Hey there. This will be a two-shots. I hope you'll like it.
Kalebxdd worked in the shadow as my beta-reader.
EVERYTHING AND NOTHING AT ALL
I will perform a death defying act and I won't fall.
I am brave. I can save the very small.
I'm everything but I'm nothing at all.
You compare my light to the sky. Why do you try to make me better than the divine?
It isn't the same. Don't give it a name. Let me remain, let me remain.
I'm everything that I've ever been. I'm everything that I've ever seen. I'm everything that slowly falls.
I'm everything and I'm nothing at all.
I will perform a death defying magic show for those of you who wanna go someplace else.
I am brave but I can't save you from the things you won't change for yourself.
You compare my light to the moon. What are you doing? What are you doing?
It isn't the same. Don't give it a name. Let me remain, let me remain.
I'm everything that I've ever been. I'm everything that I've ever seen. I'm everything that slowly falls.
I'm everything and I'm nothing at all.
- Death Defying Acts – Angus and Julia Stone.
The city lies in the distance and a slight mist blurs the outlines of its high buildings. As I discover the new shape of the town, I find myself stunned once more by the eagerness mankind displays to make it back to its old self.
It's always like this. Everywhere I go ruins and dust have given way to sturdy houses and impressive buildings. Each time, it makes me feel a little more estranged from this new world surging from ashes of chaos. It's like I don't belong to it.
I've never been able to build or create anything. Quite the opposite, I think I spent most of my life destroying and there's not much to say about that, even though they'd rather call me a fighter. Fighter. Protector. Savior. No matter the word, I just can't get rid of that feeling of being apart. Huh, I am apart as a matter of fact.
The sunshine reflecting on the high glass walls dazzles me as I come closer to the city. Satan City has become something of a prosperous town in less than three years. I killed the Androids not very far away from here and I can remember how wasted the place was. It was nothing near these proud buildings erecting to the skies. Even the name was different but I can't remember what it was.
For some reason, people never deserted this area even when the Androids were devastating the country all around. The population sought shelter in every possible hideout but people always remained near the town and as soon as peace was officially proclaimed, they showed up again and swarmed the city in a few weeks. They started rebuilding the wrecked town very quickly and they resumed their lives. I have to admit their seething energy amazes me. Humans never get tired.
Satan did a great job here. I met the guy several times. He's a big mouth but he's got some nerves. He's very gifted to exert his influence on people and it helped a lot to piece up this town and to keep some order among the survivors. People trust him, no doubt. They called their place after his name to show their gratitude and he's been their beloved mayor for the three past years.
As I fly above the streets, I watch the sparse crowd below me. People look like ants from my height but I can see some of them pointing and waving at me. I'm even being addressed cheerful yells. I'm their hero. I don't feel like a hero but mother told me what I felt didn't matter and I should welcome people's kind gestures anyway. And so I do.
I wave back. I even smile although they can't see me at such distance. I care for them, I really do, but no matter how cheerful they behave with me, I can't help but feel like an outsider among them. As the last of my kind I know I will never fit in.
I know I sound like an old depressing prick but I lost so much in this battle that I hardly dare enjoying the benefits of my sacrifice. Mother always lectured me for being so negative. She says I should relax and have fun now but I was never taught to do so. I was always taught to be on my guard and to foresee the worst and I was taught the hard way.
There are no more Androids but humans still need someone to keep them safe from chaos so I check the big towns on a regular basis and give a hand when armed criminal hangs, which still exist, threaten the population. Thus, I'm always wandering all around the world fighting more battles even though they're quite meaningless in comparison with the ones I had before. Yet, I feel good at doing it. I feel useful. I feel like I have my place somewhere.
Mother doesn't like it though. She says that I should let humans deal with their own kind and think further about my own life. I know she wants me to be normal but I'm not. I've never been. I became aware of this reality at a very young age, when Gohan used to train me. Mother and him always hinted I was the promise of a better world. At the time it was rewarding. I felt important and I did my best to be up to everyone's expectations. Then, as I grew up, I realized everything comes with a price.
When I lost Gohan I learned how lonely it feels to be special. My mother kept me locked in the Capsule. I know she was wary about me running away and trying to fight the Androids as long as I wasn't ready for that, yet by doing so, she also prevented me from befriending normal people. Not that it would have made a big difference anyway. When would I have time to play with other kids? Would I only have been able to free my mind from my seething will to kill the monsters?
