On the ship, Trunks found Endive sitting in front of one
of the smaller windows. Her legs were drawn up so that she could wrap her
arms about her shins, but not so tightly drawn so that her knees were beneath
her chin. She was staring out at space, and had been quiet since they left
Ikomia.
Trunks was a little confused by her behavior. He had expected
her to do something more than just give Amian back the necklace, but he
was sure she had a reason for it. Maybe she saw something in those last
minutes when she looked him in the face, or maybe she didn't see something.
Either way, it seemed to bother her..
And whatever it was, he wanted to find out.
He didn't mind so much that they'd gone so far and walked
away with nothing. He hadn't known what to expect himself, and he'd wanted
to see space more than anything. He couldn't really complain. He wondered
what his mother would say when she found out what had happened.
Trunks sat down near her, close enough that he could look
out the window too, but not so close as to make either of them uncomfortable.
Under normal circumstances, Endive probably would have said something about
him inviting himself to join her; now she said absolutely nothing, and
didn't even acknowledge his presence.
He stayed quiet for a time, then said, "It wasn't what
you expected?"
Endive stayed quiet for so long that he was starting to
think she wasn't going to answer. Finally she said, "I don't know what
I expected."
"But you had to have expected something, Endive."
Quiet again, then, "Maybe I did. But what I found wasn't
what I expected. I expected to see someone I knew. I found a total stranger
that I don't think even recognized me."
Trunks was starting to understand a little better, now.
He thought maybe Endive was feeling out of place. Amian might have been
to her a link to a time before she was put in suspension, before she was
put so out of sorts and out of place. But Amian wasn't that link. He was
a total stranger to her now. When Trunks thought about it like that, he
had a feeling he would probably feel much the same as she did.
"So what are you going to do now?"
"I have no idea."
The half-Saiya-jin stayed quiet for a moment. "You could
come back to Earth for a while. You don't have to stay long, if you don't
want. Long enough to decide what to do, at least." Endive looked at him,
her eyes unreadable. Trunks felt himself blush a little under the weight
of that gaze. "Besides," he said quickly, looking out the window to try
and cover it, "a good sparring partner is hard to come by."
She looked at him for a few more moments, and he finally
looked back at her. She smiled. It occurred to him that this was the first
time he'd ever seen her really smile. "Yes, maybe I will. . . for a little
while."
End