Love
"Hey, Trunks?"
Little sisters really were annoying.
"Trunks?"
Really. The grownups acted like she was so special but seriously—
"Trunks!"
"What?!" He looked at her. That was what she had wanted, of course. He shouldn't have fallen for it. She was sitting on the arm of a wingback chair on the other side of his mother's office, her piercing blue gaze locked onto him. Oh… what had he gotten himself into? Maybe if I ignore her she'll go away… he shoved his nose further into his book.
Not likely.
"What sort of presents does Santa bring?" Good lord. By the time Trunks had been her age he'd know perfectly well that there was no such thing as Santa Claus. Perhaps Mom was indulging her a bit—she was the baby, after all. Whatever.
"Whatever present you want." Simple. Simple. She'll go away….
"Like what?"
"I don't know, toys." She'll go away…
"Do I have to talk to him?"
"Go write him a letter. In your room. Away from me." Go away…
"Can I ask him about Mommy and Daddy?"
Sigh. Spoiled, manipulative little…
"What about Mommy and Daddy?" he humored her patiently. Go away…
"Well…" she looked down at her shiny pink shoes.
"Spit it out, kid, I ain't got all day!" Whoa. He was hanging around Goten's house way too much.
"I want to ask Santa to make Mommy and Daddy love each other."
What?
"What?" Now he actually turned around to face her.
"You heard me!" Damn precocious five year olds.
Sigh.
"Our Mommy and Daddy aren't like the ones on TV—or in stories—or the other kids' at school's mommies and daddies—or Goten's mommy and daddy!"
"So?"
"Mr. Goku and Miss Chichi love each other. They're nice to each other and they like each other."
What the Hell could he possibly say to that??
"Like you and Goten like each other! You know!"
Oh. Shit. Oh. Shit. Oh. Shit.
"What do you mean, how me and Goten like each other?"
"You know. I saw you kissing—"
"Okay!" Trunks got up. Couldn't take this anymore. What an embarrassing conversation—"What makes you think Mom and Dad don't like each other?"
"They don't! They fight sometimes, they yell at each other, and they don't do things together." Fuck, she was perceptive.
"Look." Trunks sat down, facing her. Looking her right in the eye, like Mom had said. What it was about facing her on her eyelevel that made her understand better, he didn't know. But Mom said it worked on him when he was a kid too, so might as well give it a shot. "Our Mom and Dad are different than other people's moms and dads."
"Why do we have Mommy's last name, but everybody else gets their daddy's last name?"
Goddammit!
"Because we were born out of wedlock. Do you know what that means?"
"No."
"That means that when we were born, our Mom and Dad weren't married. Like how Goku and Chichi are married."
"Are you and Goten married?"
…
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it's not legal. Boys and boys can't get married; only boys and girls."
"But you love Goten, don't you?" Wide blue eyes. The color matched his own perfectly, but they were shaped like Mom's—
"Yes." Trunks sighed in defeat. He seemed to be doing that a lot. "I love Goten very much. But Goten and I are both boys, and two boys can't get married. It's illegal."
"Well, that's not fair."
Suddenly Trunks liked his baby sister a lot more.
"No, it's not." He said. "Now. Listen to me."
She was listening.
"Our Mommy and Daddy love each other very much. But they don't like for other people to know."
"Why not?" her head tilted to the side, curiosity giving her voice a strange lilt. Odd how he'd never paid that much attention to her.
"Because Mommy and Daddy are very, very silly." He said. Which was true.
"Oh."
"Yes. But, if you're sneaky enough to catch me and Goten kissing—"
"That wasn't kissing. That was making out." She corrected him. How… wait—
"What??"
"Saw it on TV."
"We're gonna have a talk with Mommy about the TV."
"Okay."
"So anyhow. If you can sneak up on me and Goten, why can't you catch Mommy and Daddy kissing? They do it all the time, when the think people aren't watching."
Her head tilted the other way. She seemed to be formulating a plan— "New project for me!" She hopped excitedly off the chair. "Better go get started." And she hopped out the door.
And for the first time since she'd been born, Trunks actually felt like a big brother. Creepy! He shook it off and turned back to his book.