Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ All by myself ❯ Unanswered questions ( Chapter 3 )

A/N - I know I said that I was going to leave this story at two chapters, but I started writing this chapter as a one shot all from Mirai Trunks' POV, and at about half way through, realized how well it fitted in with All By Myself. I know it is a fairly big leap in time, but I think it works!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to DBZ. That privilege belongs to Akira Triyama and FUNimation.

Chapter Three

Mirai Trunks' P.O.V - Unanswered Questions

The afternoon sunshine falls languidly into the room via a small window. I like the feel of it and the calmness that it brings. I cling to it as though to let go would be to lose all hope. Cell's threat is very real but it is not the only thing to occupy my thoughts right now. I would love to say that a desire to give the whole of mankind a new beginning was my only inducement for coming back, but that would be a lie. I have my own double motive for being here. Its simple really, and given the same situation I doubt that anyone would pass up the chance to get to know, not just more about their Otousaan, but about themselves as well.

The hyperbolic time chamber gave me the chance to see Vegeta in a way that I had despaired of at first, but still there is one thing that I wish to understand about him. It is a subject, however, that I know he would not suffer me to ask and so therefore I will leave him alone. There is one person who can help me and now is the time to ask. I have waited a long time for the opportunity to speak with the younger version of my mother away from the others and address her on a subject that has been slowly gnawing at me ever since I learnt of my Saiyan origins.

I can remember when she first told me about my father with perfect clarity, even though I couldn't have been little more than six years old at the time. I listened with awe as she put her arms around me and introduced the subject as though reciting a fairy story. The narration filled my vivid imagination with the colorful image of a prince coping with the loss of his fallen kingdom, and struggling against adversity in monumental battles. I enjoyed it, but at that young age I missed the raw emotion captured in her voice as she spoke and the sniffles of repressed tears that accompanied it.

A loose strand of purple hair falls over my vision, throwing me out of my childhood and back into the present (so to speak.) My young Kaasan is pulling the lilac strands in preparation for cutting. Personally I prefer it long but she is the same in both timelines and likes it cut short. I would not even contemplate trying to stop her. She has been the only continuity in my life and I wouldn't change that for anything.

As the long pieces of hair start to fall, I ready myself to ask the question that I have purposely refrained from asking the older version of my mother, for fear of opening old wounds, but fate seems to have different plans. Trimmed pieces of lavender hair edge under the rim of my t-shirt and graze the back of my neck making me squirm.

"TRUNKS VEGETA-BRIEFS WILL YOU SIT STILL!"

The tone of her voice is dangerous but far too familiar to make me jump. I bow my head by way of an apology. The simple action makes a bad situation worse as some stray strands of purple hair start to tickle the back of my neck. I can feel the corners of my mouth turn up at the edges and try to control the urge to burst into fits of laughter. Failing miserably, my haircut is soon forgotten and I lay in hysterics on the kitchen floor with my mom bent over me, laughing at my predicament.

It reminds me of when I was younger. There was a moment we shared not too dissimilar to this in which I… My eyes narrow, and taking her unaware, I control my laughing just enough to pull her feet away and cushion her fall to mercilessly tickle underneath her rib cage. Her shrieks echo around the large kitchen and I'm glad.

I have felt awkward ever since I arrived in this timeline, disjointed as it were. My Saiyan blood makes me naturally suspicious of those I do not know, and as a result I have remained as much at the sidelines as possible, but around the younger version of my mother I feel safe, completely relaxed.

My fingers haven't relented from their torturous tickling and her cries become louder, as the tears of laughter stream down her face. I know the look that she sends me. I have seen it so many times before this day. Its aim is clear. It reminds me that she is by no means helpless. A stray socked foot has been left within easy reaching distance of her right hand, and just as I'm thinking of relenting to let her carry on with cutting my hair, she grabs a hold of the said appendage for revenge.

"No Kaasan…! No… ahh" I scream these words in bordering pain. My feet are the most ticklish part of my body, and her teasing is relentless. I could easily pull out of her grip, but that wouldn't be any fun. I need to relax before spending yet another year inside the hyperbolic time chamber.

