusted the snow off her coat, and eyed him coldly. “What do you mean ‘angel’?”

“Uh, well I...” he stuttered, somewhat embarrassed. “Since you had this feather, I hoped you might have had wings, and that you would be the angel I prayed for. I-it’s stupid, I’m sorry.”

“Wait a second. Why would you want an angel?”

“Because... I just kind of need help finding who I am. You shouldn’t get yourself concerned, though. Actually, just forget that I said that.”

“Who you are? Don’t you know?” she asked.

“Well, I have a name. Just not exactly where I came from. See I was adopted when I was little, so I just want to know who I really am, and where I really come from.” He put his hands in his coat pockets. “Sorry if I worried you by following.” He turned and began walking away.

“Well, I hope you find who you are soon!” she yelled after him with a smile.

He had a halfhearted smile across his face as he continued on walking. “So do I.”

She turned around too, and continued on back to Capsule Corp.

***

Solar walked up to the house door, but soon turned, due to someone tapping on her shoulder. It was Trunks, who had flown down from the roof where he had been standing. He had a frown on his face, and she could see something was bothering him.

“Hello Trunks. Is something wrong?” she asked.

“You okay?” he asked, his frown fading.

“Yes I’m fine. Why?”

“You shouldn’t go out by yourself. Don’t you remember what happened, with getting hit in the head?”

“Yeah, I do. But I wore this coat today and no one recognized me.”

“Still. I should’ve told you this before, but there’s a lot of weird things going around here. Missing documents disappearing throughout the city; buildings suddenly being destroyed throughout the night. No one knows who’s behind it, but whoever it may be, they’ve been said to be in relation to the Androids.”

“Androids!” she screamed angrily. “If they are Androids they gotta be destroyed, join the other two!” She began to run back out, but Trunks put a hand on her shoulder.

“Wait, no one knows if this person is an Android. And if they are, they haven’t done anything yet to prove no mercy on them.”

“But... But if they are!”

“Then and only then if they are and have done something wrong, must they share the fate of the other two. Until then, stay in. They probably know why you might have wings, if they are. They’ll most likely be after you, too.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right. But I’m not just going to stay in this house forever, though! If it snows again I want to go out, ya know!”

Trunks laughed slightly. “Of course! I never said you shouldn’t go out at all, I just said not by yourself. Ask my mother or something, I’m sure she’ll go with you.”

Solar smiled, and walked into the house. Trunks followed, shutting the door behind.

But before Solar could sit on the couch, Bulma ran up to both of them and spoke to Solar.

“Are you okay? Oh, I completely forgot about the Android conspiracy, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright. I’m fine, really.”

“You sure? Well, that’s a relief. But you might as well stay in for the rest of the day, there’s only about a half an hour until the sun goes down.”

“That’s okay, I wasn’t planning to go out again anyway.”

She set her coat back into the closet and went to go sit on the couch. She put her wings behind so she wouldn’t have to sit on them, and yawned. Trunks went to go sit in the chair he had sat in before, and picked up the book on the table. But before he could start reading, Bulma suddenly turned on the radio.

“Okay, lesson time!” she said.

“What...? Oh, no, mother can we just skip dance lessons today?” he asked slightly grimly.

“No chance! You’ve been skipping for the past two days, and you’ve got to have lessons once a week, so put the book back on the table and get up!”

He did what he was told, walking slowly up to his mom, with a hand on his head, somewhat embarrassed. Solar watched with a smile on her face, as they waited for the songs to change. But Bulma got an idea and looked back and forth to Trunks and Solar.

“Hey, Solar, have you ever danced before?” Bulma asked, and Trunks blushed, seeing what his mom was thinking.

“Umm, no. Why do you ask?”

“Ha!” she said, clapping her hands together with a grin across her face. “Good, that means that Trunks can teach you, see what he’s learned,” she mumbled the rest, “or how much he’s paid attention.”

“N-now wait a second, mother. I can’t teach, that’s more of your style.”

“Nonsense! Get up here, Solar, Trunks will teach you!”

She stood and walked up to the both of them. She swallowed with nervousness, as the song soon began to change, the DJ’s voice coming on. Trunks took Solar’s hand as the music began to play.

‘Slow dance! Why does it just have to be slow dance! Mother didn’t teach me this very much, so what the heck am I suppose to do?!’ Trunks thought.

