It had been ten years since Goku had left. Ten years of waiting for him to return to Earth. On each and every one of those days spent waiting his granddaughter looked up toward the night sky wishing for him to come back. She was a married woman, with a child and another one on the way, but she still sat outside wishing on stars. Every day it was the same wish Please bring my grandpa back, please. It had never worked, but she continued.
"Honey, you should come in, it's starting to rain," her husband, Trunks, was walking out of the door toward his beloved wife.
"Do you think he knows how much I miss him?" Pan asked looking over at Trunks.
"I'm sure he's thinking of you and your family every day." Trunks took her hand and kissed it gently. He helped Pan onto her feet and lead her into their home.
It wasn't in a remote location like the Son's house. Trunks had inherited Capsule Corp, and with all the money he had gotten, bought his family a nice home in the suburbs of the city. It was big enough for the family, but not to big as to show off. It had just enough rooms for the family, and a guest bedroom for when anyone visited. Down a short hallway was the living room, it had pictures of her and Trunks. One picture stood out the most. It was the last picture Pan had of her grandpa. In it was herself, Trunks, Giru, and Goku as a little boy. They were all huddled around a black star dragon ball. Pan kept this photo for years and would often get lost in her grandfather's expression.
Every day Trunks would see his wife's hopeless expression become more embedded in her face. She was only twenty one, yet she was often mistaken as a thirty year old woman. Her hair was graying, and her eyes became sunken into their sockets. He knew all too well she was exhibiting signs of depression. He had taken her to the best psychiatrists in the world but none knew what else to do. She had been on meds, talked out her feelings, they even tried hypnosis therapy, but nothing had worked.
"Mommy, Daddy?" Their son, Kami, walked out of his room to meet his parents in the living room, "Could you tuck me in?"
"Of course Kami, come along." Trunks picked the little boy up and carried him to his room. The little boy let out a weak yawn and rubbed his eyes as Trunks laid him down and covered him with the blankets. He kissed him on his forehead as he did every night.
"Daddy?"
"What is it Kami?"
"Why is Mommy always so sad? All she ever does any more is stare up at the sky. She don't never spend time with me."
Trunks didn't know how to answer his question. He wouldn't tell his son that his mother was depressed. Kami probably didn't even know what the word meant. He began to think and finally said, "Kami have you ever lost something and became so sad you started to cry?"
"When I lost my toy dinosaur in the park one time. It was my favorite toy in the whole world, but Mommy found it for me and I was happy again!"
Kami stopped and thought back. It was in July and Pan had brought him to the neighborhood park. She had sat down to sit and watch her son play with children his own age. He swung on the swings, slid down the slide, he did the things normal children would do at his age. Pan had looked down to read her book for a minute. Within that time an older child had taken Kami's dinosaur.
"Give me back my dinosaur!" he screamed. But the bully walked away with it holding the toy in the air as if it were a trophy. Kami became so angry he ran full force toward the bully and knocked him unconscious. Kami had blacked out, and when he woke back up, he didn't remember any of what had happened. Pan handed her son his toy, but never mentioned to him what had really happened that day.
"But Daddy, Mommy's not crying," Kami said.
"I know Kami, but adults need to be strong for their children. Mommy doesn't want you to see her cry, because she doesn't want you to cry. But she's even more saad than you were the day you lost your dinosaur."
"Daddy?"
"Yes Kami?"
"What did Mommy loose?"
Trunks let out a sigh and looked down at his little boy. He was only three years old. Kami was born one week before Trunks and Pan had been wed, in fact he had been the reason they delayed the wedding. They were supposed to get married the day after he was born, but Kami was born late, so Pan and Trunk's wedding was delayed.
He thought back to the first time he ever held Kami. He was a small life, so delicate and fragile. Trunks was afraid of accidentally squeezing his newborn son to tightly, or dropping him from not holding on tight enough. In the end parental instinct kicked in and he gently rocked the baby back and forth in his arms. He looked down at the infant in his arms. The very arms that had battled so many evil doers, were the only support between life and death for the young child. A child who was truly his. He was born with his father's hair, but had his mother's dark eyes. The rest of his face was Trunks, from the size of the forehead, to the tip of his chin.
"Kami, Mommy lost a very important person in her life. He was a great man the whole world loved. He was the strongest man in the whole entire universe. Kami, your mother lost her Grandpa."
Kami blinked not knowing why loosing a grandfather would cause someone to be so sad for so long. His grandpa Vegita had left them a long time ago in order to train. But it didn't matter to him since he had always had Grandpa Gohan to turn to in times of need.
"Why does Mommy miss her grandpa so much?"
"Kami, Mommy had a very special bond to her grandpa. They loved each other as much as we love each other. Your Great-grandpa saved the earth all the time, he started when he was only eleven years old."
"Wow! My great-grandpa really was great! Where is he Daddy?"
"That's why he's lost Kami, no body knows where he is."
"Not even Grandpa Gohan?"
"No Kami, not even Grandpa Gohan."
"Oh."
"Good night Kami," Trunks looked back to his son as he closed the door.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"Could you leave my door open?" Kami asked sitting up in his bed, "so great-grandpa can come in my room and visit me if he wants?"
Trunks smiled and looked down at his son's innocent face, "Of course I can Kami."
Trunks went down the stairs and saw his wife asleep on the couch. He lifted her up bridal style and carried her to their bedroom. He balanced on one foot and lifted the covers open with the other. Gently he placed Pan on the mattress and tucked her in. Trunks went to the other side of their bedroom and turned off their lights. He walked over the the bed quietly so not to disturb his sleeping beauty. He climbed into the bed and fell asleep, leaving the family as he remembered it. The way he continued to think of it, because after that night, it was changed forever.
