DEATH IS SOFTER THAN LIFE
Chapter 1 - Let The Rain Fall
The wind couldn't blow away the dark clouds over them. The atmosphere was oppressive, waiting for some rain that strangely seemed to refuse falling. The wind was the only sound interrupting the surrounding silence, besides the weeping of a little girl, Bra.
Goten glanced anxiously on his side to his fellow half-breed Saiya-jin: Trunks.
Trunks hadn't moved. He was standing, rock-still, in his so dark suit, leaning slightly his weight on a staff up to his ankle, his dark glasses almost hiding his damaged eyes from the hurting light. His face looked like a stone, expressionless, mask which Goku had seen so many times on Vegeta.
Goku glanced at Vegeta, who was standing on Trunks' right, wearing on his face a bitter scowl. He was in a way surprised that the Saiya-jin prince was showing a bit of emotions anyway.
Behind Trunks, and slightly to the right, was standing Piccolo, and to the left was Yamucha. Gohan, as for him, was standing on Vegeta's right.
They had been placed this way to eventually prevent Vegeta from hurting himself if he was getting out of control, but now, Goku realized that such a danger would rather come from Trunks.
The boy hadn't spoken a word since the accident. He had raised an impermeable wall around him and wasn't displaying any emotion at all. Goten was watching him carefully, they were all fearing that the teenager would break at any moment. But Trunks wasn't showing any sign of any upcoming storm.
He hadn't even reacted when, after his period in the regenerating tank, the doctors had announced him that his eyes had been too badly burned by the explosion of light to recover fully. He hadn't said anything or displayed any emotion, just stared right in front of him. The doctors had first feared he had lost his mind in the accident, but were amazed he could still see things after
all what happened, but they were formal that there was a great chance that after a few years he would be totally blind. He had already lost more than 60% of his sight, and was obliged to stand in dark rooms in order not to accelerate the process. He was allowed to go outside but had to wear glasses so dark that - with the staff he was using to compensate his loss - he was already looking like a blind man.
Today, as the weather was cloudy, he had put glasses less dark, and his friends could guess his eyes expression through them. And what they were seeing could cool them down instantly.
Somewhere, in the middle of his grief, Vegeta didn't know what to do about Trunks. Even Mirai no Trunks had never gone into that state; or perhaps he did, when Gohan was killed in his timeline, but Vegeta had never witnessed this, and in the present case, he didn't know what to do or how to deal with his son.
In normal time, he would have solved that with a fight. His personal experience had proved that a good sparring session was excellent for tortured mind to release their stress. But here, he wasn't himself in the mood for it, and his son hadn't recovered from the incident yet. He still had some scars that would disappeared, but his eyes were another problem. Vegeta wondered if Trunks would have to learned how to fight blind. Then he remembered that his son's soul was more hurt than his body. And the problem was there. He didn't know how to break the shell, the wall, his son has built around him.
Bra, standing near her grandparents, was another matter. She was expressing her sadness without any restraint, which was perhaps good for her: she would heal faster than by doing like Trunks: keeping everything inside of her in a vicious and painful loop.
Vegeta didn't dare to raise his eyes. He knew that Goku, in front of him, was observing him with concern, and he would never had admitted he appreciated this, and hated it in the same time.
On a side of Goku, stood Chichi, Pan and Videl, and on the other side, Krilin, C18, Marron and Chaoz. Chichi looked like she had aged of 10 years in the passing three days. The loss of one of her oldest friends was too much for her. For them all, for no dragon ball would be able to resurrect their friend any longer.
The priest nodded once.
And carefully, slowly, the four hired hands began to lower the coffin into the ground.
And still, Trunks stood unmoving, only gazing at the coffin disappearing little by little in the darkness of the ground.
The sky seemed to have grown darker... but this damn rain still refused to fall!
Goten got his attention caught by Vegeta who breathed deeply, his scowl deeper, as if he too was trying to contain the grief overwhelming him. At that time, Trunks showed his first reaction in three days; he fell on his knee, removed his glasses with one hand and put the other on the ground, towards the descending coffin. Goten was caught of guards and took one second to kneel near Trunks and put a hand on his shoulder, ready for the worst. Around them, the adults were tense(d), ready to interfere also. Goten looked back at Trunks and read the extreme sadness and horror appearing in his light blue eyes. Trunks was trying to contain himself, but his face features and his unstable ki were betraying his thoughts.
Goten wondered why he was keeping everything so inside of him, why he didn't allowed himself to cry. He passed a comforting arm around Trunks' shoulders, but the latter didn't seem to notice. He was only staring at the hole where the coffin was laying. He turned the hand he had put on the ground into a fist, taking by the same occasion one of the roses that had fallen from the coffin. He
raised the fist slowly to his face, the rose almost against his lips. The rain finally decided - in almost perfect timing - to fly towards the earth, soaking them rapidly 'til the bones. It was not a light rain that comes and go. It was more like some force which had been contained too long and was released at once. The darkness created by the heavy clouds gathering seemed to fit particular with everybody's mood. It didn't make anything to help them, anyway...
Trunks was still kneeling, ignoring the rain that was impregnating his clothing and his hair, transforming the ground under his knees into mud.
Goten, decided to remain near his friend, was the only one able to hear what Trunks whispered.
"Okaachan... Gomen nasai... I'm so sorry... "
And he closed his eyes, allowing tears to appear. Goten suddenly understood.
The rain has finally decided to fall...
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And here's the continuation. I LOVE putting Trunks in dark and angst mood, it suits him so well :PPPPP You just want to HUG him ^___^ (even if this one is NOT Mirai-Trunks :p )
*Trunks grumbles … in a way that suits him well*
Roselyne: - See? :P
Trunks: - *POUTS!*
Little explanation for the japanese terms:
Okaachan - or Okaasan : Mother
Gomen Nasai : I'm sorry