He sort of shuffled his feet around, trying to pull off like he was dancing, and Solar couldn’t tell. On the other hand, though, Bulma could. She crossed her arms with disappointment, but soon begin thinking somewhat amusement. Solar tripped up on her shoelaces a few times and laughed slightly. Both Trunks and Bulma laughed with her, and it continued on with this for a few more minutes.

The song slowly ended, and there was a moment of silence in the room. As the radio finally came back on with the DJ, there was suddenly a loud bang, and they all turned their heads towards the door. Trunks slid it open, seeing the cloud of flames hovering up in the sky, and ran out into the snow.

“It’s coming from the harbor! We gotta get over there quick!” someone shouted as they ran through the street, shouting for everyone who could hear along with the people who were already following.

Bulma and Solar came up behind him, as he turned his head back to them. “Stay here, I’ll be back in a minute!” Trunks said, and flew off into the distance.

“Wait a second, you forgot your jacket!” Bulma shouted after him, but he didn’t hear. She shook her head and turned to Solar. “You have to go after him. He’s going to need help, if this does concern an Android.”

“Me? But didn’t he say-”

“Never mind what he said, just go! Just tell him I sent you and he can’t disagree!”

Solar quickly ran into the house and grabbed the long coat, soon running back outside and through the street, heading for the harbor.

She stayed out of sight from a mob of people who watching on the dockside, as a freighter ship burned just off the shore. She watched and listened to what people had to say, seeing if she could get any information about what caused it. She hid behind a few crates placed on the dock, and stayed there for a time.

But it seemed that someone did noticed her.

Whoever it was placed a hand on her shoulder and she jumped forward, quickly turning. She saw that it was the boy from before, and he jumped back with sudden surprise.

“It’s you! But aren’t you suppose to be with the people up there?” she whispered.

“I was about to say the same about you. I’m here to see what this is all about, what about you?” he replied.

“Same,” she said, and turned back to the crowd. “I wonder what could’ve caused this, or what would’ve caused this.”

“Yeah, same here. Everybody’s saying it was an Android, but they’ve been dead for a few years now.”

“Yeah, well what if there were more than just two? Just think about it. What if there was another one, just incase the other two failed.”

The boy laughed. “You have one strange mind, you know that?”

“Strange or not, it’s always best if you keep it open.”

He laughed even more, and some people even thought they heard him, but didn’t pay attention, only to the ship out at sea.

“Will you be quiet? People will hear you!”

“And what are you so worried about? It’s like you’re trying to avoid everyone you see.”

“Okay,” she said, turning back to him with an angry expression. “what if I was to say I do have wings, and that most people who see me are afraid.”

“Oh, that’s a good one!” he laughed. “But even if you did, I would have to be shown, completely proof that you do.”

“Yeah, well, that’s you,” she stated, turning around.

“But...do you have wings?” he asked, almost convinced that she did.

She looked back at him, and didn’t reply. She didn’t want to say anything about it and wasn’t going to. Solar turned her head back to the crowd, trying to continue hearing on peoples’ conversations.

Everything was quiet for a moment or so, when she heard someone shouting. It was close, and she could hear the sound of twisting metal soon following. She looked to her side, but it was too late to get out of the way.

A heavy chain that was formally attached to a crane whipped up across the dock and into the crates, ripping through them like paper. Solar tried to get out of the way, but her coat was snagged on a loose nail of one of the crates, sending her off into the water along with the broken wood. The boy, who had gotten out of the way, looked off the dock to find her, but there was no sign.

In truth, her coat was still caught on the board and tumbling ever deeper in the water. She couldn’t get it off, and there was only one solution to this. She quickly took the jacket off, letting it sink as she quickly tried to resurface. she barely had enough air to reach the top, but when she did, she didn’t hesitated to gasp for air.

Since she was still close to the dock, the boy helped her up out of the water. But as she sat there, people noticed her and her wings, and their attention was now bent on her. Some people just stared at the sight, others whispered, and soon, some screamed.

Trunks came back from the freighter in search of people, (of course there was no one on). He looked at the dock from where he was flying from above, hearing the shouts of an angry mob. He went closer in for a better look, and saw that they were cornering someone against some of the other crates. As he looked closer, he saw who this person was, quickly flying to the dock.

