CHAPTER 1
Bulma opened the cabinets of the makeshift kitchen in the basement. Out of them she took two dainty teacups and saucers, pieces of her mother's old china set received as a gift at her parents' wedding. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually used them, but for some reason tonight seemed appropriate. Ada was over for an evening visit, and Bulma felt like girl talk needed to be complemented by girlish things- hence the flowery, delicate drink ware. Not skipping a beat, she picked the steaming teapot up off the stove and filled the cups, adding two spoonfuls of sugar to her own and three to Ada's. Bulma carried the saucers over to the kitchen table and set one down in front of the girl and the other in front of her own chair. With a relaxed sigh and a smile, she took a seat.
"What a week!" she exclaimed, bringing the teacup to her lips and sipping the steaming herbal drink. "I swear I didn't think it was going to end. I've gotten at least 10 calls in the last three days from people who need their appliances looked at. You name it, girl. Washers, dryers, radios, televisions…there was some guy who said he was having an issue with his hot water heater. I understand that we're lacking in repairmen these days, but honestly! I mean, I'm a genius! I make time machines, for Kami's sake, not…electronics…" Bulma groaned, playful frustration evident in her eyes.
"Did you take any of the jobs?" Ada asked, drinking her own tea. "This is excellent, by the way. Cinnamon?"
"I think there's a hint of it in there. I was getting tired of citrus-y tasting stuff, so I thought it was time for a change. Glad you like it. But, well, yeah, I took a couple of them. Not the dryers and microwaves, because, hell, none of us have those sorts of luxuries these days. But I repaired a few radios, and I looked at a washing machine. Couldn't do much for it, though," Bulma replied.
"Oh, I'm sure those people are just grateful for a hand. Help is hard to come by," said Ada, pulling one foot up onto the edge of the chair and resting her hands on her knee. Bulma opened her mouth to respond but stopped short as she looked behind Ada where a figure was emerging from the hallway.
"Well don't you look dapper," Bulma said with a wide grin as she surveyed her son. Trunks blushed a bit and looked down at his shoes.
"Mom, really…" he began. The dressed-up young man stopped in the kitchen and grabbed his jacket from off the coat rack. Ada turned to have a look for herself, unable to hold in a smile. "And here I thought the nicest piece of clothing in your wardrobe was a black tank top," she kidded, sarcastic enjoyment dancing around her words.
"No one can compliment a guy like you," he returned, smirking.
"Well, have fun. Be safe. You know all that. Bring her back and introduce me to her and maybe I'll forgive you for spending your birthday away from home," Bulma kidded.
"Sure thing, Mom," responded the lavender-haired warrior grudgingly as he gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek and headed for the stairs to the ground level. After Bulma turned around to look at Ada again, Trunks glanced back in their direction ever so briefly, trying to catch the look on Ada's face as he departed. Knowing that his pride wouldn't permit him to do anything less and therefore expecting him to look at her, Ada had turned her eyes from Trunks back to Bulma. He left, and she ignored him.
This was their routine. In the year since Trunks had returned from the past, the two had seen a great deal of each other. It was awkward, certainly. Neither quite knew how to act or speak around the other. The innocent adolescents they had been when they last communicated were long gone. Ada likened it to this: two strangers see one another constantly and act like they know everything about the other without ever having formally introduced themselves. This was the predicament of Ada and Trunks. This was how they had lived for the past year.
Ada had always assumed that, whenever they began to spend time around one another again, things would go back to normal. Instead, every time they exchanged words, it was like they were wearing ornate masks that neither knew how to remove. No matter how hard Ada tried, when she spoke to Trunks, she could not extract the sarcasm from her voice. She assumed she must sound like a catty bitch to him. Likewise, Trunks seemed to have a permanent smirk pasted across his face when he talked to her. An almost arrogant tone came into his voice, and he could not shake it. Ada, he imagined, must think him a prick.
Bulma smiled as she contemplated the sudden cause for distance in Ada. She considered asking the girl a playful question or two just to jest in the fashion so characteristic of Bulma, but she quickly dropped the idea. After searching for a new conversation topic to pull Ada back into the moment, Bulma settled on the one thing that had dominated both of their thoughts for the past couple years and continued to do so:
"I checked up on the time machine today," she blurted out, rather more loudly than she planned. Ada's eyes snapped back to Bulma, and she smiled reflexively as she acclimated herself to the present. "Trunks should be able to head back by the time the androids arrive in the past." She sighed. "That is, if my calculations turned out correctly…"
"Well, getting it perfect isn't the biggest concern. Whether Trunks gets there before or after they've been activated isn't as important as his simply being there to help," Ada replied.