Traveling to the future had been the greatest experience of all. Despite the pressure of my mission, I had the opportunity to meet my father. I felt so good by his side. I was accepted just like I was. Fighting along with other people of my kind made me feel whole. They understood me and I understood them. Yet, I have to admit that coming back to my timeline has been all the more dreadful. A nagging feeling of emptiness haunts me ever since I left them behind.
Satan is living in a huge villa in the center of the town. It's a former castle. It had been partially destroyed by the Androids but the survivors restored what was left and it's now the town council buidling.
I land on the deserted mayor's balcony and knock at the glass door. A bulky man opens the door with bewilderment. He stares at me with a baffled face, his eyes wandering from the Capsule logo on my jacket to my sword strapped in my back.
"Hi, I'm supposed to meet Satan," I claim.
"Huh – Yes – Right – come on, sir," he stammers in confusion.
He allows me to step in a carpeted hallway. Three or four people are working at their desk. All of them become quiet when I enter the room. They all look up at me in awe. I'm used to it but still I hate it. I know they love me as much as they distrust me. I'm so inhumanly strong and they know better than trusting any inhumanly strong being. I saved them yesterday but who knows what I will do tomorrow? They love me but they wouldn't like to have me as their neighbor.
"Will you follow me, please? We- huh –we didn't expect you to show up on the balcony," the bulky man resumes while guiding me through the hallway and along a corridor.
I follow him until we reach a door. He gives a slight knock and opens it after a few seconds. Satan is sitting at a big varnished desk in the back of a huge room. The place is lavish. The guy takes good care of his presentation.
"Trunks!" he exclaims. "Come in, come in. How are you doing?"
The bulky man steps out and closes the door behind me without a word. I give the mayor a small smile.
"I'm fine."
Satan stands up as I come closer to his desk. "Wanna drink something? I found a very rare whiskey, you should try it." All by talking to me, he rummages in a cupboard next to his desk.
"I- No it's okay. I don't like whiskey so much," I protest while seating myself in an armchair. I rest my sword next to it and watch the place with some amazement. It's been two years since the last time I visited him and I become aware how fast things are going here. Everything is neat and comfortable. The supply of energy had been a tough issue to deal with in the beginning but as far as I can see it's not a concern anymore. A computer is plugged in and there isn't an emergency candle in sight. Even the heating seems to be working perfectly.
"You should really try," he insists, "I even have ice cubes, you know."
He opens a small fridge that I hadn't noticed next to the cupboard. I raise an eyebrow. Definitely, the supply of energy is no longer a problem here.
I smile and I end up accepting the glass he's poured for me. It's well garnished with ice cubes since he's so proud to be able to offer such luxury to me.
"Should I understand everything's fine in your town?" I ask.
"Perfectly fine. We might no longer need you to watch us all the time," he replies with a loud laugh.
I nod. I know it's not the case everywhere, though. I take a gulp of my drink.
"Yet, it doesn't prevent you from being my guest. How long will you stay here? I have everything prepared to welcome you like a prince," he claims.
"Since you don't need me I won't linger too much. I appreciate your attention but I'll just spend the night."
"One night? There's so much to enjoy here. Stay a bit longer. I'm sure you need some rest and vacation," he exclaimed.
I fidget on my seat. Truth is I came to Satan City because he called me but I figured he might have needed me for something. I never pictured my stay here to be for pleasure. What pleasure? I feel it's important for him though and I don't really know how I could escape his invitation. Man, the guy always wants to show off for everyone. I'm sure he wants to impress me by letting me know how good he was at repairing this town. "One night is the best I can afford. I still have a lot to do in the North," I insist.
"I understand but I still think you should slow down and take some time for yourself," he answers with a beam. His words sound exactly like Bulma's and I wonder for an instant if she called him or something. He finishes his whiskey in one gulp and snatches the empty glass on the desk.
"You might feel like relaxing a bit after your trip and I have some things to settle. I'm gonna bring you to my place. You'll be more comfortable to wait for me to be done," he states.
I nod. I don't frankly dislike Satan's company but he's so talkative and so loud, it's exhausting sometimes. He lives in a part of the town council. It's quite big and again very lavish. What should I expect? He guides me to my guest room and he doesn't miss the opportunity to have me visit most of his home. I have to admit it's impressive, especially for someone like me. I have always been used to ruins and dust.