Exhausted by laughing so hard, my feet are returned to my own control, and my mom lay's down on the tiled floor, breathing heavily. I smile at her, a few choked giggles still remaining, and she smiles back. Laying down like this with the soft suns rays filtering through the kitchen window, warming my face, I feel as much at ease as I have ever done in my entire life.

Propping myself up onto my elbows I sense a movement behind me, and swear that the temperature of the room goes down a couple of notches. I look over to my mom to see how she responds, and am surprised to see that her wonderful smile widens a fraction. I can feel the mood change at Vegeta's entrance, and can't help but wonder why my Kaasan still looks so relaxed. His mere presence makes me feel awkward.

After spending a year with him in the time chamber I have come pretty close to getting a hold on his character, but I have to admit that his mind still remains a mystery to me. My mother has never lied to me. I knew what I was expecting when I came here. I knew he would be rude, arrogant, up-himself, but there was so much that she didn't tell me… all those important glimpses into his character, which would earn my respect, despite myself.

Everything with him comes down to his damnable pride, how people are supposed perceive him. Nothing could deviate him from this. It's just the same as trying to get an effectual punch in on him… you can't just rush into a headlong attack, you'd never make it through his defences. You have to take a timeout to think first, and in some weird kind of way I am proud of his intelligence, and wish that his pride would give way long enough for him to use it for more than just revenge.

One thing that my mother never told me was that he does contain a softer side. I use the term sparingly. It's hidden under so many layers that you could dig for weeks without seeing a single instance of it. In fact, during the whole year of our time together in the hyperbolic time chamber I only ever saw it once, but it is there.

It had been a particularly ruthless week. The climate and gravity changed at a heartbeat. One minute there was the whiteness of sheer infinity, with its languidly mild 10 G's, and the next, shards of ice that could dwarf the Alps in size, drilled up into a blizzard, spinning my senses in every direction.

Most of the time the gravity would increase, pinning me to the floor or in extreme cases impale me against a gargantuan icicle, but just on occasion it would trick me and send the atmosphere into anti-gravity, making my body rush to such dizzying heights that the earths normal atmosphere would never stretch to. At every level the ice would follow, until I was so high up that the particles of oxygen were perilously low.

It was during one of these anti-gravity moments that I blacked out. The stresses that had been relentlessly exerted on me made the lack of oxygen too much for even my Saiyan body to cope with. I do not remember much about that day, but what I definitely do is waking up back at the chambers entrance, tucked up in my own bed, miles away from where I had lost consciousness. I never dared comment on this event. I knew my father would not appreciate that, but I didn't need to. It had served it purpose. Ever since I had arrived in this timeline I had wondered if there was any kind of amiable feeling floating around that head of his, despite what he would say, and after that day I had my answer. He could have easily just left me out there, but he didn't, and this spoke volumes to a son anxious for his father to show even the slightest inclination that he gave a damn.

With this issue resolved I have only one more thing to know to make this visit as meaningful as I had hoped it would be. I need to know if he ever really cared about my mother. Kaasan always told me that my conception had been little more than a moment of passion that neither of them could ignore, but somehow I had never quite accepted that. I have seen it in her eyes. Its there when she works, when she rests, it's always there, eating away at her. With this view in mind I am curious to see how he will interact with her younger self now. This is the first time I have seen them together away from the rest of the Z Senshi, my first glimpse of how things really stand in the Vegeta-Briefs household.

"Dammit Onna! You didn't have to scream quite so loudly, my ears will be ringing for a week!" My tousaan's voice is as clear and commanding as ever, and I am rather surprised that his brusqueness doesn't make my Kaasan angry. Instead she just smiles.

He looks seriously down his nose at her, one eyebrow slightly raised, "Just remember that next time I won't even bother to come looking!" He turns to face me, "That goes double for you boy! Keep the fucking noise down!" and without another word he leaves.

