I don't want to be a Fighter.
10
Trunks sighed heavily as he looked at his father leave the room. They had fought again. Not a vicious of a fight as their last one. Neither had to be hospitalized, but still.he had never seen his father this way. He was almost moping. Crystal pulled on his hand and hugged close to him. She was still having crying burst from watching them fight each other.
He rubbed her back and comforted her as best he could.
"I didn't know," she gasped. "I wouldn't have asked." She hiccupped and buried her face into his. "Him to come with me!" She sobbed again. "It's my fault daddy. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," he said. "None of it is your fault."
"He is going to leave!" She said and the tears hit a new level. He hugged her. How could he make her feel better? She was shaking so bad.
He looked down at her and shock took him. How could this be possible?
......
Junior was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home with his fiancé. He had a big romantic dinner in store for them and he had the whole night planned. Marron wasn't home yet but he was waiting. She would be home soon and she would be so surprised. She often accused him of being unromantic; well, this would prove her wrong!
There was a knock at the door and he just thought it was the flowers that he ordered to adorn the table. He was getting worried about them and thought they wouldn't arrive in time.
He almost ran to the door and was shocked to see his nephew looking at him with a bag over his shoulder.
"Benot?"
He looked up and it looked as if he had been fighting tears for a long while because they were starting to leak now and he was not having any luck holding back the tears now. "What happened?" he asked and then the tears came in full force now and he nearly collapsed in the entranceway.
He quickly grabbed his nephew and helped him inside and asked him what happened again.
"Mom," he gasped and rubbed his stomach, was all that he could get out of his mouth before he started to cry again. He felt that familiar panic rise in his stomach as he held his nephew as he let it all out.
Finally Benot got a hold of himself and pulled himself together. He waited anxiously to hear what happened.
"Mom can be such a bitch," Benot finally said.
He just about fell over.
......
"Crystal!" He said and kneeled in front of her and stared at her in total awe. She was still crying but she was trying to stop the tears from coming from her now brilliant green eyes! He ran his hand over her now blond hair; it was so blond that it was almost white.
She wasn't even powered up! At least he couldn't feel anything.
She looked at him and sniffed. "What is it daddy?"
"How did you transform?" he said as he amazed at his shy little girl who didn't train! How could she transform into this, when she didn't even know how to fly or show any interest in fighting! He could hardly breath.
She blinked at him and looked at her hands, as if they would show her transformed state. She looked so much older. She looked almost like a woman. and for once, it wasn't his imagination!
"Transform?" She said and reached to her hair. "Oh. This. I could do it a long time ago, but I don't look good with blond hair."
He blinked at his daughter.
"You.don't. look . good?"
It turned back to purple and her eyes to blue. She still looked older than she should. "Nuh-uh. I look funny. I like my purple hair," she said as swept it away from her face with both hands.
"How long?" he said nearly breathlessly.
"I don't know," she said. "I guess a year or two."
He just blinked at her. He didn't know what to make of it at all! She didn't train or even show an interest in training. How could she transform? He couldn't feel a change in her power level. That is what disturbed in the most. He couldn't feel her changing. He should feel that.
"You will stop grandpa from leaving, right?" she said, looking like a little girl again.
"Yes," he said. "I'll go talk to him. Now, Crystal, why didn't you tell me?"
She looked at him as if he said something stupid. "I'm your daughter. Of course I can do this."
He just stared at her. What was that supposed to mean? She must have seen the look on his face. "Soyna is as strong as anyone else! Why did you think that I would be weaker! I'm your daughter too."
He just about choked on the comment. "Soyna is not my daughter," he said in a rush.
"Well, she sort of is. So why did you think that I would be weaker when I have more strength than she does." Crystal said.
"More. strength?" He stared at his daughter.
"I don't want to be a fighter," she said with a whine. "I don't want to be as angry as she is." She was referring to Soyna. It was a lot to digest in such a sort period of time. He thought he had been good about keeping the fact that Soyna was his OTHER self's daughter away from his children. Obviously, she picked up on it.
"When everyone fights, they get so angry at each other. even when they are training," she said with sad eyes. "I don't want to be like that."
"Not all of us are angry," he said. "I'm not."
"You are when you fight." She said in a certain tone. "You all are like that. You all get sad and mad and turn into mean fighters. Even grandpa Goku."
She sniffed loudly and rubbed her eyes. He reached and comforted her. She accepted the hug. "We have to protect ourselves," Trunks said in a whisper.
She sniffed again. "You didn't see the look on her face dad." She said and buried her face into his chest. "She was so sad and so angry at the same time. She was really scary and you didn't see Grandpa. Grandpa just stood there and blocked her blows. He hardly was even doing that."
"I'll go talk to him. I promise." He said.
.......
"She punched me! She punched my right in the stomach!" Benot said angrily and was still fighting his tears. "She knocked me out! She knocked the wind right out of me. When I woke up, she was in an arm lock from Goku and Vegeta was on the ground with a bloody lip with Bra trying to help him." He rubbed his stomach again.
"They dragged her inside." Benot continued. "Dad dragged me back inside. She hurt me so bad that I couldn't walk yet. Cyrus was crying and puffing on his inhaler. She was so wired and nervous. I have never seen her that way before. Dad and Cyrus were finally able to calm her down." Junior took a minute to realize that he had actually called Goten 'Dad'. That was certainly a first; it was to bad it was happening at such a bad time.
Benot looked at his hands. "It was so horrible," he said.
"Here you go," Marron said and handed Benot a cup of tea. Benot was shaking a bit. "This will make you feel better."
Benot smiled and took the cup. Marron sat beside him and smoothed his hair a bit to comfort him.
"What happened to next?" he asked.
