Hopeless
Curiosity grew in milliseconds. It changed from wondering what the strange noise was to "what the hell's wrong with Mirai?" They watched the man jump three feet from the couch with saucer sized eyes and scream some nonsense in a panicked voice while running to the backyard.
Their clueless looks met and immediately their attention set on the bright light that illuminated the night sky and disappeared just as fast, leaving the most uncomfortable silence. Gohan was the first to react.
"Oh, no!" He jumped off the couch and hurried outside after Mirai no Trunks.
This was weird
Everybody exchanged a questioning look and scrambled to their feet simultaneously and ran outside after the other two. The sight that welcomed them was all too familiar, but there was something out of place. There was the gazebo, the serving bots still cleaning the mess. The rounded balls still illuminated the area. Then there was Gohan, staring ahead absently next to a defeated looking Mirai no Trunks sitting on his legs, eyes fixed in the same direction as the older Son. Then there was the crater on the lawn
Oh, shit
Where was the time machine?
Then they all knew. The strange noise and the bright light came from the time machine. Somebody had stolen it in front of their very own eyes.
"Anybody cares to explain?" Yamcha's voice rang loud through the silence. Mirai no Trunks looked down to his lap and clenched his fists to his sides while standing.
"This is not good" he said staring ahead, yet acknowledging the people behind him "And it's not just the fact that somebody took Hope, but also that whoever did it does not know how to use it."
"Did you see who it was?"
"No. And I panicked so much it didn't occur to me to just check on the ki. Kuso!!!"
"But, who could have been? Do you think there's some way to retrieve the time machine?" Bulma asked trying to make him come up with some solution.
Frustration arose in Mirai's frame of mind. How could he be so stupid as to leave Hope standing there? True, there were no threats at CC, but still, he was just careless. Whoever took Hope didn't know how to use it. Only Mirai no Trunks, Mirai no Bulma and his older son knew how it worked. He racked his hands in his hair out of impotence.
"Trunks, honey, don't lose it. We will come up with something."
"Too bad you don't have a spare time machine to follow it" Kuririn commented, arms folded, holding his chin in his hand.
"It would be no use. Even if I had one, I don't have any media to track it down. By now, it could've gone out the stream and into a new TL."
"Nonsense! Everything's got to leave a trail wherever it goes" Vegeta called out from leaning on the wall next to the back door.
Mirai went on pacing for some seconds later when he finally got it. "Yeah, you're right otousama" he said absently "The problem is finding out what kind of trail."
"Why did this have to happen now!?" Yamcha whined, "It seems we can never get to rest peacefully!"
The senshi just looked at each other. Once again they had to struggle against some odd. Mirai no Trunks couldn't help but feel guilty about the whole ordeal. They had been happily celebrating and he just had to go and make the trip back. His guilt did nothing to ease his growing frustration as he failed to notice how his mother's younger version ushered everyone inside. His mind was working in overdrive with the haze his anger seemed to veil his jumbled thoughts.
It was like that, staring far in the distance to the now indigo mantle, fingers laced behind his head, failing to find a better gesture to restrain himself from blowing something up that he felt Bulma's light grip on his left shoulder. He closed his eyes, sighing heavily and let his arms slump lazily to his sides. He looked at his mother, only to be presented to an awaiting soft smile. Kami! How he had missed that smile. Mirai no Trunks' worries about Hope were quickly replaced by memories of his mother.
"Well, come on inside. We'll think this through somehow." She said leading him in through the back door to the kitchen.
**********
Red planet Only two words to summarize the first impression that welcomed the sight. Dull red skies extended for all you could see, along with the twin suns that managed to tell the hour of the day with extreme accuracy. Unlike Chikyuu, you could see no fluffy clouds dancing among the red expanse. The air was thick, hot and dry. The breeze was light and constant, murmuring lullabies still at the peak of day, rocking the oddly shaped leaves on the trees, for those unfamiliar with the place. The passive and amiable life form rose from the rich, reddish-brown soil supported by an impossibly thick trunk, which upon closer examination, curiously sported the first line of branches a couple of feet from the ground. These sprinted outwards and upwards while the superior ramifications bent downwards, giving it the impression of a cute chubby tree.
Not far, the soothing sounds of a river justified the intense green of the vegetal life form's lungs. The sing song of water running against smooth stones neatly placed at the bottom, as if deliberately cut and shaped, chanted silent fairy tales at your ears, tales of ancient times, of magic and dreams, and battles of honor... Mischievous water... so clear and transparent that if you stared long enough, it could show you a magical world at the bottom, on the other side of the liquid mirror; a world that cannot be touched, just seen, only if the mischievous water so wished.
And just all in a whole, so reminded you of one of Chikyuu's beautiful sunsets. It gave you that dreamy impression, almost unreal, the complete stillness apart only from the rustling of vegetation and water masses... Not.
"Giru, Giru! Get off me!" Came out from the cylindrically shaped ship located in the clearing. "Extreme situations require extreme measures" the small mechanical voice said again to no one in particular. A beep; then a whirring sound and another beep.
"Goku! Dinner ready!" The small robot under the saiyajin warrior made child amplified Chichi's voice.
The mass of unruly black hair shot up from the floor. "Where's dinner!? Where's dinner!?" He drooled, looking one way and the other.
"Goku-san, get off me" Giru said again.
"Ah, gomen Giru-chan. I didn't see you" Goku stood up in the small space allowing the little rounded robot to lift itself in the air.
Goku looked around. He was still inside the time machine. He checked the dials and the little green screen to one side of the control lever.
*******
When he came back from putting on his gi and found Giru hiding in the bushes, his mind began to drift away again. For the past week he had been thinking constantly about the arrival of the holiday. His wife was beaming and his daughter in law was very happy too. They were mothers. Keyword being mother. One more time in his 54 years of life he found himself wondering who his mother was. How she looked, what her voice sounded like, what she smelled like, what her ki was like, if she was a strong fighter... So many questions! He wondered what his life would have been had he known the woman and been with her from the beginning... There was that feeling again. Regret. Longing. Things he wished he would have had and were denied by destiny. He didn't know if it was the spell from the wish cast by the Dragonballs or if it was a very old, very deep desire he had been unconsciously avoiding. But it was there. The overwhelming desire to have his mother next to him right then.
His small, but at the same time enormous heart sank when he realized he might have had what his children in his first childhood. But then, maybe not. He was no expert in saiyajin customs or the culture at all. Leave that to Vegeta. But if the warrior prince was a pattern and the whole saiyajin race could be stereotyped through him, then maybe his relationship with his mother and Chichi's relationship with her sons could have applied the analogy only to the biological aspects. He was taken out of his reverie by Giru's ranting about Pan being dangerous and keeping as far away from her as possible.
The wind rustled the wild spikes of nightly hair away from his eyes, which were cast to the lawn. He sighed audibly and beckoned the robot to follow him back inside. Giru obeyed blindly, until that is, he caught sight of what he would consider a banquet. It stood there, shining under the moonlight and halogen lighting, resting on the lawn near the gazebo.
"FOOD!!!!! Giru, Giru, Giru!!!!!!"
Goku looked up, only to see the robot preparing to feast on Mirai no Trunks' time machine. He quickly phased out next to him and knocked him to the ground.
"Giru! You can't eat that! That's Trunks' time machine and his only way to go back home in the future. He only came to visit" You could almost see the little light bulb lit next to his head...
"... to the past."