His exit is as sudden as his entrance and I let out the breath I had unconsciously held in. I turn to look at my young mom just in time to see a blush spreading across her features. The expressive smile turns into a beaming row of white teeth, as she shakes her head, letting out a solitary chuckle. I put my head to the side, and blink in silent astonishment at her reaction. I'm sure I just missed something in that brief conversation. What on Chikyu was there in that to make her so happy?

My curiosity must be completely transparent, as she stands to face me, pushing some hair away from my face. "He was worried about us." She smiles, and persuades me to sit back down on the chair. "I think he mistook our screaming for something… darker."

"How can you tell?" I ask the question with silent trepidation, as the scissors are re-introduced to my hair.

"Well…" She stumbles over the words, "I could tell in his body language. For one I could still make out his ki. He tried to walk casually around the door but I noticed it."

I blink at that answer, trying to work out the significance of it.

She must see that my mind is still struggling. "He is very particular about certain things. Old habits die hard, and apparently showing your ki indoors is considered rude on Vegeta-sei. I guess he probably flew from wherever he was."

"… And that's all?"

She laughs and shakes her head. "No… His eyes were wandering as he walked in as well. If he had come here solely to shout at us then he would have fixed his gaze on one of us as soon as he entered. He was scanning the room, probably anticipating an attack of some sort." She giggles slightly, and settles wide blue eyes on me.

"What's up?"

She leans closer and whispers into my ear. "But I wouldn't have been certain if it wasn't for the fact that he left empty handed. No true Saiyan ever comes into the kitchen unless it's for food." She winks at me, and carries on cutting.

The room falls into silence after this speech. Not from any unwillingness on my part to speak, but rather as a precursor for something more serious. I personally need a few moments to rearrange my thoughts and am glad for the timeout. She is busy about the back of my hair with the clippers. I will wait to ask until after she is finished.

Ten minutes pass and eventually the clippers fall silent. Handing me a mirror she looks into my eyes as though trying to read my thoughts, "What's wrong? You look kind of preoccupied with something." She moves over to the counter and switches the kettle on. "You do know you can tell me anything right?"

I should have known that no hidden emotion could escape her eyes. I breathe in, but my mind races, trying to figure out how to start this conversation without making it really awkward for both of us.

"Are you worried about facing Cell?"

I shake my head, but correct myself, "I am worried, but it's not the only thing that is bugging me. Mom…?"

"Yes?"

"You and dad…? That is… how?" This isn't quite the way I had wanted to introduce this subject, but it's enough.

She lays a gentle hand on my shoulder, "What exactly do you want to know?"

I blush a little. "I'm not sure. I guess I'm asking to help my mom, I mean, you in the future. You always told me that what happened between you and tousaan was little more than a once off, but somehow I get the impression that there's more to it. I've got the feeling that in my timeline you never really knew if he cared or not… Do you?"

She turns away from me, her interest in the crockery suddenly increasing. Maybe I was wrong to ask. She places the mugs next to the boiling kettle. Spilling sugar into both cups even though I know she doesn't take it. Her hands fumble with the lid before her shoulders slump. She sighs and turns to face me. "Honestly Trunks… I don't know either. He's never told me out right that he cares, but… somehow that doesn't matter."

She looks out of the window at the gravity room. It stands on the lawn, bathed in the glow of early evening. "When I first found out I was expecting you I would have agreed, but ever since Vegeta transformed into a Super Saiyan, things have been different.

He left to train in space before I had the chance to tell him about you and I wasn't sure if he would return at all, but he did. He dealt with my pregnancy better than I could have hoped for, but still he wouldn't totally relent. The night he came back he told me in no uncertain terms that he "could make no promises" but to my surprise he stuck around."

I smile and squeeze her hand hoping that it will be enough to get her to continue. She smiles back and passing the milk into my open hands, entrusts making the tea to me.

"Ya know I hardly saw anything of him after he came back. For the rest of the time I carried you he locked himself inside that damned gravity room as though he could not survive without it. At this point I was starting to wonder if we would ever get passed the occasional, grunt, that is his way of saying hi.

