A Change in Time

Don't Own DBZ! My first name has two A's, but it's not Akira.

Chapter 3

Although the bruise he incurred in the back of his head quickly healed and his migraine slowly subsided, there was still this uneasiness dawdling. The horrific thoughts of the past relentlessly broke his sleep. Everything seemed fine so far in this future, but it appeared the rancid memories of the androids would forever torment him…nightmares of the past hunted him as he stirred.

He arrived back in the future to see the two psychopathic nonhumans made their way to Capsule Corps. He heard the terrifying screams of his mother who was being held by Seventeen. Blood ran down her face as he forced her on her knees; he planned to execute her with the small pistol he held by a bullet to the head.

"Trunks!" She cried when he appeared. "Stay back! "

"Mother!" He called back when Eighteen stepped in front of him.

"It's okay! I'm alright!" Bulma shouted and gave him a gentle smile. "Save yourself…"

Looking Trunks in the eye, Seventeen pulled the trigger as he laughed sickeningly.

"No! Mother!" Trunks cried, jumping out of his sleep in cold sweat.

Noticing he was in his own room, he slowly leaned back until he felt the softness of the fluffy pillow and dropped against it. He attempted sleeping once more as he began to close his eyes. But his lids reflexively snapped back open when he actually heard the sound of his mother's voice. He remained silent and listened for it again.

"Stop! No!" He heard her faintly cry. He did not hesitate as he ripped the covers back and leaped out of bed, flying down the hall to her room in nothing but smiley face boxers.

"No! Please! Anything but that!" She continued to pant as he arrived at her door.

"Mother!" Trunks cried as he swiftly threw the apparently locked door open, breaking the handle off in the process.

"Trunks?" his mother gasped while his father froze in his current position. Trunks' cheeks flashed bright red and he paused, witnessing the rather fervent scene in front of him. The door handle slowly slipped from his grasp, and the crashing sound of metal hitting the bare floor broke the awkward stillness, alerting his parents to quickly cover their nude bodies.

"Oh…uh…sorry." He managed to utter and quickly shut the door that now dangled on the hinges. He hurried down the hall to his room mentally smacking himself. He then sat down on his bed with spread legs and let his body fall back to the firm mattress, pondering as he stared in the darkness.

Trunks sighed. How could he not think to knock first? Sure he had stayed in the company of both his parents in the past, but they occupied separate rooms back then. Never did it cross his mind that they were engaging in such activities.

His mother never even dated after the death of his father as far as he knew, and it was always just the two of them. Sometimes mother and child even slept in the same bed, so this was certainly something he would have to adjust to. She has his father now, so there was no need to be alarmed at every sound they made in the privacy of their bedroom.

In deep thought, before he realized it, he had fallen sound asleep, never to wake up again until after dawn.

He woke up when his senses alerted him of the breakfast that was being prepared in the kitchen. He slipped on a t-shirt and pair of jogging pants, swaggered to the nearest bathroom and softly shut the door behind him as he intended to relieve his heavy bladder. As many typical males tend to do while taking a leak, he relaxed and let his mind wander while he slowly emptied.

He had almost forgotten about his little sister until he saw the pretty pink bows scattered about near the sink. 'Of course.' He mentally noted. If he had a sister, obviously she was conceived in the same manner he was, referring to the incident that he walked in on very early this morning.

If a five year old was frolicking through the house, certainly they would keep the door locked shut during those moments. He dreaded if she ever happened to walk in on that. 'Knowing father, he would probably tell her it was another form of training…' He chuckled to himself. '…yeah right…training he only does with mo—'

His thoughts were interrupted when the bathroom door was suddenly opened by none other than his sister Bra. She posed as their mother with one hand on her hip. The red tee she wore with the pink sparkling words, Daddy's Princess, inside a bedazzled tiara across her chest suited her perfectly.

"Trunks! Mom said…break…fast…is…" her words trailed off as she slowly looked down to notice what her brother was currently focused on. "Ooops! Sorry!" She blurted and quickly shut the door.

"Note to self…" Trunks quietly thought out loud while quickly tucking his equipment away and flushed the toilet. "…always lock the door behind you…especially when you're going be exposing what classifies you as a male…innocent little sister carelessly running around."

He exited the bathroom and slowly walked to the kitchen where his family was already eating. There was a buffet of breakfast delicacies arranged on the long table. And an empty plate was positioned across from his mother, so he assumed that it was his seating arrangement. He sat down and helped himself to the food in front of him.

He began eating only to notice the environment was very tense around him. No one even greeted him; it was total silence. As he saw the redness of his mother's complexion while she sipped on a cup hot coffee, he figured maybe his parents were still embarrassed about that, so he decided to start a conversation.

"Well…um…good morning?" He pronounced with uncertainty.

"Good… good morning." Bulma uneasily smiled, still blushing.

"It won't happen again…" He suddenly sputtered. "I promise!"