Mother has a new house under construction and I think she is aiming to get something as comfortable as this place. All this are old time habits but it makes me aware of the loss humans endured when the Androids showed up.
"If you need anything, just ask the maid. I'll be back by night and we'll have a terrific dinner," he claims before leaving me alone in my room.
Silence feels like bliss when he's gone. I sit on the bed and only then I realize how drained I am. I haven't been home in days, sleeping outside on a harsh ground throughout cold nights. I reek too. Since I'm stuck here with nothing to do, I should as well enjoy the time for a hot shower and a cozy mattress.
The shower feels so good. The water is steaming hot. It's a long forgotten pleasure to me. I find out that Satan was even able to provide me perfumed soap. As irking as he can be, he's definitely incredible. I could stay forever in that shower but I turn off the tap the moment I realize that I might empty the stock of hot water, leaving nothing for the other people living here. I hope I didn't take too much of it.
I drop on the bed and as soon as my naked back touches the soft mattress, all my body gets free of an unsuspected strain. I stare at the ceiling for a while and my mind goes blank. For some reason, Satan's words ends up echoing in my brain. We might no longer need you to watch us all the time.
Is that it? Could it be that humans no longer need me at all? The prospect scares me.
Mother warned me about that possibility though. She keeps saying I'm not meant to fight forever, that I'm also a young man with a whole life to live and this is the reason why I have to build a life for myself. Geez, I don't even know what it means.
What could my life be it it's not about fighting and caring for mankind's safety? People will never regard me like one of them anyway. Most of them see me as a hero, some others consider me as a nuisance but to all of them, I'm just a freak. I can't just melt into the crowd, go unnoticed and act as if I was like anyone else. So, what should I become if humans stopped needing me around? I'm ashamed to say I hope it will never happen.
I wake up in a jerk. I open wide eyes and my mind immediately scans the settings No danger here. I roll over to the bedside table to watch the clock. I found out I hardly slept half an hour. My towel is still wrapped around my waist. I sit up with a growl and stretch before struggling to my feet.
My clothes stink. I haven't washed them in ten days and now that my skin smells like perfumed soap it bothers me to be dressed like a filthy tramp. Maybe the maid would grant me access to the washing machine. I'm sure Satan got one.
I dress up with the cleanest stuff I got in my bag and step out the bedroom with my laundry.
God, that house is big. I can't remember where I'm supposed to head and I wander in the deserted corridor for a while. I end up spotting a presence in a room and I enter it with the hope to find the maid.
There she is. She's busy rummaging in a drawer. She raises her head as soon as I step in. Her piercing clear eyes stare at me with some surprise as if she didn't expect to see me here. Satan told me she would help me though. I clear my throat with unease. I'm so bad at dealing with unfamiliar people. "Huh, I'm Satan's guest, Trunks. He told me I could ask if I needed anything so – I – do you have a place where I can have my laundry done?"
She stays numb for one more minute. She ends up closing the drawer she'd been rummaging. "Laundry? Sure. Come with me."
She leads me back in the corridor where I came from and to a set of stairs leading down to a basement. We come out into a room painted in white, clearly a laundry with a washing machine and a dryer.
She opens the washing machine and I stuff my clothes into it. Yet, I realize I have no further clue about how such a device works. I study all the buttons but I'm lost and I feel dumb.
She pushes me gently aside. "Let me do that for you," she says in a soft voice while setting the machine with an obvious practice. When she's done, she looks up at me with an amused smile. "You never dealt with a washing machine, did you?"
"Huh, no," I confess with embarrassment. I always washed my clothes by hand and the few time I had access to a washing machine someone did it for me.
She blurts out a small chuckle. "Nobody's perfect. I'm Satan's daughter, Videl." she claims.
I freeze in confusion while realizing she isn't the maid Satan mentioned earlier. I manage to smile back nevertheless. "I'm Trunks."
"I know who you are. Or at least, who you are supposed to be, savior of the world."
I frown at her words. Who you are supposed to be? What does she mean? Maybe she thinks I wasn't the one to kill the Androids. I should object but for some reasons, I realize I don't really care. If she wants to think I'm someone else than who I am, then it's maybe better that way. It might make things easier for once. Beside she's still smiling and gentle so far. I decide not to ask what she has in mind.