For far too long there seemed to be this inescapable gulf between us and I have to confess that it hurt a lot. Things were not totally desperate. There were little glimpses of something bordering on curiosity that he would show for me. For instance, I would sometimes feel his eyes on me as I walked across the lawn to work in the morning, and sometimes even catch him looking up at my office window when he didn't think I was looking.

I liked the free license that having blacked out windows gave me. He would stare at minutes at a time some days, unaware that I was watching him. It gave me hope. Hope that there was a deeper feeling running through him, other than the little that he grudging confessed to the night he returned."

"And is there?"

"Yes. I can say that with certainty now."

"How. I just can't see him admitting to it?"

"He doesn't need to Trunks. Anything that he can't say, he shows to me instead. The chasm between us was finally gotten over when you were born. I think it would be little of a surprise to you that he wasn't around whilst I gave birth. I'm not sure that he knew until later. Your gramps certainly wouldn't dare approach him. I'm guessing that my mom was the one who eventually told him. She has never been afraid of him. She sees him solely as another member of the Z Senshi and treats him just the same she would Son-Kun or Krillin. I know that someone must have told him because a couple of hours after you were born I caught a flicker of light on top of the building opposite the hospital. It was a flame of gold that I have come to associate with his Super Saiyan form and illuminated him very purposefully against the greyness of the morning mist.

The nurse had given me dose of pethadine to help with the pain while I was in labour and so there was no way I was going to be able to stand, but I think he knew I could see him. He left the top of the building shortly afterwards and manoeuvred to float outside the window. I must have been a site for sore eyes. Any makeup that I had worn that day was lost under a sheen of sweat, and my hair was plastered all over my face. His eyes were as dark and menacing as always, joined as they were by that perpetual scowl. They looked straight at me with all the intensity I have come to expect from him.

Not one muscle moved on that face of stone, but he couldn't hide it from me when his eyes left mine to scan the room. I had to smile when he fixed his eyes back on me and simply raised an eyebrow. It was cute in a way… silent but jam-packed full of meaning. Rolling over I reached down into the cradle the nurse had laid you in after I finished feeding you. It was positioned on the opposite side of the hospital bed, away from your father's view. I remember nervously picking you up in the blankets. You were so small I thought I might break you, even though I knew you were half-Saiyan.

Settling you into the crook of my arm I lifted your head towards the window and smiled as your tail sneaked out from amongst the folds of fabric to coil around my wrist. I will never forget the look on Vegeta's face. His mouth opened and scowl softened slightly before he managed to catch the emotion.

He stayed at the window for a good five minutes, content to just watch us. He even studied the window at one point, seeing if there was a way to enter, but it was locked from the inside. In hindsight, I think he was glad that it was, as shortly afterwards there was bustle in the corridor outside my room accompanied by the light giggles of your grandma. He seemed caught as to what to do for a moment, but as the footsteps got nearer he seemed resigned. Once again his features softened and he raised a gloved hand to the window letting that damned smirk pull at his cheek. He turned and letting his ki flood around him, stole one more glimpse at us over his shoulder before disappearing in a burst of white energy."

Her face glows as she recites this and I feel happy. Happy that my father had come to see me so soon after my birth, but although what my mother has told me is touching and gratifying for myself, I still can't help feeling that there is little in this moment to say he came for her sake. My curiosity gets the better of me and I can't help but nervously voice this thought.

She bows her head, "I know, but that was only the forerunner of other things. You kind of bridged the gap. After that day he was less guarded around me. I dunno its kind of hard to explain. It was little things that changed. Like he wouldn't stay out training so late because he knew the soundproofing couldn't totally deflect the sound of the explosions from his training. He started making his own meals instead of demanding that I do it, and even on rare occasions was known to pester my mom to look after the brat when I had been up all night. Not much I grant you, but enough to show that he thought about me.