"It's okay Trunks…" She said slowly reverting back to her normal color. "It's not the first time…right Vegeta?" She lightly laughed as her husband grunted in agreement.

"It's not?" He asked surprised.

"What are you guys talking about?" Bra innocently asked. Trunks turned to face his sister who gave him a frown. "I wanna know too…it's not fair!" She pouted. She looked to see everyone staring at her and then conjured up tears to speed up her request. Trunks was inexperienced in dealing with little sisters, so he was lost for words as he was hypnotized by her puppy-dog eyes.

"Alright! Already! Stop crying!" Vegeta growled at his daughter. "It's just training…that's all…so dry your tears."

As he recalled his previous thoughts in the bathroom, Trunks held his laugh and forced himself to continue eating even though it proved to be difficult and even though his father glared at him.

"Oh…" Bra smiled easily, wiping her fake tears and turning to her brother as he took a sip of juice. "…the training that daddy only does with mommy…you saw it again…huh?" She giggled.

Trunks' eyes popped open, and he almost choked on the O.J. He then regained his composure and answered Bra truthfully by nodding quickly then returned to eating. His sister was smarter then he initially assumed, and if he would have lied about it, she would have figured it anyway.

"Are my Grandparents still around?" Trunks changed the subject.

"Oh…" Bulma smiled. Trunks blended in so well that she almost forgot he was not familiar with his life yet. "…they're fine…dad retired and they've been traveling ever since."

"That's good to hear." Trunks sighed. He was mentally preparing his self for what had been evident in the alternate future. Even though the androids did not directly kill them, they died of natural causes as a result of the tumultuous conditions those two imposed.

"That reminds me…" Bulma started again. "I called in sick for leave for you at the university…until you get used to things, I thought that would be best…"

"Thanks…" Trunks smiled. "…that was very thoughtful mother."

"Well don't get used to it…"His father interrupted. "…your mother has been handling things long enough…"

"Yes father…" He turned to Vegeta. "…I understand."

"Vegeta…" Bulma frowned. "…be a little more considerate…Trunks would be lost if he didn't have time to adjust…I'm pretty sure he's very intelligent, but we have to fill in what he's lacking before he can go back to school."

"Yeah. Sure." Vegeta mumbled. "But you are more than capable of fighting in that tournament next week."

"Bra…" Bulma called to her daughter. "It's time for school…let's go."

"But I don't wanna go…" she cried then hugged Trunks. "…it's boring! Can I stay home with brother?"

"Now…we've gone through this every morning since you started kindergarten and my answer will always be no…now let's get stepping Miss Lady." Her mother stated sternly.

"Aww Daddy!" She pouted running to her father and clinging to his arm. "Do I have to?" She began summoning tears at will again. She knew her father could not tolerate her crying. But then again, he also could not tolerate his wife depriving him of his other form of training. Of this he was reminded when Bulma gave him the look.

"Listen to your mother." he murmured and gently patted Bra on top of her head as he got up from the table freeing his arm of her hold. Trunks couldn't help but to snicker. The great and powerful Saiyan Prince Vegeta was tamed by the wiles of a weak earthling woman.

"You heard him…" Bulma said escorting her out the kitchen. "We're going to be late now."

"Well…" Vegeta said leaving out. "I'm going to train…don't forget what I told you about the tournament."

"You never explained about this tournament…" Trunks said getting up from the table. He never thought his father would take interest in such a petty contest. It seemed the Vegeta he came to know in the past would never lower himself to fight against a wide range of weakling humans. He only fought in the Cell games because the ultimate creation of Dr. Gero made mockery of the Saiyan Prince. But if Goku was competing, he probably wouldn't mind contending as well. "…but it would be an honor to compete beside you."

"Good…even though you previously tried every trick in the book to evade it."

"Well…I don't know what to say about that…" Trunks scratched his head. "But why are you so anxious father? I thought you wouldn't like those martial arts competitions."

"Kakarrot is expecting some mystery fighter to show up…" Vegeta said heading out. "…if this guy is as good as he says, then I want to fight him myself…he will not have all the fun."

"I wonder who this guy could be." Trunks subconsciously followed behind Vegeta.

"Who knows…" Vegeta calmly punched in the code to open the gravity room door, noticing Trunks was still with him. "…do you plan on sparring with me?"

"I didn't but that sounds like a good idea, since I didn't get to fight those androids...would that be a problem, father?"

"Those androids should not have been a problem for you, assuming you're just as strong as the last time you came…but I, on the other hand, have gotten much stronger, and I don't plan on taking it easy on you…so the choice is yours." His father extended an arm to show him in.

"Uh...okay. Sure. Why not?" Trunks hurried into the gravity room.

"Great…I could use a good punching bag." Vegeta followed his son in and the door shut behind him.

Ah…slowly progressing along. I hate to end this chapter here, but I couldn't decide where or when to break. As always, please don't hesitate to state your opinions. I'm open to all suggestions; feel free to leave it in a review.