They threw what they could find at her soon enough, but she tried to deflect with her arms what she could. She was so beaten with burses, though, and there was so much stuff being thrown at her, that she couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t want to fight them, so she turned, her wings trying to keep things away, also covering her face with her hands.

But suddenly, someone jumped in front of her, hitting away anything else, as the mob soon stopped.

“What are you people doing?!” Trunks shouted. “You’re treating her as if she were some sort of animal, an Android even!”

They all had respect for him, and stood in silence, as to not disagree. But someone did, and said, “But we thought she would be! How can we trust her?!”

They mob gave an agreeing shout.

“Easy, you ask her! It may be so hard to believe, but it’s true! And if your people are scared, just ask me, I told you that!”

With the silence, Trunks heard Solar speak. “I told you...they hate me.”

“No, they don’t hate you, they just miss understand-”

“No, they hate me, and they always have!” She opened up her wings, and flew up into the sky, tears filling in her eyes.

Trunks wanted to go after her, but was too filled with rage that he turned back to the mob. His hands began fists as she said, “I hope you people are happy by what you’ve done!” Soon after, he did fly after her, up into the dark night sky.

She sat in an alleyway, all the while thinking of who, or what, she was. Did she really belong there? Why did everyone hate her so? Was it really because of the wings, or because of fear; fear of the Androids? But she had the wings to defeat the Androids, so why? Of course, no one but Trunks or Bulma would no that.

She laughed slightly by her thoughts, not really knowing why. But soon, she thought she heard something move behind the trashcans. She thought it might only be a cat or something, but she caught a glimpse and saw that it was a person. She laughed slightly and said, “No need to go hiding. Everyone knows who I am now so what’s the use.”

The person emerged from around the corner, and walked up to her, his hands placed in his coat pockets. “You know, this is my home,” he said.

“Oh, really. Well, I’ll be out of here then,” she said, starting to stand up.

“Hey, I don’t care. It always changes on a daily basis so,” He went to go sit on one of the upside-down trashcans, taking out a candy bar and tarrying apart the wrapper. “So you really do have wings. Heh, and I thought you were just joking. But that feather did belong to you then.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“No reason. Just kinda odd.”

“Shut up, I don’t need to be told that by anymore people!” she shouted.

He swallowed the candy in his mouth, continuing. “Sorry. But hey, you need to be a little more nicer to those around you, ya know, angel?”

“Angel? And where do you get off calling me that? I do have a name, you know.”

“Yeah, well what is it then?”

“...Solar.”

“Solar... nice, but I like Angel better.”

She gave him a cold look, and he grinned.

“And what’s your name, huh?” she questioned.

“It’s Aaric,” He took another bit of the candy bar and continued. “So, where did you get ‘em?”

“Get what?”

“You’re wings!”

“Oh...” She had a smirk across her face. “A genetically altered deoxyribonucleic acid.”

He looked at her with question. “O...kay, and in English that would be...?”

She laughed. “Never mind, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Sure I would, just as long as you don’t use so many big words and such...”

She laughed again, and looked at him. “Well, since I’m not actually going anywhere for a while, why don’t you tell me the rest of why you prayed for an angel?”

“Uh, I umm...well I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because...” he said. “Well, if you promise, no, swear that you won’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone, then I guess I can tell you.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“That includes, especially, that Trunks guy.”

“Yes, if it’s that important, I won’t tell even him.”

“Okay... Well, I uh, have this kind of...problem.”

“Like what?”

“Umm, you won’t freak out if I tell you?”

She shook her head. “No, I promise.”

“Well...” He took out a knife in his pocket, and held it up for a few seconds, but soon put it back on one of the other trashcan lids to the side. “No, I can’t. That’s just what I need, another person who hates me.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. You’re probably among the few who’s not afraid to speak to me, and believe me, I’ll keep your secret. I promise.”

He looked at her for a moment, then swallowed, picking back up the knife. Holding it for a second more, he jabbed it into his right arm, and taking it back out. But as he did, electrical sparks fried throughout the wound, and she could see soon after the small mechanical wiring running through that wound.

“I prayed for an angel because... so they could tell me who I am, before I make the same mistake They did.”

“They? They who?” she asked, wide-eyed now, but not as much as she would be. Aaric looked up at her with sad but angry eyes, and she knew what he meant.

