Trunks stirred as something was shoved in his mouth. He automatically chewed and swallowed. Strength returned to his limbs and he opened his eyes.
"Hey Trunks."
"Krillin! You're back!" Trunks sat up and Krillin grinned.
"When I went to get Piccolo, I stopped to get some senzu beans. I thought they might be of some use."
"Yeah, thanks."
"TRUNKS!" whump.
"Ahh!" Trunks got slammed back to the ground, tackled by a speedy little missile.
"Hey Trunks." Mirai Trunks chuckled. "You okay?"
"Yep!" Chibi Trunks grinned, still sitting on his older self. Mirai Trunks laughed and reached up, ruffling Chibi Trunks' hair. He had a very strong urge to pull it. Chibi Trunks giggled.
"Let him up Trunks." Gohan lifted a protesting Chibi Trunks off of Mirai Trunks.
"Is everyone alright?" Mirai Trunks asked, sitting up again.
"Yeah." Krillin answered him. Mirai Trunks looked up and saw Vegeta leaning against a half destroyed wall. Vegeta nodded to him and Mirai Trunks smiled.
"We were more worried about you." Krillin continued.
"When the explosion happened," Gohan said, setting Chibi Trunks on his feet. "We knew you were in the middle of it. We couldn't find you for the longest time."
"You almost died." Goten said, hiding behind Gohan.
"Well," Mirai Trunks leaned back and rested his weight on his hands behind him, "It wouldn't be the first time." Gohan and Krillin laughed. Gohan offered his hand to Mirai Trunks. He took it and Gohan hoisted him to his feet. He looked around.
"Wow." This was the first time he had been able to see the damage. The five-story building now possessed a very open place. Trunks could see all the way to the sky through the roof. Piccolo and Yamcha came floating down from the roof.
"So they found you hu?" Yamcha said and Trunks nodded. "I was almost afraid you didn't make it. That explosion blew at least half of the place apart! You Saiyans are almost indestructible!" Vegeta pushed himself upright, off the wall and it crumbled away.
"We should get back to Capsule Corp." he said.
"Yeah, Mom must be really worried."
"My mom!" Chibi Trunks cried, a grin splitting his face. Mirai Trunks grinned back at him.
"Don't think so!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Nope!"
"Is TOO!" Chibi Trunks leaped at Mirai Trunks. Mirai Trunks laughed and flew up a few feet in the air.
"Is not!" Mirai Trunks sang. He laughed as Chibi Trunks chased him out of the ruined building. 18 walked into the room that the others were in. Everyone was starring at the sky where the Trunkses had disappeared.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"We don't really know." Gohan said.
"Trunks!" Goten cried, leaping towards the sky, "Wait for me!" He too disappeared out of sight. Gohan, Vegeta, Krillin, 18, Yamcha, and Piccolo followed close behind them. They turned towards Capsule Corp. as the sky darkened behind them.
Mirai Trunks stopped to allow Chibi Trunks to catch up.
"Let's wait for Goten." Mirai Trunks suggested and Chibi Trunks nodded. Goten caught up and stopped a bit away from the Trunks pair. He stuck a finger in his mouth. Mirai Trunks smiled at him. It seemed he wasn't all that easy around him yet.
"C'mon Goten!" Mirai Trunks said, "Let's get going."
"Yeah! I bet Mom will give us cake when we get there!" Chibi Trunks said excitedly.
"Cake?" Mirai Trunks asked, "What cake?"
"Nummy!" Goten cried, "I love cake. 'Specially you're mom's."
"Race you!" Chibi Trunks powered up to Super Saiyan.
"Okay!" Goten followed suit and they flew towards Capsule Corp.
"Wait!" Mirai Trunks called after them, "What cake?" Mirai Trunks also transformed. He caught up with a little difficulty to the two half-Saiyan youngsters.