Then, of course, there were the times he stole into my room at the dead of night, and…"

She stops, probably because my face is a bright crimson. That was more than I wanted to hear!

She laughs at my embarrassment, "I'm sorry Trunks-kun but it's a sad fact that the only time I have seen your fathers softer side is during…"

"MOM!" I shudder at the thought, "I don't wanna know!"

She laughs again and picking up her mug, heads for the door. "We'll talk more tomorrow Trunks I gotta go and see if I can help your gramps repair android sixteen."

She has left the room, but I rush out onto the lawn after her, "Thanks mom!" I shout after her.

She raises a hand, "You're welcome" and carries on her way to the laboratory.

I watch her until she is out of sight and go back to the kitchen to think things though over a snack. Opening the fridge I study the contents. After deliberating for a few minutes my eyes fall on the few remaining cakes that survived Master Roshi and Oolong's food fight. I grab a couple of platefuls and close the door.

"You had better leave some of those for me boy!"

I turn around to see my father resting up against the cupboards, his arms folded over his chest as always.

Keeping my eyes on him I place the cakes on the table and sit down. He follows my example and sits down opposite me. He claims one of the plates and starts eating. I do the same but my appetite is secondary to the thoughts of my previous conversation, and my eyes keep wandering to his face.

"Why do you keep staring at me like that? Have I grown a second head or something?"

I mumble some sort of apology and try to concentrate on the food. The contents are gone in no time and I get up to place the empty plate in the sink. Leaving my father I go to the door, ready to go to my room and get changed into something more practical to train in.

"You're too curious for your own good son."

My hand is on the door handle but his voice stops me from using it. "How do you mean?"

"Don't give me that shit boy! I heard what you asked Bulma. What exists between us is none of your concern! Is that clear?"

"So something does exist then?" I can't believe I'm asking this of my tousaan, "Or is it just some sort of front that you give her so she'll keep the gravity room working for you?"

His features harden more than usual. "You don't know what your talking about boy!"

"Then tell me!" My insides are now a quivering mass of jelly, as he storms over, grabs a handful of my T-shirt, and bares his teeth.

He will not intimidate me this time! I stand my ground, and having the height advantage I stare down my nose at him accusingly. For the first time since we have met he is the first to relent. He growls at me and pushing me in the process, lets me go. "I do not have to justify myself to anyone!"

He may have let me go, but the look in his eyes pins me to the spot. "No not to me," I cede, "but I think you should let mom know one way or the other."

He stares at me with the up-most contempt, "I make my own choices. I will not be tutored. Now go get ready to train!" The look in his eye dares me to defy him. I don't dare, not again, and so grudgingly do as he asks.

I swear to you that I don't breathe again until I am safely in the bedroom. It feels as though my legs are about to give way. In desperate need of some fresh air I walk out onto the balcony. The gentle breeze is cleansing as I let it tousle my hair. The sun is just beginning to dip behind the skyscrapers of Western Capital City and sets the whole landscape in a blaze of fiery oranges.

A sense springs into being at the back of my mind, and opening my eyes I can see that my father is out on the grass going through his warm ups without me. His stretches seem a little sloppy and lack lustre, and it isn't until I notice that is head keeps turning towards the factories that line the left hand side of the Capsule Corporation, that I know why. He obviously doesn't realize I am watching him, as he curses under his breath and stops his exercises altogether.

He stands on the neatly cut grass looking straight at the window that I know is my mothers laboratory. Raking his hands through his hair, he mutters something under his breath before abandoning his warm up altogether and walking towards the same path that mom disappeared along earlier.

The smile that creeps along my face will not be suppressed, as I no longer need the comfort of fresh air and walk back inside. "Thanks dad." I whisper, "Now all I need to worry about is Cell."

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A/N - Well ya got me… yep I'm considering writing another chapter, that is why I left it kind of open. I have an idea that will make this into a much longer fic, but I still have my hands full with "What Exactly is Involved in a Saiyan Mating Ritual?" So please review and let me know if you'd like to see more, and if you do I will probably make this my next full-length fic.