A small thing requested by a user on Tumblr. They wanted to know more about Solin and Grainy's backstory, and I was happy to oblige with this small thing. So, Xenobladefan15, this one's for you :)

If his uncle or parents could see him now, Fu thought, they'd either disown him on the spot or assume he was playing some sort of long con. But as he stood in Grainy and Trunks' living room, holding Jean carefully like Solin had taught him, and letting her tug at his hair, Fu couldn't bring himself to care much.

He'd been lured in by the promise of getting some homecooked food, which would hopefully be a nice change from the endless amounts of ready meals and takeout that otherwise made up his and Solin's diet. Sometimes if he remembered, he would bring something back from his experiments, but Solin had put a stop to that after the escargot, which apparently did not travel well.

"If she gets too heavy, just put her down in her bouncer." Grainy advised when she came through, carrying said chair. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour or so."

"Nah, she's fine." Fu fought his wince when Jean moved on from his hair to claw for his ear instead. "I was actually wondering about that." He nodded to something behind Grainy and she thankfully turned, giving him a second to put the baby on his opposite hip, hoping she'd be too confused by the shift to pick another target.

There was a thick photo album open on the coffee table that Grainy had been flicking through when they'd arrived. At the moment it was lying so Fu could see what looked like a wedding scene, with Grainy and Solin's parents cutting into a tiered cake. They were a lot younger than they had been when they'd been waiting for Grainy to have Jean, which he'd expected but...still. "It's our family story." Grainy explained, giving the photo a fond smile before closing the album and gathering it up. "From their wedding, to finding me, then Solin, then up to where we are now with this one." She gave her daughter a kiss on the side of the head before sliding the album into its home on the shelf.

"You know, I don't think you've ever told me how you guys finally met." They both turned to see Trunks in the doorway, he and Solin carrying the drinks through. "I only know a few pieces that you guys have mentioned every now and then."

"Grainy tells it better." Solin said almost at once. "Her side's more exciting, I just had to wait for ages. Ages, I tell you!"

"Alright, you little drama queen, it wasn't that long." Despite her tone, Grainy wore a grin, "Well, I suppose it'll keep us busy until dinner's ready. Unless our guest has any objections?"

Fu shook his head. He'd been aware that the two sisters had different surnames for a reason, but it wasn't until recently that he'd found out why that was. As curious as he was though, he understood that there were some places in time that he was probably best staying well away from, and something like this was pretty high on that list.

But if Grainy was offering…

Let out a playful sigh, Grainy gestured for everyone to sit down. By this point, Fu's arms were just starting to strain, and he had the worrying realisation that Jean was starting to slobber on him. So, with a small apology to the little princess, he slowly lowered her into the bounce chair and moved the toys so they dangled in prime position to get batted at. Her whimper of complaint lasted until he found the button the controlled the music, and then she was distracted once more.

They all sat patiently as Grainy took a sip of her drink and thought, "I was about fifteen at the time and-"

"No, no!" Solin interrupted, "You have to start the story with what happened before all that!" She was bouncing up and down in her seat. "When you fed that twat his teeth!"

"I didn't feed him his teeth." Ignoring her sister's laughter, Grainy turned towards the others who were doing better at hiding their smirks, "I didn't. And watch your language in front of the baby."

Jean, who was already starting to doze off, didn't look too fussed by her aunt's choice of words, but then Fu wasn't exactly an expert. Still, Solin enthusiastically mimed zipping her lips and after making sure she would keep quiet, Grainy started again, "Alright, so I was about thirteen and life was as good as I thought it could get. I had a load of friends, and because I'd quit my martial arts lessons the year before, I had plenty of time to spend with them. Now, one day we're all walking through the park when we see the boys we were supposed to meet ganging up on one of our classmates. And leading them was the cutest guy in the class, Reuben."

"All looks, no personality?"

"Pretty much. So, I stepped in, to try and defuse the situation without resorting to violence, then when Reuben wouldn't let up, and went to throw a punch, I made sure it didn't hit the other boy. And then, well, he had a new target, and I was happy to oblige." It was a real sigh that Grainy let out now, "I didn't have the control I do now, and Reuben knew that. We'd both had the same teacher after all, and I think he was hoping my temper would make me sloppy. Instead, it took two of his friends to pull me off him and another guy had to slap me out of it when I went after them too. And no teeth were swallowed."