"Do you want something to drink or to eat?" she offers.
"A snack would be cool. I had a long trip and my last meal wasn't exactly a feast."
She hasn't unlocked her eyes from me since we are here and that fact strikes me only now. It's like her pale blue eyes are trying to dig into mine. I wonder if she's interested in me all of a sudden and it results in me blushing like hell. For God's sake, from all weird situations, this kind of thing is what I hate the most. Some women are… well not quite the same as usual when they meet me. It embarrasses me to no end each time it happens and it caused me some terrible misfortunes I'd rather forget. Furthermore, it also reminds me that I will never be able to be someone normal among the crowd. I have to look down to escape her burning gaze.
"Come on, let's go see what we have in the fridge," she resumes at last. Her voice is calm and confident and I'm not sure it's a good sign but I follow her nevertheless.
We walk back to another part of the house. The kitchen is big, like everything in this razzle-dazzle place. Satan can afford all modern convenience of the Old World. Fridge, oven, cooktop, tap.
I take care to stay at distance from Videl as she searches the fridge for food but she pays me no attention as she prepares sandwiches. She doesn't even turn to me to ask me what I'd like to eat. Not that I care. Actually her behavior relieves me somehow. I must have misunderstood her persistent gaze back in the laundry room. I watch her. She's older than me, no doubt. Her black locks are tied in a plain ponytail and I realize she's quite muscular – or at least more muscular than most women.
She turns to me and interrupts my musing. "What are you doing here, standing in the middle of the room?" she exclaims, "Sit down."
I oblige as she rests a plate for me on the table. "Thanks," I mumble.
The food is mesmerizing. It's only raw meat and vegetables piled up with sliced bread but I realize I'm starving. The hard years I went through taught me to silence my hunger until the emptiness of my stomach was a real problem. So, my body only expresses the need to be fed when I'm facing food. However whenever I see food, everything gets out of hand. I can't suppress my urge to devour the humble snack Videl just fixed for me.
The plate is empty in less than one minute as I'm not used to waste much time enjoying my meals. Only when I'm done, I become aware that my behavior is somehow rude to my host. Mother would be ashamed and I raise sheepish eyes up to Videl. She's standing next to me, giving me a comforting smile.
"Great appetite, huh? Want some more?" she asks.
I can't help but nod. She laughs and takes the empty plate away to fill it again. When she comes back, I try my best to eat in a more civilized manner. I feel her eyes locked on me again and I know she studies me. I'm used to people watching me behind my back but she makes me unusually uncomfortable and I don't know why.
When I look up from my dish, she's sitting opposite from me with a cup of coffee, her icy eyes still on me. "Are you really the fighter who beat the Androids?" she asks all of a sudden.
Her question takes me aback. No one ever asked me that. I have a second thought. Maybe I should say I'm not him. Just as a test. To see how it's like to be someone normal. To be seen as a human being among human beings. I have no time to reply though.
"Everyone says you are. Prove it." she says in a suspicious voice.
I frown. Her face isn't as cheerful and nice as she's been so far. "Prove it?"
She leans backward against her chair's backseat. "Yeah. You know. Transform yourself."
I grit my teeth. What is that for a request? Does she think I'm some sort of freak? I shouldn't be very surprised but I never met someone as bold and direct as this woman. "No," I utter coldly.
She doesn't seem impressed by my answer. "Why not? It shouldn't be that difficult if you beat the Androids."
"I'm not some sort of freak in a circus," I spit.
She blinks and her features soften. "I didn't mean to hurt you," she replies in an apologetic tone.
Her voice is gentle again and somehow sad. Her swing of mood confuses me and my anger fades away already. People are stupid sometimes.
"Your hair is long," she states. "A former friend of mine who was a great fighter taught me that long hair is a downside in a battle."
She's right. My hair is indeed falling down to my shoulders by now. Yet, her words are once again hinting I might not be the fighter I claim to be and I can't repress a frown. "I had no time to worry about my hair those times. I just knot it whenever I need to fight."
I don't even know why I feel like I have to justify myself. This woman is willing to believe that I'm not who I am and fact is I wish I could be someone else sometimes, so why do I bother?
She stands up and comes closer to me. "Would you like me to cut your hair? As an apology for hurting you before. I'm quite gifted at that, you can trust me," she offers.
