-1I followed Trunks down the hidden set of stairs into the most warm, welcoming place I had set foot into since I was a little girl in my own home.
"Hello!" said an attractive, middle-aged woman with light blue hair. She rushed over to us from the sink. "Trunks didn't tell me he'd made a new friend. I'm his mother, Bulma. What's your name, dear?"
"A-Alice." I said, so very intimidated.
"I just met her. She was hiding from the androids upstairs. Said she had to find someplace to hide because she thought he followed her and she didn't want to lead him to her home." Trunks said, washing his hands at the sink. Alice watched him for a moment. Even though he was younger, he was almost three inches taller. He smiled at me as he crossed the room to the round table, already set for three with plates heaped with steaming food. I blushed and went to the sink to wash my own hands.
"Alice, honey, can I get you something to drink?" Bulma asked. I felt nervous. I hadn't had anyone offer me food or drink in a very long time.
"Water, please." We sat down and she began to ask us both casual questions about our day, including me in her chatter as though I belonged there, as though I had always been there.
"Gohan said that I was doing really well with my Kamehameha technique today. He says that one day soon I might be able to come with him when he fights the androids." Trunks said. He ate like a pig.
"Where is Gohan? He hasn't come around in a while." his mother asked.
"He said he might come to stay later tonight, but he wanted to train a little while longer." he replied, turning his attention to me. "Where do you live, Alice?"
I smoothed my napkin on my lap as I swallowed a delicious bite of crab. "I live with a few others in the north part of town."
"Really? Do you have any family?" Bulma asked, pouring more water into my glass. It had little slices of lemon in it and tasted great.
"Thank you. No ma'am, my mother died years ago when They came. I think I was eight."
"So you're around sixteen?" she asked. I nodded. "Well, you look like you're only fourteen, you're so thin. Eat up, hun."
After everyone was finished, I took up the dishes to wash them.
"Oh, Alice, no! I'll get that, you sit down and relax, you had such a big evening!" Bulma cried.
"No, I insist. You cooked the meal for you and your son and I ended up enjoying it, too. I have to make it up to you." I said.
"But honey, you were invited. It's not like we didn't have plenty to eat. You weren't an intrusion at all."
"Just let me worry about the dishes tonight, Bulma." I said. She left the room reluctantly, though I could tell she enjoyed having that night off. Trunks walked over to where I was and helped me by drying the plates.
"Thanks for helping my mom." he said. "Sometimes I feel bad that she has to do it on her own. I'm have to be gone most of the time."
"It's no problem, really. I want to help. I feel worthless if I just eat someone else's food and don't work it off." I said. The stairs creaked as someone descended them. I jumped and faced the tall, scarred man who entered the kitchen.
"Gohan!" Trunks exclaimed. I could tell that Trunks respected and admired him. Gohan gave him a slight smile and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Trunks. Who's your friend?" he asked. His voice was silky and pleasant, cool like an April morning.
"Her name's Alice. Alice, this is Gohan, he trains me. He lives here sometimes." Trunks said. Gohan reached his hand out to shake mine.
"Hey." he said.
"Leftovers in the fridge!" Bulma cried, carrying a basket of laundry through the kitchen into the adjacent room. "Come in here, Alice."
I followed her into the den. "Here you go, dear. These are some of my clothes from before I had Trunks. Aren't they hot? I've been holding on to them forever, you know, wishful thinking. Like I'll ever be a size two again."
I was puzzled and speechless.
"What's wrong, hun?" Bulma asked, concern clear in her face.
"I'm sorry, I just haven gotten such a gift since I was a little girl."
Bulma reached over and put her hand over mine where it rested on top of the neatly stacked pile of clothes.
"I know, Alice. It really is awful, the way people are having to live. Trunks and I have had it easier than most, but we've also lost more than some. He was even younger than you when he lost his father. But then, he still has a mother. We all have to do what we can to help one another. Trunks and I do a bit of relief work in some places, whatever we can. He and Gohan both try to stave off android attacks in the cities. They work so hard, I'm so proud of them.
"You look tired, Alice. Why don't you go lie down? Gohan can show you the other spare room, it's right across the hall from his." she said, stretching.
"You want me to stay the night?" I asked, absolutely floored by her family's hospitality.
"Well, of course! I'm not having you walk home this late at night! I don't even like Trunks being out so late, and you've already encountered android 17! No, ma'am, you go and tell Gohan to show you the room you'll be staying in, and take your clothes in there." she demanded, pointing me back into the kitchen.
"But Bulma, I really don't want to impose--"
"Get in there right now! Good night!" she said forcefully. I couldn't help but smile as I walked into the kitchen. Gohan was alone at the table finishing his meal.
"Something else, isn't she?" he asked, taking a long drink. I admired his dark eyes. They seemed to hold so much for a person so young. He washed his plate in the sink. "I'll never forget the day I met Bulma. I was four. Of course, other big things happened that day and probably host the memory, but that's another boring story I'll tell you later.
"Here." he said, taking the laundry basket holding my new clothes. He lead me down a corridor into a separate hallway, bringing me to a door in the middle of the left side. He opened the door and sat the basket on the dresser. "You may as well unpack these. You're not getting out of here for a while. That's probably a good thing, considering your current status. Did you eat at all this week?"
"What I could. Bulma's a great cook." I said.
"She wasn't always. She learned out of necessity. Well, goodnight Alice."