When I had a Heart
000
Summary: Just before his birthday, Trunks begins to have terrible nightmares. As much as he tries to forget the images his mind has been forcing him to see, he can't escape the feeling of approaching dread. Shortly after, an acquaintance of Vegeta appears, much so the Saiyan Prince's dismay. [Rewrite of 'If I Had A Heart', explanation inside]
Notes: Over a decade ago, I began 'If I Had a Heart'. Looking back on it, it's absolutely terrible and should likely be locked away so no one can ever see it again. However, I had a strange surge of inspiration to take that story and do a sort of rewrite. I thought it would be interesting to see how far along I've come in my writing since I was a teenager. The same characters will be used, though personalities will be updated, and new ones will be introduced. This is a pseudo-romance: ultimately, there will be no true, non-canon romance though it will flirt with the line. The ending will likely change. Additionally, this is out of the canon timeline, and as such, I decide who is alive.
000
"You know," Bulma muttered as she took a drag of her cigarette, "we could have done this on a boat—a yacht. Or an island. I know this great private island—"
"Mom," Trunks replied lowly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye from the passenger seat of Bulma's car. The woman sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I know, I know. You like normal. Personally, I think normal is overrated. I mean, look at us: I'm a genius multi-millionaire, and you're an alien prince. And yet here we are, once again driving to Goku's and for your twenty-first birthday—"
"Mom."
Bulma sighed loudly, finished off her cigarette and tossed it out the window. "Fine, but you're going to regret this down the line."
Trunks let his head rest against the window with a thunk and stared out at the passing trees. He really would have preferred to have just flown over to Goten's, but he wasn't keen on carrying his mother through the sky. She squirmed and it was weird having to hold her. If his dad would have just agreed to go, then their problem would have been solved and they would have already been there.
But no. In typical Vegeta fashion, he wouldn't be agreeable, even for his son's birthday.
It was annoying, sure, but not hurtful. Trunks had long since grown accustomed to his father's callous personality. Trunks supposed it wasn't even that big of a deal. Though his mother insisted that today was a big day, bigger than other birthdays, Trunks didn't see it as such. Most normal people in their area didn't celebrate is as a milestone—it was something that had carried over from other parts of the world, and was only another excuse for the wealthy to throw a party. That was exactly why Trunks chose instead just to go hang out with his best friend and his family.
Trunks and Bulma drove for nearly another half hour in silence, cruising down the back-country roads in a luxury car that certainly didn't belong this far away from the city. Bulma didn't even bother turning on any music, which Trunks took as a sign that she was deep in thought. He just hoped she wasn't preparing use another reason why they should be doing something other than spending the better part of their day in the country. He could see her stewing, however, he could see the gears at work in her mind as she chewed her lip, obviously debating on whether or not to say the words on the tip of her tongue.
"Do you think there's something up with your father?" Bulma finally said as they turned to pull up the long, dirt road that would take them to Goku's. "I mean, did you think he was acting strange at all this morning?"
Trunks looked at her with a raise brow and shrugged. "Dad's literally one of the strangest people I know. You're going to have to be more specific than that."
Bulma tisked at him and gave him a scowl. "Well, you know what I mean. Stranger that normal."
Trunks merely shrugged and shook his head before continuing to stare out of the window.
Strange, in his book, would have been his father eagerly agreeing to go with them for his birthday. Strange would have been if Vegeta had wished him a happy birthday at all. Strange was not staring out the window every twenty minutes or so, as if he were waiting for the mail to show up. It wasn't unusual for Vegeta to have things floating around his mind, and it wasn't at all unusual for him to keep it all to himself.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right, I know." And with that, their conversation ended. Soon after, they were parking and exiting the car.
Goten was the first come greet them, clapping Trunks on the back with a wide smile. "Happy birthday, man! Hey, listen, while I'm honored you wanted to come out and celebrate with my family, you know this is pretty lame right? Like, of all the things we could of done—"
Trunks hung his head and exhaled loudly.
"I'm just saying, like, I've gotta live vicariously through you, man. This country life isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"We'll go celebrate your birthday, 'kay Goten?" Bulma said and lit up another cigarette. "I know this great private island…"
"It's my birthday and I get to decide what we do," Trunks said loudly, covering his mother's voice. "And I say—not more talk of what we could have been doing. Let's just relax and have a nice day. The weather's great, ChiChi's food is great, our friends are great, this all I wanted, okay?"
Both his mother and his best friend looked away sheepishly and nodded.
ChiChi chose that moment to come running from the house, wiping her hands on her apron as she went. "Oh, happy birthday Trunks!" She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, causing Trunks to smile again. "I had some snacks for you guys, but of course my bone head of a husband already got into them and—"
"It's fine," Trunks waved off, "I'm good. Where's Goku and Gohan?"
"Out back," Goten replied, jabbing his thumb back towards the house. "Krillin's already here. He's brought some good stuff, too!"
Trunks laughed and nodded, not missing ChiChi's frown of disapproval. "Awesome," he said and started to walked off in that direction. He was eager to get his birthday going, if only to hear his mother stop complaining. And a birthday it would be—he knew for a fact that his mother had brought a capsule filled with liquor for everyone. Though Trunks couldn't say that he was a big drinker, the thought of getting wasted in the country side with no one else but his friends around to bother him was definitely not the worst way to celebrate getting another year older.