“If I am what I think, then I have no choice. I found one document, and it was of a failed experiment, by someone named Gero. I was never given a number like I was suppose to, but... I’ve asked everyone I could, everyone, and yet they chose to ignore me, to help me find who I am besides this... Android. Maybe before, I was human. But I can’t be sure.” He looked up at Solar, who was too shock to move. “I’m sorry, I should’ve never told you this.” He got up off the trashcan and turned, beginning to walk away.

“Wait, what do you mean the same mistake they did?” she asked, quickly standing up.

He stopped and turned his head slightly. “I’m tried of hiding in the shadows. If the people chose to ignore my cry for help, then in a few days I will ignore their cry for mercy.”

Solar stood pale with shock for a time as Aaric disappeared into the dark alleys. She couldn’t believe what she just heard, and that another terror would begin again. But she knew she had to stop it, it was her fate, one way or another. She wouldn’t tell Trunks, he’d dealt with the Androids too much already, and she would.

She was about to turn, and saw Trunks coming around the corner. She ran over to him with still a blank expression.

“Solar, are you alright?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m fine. But can we just get back to Capsule Corp.?”

“Yeah, sure. Come on.”

Trunks and Solar both took back off into the sky, soon heading on towards Capsule Corp.

Solar woke up from where she slept on the couch again. She sat up and walked over to the glass door, where she looked out into the street on the cloudy winter day. Seeing the bright snow, she smiled, and quickly went over to one of the chairs, where someone was still asleep.

“Trunks get up!” she shouted, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

“W-what, what happened?!” he said, jumping up.

“Nothing did, except it’s snowing!”

“Oh...snowing.”

“Come on!” she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him to the door. She slid it open and dragged him out on the porch, where he yawned and she ran out onto the lawn.

“Yeah, interesting... snow,” he yawned.

Bulma came out form behind where she had been cooking breakfast, and smiled as Solar began to build up the snow in her hands. “Well at least she enjoys it.”

“Yeah, at least someone does. Not many people pay attention to it anymore, but-” He was interrupted by a fly snowball hitting his face. Slowly whipping it off, both Bulma and Solar laughed, and he continued. “at least people can get back to normal...”

He ran out into the snow, gathering as much he could in his hands as he could. he though it a Solar, but missed by a little. Bulma laughed and turned, heading back into the house. But suddenly, a snowball hit her in the back out the head and she turned with an angry look.

Trunks laughed as he fell back in the snow, her angry face soon turning to a smile. She ran off the porch and picked up some snow, throwing it at him. It continued on like this for several minutes, until they were too filled with laughing that they fell to the ground, cracking up madly. But soon, Bulma controlled her laughing and stood.

“Trunks, if you don’t mind, could you go out and get me a bag of sugar? I need it to-” She stopped because she knew she wasn’t getting Trunks’s attention, laughing so much. “Trunks! Will you stop laughing for a minute!”

“Yeah... sure. I’ll go... and get it,” he replied, laughing slightly between words.

He stood up, dusting off the snow on his shoulders. He went back in the house to get his jacket, but was stopped by Solar.

“Hey, I want to come too!” she said.

Trunks looked out the doorway to her with question. “Are you sure? I mean, after what happened with that mob yesterday.”

“No big deal, you’ll be with me right? Besides, no one will recognize me, it was too dark yesterday to see my face, so as long as I wear that coat.”

“Alright...” he said, grabbing her coat as well. He handed it to her, still with a bit of hesitation. After she had gotten it on, they both headed into the city.

Soon reaching it, it seemed as though Solar was right. No one recognized her. They all passed by and greeted them with smiles and a ‘good-day’ from some. But with no time at all they had gone to the market place and gotten a bag of sugar, and for some reason they waited to leave.

“Solar, I’ve gotta go to another shop real fast. Do you think you can wait here?” Trunks asked.

“Yeah sure.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” he said, and quickly ran in he other direction.

Solar turned towards the center of the city, with the street lined with shops and booths. She walked along, thinking that she might stop at one real fast, but was suddenly stopped. Coming from one of the alleys, she thought she heard a clicking sound, and looked back to there.

It was dark, back she could see someone standing up against the brick wall. The person was attaching something to their arm, like it was meant to, and she saw it was some sort of weapon, looking like a shotgun. She cautiously walked through there, hiding behind the dumpsters, as she looked closer to who this might be.