Fu sat back in wonder, trying to match what he knew of Grainy to this little spat she was talking about. Seeing the disbelief in his eyes, Solin beamed with pride, while Trunks looked just as amazed as he did. "No teeth," Solin teased, "But a lot of humble pie."

"Well, as hilarious as you find that particular detail now, at the time I thought it was the worst mistake I ever made."

"What? Why?"

"Because it turns out all my old friends are snobs. They were more concerned about me bruising the school heartthrob to care that he was picking on a kid who didn't come from the same type of background we did. Plus, I think they were scared of me, and I can't really blame them. So, I'm sitting in the cafeteria alone, realising I've got years of this to come, when another tray hits the table, and I look up to see Tana Cracker, a girl two years above me and known as the toughest in school for a reason."

Ignoring Nola's gaping, Tana made herself comfy and tucked into her serving of curry. When it became clear that she wasn't going to get an explanation, Nola slowly went back to her own food, her head shooting up when Tana set her fork down and sat back. For a second, the blonde just looked at her, arms crossed, before she shook her head. "You know, when Rai told me it was you who gave him that bloody nose, I thought he must've hit his head too. Only then, I get an update from the gossip chain, and find out that he was trying to pull you off someone a bit more deserving of a smack."

Was…was that what this was about?

"I thought you didn't like him?" Pretty much everyone in school knew that since Rai had started going out with Tana's younger sister, the two of them had been bouncing between playful insults and vicious arguments. It mostly depended on the day and how bored they both were.

"Ah, he's a shit." Tana gave her a cheeky grin, "But Mom said if I was going to congratulate you on it, I had to pass on a message from her too. She wants to know if she can expect you on Thursday or on Saturday?"

"Expect me?" It took Nola a second to work it out, before she remembered that the reason Tana was considered the toughest around was because of her mother. The one who ran her own martial arts school. The one who, last year, Nola had told that she was quitting and never coming back, "Tana, no."

"Tana, yes. Come on, it'll be fun! Mom's got some new assistants too, so she'll be able to work with you on your own, if that'd make you feel better."

"It doesn't." She looked over to where her friends were sitting. They barely seemed to notice she wasn't there, laughing and sharing a magazine like normal. She could still be their friend, she just had to keep her distance for a little while, and let this whole thing with Reuben blow over.

She just had to wait.

Following her gaze, Tana let out a sigh, "Ah, so that's why." She looked back at Nola, "Have you spoken to them about what happened?"

"Not really." She didn't add that they'd quickly made excuses to get away when Nola first came up to them that morning, or how they'd sat in awkward silence at the table they all shared in homeroom. "I'm just giving them some time. So, really," She hurried to say, "I won't be able to come to training anyway, I'll be too busy."

"Until the next time."

"There won't be a next time." There wouldn't. She wouldn't let there be.

"Can you really be so sure?" Tana asked, deadly serious, before shaking her head. "It doesn't have to be with us, Mom has loads of friends she can point you to, but it has to be with someone, Nola."

"No, it doesn't."

"Nola-"

"I was handling it fine, before. I can do it again."

"Until you get angry again? When you pick a fight with someone even tougher than Reuben?"

"I'm not having this conversation." It was something her mum would say when she was on the phone and it always worked. She gathered up her things, trying to shove them in her bag as quickly as possible when a hand clamped around her wrist. It lasted only a second before Tana loosened her fingers, but ready to tighten again if she had to. Staring down at the hand, Nola realised too late that her own was halfway into a twist that would reverse the hold, ready to slam the older girl's arm down on the table. Her other hand was clenched in a fist that she forced open again.

One eyebrow raised, Tana slowly pulled her hand away again, "You were with us for two years, Nola, and we let you quit because that's what you wanted, because you didn't trust yourself not to lose control on the mat again. And Mom let you, on the condition that if your way didn't work, you'd come back and let us try our way." Grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, Tana gave her a hard look, "Thursday or Saturday?"

Nola looked down at her hands, "Thursday." She said at last, "Just so you can see it won't work."