"I know; I just wish I knew enough about time travel to land him precisely when he needs to be. For now, letting the approximate amount of time pass in both our timeline and theirs is going to have to do."
"It's going to be fine, Bulma. Somehow…I know it will," Ada reassured, draining the last of her tea. Bulma returned the girl's smile, putting her cup to her lips before quickly pulling it away again.
"Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot!" she cried, smacking herself in the forehead. "I've got exciting news!"
"Okay, so spill it!" Ada said excitedly, leaning over the table a bit.
"Alright, so I don't know if you remember, but when you and Trunks were little, say, maybe…eight or nine…basically, before that last attack that caused all the irreparable damage to company property, Capsule Corporation was still carrying on this ancient tradition that my dad started. We had a ball every year, sort of a fundraising gala for whatever charity we picked, that the employees and their spouses, as well as quite a few of the city's corporate bigwigs, came to."
"And…?" Ada eyed Bulma suspiciously, her smile turning into a look of confusion. "What are you getting at? I mean," she cast her eyes downward, "there isn't even a Capsule Corp. anymore."
"But that doesn't mean we can't have a reunion ball!" Bulma said with glee, clapping her hands like a little girl who's just been told she's getting a pony. "Okay, so maybe no bigwigs this time- that's fine. But just the old employees, so we can catch up and, well," she admitted with a bitter smile, "have fun, like we used to, just for one night…" At that, Ada grinned.
"In that case, I think it's brilliant," she said. "So give me some details!" Ada cried, and with that, the two women began discussing every facet of the ball, delighted giggles and squeals (most uncharacteristic of both of them) included.
xxx
It was not, in fact, another hour until the beeping of the radio emergency alert system startled them back into reality. Breaking news about android activity followed, along with repeated urges for those anywhere within twenty blocks of 16th Street and Koa Avenue to head for cover. Both women turned to the radio, anxious scowls across their faces.
"Is the basement door locked?" Ada asked quickly, realizing only after the fact how ridiculous the question was.
"Yeah. We should be fine just sitting tight," Bulma answered, suddenly whipping around toward the door. "But where is that kid?! Trunks could be anywhere in the city right now…" Of course, both Ada and Bulma knew that there wasn't a thing they could do about it. He would…he would just have to take care of himself. He could. He was an adult. As each withdrew into her own thoughts and worries, silence descended between them. The only sound was the static-ringed voice of the emergency broadcast announcer. Ada and Bulma sat like that for the next ten minutes, the former gripping her empty teacup desperately while the latter took to gnawing on her thumbnail.
Two things happened very quickly that made Bulma jump a foot out of her chair. Despite having tried to keep her strength under control, Ada accidently shattered the delicate piece of china she was holding. The sound brought her out of her thoughts and back to reality, and she looked in shock at the twenty or more pieces of porcelain strewn across the floor. Half a second later, the door into the basement was thrown open and two sets of footsteps, one heavy and quick, the other lighter and more reserved, resounded off the stairs and down into the room. Bulma and Ada stood from their seats, the force and speed of the motion throwing Ada's chair backwards onto the linoleum floor. In the blink of an eye, she was in fighting stance. She knew they would come after her sooner or later; they knew where to find her. She had stopped running years ago. Wasn't it inevitable?
Bulma, unsure of what else to do, steeled herself and threw up her fists. Like hell she would be going down without a fight. With an intake of breath, she planted her feet firmly on the floor and looked over at Ada. They were ready. Whatever happened next, whoever came out of the stairwell, they were ready.
xxx
Author's Postscript: These first two chapters (or rather, prologue and first chapter), have been so hard to write! Starting a story is more difficult that I remember. Phew. But now I'll give you a little preview! No, I won't be divulging any info about the next step for Ada and Trunks…^^…but I will tell you that we'll be following them throughout various happenings in the future, through bits of history from their own pasts, and through Trunks' next two journeys into the past, including quite a bit about the year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. I should also mention that I will be drawing plot bases from both the manga and anime and will not change anything from Toriyama's original storyline. I'm simply filling in the holes! Oh yes, and please R/R- I appreciate it more than I can say, truly!
I also want to throw in a big, big thank you to Crecy, my first and only reviewer thus far. I was absolutely delighted to hear some feedback. Again, thank you!