She tried to move closer in, the snow cracking beneath her feet on the cement. Even though this was as quiet as could be, the person heard her and looked up.

His pale blue eyes widened seeing her, as he turned and headed for the chain fence. As he climbed up and over it, she ran over to it, saying, “Wait a second!”

He snapped back and looked at her, fear but anger struck in his eyes. “Get out of town. Please... I don’t want you to be here to see what I have to do.”

“Aaric!?” she gasped.

Seeing someone looking down the alley behind her, he rapidly turned, running and disappearing out of sight.

She turned back out the alley and ran into the open. She looked around, and saw Trunks coming, surprisingly with a smile across his face. Running up to her, he saw that there was distress in her expression, and his smile faded.

“You destroyed the Androids, right?!” she questioned, taking the collar of his jacket.

“Yeah, of course I did-”

“Then you know where they were created, right?!”

“Yeah. Solar what are you trying to say?”

“Where? Where were they created?!”

“Solar, calm down,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Now tell me, why do you want to know this?”

“I... I can’t tell you. I promised.”

“Promised? Solar, if it concerns the Androids I have to know. Please, tell me.”

“No, I can’t! I don’t want you to get concerned. Please, just tell me.”

He stared at her with question for a moment, but said, “To the east of here, up in the blue mountains.”

“Thank you. Thank you, Trunks.” Soon she ran, heading for the mountains. But before she was out of sight, she said, “Don’t worry I’ll be back in no time at all!”

Trunks stood in wonder on the sidewalk, thinking of what this could all mean. He thought for an instant that maybe, just maybe, there were more Androids, but he shook his head, thinking that there couldn’t be. He’d even seen it in the other timeline, there was just those two and cell... but, wait, what about the other two?! His mouth came open with this thought, that maybe there could’ve been more than two, like in the other timeline!

He thought he heard something from a few blocks into the city, like shouting, and he quickly left off to investigate.

She flew across the mountain tops until she saw an irregular side to one of them. It looked like it was a cave of some sort, but with a ledge leading off slightly. She flew to it and landed on the ledge, looking into the cave. Except, to what she thought she would see, the cave didn’t go in very far, but came to a solid metal door, almost blending in to the surroundings. She stepped up to it, seeing a control panel right next to it. She thought she might have to enter an entry code, but found there was no need. For the door was part way open, just enough so she could put her hand in. She tried to pull it open, grasping with all her might until it was just big enough so she could fit.

She walked through, throwing the light switch which she found on the rock wall. As the light flickered on, she saw that the area around was completely trashed, like either someone hadn’t been here in years, or someone had been here recently. She put the coat she had had in her hand on the floor, and began looking around.

The place was filled with burnt papers, blown-up computers, shattered vials and microscopes. There didn’t seem like there would be anything that she was looking for would be left... that was until she walked father along. She went over to one of the flipped tables in the corner of the room, picking it up and throwing it over to the side, seeing that under it were slightly burnt papers, but not as much as the others around. She knelt in front of them and scattered the papers a bit, seeing if there were any that weren’t burnt so much so she could read them.

Luckily there were some, but mot were just numbers or calculations. After about the twentieth paper that was just fairly non-burnt, she thought about giving up, but knew she couldn’t, she had to find it. If this Gero did make Aaric, then the papers of his existence should be in there somewhere, right?

Scattering the papers a few more times, she picked up another paper, turning it around and reading it. Her eyes went wide when she did, and she read it out loud, telling herself that it was real.

“‘Code name: Aaric. Found in the northern plains. Former mother and father initials: J. & K. T.: Num. of siblings: 2, (both brothers). Status: incomplete/failed. Notes: His mind power is too strong to comprehend, and unfortunately he cannot be completed.’”

She scrabbled around a few more papers, and found those similar to that. Gathering them together, the ran back out the door, not bothering to pick back up her coat, but just had to get back to the city.

As he turned the corner, Trunks heard screams coming from the center of the city, quickly turning that way. The chops and booths around were in flames, people running away as fast as they could from the memorial for some reason. Trunks tried to make his way though the mobs of people and up to the memorial, where he saw a figure stand tall on it.