"Then I'll see you then." With that, Tana spun on her heel and left, while Nola sank back into her seat, head in her hands.

"Thanks to Tana and her mum, I learnt how to keep my head, even when my temper flared. To move and learn from each hit I took instead of lashing out to take revenge for it." Grainy shrugged, "After a while, I started feeling like I was back in control."

"So that's where your fighting style comes from?" Fu queried, thinking off all the times he'd seen Grainy twist her body to avoid a punch, only to use the move to spin her legs up to head height. "I'm surprised you still use it."

"It's had some changes over the years, I'll admit. But what's important is that it worked back then, enough that Alma, Tana's mum, felt safe enough to stat taking me to competitions. First to support our team, and then, when she thought I was ready, taking to the mats myself." She paused to take a sip, during which time Solin got up from her own seat, stepped over the now dozing Jean, and went to the bookshelf, returning with the album in her hands. She started flicking through the pages, and Grainy, seeming to guess what she was looking for, failed to hide her smile, "My first big competition was when I was fifteen, and I was able to win by the skin of my teeth."

"Found it!" Solin declared, setting the book down. Both Fu and Trunks craned to have a look, and Fu's first thought was that there had been some kind of mistake. Because the picture whichever reporter sent to cover the competition had chosen showed the new champion proudly holding her trophy in her arms. And even though the little caption said Nola Pastel, as Fu stared at the very blonde girl in the photo, he had to focus very hard on the brunette roots before his brain accepted that he was in fact looking at a photo of Grainy, not Solin.

He looked up now, reminding himself of the differences in their features. They were small but numerous as long as you knew what you were looking for, though even now he had to admit that if one of them did dye their hair to match the other, it would take him a few seconds. "So, you won this competition?" He asked, trying to get back to the story, "What happened next?"

"Well, this picture went in the local newspapers, but because it was a big tournament it hit a few of the bigger papers too. And then, about a week or two after the competition, Alma gets a letter from someone who thinks they may be related to me."

"I wonder who that could be." Solin smirked.

"Do you think it's real?" Nola asked, tugging on her hair. There wasn't much left of the dye Tana had helped her with, but there was apparently enough for someone to think they were related. Without looking, her dad gently moved her hand away, giving her a knife and some vegetables to cut instead, "I mean, do you really think so?"

"That's what your mum's trying to find out now." Almost as soon as Nola had finished telling them about the letter and they'd read it for themselves, her mum had taken the phone upstairs, dialling the number that had been included and questioning whoever picked up to within an inch of their life. "Don't worry, love, we'll get this sorted out." He sounded so confident, but it failed to rub off on her, even as she started slicing, and after a second, singing along with him.

Nola knew her parents had made enquiries when she was first found and they'd put in their request to adopt her. They'd been scared for her birth parents, believing at the time that something must've happened to make them leave her at the train station in her pushchair, and then later, by the possibility that she hadn't been the only one abandoned. Nothing had ever turned up, and after a while they'd finally settled into being their little family.

At the time, she hadn't minded. Why would she, when she had parents who loved her, and never let her think otherwise? Nola knew where she came from and up until now, she'd never seen the point in questioning that. Now though, it was a lot harder to keep thinking like that.

Suddenly, she didn't want to be here when her mum came off the phone. If this was a case of mistaken identity, then it meant someone had to break the news to the girl who had written that letter, if it wasn't just some big prank…But if it turned out this girl really was her long-lost sister, it opened up a whole new can of worms.

It was hard to say which scenario was the more frightening one.

"Do…Can I go to Rai's, quickly?" She suddenly asked. Her dad quirked his head, and she did her best to look casual, "His mum's got a copy of Sabrina that she said I could borrow." A really old, half worn copy that she kept threatening to throw out, but right now, it was the perfect excuse.

"Maybe not so coincidentally, that was the film that made Rai start calling me Grainy." After some thought, Grainy rolled her eyes, "After he realised that it made it sound like my whole name was Granola, I mean."

"The film was really grainy." Solin clarified, spying the confused looks. It still seemed a bit of a long shot, but then it wasn't any of Fu's business.

Humming like it made total sense to him, Trunks looked back to his partner, "So, what happened next? I think you mentioned a DNA test once."

