Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Hate Is Just Another Kind of Love ❯ remount ( Chapter 7 )

[Insert standard disclaimer here] This has gone through some basic revision; please let me know what you think.

And I'm back in the saddle again.

Trunks watched Bardock scoop Serenity and Pan into his lap as they darted through the living room, pulling them into a fierce bear hug. Not too hard, because they were still squealing and squirming, but he held onto them for longer then he usually did. It was the half-lidded look of quiet desperation that made Trunks' gut clench.

He waited patiently all through dinner before Bardock signaled his sons and grandsons to follow him out the back door. He'd been sitting between Gohan and Racine, and he wouldn't have been invited over tonight if he wasn't going to be included, so he followed them. Bardock stopped in the middle of the yard, barked over his shoulder for the girls and Vegeta to go back inside, and faced the rough circle they'd formed.

“His Majesty contacted me this morning. I have the coordinates for the planet he's meeting Kooler and King Kold on, to discuss a supposed peace treaty.” Bardock didn't look at anyone as he spoke, staring down at the grass with his arms folded.

“Who does he need?” Raditz tucked his thumbs into his jeans, and stared down at the grass as well.

“All of us. His Right Hand and his heir. My half-wits and my half-breeds. Kooler and Kold will kill him during the negotiations, and if they're half as vindictive as Freeza, they'll destroy every inch of the Saiyajin Empire. Earth might be last, but they'll come regardless.”

“We knew we'd have to go.” Gohan sighed, eyes hard.

“Which ship are we taking?” Trunks asked Bardock, who still hadn't looked up from the grass.

“The one I brought Angerine here in, since it's the biggest. If we leave the day after tomorrow, we can get there just ahead of the Saiyajin fleets and the King. No telling when Kold and Kooler will be there.”

“What about the girls?” Racine was looking back at the house as he asked, watching Eighteen move past the kitchen window.

“Earth has enough defenders for us to be gone for a few months. We'll go, and come right back. Right, Dad?” Kakarrot looked at his father for confirmation, but the hopeful look faded quickly as the oldest man didn't respond. “Dad?”

“I don't know. I can't see anything past landing on that planet, and walking toward them.” All of them stiffened, staring at the prophet for a long, quiet moment. “Right now, all I see is my own death, looming. I can't see beyond it; I don't know who lives and who dies, don't know who wins and who loses. I can't see anything.”

Trunks stared. No one said anything for a very long time, until Angerine stuck her head out the door and called them back in for a second helping of desert.

“Coming!” Trunks called back to her, then turned to the others. “We tell them tonight, we say our goodbyes tomorrow, and we leave the day after that.”

Everyone nodded, and they trooped back inside; for the first time ever, Videl's cheesecake tasted like ashes.

Trunks stood in the doorway as Angerine sang Vegeta to sleep, and followed her to their bedroom silently; he waited until she'd crawled into bed with him, tossed and turned to alleviate the pressure of her swollen stomach, and finally settled down. He half wished she weren't pregnant - her reaction would at least be predicable again.

“My father sent for us.” She'd been reaching for him, but she went rigid. “We leave the day after tomorrow. Vegeta has to come with me.”

“Oh,” was all she said, and Trunks held her for a long time as she cried. She was quiet for a long time after that, until she pulled back just enough to look him in the eye. “The doctor said it's a girl.”

Trunks had only ever cried at the death of his mother; he simply held Angerine until the sun came up, and then went to wake his son for their sparring match.

When he told Vegeta when they'd be leaving, the boy simply nodded. He'd been pretty mature for a six year old; as an eleven year old, he kept his own counsel more and more.

“I want to say goodbye to Pan and Serenity. Can I go now?” Trunks let him, and spent the day flying to all the others, just in case he never saw them again.

The not knowing was bad, but knowing that he'd be leaving a daughter behind was the worst part.