He wore a smirk across his face, a sword in his hand and a weapon on his left arm. he wore the same brown trench coat he’d always worn, except with a white bandage around his left arm, where he had stabbed it before.

“So I hear you’re a good swordsmen,” Aaric spoke. “Well so am I. I’ve been studying your moves, how you defeated the Androids 17 and 18. It seems I’ve caught you off guard, though, but it should be a well fought match.”

“Who are you?” Trunks questioned.

“I was never given a name or number, but if you must call me something, call me Aaric.”

“So you’re an Android,” Trunks stated, clenching his hands into fists.

“Yeah, how did you guess?” he said cockily. “I’ve been sent to fulfill what the other two failed to do, and to my guess, your going to try to stop me.”

“Got that right, if that’s what your planning.”

Aaric laughed. “Then let it begin!”

He jumped from the memorial and onto the ground, a smirk still worn across his face. He raised the so-called shotgun, just holding it there for a time. That was until it started to gain energy fast, and Trunks could sense its power level rising. It fired a dense beam at Trunks, he just barely able to get out of the way, as it shot right through one of the buildings like it was nothing.

Turning back, Trunks looked to see what destructive power it held. But looking back to Aaric, he was surprise to see him detached the weapon off his arm.

“To bad it only had one shot,” he stated, throwing it to the side. “Now I guess I’ll have to finish you off by hand.”

Trunks stood up, and held a fighting stance soon after. Aaric put a hand on his head though, and threw it back laughing.

“Please, you people are so amusing! But what’s more funny, is that you’re stupid too!”

“What do you mean?”

“Heh, you created all this, and yet let your guard down, thinking that everything that was like the Androids was destroyed.” He frowned. “But you know, I was really little at the orphanage when they attacked, but I didn’t even care. You want to know why? Because all those kids, every one of them, and even the adults, treated me like dirt. Just because I was left there before, without any knowledge of who I was except a name, where I came from. But now that I do, I finally know why I’m here...”

It sounded all to familiar to Trunks. He’d felt the same way for the longest time, not knowing where he belonged really, until he met her. Her, Solar. He thought for a moment, and realize it all so clear now. That was it. That’s why she wanted to know where they were created. She knew that it had to be another Android who was causing all the commotion, and wanted to find out if it was true. And what better place to look than where the Androids were created.

“Anyway,” Aaric continued. “Until I’m convinced otherwise, I am caused to believe that that’s what I am, an Android, and that this is my purpose, why I was created. And along with you, I shall destroy this miserable city, once and for all!”

He charged at Trunks with a battle cry, swiping the sword at him angrily. His speed was incredible, every attack that Trunks tried to throw was countered, and thrown right back. Soon, Trunks had had enough. He flew up into the air, thinking that Aaric couldn’t follow. He charged up for an attack, the strongest he could think of the would only destroy him. He didn’t want to do this, but he had no choice.

As he was about to fire, Aaric looked up at him with a half smile. Suddenly, he disappeared out of sight, reappearing behind Trunks before he knew it. He lunged a hit on his back with his fists, sending Trunks tumbling to the ground and smashing into the cement face first.

Trunks was drained. He couldn’t explain it, but it must’ve been because he concentrated so much on that one attack, that he had no power left. He was going to sit up, but suddenly a foot fell on his back, staying there and keeping him down.

“Pitiful. And I thought there would be more of a fight than this. To think, you were the one who destroyed the Androids, two against one! It’s hard to believe but I guess that in truth, they were the failures, not me.”

“Fail...ures?” Trunks asked, trying to get his face off the cement.

“Yeah, failures. I was said to be the failure, but they were the one’s who were destroyed, and I’m the one left for the victory.”

Trunks chuckled, saying, “I can see why you were a failure. You think to highly of yourself, not acknowledging the fact that there may be others.”

Aaric became angry, grabbing Trunks’s hair hanging off his head. There was a moment of angry pause, and Aaric snapped his arm, Trunks soon crashing into a building. Walking over, he pulled him out by the foot, onto the plain cement.

“What do you mean there ‘may be others’?” he asked.

Trunks didn’t reply, not just because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t. His face was smeared with cuts and scrapes, his mouth spilling out slightly with blood. But even though this was true, Aaric grabbed the collar of his shirt and held him up, pointing the sword at him.

“Tell me!” he shouted.

“Why? What’s the need?” he said.