I have a second thought but she resumes while walking to a drawer and rummaging its content. "I'll tell you a story that you might like to hear and it will be done in a blink."
She brandishes combs and scissors before I can find anything smart to object. She beams at me. "Relax, I swear I won't screw up. Not that it could be much worse than it already is," she adds by coming back to me.
"Well, all right," I sigh as she drapes a towel around my shoulders.
I can feel the comb struggling with my unamenable locks and I try to ignore my wariness at the contact. Her gestures are dry while she tries to get rid of the tiny knot forming in my strands. I'm tense. I hate the situation of having an unfamiliar person behind my back. I feel sort of vulnerable and I do my best to repress my urge to tell her to stop.
"When I was seventeen, my Dad and I were leaving with a bunch of survivors in filthy shelters, trying to hide from the Androids. Then, one day, the monsters finally found us. They ruined everything we had including our food storage, killing half of our group in the process. As always they went away with that," she tells.
I cringe at her speech. I heard similar stories a thousand times already and each time it rekindles the same vivid guilt. If only I had figured out much sooner how to get rid of the twins, there wouldn't be so much misery to talk about.
"I was mad," she carries on. "I decided to go and fight them once for all even if that meant I had to die. I couldn't bear with our helplessness anymore and I was a pretty good fighter myself – or so I thought."
She sighs and pauses her combing. "My dad wouldn't let me go of course. So I waited for the night to fall and I ran away."
She forces me to lower my head by pressing her palm on my skull and resumes her struggle with my locks. "I was so young and thoughtless at that time. But whatever, I traveled the whole night on a muddy road, trying to figure out where the monsters had headed and at dawn I stumbled across an unconscious wounded guy lying in the grass."
At that, she combs harshly over a resistant knot and snatches some hair in the process. I hiss out of protestation but she doesn't seem to really care. She keeps going on. "He was in a really bad shape and we had a bitchy pouring rain so I dragged him to a cave and I tried my best to heal him with the few stuff I had in my backpack."
I'm relieved to see her rest the comb away as to grab the scissors. "Did you save him?" I ask while looking up at her. She gives me a weird smile at the question. "No. He didn't need to be saved as a matter of fact, but he saved me."
"How is that?" I question in confusion.
"He prevented me from fighting the Cyborg."
"That was wise but you said he was injured."
She cocks her head. "Yes, but he was a real Goliath and he healed pretty fast in the end. After that, we became friends. Well, he turned out to be much more than a friend and if I have to be honest I should say he was the love of my life."
"Was?" I murmur as she forces me to look straight ahead again in order to be able to start her cut.
"Like many of us, he was obsessed with the idea of destroying the Androids. One day he went away and he never came back. I always assumed they killed him eventually but I could never find his body despite all my efforts."
I feel my strands falling on the ground and on my shoulders. The move of the scissors tickles my neck. I feel sad for her. "Sometimes the Androids left no corpse at all. Only some burnt dust," I mumble with the softest voice I can.
"That's what I've been thinking for a long time but one day the Androids were killed and everyone said the guy who made it looked very much like him and I couldn't help but to have hope again," she states quietly.
I freeze as she silences. For a while, there is no other sound than the scissors' snapping. I feel like turning to her to meet her eyes but, quite stupidly, I don't dare any move while she keeps cutting my hair. She doesn't say a word and it makes me even more nervous. I can't help a dull guilt at the thought that I might look like her beloved friend and thus remind her of her loss. I understand now why she kept watching me the whole time. "I was the one to kill them," I utter shyly.
She doesn't answer and grabs the comb to get rid of all the tiny hair still sticking to my head. Then she folds the towel on my shoulder and takes it away. I stand up and turn to her. I met her misty eyes. "I'm sorry, it was only me," I repeat.
"You said that already," she growled with a shaky voice, "would you transform for me, then?"
I frown. I don't get it really. "What would it change?" I ask.
"Because he was able to transform as well," she develops.
I can see her fighting her sobs and horror strikes me as I realize that the guy she'd been talking about could be Gohan.
"Please, do it for me," she murmurs. A tear runs down her cheek. I have bated breath thinking about what she's asking me. She's asking me to kill any hope and I know too well how it feels to have any hope crushed in a blink. Yet, I end up obliging.