"Well, Mum was finally passed onto the social worker in charge of where Solin lived. There were…words, because Mum couldn't understand how this wasn't brought up sooner, but they all agreed to meet up so this could all be investigated."

"Grainy and I weren't invited, so we didn't get our hopes up." Solin said it like it was no big deal, but Fu wasn't an idiot. Just remembering it now had her playing with her hair and shifting in her seat, "Like you say, Trunks, they wanted to get a proper confirmation. It didn't stop me sending more letters, or Grainy from writing her own."

The story was then rather forcefully put on hold by Jean letting out a huge wail from nowhere. Trunks reached down to try and comfort her, and quickly checked to make sure she was still clean, but she refused to settle, even when she was passed around the table, until Grainy gave in and stood up, propping her on a hip, "I think she's hungry. Be back in a minute."

Solin waved a hand, and sat back in her seat as her sister disappeared down the hall. "No worries, I can take over from here." She waited until a door closed and Jean's crying calmed down a bit before going on, "So, we're writing back and forth, waiting for the lab to hurry up and give us what we all know. Which took absolutely ages by the way, I swear there must've been some sort of DNA emergency or something going on."

"But eventually the results came?" Trunks prompted, before they could discover what exactly made a DNA emergency. Not that Fu was too bothered by that, he had enough experiments planned to last them a few weeks yet, longer if Solin refused to help him out.

"Yep, while I was having a crappy day at school, so you can guess how much of a pick up it was to find out I wasn't wrong." She gave a small smile, "To find out I really did have a big sister."

There were more phone calls, a lot of meetings, and another week of waiting, but at long last, the day finally came. Dressed in her nicest jeans and on her best behaviour for the carer assigned to take her, Solin was walking into a café in the city, looking around for her big sister.

It was still weird being able to say that and know it was true. Different from repeating it to convince herself and the carers who'd been baffled by her claims. A nice weird, but weird all the same, and she hoped that it would go away with a little practise.

They were sat near the back, and had already ordered. The lady Solin had watched storming in and out of the meeting room from the upstairs landing more times than she could think was sat next to the girl from the photograph that Solin had pinned to her board. Both had steaming mugs sat in front of them, and Nola was half-heartedly picking at a cake before giving up and turning to her coffee.

With a gentle push between the shoulders from her escort, Solin started picking her way through the tables, feeling her heart rise into her mouth. God, all that practise over what she'd say and now it was looking like she'd be lucky to be able to speak, let alone deliver the speech she'd envisioned.

Except then, Nola started ripping open little packets of sugar and tipping them into her mug. By the time Solin and her carer were at the table, there were four empty packets on the table, and she was reaching for a fifth, ignoring the look from her mother. And Solin couldn't stop herself before she opened her big mouth. "Too much of that stuff will kill you."

Trunks, looking like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, eventually decided on the former, while Fu didn't even have to think about it. When the half-Saiyan was finally able to breathe, he looked at Solin, who was wearing a look bordering on murderous, "I thought you were joking before!"

"Well, obviously not."

Pouting, Solin sat back in her seat and waited for him to finish, only getting up when the kitchen timer started throwing a fit. In the time it took for her and Fu to get everything dished up, Grainy returned from feeding Jean, and having handed the baby to Trunks, was sent into her own giggles when she heard how the story had ended.

After that, the story was mainly a rehash of what Fu and Trunks already knew. Solin was adopted, and about three years later Grainy entered a tournament that would've killed her, were it not for a specific wish being made over a century later. Rather needlessly, they let the story end there, as if trying to protect Fu from what he already knew.

Still, he'd be lying if he said he didn't appreciate it. It wasn't really dinnertime conversation.

"So…what I'm getting here is that if it wasn't for this Reuben guy, none of this might've happened." Fu sat back in his seat, hand to his chin as he thought it through, "Amazing how such a small thing could set all that in motion." From Grainy going back to fighting, to where they were now, including the gurgling baby that was lying in the crook of her father's arm, switching between dozing or staring at all the food.

Watching where his eyes had gone, Grainy cleared her throat and raised her glass, "To the little things." She toasted, throwing a smile around the table. "And to the big things that come from them."