“Tell me!” he repeated, but Trunks, again, would not answer. He shouted in anger, throwing him to the ground, turning and stepping away slightly. “Get up,” he said.

Trunks weakly sat up, slowly getting to his knees and to his feet. He stood with his hands up, ready for an attack which he predicted would come.

“I am tried of this game. There’s no need to be fighting anymore, so I must end it here and now,” Aaric gripped the handle of the sword, holding it in front of him. As he continued, Trunks eyes went wide, but not because of what he said. “You’ve been a worthy opponent, but your time ends now!” He turned and lunged the sword forward, going through slightly left of the shoulder, but Aaric went pale as soon as he saw who he hit.

“No...” Aaric whispered.

“No!” Trunks shouted, grabbing Solar as she fell back. His knees buckled and he fell, but he didn’t let her fall completely as he did, as she soon sat in his lap.

Aaric dropped the sword in his hand with disbelieve, falling to his knees. His hands began to tremble, as he looked at her face. “Angel... you were never suppose to be here. No, please, don’t say that this is real!”

She kept her eyes open with a smile on her face, reaching up to him with the papers still in her hand. As she slowly took them from her, she barely said, “I...hope so. For your sake...at least.”

As he began to read them, Solar looked up at Trunks with a childish smile. He looked back at her with a sad expression.

“I told you I’d be back... in no time,” she said.

He tried to smile back. “At least you kept your word.” He reached into his jacket pocket, taking out a slightly wrapped present. Trying to unwrap it, he held it in front of her. Her eyes widened seeing it, recognizing it perfectly. It was the same necklace she had seen before, with the precious stone held on the silver chain. “That’s what I went to get. For you.”

“For...me?” she said.

“Yeah,” he replied, putting it in her bloody hand, holding that hand in his after.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before, but... but I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone who he was. If anything, I was going to solve this myself... and I did. I did, and you don’t have to worry anymore.”

“Solar... I prayed everyday to thank that I was blessed to have you as a friend. Just... thanks for being there.”

“Thanks... Trunks, for you... being my guardian.”

His eyes widened with surprise, but soon narrowed with sadness, as he placed his one of his hands on her head, keeping the other around her hand.

Aaric looked up from where he had been reading, his eyes tearing with shock. “I...I was human... Oh, no, what have I done!” He suddenly stood, putting his hands on his head in frustration. As soon as he controlled his sudden anger at himself, he fell back to his knees. “No, I know...” He looked up at Trunks as he reached his hand out, putting it on her forehead. “The biggest mistake of my life.”

“No...” she said. “The biggest mistake you could ever make, is if you never forgive yourself. You lead a hard life, and... for this accident, it’s not entirely your fault. If you live the rest of your life, trying to make good what has been wrong, you can be forgiven.”

She smiled, shutting her eyes. Trunks clenched Solar’s hand and shut his eyes tight, Aaric trembling even more than before. His mouth fell open slightly as he fell back, putting his hands on his head again.

Trunks slowly put her hand to her side, and opened his eyes again. Soon, he picked her up, turning away. He took off into the air, heading back to Capsule Corp., where he would tell his mother about the news.

Bulma came rushing out of the house as she saw Trunks, carrying the unmoving Solar in his arms. She gasped with a sad look, as she realized the wound Solar had, and what it meant. She felt terrible, not just because the most incredible scientific discovery ever made was now dead, but because she knew how it felt to lose someone you cared about. Feeling sympathy towards Trunks, she tried to think of something that could help. There were no more Dragonballs, and there was no possible doctor who could help her now.

“So there’s nothing you can do,” Trunks said, feeling even more grim than he had before.

“Well, I can’t think of anything. I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do... wait, maybe there is!” Bulma said, a slight smile of thought appearing on her face.

“What?” Trunks asked.

“It’s a shot, but it’s probably the only thing that can help her. Get her to the lab.”

Both Bulma and Trunks ran to the lab, stationed lose to the house, where Bulma told him to place her on the table in the center of the room. She quickly went to the computer, typing it up to a certain screen, where she began to type furiously. As soon as she was finished, she got up and rolled up one of the tables beside Solar, holding two different types of machines. She placed the wires of one to Solar’s temples and heart, and the other to her wrists.

“I’ve told you about energy surges, right? About how they can help people?” Bulma asked to Trunks.