"I can't believe it! You guys are already Super Saiyans!" Mirai Trunks said, easily keeping pace with the two. "I remember when I first became a Super Saiyan." He remembered all right. After long and intense training under Gohan's watchful eyes, he couldn't do it. It took the androids killing Gohan for him to finally make it. They landed in front of Capsule Corp., Chibi Trunks first, Goten, and then finally Mirai Trunks. Chibi Trunks dropped back to normal as he threw open the door.
"Mom! Mom!" he dashed into the house with a normalized Goten behind. Mirai Trunks' hair dropped down and changed back to lavender as he followed the two kids into the house.
"Mom?" Mirai Trunks headed to Bulma's workroom.
"Trunks!" Mirai and Chibi Trunks spun around as Bulma burst from the kitchen.
"Mom!" Chibi Trunks ran to her, arms outstretched. Bulma laughed and gave her little son a big hug.
"Goten!" Chichi appeared at the door of the Kitchen.
"Mom!" Goten giggled and ran to her to receive his hug. Mirai Trunks grinned. Videl came out of the kitchen, smiling as she watched the two kids.
The others all appeared at the front door and came inside. Vegeta immediately went to a corner of the room and leaned against it. 18 stayed by the door while everyone came into the center of the room. Bulma looked at Vegeta. She smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded back, with his own smile for her, unnoticed by the rest.
The room was all a-chatter, everyone talking at once. The only silent ones were Vegeta, still hanging out in the corner, Piccolo over by a wall, 18 by the door and Mirai Trunks on the outskirts of the group of people. He looked towards 18. Despite his feelings of androids, he was surprised to find that he had accepted her. Maybe not quite as a friend, but definitely as an ally. He had to admit, this 18 was different then the one he had known so well from his time. He sighed. She deserved an apology.
Bulma tensed as she watched Mirai Trunks approach 18. Determination flashed in his eyes. 18 looked up at Mirai Trunks. He stopped, suddenly uncomfortable. He swallowed.
"I'm sorry." He said and 18 blinked at him. "Sorry for treating you as I did. I shouldn't have. I was wrong. I'm sorry." 18 smiled slightly at him.
"No problem." She said. "It's understandable why. Thanks for trusting me." Trunks laughed and put his hand behind his head, a gesture he had picked up from Gohan in his time.
"Sure." He remembered something and brought his hand back down. "Thank you." He said. "For saving me."
"Well I couldn't just let you die. I needed more time. I wouldn't have been able to fight Semadd and get the others out in time." Trunks laughed.
Bulma sighed, watching her older son laughing with 18. One crisis averted.
I guess the lift-up party for Trunks will have to be turned into a going away party. But how to keep him from my workroom… Then she noticed something.
"Where did little Trunks go?" he had disappeared shortly after Bulma had started talking with Gohan, Videl and Chichi.
"Goten's gone too." Gohan observed. There was a clunk, a soft 'ow' and a slightly louder 'shhh' coming from the kitchen.
"They're into the cake." Bulma muttered dully and marched into the kitchen. Mirai Trunks' Saiyan stomach picked up the word 'cake' and he spun around.
"What cake?" He wandered over to Gohan, Videl, and Chichi.
"Um," Gohan said.
"Chichi decided that since Bulma was so stressed out about you guys," Videl said quickly, thinking fast, "That it would be good for her to keep busy and suggested making a cake, and we did."
"Oh, okay." Mirai Trunks said. "Is it done? I want some." Bulma came out with an already, horribly mauled cake and set it on a table. Chibi Trunks and Goten slid out of the kitchen. It turned out that they had been starving and had tried to serve themselves some cake. So, with knife in hand, Chibi Trunks had tried cutting the cake. The poor thing never had a chance.
"Well, I guess we might as well eat it." Bulma said. As if her words were magic, four Saiyans appeared by the table: Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Trunks, all with happy eyes.
"Trunks, Goten. Go get some plates and forks." Bulma ordered, looking at the kids. They dashed into the kitchen and came out in a flash with the ordered supplies. Laughing, she divided the cake into five pieces and piled it onto the plates, spearing them with a fork. She picked up the extra one.