Who knew? He may not even make it passed twenty-one.
With a small sigh, he squeezed his eyes shut and shook away the thought. There was no reason for that. No matter what he had been feeling—what he had been dreaming—he was fine. Everyone was fine.
Though he told himself that over and over again, he felt that he couldn't fully believe it until he saw all of them, smiling, happy, and alive. Only then could his mind be put at ease and he could begin to put the terrible images from his nightmares behind him.
"—so no Eighteen or Marion," Goten said as they rounded the house. Trunks realized that he hadn't been listening to what his friend was saying.
"Sorry, what?"
"I said that Eighteen figured this wasn't the sort of party that kids could come to," Goten repeated, "so no Eighteen or Marion."
"Oh, I wouldn't have cared—"
Goten gave him a light punch in the arm and laughed. "Well yeah, she knows that. But I don't think she wanted Marion seeing Krillin totally smashed. Probably a good thing. He's already gotten into a bottle."
Trunks could hear the ruckus in the backyard before he saw it. There was music playing—something that was likely off of Goten's playlists—with loud laughter coming from Goku and Gohan. The smell of meat cooking wafted over as they rounded to the back and Trunks was thrilled to see a huge smoker that likely contained a full pig. He briefly wondered how they managed get it over to the house until he saw the CapsuleCorp logo.
"There he is!" Krillin cried out loudly, a bottle of whiskey in his hand and a smile as wide as wide could be. Goku and Gohan soon joined in the cheering, causing Trunks to shake his head with a small smile.
Was is selfish to say that their excitement was what he wanted? All he wished for on his birthday was to have a day surrounded by good friends and family, with no arguing or yelling, no stress or feelings of imminent doom. Though he would never say his own family wasn't enough (though he would admit that warm and loving, it was not,) he had simply craved that friendly bond in the past few weeks.
"No Pan and Videl?" Trunks asked as he dropped down into one of the lawn chairs. A few of the chairs—which were wooden and well worn—were scattered about the patio area, all faced towards a long table with benches. It was covered to two mismatched tablecloths with a few stack of plates to keep the fabric from blowing off. Once Trunks was settled, Goten was quick to shove a cold bottle of beer in his hands before he could object. "I thought they would come for sure."
Gohan shrugged and shook his head. "I tried to convince Videl to come, but Pan has an entrance exam in the morning, and they wouldn't be able to make the trip back and forth."
"Really?" Trunks asked, brow raised. "She's eight and they can fly."
For a moment, it looked like Gohan was thinking about what to say—choosing his words carefully. "First—you know my family. Education is a priority, even in elementary school. Second… You can only fly when you're sober."
It took a few second for Trunks to figure out that Gohan was saying that if Videl had come, she likely would have partaken in the partying a well and been unable to fly home in the morning. Trunks let out a bark of a laugh as Gohan turned a bit red, likely fearing that he had insulted his wife. It was hard to imagine the disciplined woman letting loose, but he supposed everyone could find it in them to relax and have a good time if they wanted.
The group sat around chatting for a while until Yamcha came zooming over, apologizing profusely for his lateness. Krillin gave him a hard time, but in reality, no one ever expected Yamcha to be on time. That man consistently ran on his own time schedule. The only two people likely to ever be later than him were Piccolo and Vegeta, both of whom they could never even know if they would decide to show up to a gathering.
"Hey, why don't we go out to the field and toss around a ball or something before things get to crazy," Gohan offered. Goku was the first to jump up and run into the house to retrieve beat up rugby ball.
"Yeah, awesome, let's do that," Trunks replied over Goten's grumbling. There would be plenty of time for drinking and eating, in Trunk's opinion, so there was no need to let the day slip by without doing something.
Together, the group left the back patio and started to head towards the slope leading down to a wide field that was far enough away from the house to not risk tossing the ball through a window—or wall. They laughed and exchanged jabs, both verbal and physical, bottles still in hand.
Just as they reached the base of the slope, Trunks abruptly stopped and turned around, shielding his eyes as he looked to the sky.
"What's up?" Goten asked as Trunks stopped.
"I…" He squinted and looked around for… well, anything. "It's nothing." He turned back around and gave his friend a smile before they walked onwards.
In truth, and not for the first time over the past few days, Trunks had a tingling sensation at the base of his neck and towards his shoulders. It was almost as if his body was trying to tell him to be on his guard—as if something threatening was approaching him. But each time he felt it, there was nothing. Downing the rest of his beer, he set his bottle on the ground and jumped into the air to join the group as they began throwing the ball from one to another.
000
Author's Notes: thank you for reading! I have no idea if I will be continuing. I suppose it depends on when the inspiration hits. I do have a plan for the next chapter, so that one is likely to come in the next day or so.
If I Had a Heart was a silly story based on fandom tropes that I saw frequently in fics from the early 2000's. At the time, I thought it was witty and hilarious. I wish I could slap my young self silly and shake her until she saw the light. Alas, it took me continuously writing for a decade before I started to see the difference between 'fandom-voice' writing and actual writing. So, this is my attempt at rectifying that whole mess. The only benefit to reading the old story is to understand what I mean by 'pseudo-romance,' as the two characters involved will be the same. Beyond that, it's terribly cringeworthy!
Ever Your Servant,
A.F