Her eyes widen in pain and stupor at the sight of my hair turning white. I can see she had hoped until that very moment that I might have been an impostor stealing another's glory and that her love was indeed alive somewhere on Earth.
She can't take it very long. She gives me her back without a word and walks to the sink with the scissors and combs in her hands. As she starts pretending cleaning her tools, I'm aware she's indeed fighting her tears and I feel awfully down. I'm hardly able to murmur when I ask the dreadful question burning my mind. "Was his name… Gohan?"
At the name, she lets out a loud sob and her shoulders shake as she breaks down.
I go back to my normal state. I'm stunned. I never suspected Gohan ever had a girlfriend. He never talked about her and I was so young and so focused on our battle at the time that I didn't even figure out he had a life on his own despite the chaos of our world.
I can remember that each time he visited us I would only care for training, fighting and beating the Androids. My whole life had only been about increasing my strength, taking revenge on the monsters, destroying them like they had destroyed everything we once had. Nothing else had ever mattered in my mind. I never gave life a serious thought.
Gohan spent most of his time cheering me up, giving me hope, trying to prevent me from getting into trouble with the Androids. He was my everything. My brother, my sole friend, my teacher and yet, I never asked him about his life or about his dreams. I assumed he had none other than killing the monsters.
I was a child then but I realize that I didn't change much. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time finding my place now that peace's back.
I hear Videl sniffing. She's still standing by the sink with water running from the tap but I see that she doesn't care for her cleaning anymore.
Before I know it, I walk to her and wrap my arms around her shoulder from behind. Her pain sounds so familiar to me. I hug her. "I'm sorry Videl. He's dead. My Mum and I buried him" I whisper.
My words cause her crying even more forcefully and I hold her a little tighter. We don't know each other and in normal time I wouldn't even touch her but the loss we share makes her incredibly close to me all of a sudden.
After a moment, she calms down. "So, you knew him too," she states in a raspy voice. "Were you related?"
She didn't bother turning to me and she doesn't even try to escape my embrace either. I assume she feels some comfort to have me by her side. I let go of her and force her to whirl around as to face me.
Her pale eyes are shiny from the tears and her cheeks are still wet. She doesn't look so cocky anymore. I give her a weak smile. "We didn't belong to the same family but he was more than a brother to me. I was a kid when he died. I would never have been able to get rid of the Androids if it hadn't been for him."
Her gaze drifts away from me. "He never told me about you," she states.
There's a hint of sadness in her voice and I can understand that. He never told me about her either and for some reason, it hurts. "I guess he wanted to protect you," I explain.
She blinks. "Maybe. He never wanted me to know what he was up to about the monsters. I assume he feared I would want to follow him and help. He was always vanishing with no warning and coming back with more injuries and scars. I hated that but each time he told me one day he would make it and then he would have no need to leave me again. He sounded so comforting that I've never been strong enough to doubt his words."
I can't help but give her a wider beam. "That was exactly how Gohan was. Even though he knew he might not make it, he would never confess it openly because he wanted us to keep our little hope alive. He took it all in order to spare us."
She shrugs and walks away to sit on a chair. "He's gone either way," she sighs.
"It's true but we're still alive thanks to him," I object.
She watches me with a thoughtful face. She doesn't cry anymore but her features display a deep weariness.
"Mum?"
The small voice uttering this simple word sounds both surprised and concerned. Only at that moment I realize a little girl has come into the kitchen. She's standing near the entrance and giving Videl a wary gaze.
The kid is about eight with long black hair framing her pale little face. She's wearing an oversized jacket over an old T-shirt from a former sports team and carrying a backpack on her shoulders.
Her eyes drift from Videl to me and back to Videl. "Is there something wrong, Mum? Who is this?"
Videl rubs her eyes. "Everything's fine, honey. This is Trunks. Grandpa's guest," she replies.
The child turns to me and a light kindle her eyes. "Grandpa's guest? Are you the savior? The man who killed the monsters?" she exclaims. Instant awe shines through her sweet features and she beams at me. She walks straight to me and as she comes closer, my blood runs cold.
Her face is so much like his. Her eyes, her eyebrows, even her tiny chin. I have an unwilling backlash.
"Is that true? Did you do it? You beat them like this and this?" she keeps asking all by punching and kicking the air with skillful gestures.