"Okay." She said laughing, "Go!" She laughed as the Saiyans dived to the table, playfully wrestling for the biggest pile. Bulma walked over to Vegeta and handed him the cake in her hands.
Krillin shook his head at the Saiyans as the cake disappeared in seconds flat down the black holes they consider mouths. Chibi Trunks was the first to finish and he stole the plate that the cake had been on. Mirai Trunks finished only a second after and chased Chibi Trunks around the room for the last bit of icing on the plate, followed by the laughter of most everyone present.
"What about the party?" Vegeta asked and Bulma turned back to him.
"It's now a going-away party." She said. "Trunks is leaving in two days. Do you think you can keep him and little Trunks in the Gravity Room?"
"No problem." He smiled again at her, and then looked up as Mirai Trunks went sprawling on the floor, his foot caught in the rug. He rested his chin on a hand and glared at Chibi Trunks who was dancing just out of his reach. Suddenly, Mirai Trunks struck and managed to grab hold of the plate. He wrestled it from Chibi Trunks' grasp and held it above his head.
"I win!" he said. Chibi Trunks was looking at something behind Mirai Trunks. "Hu? Hey!" Goten had snuck up behind Mirai Trunks and wrenched the plate from him. He retreated to a corner and quickly licked the rest of the icing off of the plate. Chibi Trunks looked downcast and Mirai Trunks just laughed. Chibi Trunks brightened and dashed off into the kitchen, only to come back, happily eating the leftover icing out of the container with a spoon. The chase started anew.
Mirai Trunks managed to trap Chibi Trunks in a corner and nab the container away from him. By then, Chibi Trunks had eaten all but a few spoonfuls of icing. Mirai Trunks happily finished it off.
"Trunks!" Bulma snapped then grinned at the startled faces of her sons. "Go get ready for bed you two." The sun had long set behind the mountains. "You've had a long day."
"Okay Mom!" they said at the same time and raced each other up the stairs. Bulma drew everyone in close except for Vegeta, Piccolo, and 18 who really didn't want to anyways.
"Trunks is leaving in two days." Bulma said. "Let's have the party then."
"Okay." Gohan said. "Good idea…but…"
"But what?"
"What about the cake?" Gohan said and Bulma laughed.
"It looks like I'll have to buy a bunch just to keep you guys satisfied."
"I can make some." Chichi offered.
"I can help." Videl said.
"That'll work." Bulma replied.
———————————
Mirai Trunks pulled of his tattered and bloodstained shirt and tossed it in the trash. He pulled a clean shirt over his head. He kicked off his boots and changed into some shorts for bed. He sat down on his bed, ready to snuggle in for the night when a small knock at his door made him pause.
"Yes? Come in." Chibi Trunks pushed open the door and bounced onto the bed next to Mirai Trunks.
"Wanna come sleep in my room? Mom set up another bed in there!" He jumped up and pulled on Mirai Trunks' arm. "C'mon! C'mon!"
"Alright." Mirai Trunks laughed. How could you ignore a summons like that? He allowed Chibi Trunks to pull him out of his room, across the hall, and into Chibi Trunks' room. Sure enough, Bulma had set up another bed.
"See?" Chibi Trunks said bouncing on his bed.
"Yeah." Mirai Trunks yawned. "But I think we should get to bed. I'm tired."
"I'm not." Chibi Trunks said, attempting to hide a huge yawn behind his hands.
"Lie down." Mirai Trunks said. Chibi Trunks did and Mirai Trunks tucked him in.
"Good night Oniichan*." Chibi Trunks yawned.
"Good night." Mirai Trunks snuggled into the other bed. Not three minutes later, Chibi Trunks curled up next to him.
Why did Mom even bother setting up a second bed? Mirai Trunks wondered amused as he dozed off into a well-earned sleep.
*Oniichan – Close brother