“Yeah, about a hundred times. Why?”

“Well, I’ve modified a machine to give an energy surge to those who’s hearts already stopped, and it might save their life, just as long as their blood hasn’t stopped. If I can get the brain going again with slight charges of energy, and that their nerves will react to function again, then technically the heart will go again, and the blood will flow as normal. If she’s only been like this for a few minutes than she can be saved.” Quickly typing in a few more numbers, she continued before she hit the enter key, “Stand back.”

Soon, little electric bolts started to show through the wires. With the pulse reader attached to her wrists, it started to read a pulse change a bit, and Trunks smiled slightly with hope. He waited anxiously for it to be finished, but soon he saw that the electric bolts were starting to fade.

Bulma hit her computer on the side, and she shouted angrily, “Ah, work you stupid thing, WORK!”

“What, what is it?” he questioned.

“The power source, it’s drained!” She turned her head towards Trunks. “I can’t get it to work without a power source...”

Trunks turned back to Solar, knowing that there wasn’t anything around that could be used as a power source. The pulse began to decrease again, and his hope was fading yet again.

But suddenly, they both heard a voice coming from the door, turning towards where it was coming from.

“Please let me help,” Aaric said, stepping forward.

“Haven’t you done enough?” Trunks questioned dryly.

“Wait, Trunks, who is this guys?” Bulma asked.

“I heard what you were saying. You say you haven’t got a power source for this machine. Well I... I have enough.”

“What?! Wait a second, who are you?!” Bulma shrieked.

“But if you use that power, you could be killed for sure,” Trunks stated.

“It’s one or the other. She said I should spend what life I had helping others, so what better than to bring back a life, a life who spent even her last words helping others?”

Trunks paused with thought for a moment, as Bulma looked back and forth at both of them with question.

“Please, let me help the one person I knew that cared who I became, who I was.”

Trunks sighed to himself, and nodded. “Alright. Mother, wire him up to the power source.”

“I’m not going to wire nothin’ until someone tells me what’s going on here!” she shouted.

“Umm, ma’am, you may be a little shocked by this, but please don’t faint.” he unwrapped the bandaged on his arm and took off his coat, turning to show her the wound he had from before, the wires more twisted than before.

Bulma went pale, standing up and looking towards it with caution. “Y-you’re an Android!”

“Please, mother, it’s alright. He’s not like the others, or didn’t become like them.”

“But... an Android! In this house!”

“I mean no harm to anyone. Please, she hasn’t got much time.”

Bulma hesitated for a moment, and swallowed. “Okay, get on the other table.”

He did what he was told quickly, and Trunks rolled it up next to the machine. Bulma soon rewired the energy cord in his arm to the machine, turning back to the computer. As she entered a new code to be placed, Aaric said one more thing.

“You make sure she stays safe, ya hear? Make sure she keeps on caring and saving those who have been lost,” he said.

Trunks nodded. “I will.”

He had a smirk across his face for a moment, and soon set his head back as the machine began to drain him of his energy. He gritted his teeth slightly, the pulse of Solar starting to gain. His eyes twitched for a moment longer, and soon relaxed, as the machine finally came to a stop. They waited for Solar to move, as her pulse became stable again.

There was one more moment of silence, and Solar’s eyes began to open. Trunks smiled and took her hand, as Bulma went over and started wrapping her wound with bandages. A minute later she sat up, putting her hand on her forehead.

“W-where am I?” she asked.

“You’re back. You’re alive,” Trunks said.

“I... I saw them,” she stated with a smile.

“Who? Who did you see?”

“My parents. They were happy, and told me...that I wasn’t suppose to be there, not yet.” She turned her head around and saw Bulma one way, and turned it back another, seeing the still person on the other table. She put her hands over her mouth, shocked for a moment, and shut her eyes.

She suddenly got off the table, both of them surprised that she could, as she walked over to the head of Aaric. She knelt to the side and put a hand on his head, then saying, “Thank you. If anything, I forgive you.” She stood back up, tears slightly in her eyes.

Trunks walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, while Bulma walked over to their side.

“He wanted to help, and he was our last hope to save you. He...went out like a true hero.”

“He tried to fix what had been wrong, and indeed, I believe that he really was a guardian, to tell all of us not judge by what one looks like, but for who we truly are.”

End.