It's breathtaking. Could this kid be Gohan's? Not only did he leave a girl behind but he also left a kid. I turn frantic and I repress my urge to scream at her to stop. I need her to stop acting like Gohan, even stop looking like him.
Videl seems to sense my utter confusion. "Pan, honey, don't bother our guest. You're behaving rude," she lectures.
Pan freezes and calms herself at her mother's speech. She has a second thought but ends up stretching her hand out to me. "Sorry. Hello, Sir. I'm Pan Son."
It takes me everything I have to keep my composure and shake her tiny hand politely. "Hey, Pan. I'm Trunks Briefs," I utter.
She gives me a bright grin. "You know, one day, I'll be just like you. A great fighter for Justice," she claims.
I'm numb. The only thing I can do for a while is staring at her. Her skin is an outstanding white with some freckles on her cheeks. Her black eyes are huge and stern. I can say she means every word she spells out. A shiver runs up my spine and I have hard time collecting my thoughts. "Huh, so – yet how old are you now?" I stammer.
"I'm nine years old," she replies, pride tinging her childish voice. "I know how to fight already. Mum and Grandpa taught me. You wanna see?"
Her offer takes me aback. For some reasons, the only thing I crave for right now is running away. I need air.
"Another time, Pan. Go and start your homework. I'm going to fix you something to eat," Videl steps in.
The girl turns to her mother with a pleading face but Videl is back to the confident type. She gives the child a slight frown and the girl caves in. Pan looks up at me "I have to go but I'll show you another time," she explains as if I hadn't heard Videl speaking. She gives me a last smile and rushes out of the kitchen.
As soon as she's gone, I drop on a chair and press my face into my palm. I feel lost. So, this kid is Gohan's daughter. Pan Son. Even without his name there would be no doubt about it. Gohan.
"He didn't know I was pregnant when he died," Videl's gentle voice says.
I nod stupidly. As if this detail should make any difference by now. Damn, I never suspected anything like this. I buried Gohan's body 10 years ago but it took me some more years to be able to seal his grave. His death has been the most painful event in the chain of dramas my life had been made of.
I hear Videl sighing next to me. "I was obsessed by the idea that Gohan could be still alive. It was driving me mad and that's why my Dad wanted me to meet you. He wanted me to face the truth and to move on. I guess he never figured out you knew him," she explains.
I know she tries to comfort me but she doesn't. She scares me. Hearing her speaking of Gohan with such familiarity, seeing that little girl with those disturbing black eyes, all this scares me to no end.
I stand up and bounce off the kitchen. She calls me back but I don't pay any attention to her. I need to leave this place. I walk along the corridors in a hurry. I'm almost running. I don't even know how I make it finding my way in this maze but I end up reaching my room.
I lose no time packing my stuff back and when my bag is full and closed, I grab my sword. As I turn to the door, Videl is standing on the doorstep.
"You can't leave like that," she whispers.
"They need me in the North," I claim.
"I'm sure they could wait a day or two. Why…" She doesn't end her sentence.
I urge to go but she's in my way, looking at me with wet eyes again. "I wanted you to tell me about Gohan," she mumbles.
I scowl at that. I don't want to stay here one more minute but I can't bring myself to push her aside and I feel cornered. "I'm sure there's not much that you don't already know," I sigh in annoyance.
"Pan would love to hear about her father from someone else than me. Furthermore, I thought..."
Once again she interrupts herself and it gets on my nerve. I want to be over with her. I walk straight through the door, forcing her to leave me some space to exit the room. Yet, she grasps my wrist at the last minute. "Trunks. Pan isn't like any other kid," she states.
I glare at her. I feel like screaming that I don't give a damn but I can't word anything. She doesn't look impressed by my scowl anyway. She stares back at me with a fearless expression. "You can transform like Gohan, I'm sure you know what it's all about. Help her. Teach her how to use that inhuman energy of hers, tell her she can live with it and she shouldn't be afraid of it. She's so lonely."
I snatch my wrist out of her grip. "I can't do that." I realize I'm yelling and tears are welling up my eyes. Videl looks shocked at my unexpected violence. I grab her shoulder and look her right in the eyes. "I'm no baby sitter and I'm no friend. Understand that? I'm not Gohan. I'm nothing… only a fighter," I spit.
She remains numb and speechless and I seized the opportunity to run away from her.
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