He took a sip of the tea and frowned heavily. He looked into the cup of tea, as if it was going to give him answers. "Well, she calmed down but she made it clear that she didn't want to see him again." His voice shook a bit but he took a sip again to hide it. "She apologized for hitting me, but I got mad at her."
"Mad at her?"
"I told her that she should just quit being so angry," he said, "but not in a nice way. I yelled at her a bit and I was feeling a bit better. Then she said that she couldn't forgive Vegeta for attacking Cyrus. I reminded her that I got hurt too! All she did was smile and say that I can defend myself and told me that I almost became a supersaiyian out there."
He took another sip of the tea. The shaking was increasing a bit. He was still angry. "I told mom, that I never want to become one."
"Why? You have been trying so hard?" Marron said. "I thought it would be a good thing to become a supersaiyian."
"It's not!" He said and splashed some of the cup on his hands. He didn't notice. "I don't want to be a fighter! I would rather become a whale than become a monster. I am never going to train again!" The tears again.
"Did you tell you mom that?" Marron said, smoothing his hair again.
"Yeah, but not as nicely," he said. "I think I called mom a monster."
He drew in a sharp intact of breath. "How did she react?"
He shrugged. "I kind of ran away after that. I don't know what happened after that." He noisily sipped the tea. "It is okay if I stay here. I really don't want to go home." He looked up with wide eyes. "Please."
Marron looked at him with wide concerned eyes and without him even answering. "Of course, you can stay the night. Why don't you go wash up and we will go out for supper and try to forget what happened today for a little while." She said and stood. Benot followed her.
He went to answer the ringing phone.
..............
She hadn't moved from that spot since Benot left. She just walked into the training room and sat down. Cyrus went and sat with her a bit but he left after awhile, but he still watched from time to time.
Goku felt an unfamiliar tightness in his chest as he looked at her. It was pure guilt. It was his entire fault all this was happening and he didn't know how to fix it! She was just sitting there, almost as if she was in meditation, but she wasn't meditating. If only she was so mad at Vegeta. He could always get her to come out of her shell. Goten wasn't having any luck. He was hoping that Junior could help her.
"Dad?"
He looked over at his son. He looked so worried. He wished he could do something.
"I'm going over to Junior's. Benot is there right now," he said and looked at his wife and sighed deeply. "If you can stay and watch the kids and her for awhile. I don't even know where Flint and Flare are."
He knew that. "They are playing with Gem out in the woods. I was supposed to go bring them in for supper." He shook his head. He had forgotten that Pan had asked him to do that. That was why he left the house and witness the latest attack.
Goten just nodded and rubbed his head. He called out to Soyna. "I'll be back soon."
Nothing. She just sat there.
He wished he knew what he was thinking.
...........
Cyrus chewed his lip and played with his inhaler. He couldn't sit by her anymore. She was just to still for this liking and it was kind of scary to see her like that. Plus, grandpa Goku hadn't moved from the training room door since she walked in there like a zombie.
He never knew his brother could swear so proficiently! He didn't know half the words that he was saying but he knew from the anger and shock on his parent's faces that it was not a good thing. Of course, when he called mom a monster and he was never going to be like her, he had never seen his mother look so pale!
Goten went after him a little bit, but the look of pure horror that crept across her face kept him back. That look slowly left her and an unreadable look came over her face and she went into the training room. She tried to tell her that Benot didn't mean the things that he said, but the problem was, that he did. He meant every word's that he spoke.
He peered in the window to see her silent and still.
"She shouldn't put so much pressure on herself," Grandpa Goku said in a whisper.
He looked up at the sad face of grandpa. Why was he so sad? He sighed at looked back at his mother. Everyone was so sad right now: all leading back to Oma's death. He wished he could tap into the powers of the dragon. He wished he could, but he had no idea how he could even get enough strength to do that. He gave a sad sigh and he felt grandpa Goku put his hand on his head.
"Are you okay?" he said. "You kind of got looked over."
He looked up at his grandpa. "I don't mind. I have been the center of attention for so long, being overlooked is a blessing." Grandpa smiled sadly and looked back into the training room.
He really hoped his family would recover from this.
........
"Dad?"
He turned to see his son looking at him. He had showered and examined the damage that she had done to him. It was just bruises and scratches. She had not been as graceful as she had been in the past fights. He was pretty sure that if she had her tail, he would not be looking at himself in the mirror or seeing the worried look on his son's face, or seeing his granddaughter peering around him. He was not trying very hard to block her attack.
"Are you okay?"
"That's a stupid question," he snorted and turned. Crystal looked at him with a moment of fear. Just like her old self, hiding behind her fathers legs. Not tugging on his hand. Not asking him to go for a walk.
"Soyna will forgive you, in time. It will just take her a little while to get over it." Crystal said and then ducked behind her dad's legs again.
Trunks sighed heavily and looked at his daughter briefly and then back at him. "I just want to know if you are going to be okay and if you need anything."
"I don't need anything," he said and a voice in the back of his head echoed 'except her.' He didn't know if the voice was referring to Soyna or to his lost wife. Didn't matter. They had been the two most important people in the world to him and they were both out of his reach.
"Are you sure dad? I could get."
"Leave me alone," he said harshly. Even looking at his son reminded him of Her. He took after her more than him anyway and he could not go to Bra's. He couldn't handle seeing her.
Trunks eyes grew wide for a moment. "All right dad. I will be here, if you need anything."
He watched his son close the door and felt an old anger rise again. He was the center of pity again. He did not like being the center of pity. He did not want that. He never wanted that! He turned back to the mirror and frowned.
He did not deserve the family he had. What was he thinking when he attacked Cyrus? He could not remember his train of thought. How could he have thought that he could get the dragon out of the boy? The boy just now knew that he was merged with Shelong. He just now knew. And what good would it do for him to have her back for just one more day.
What good would that do?
He needed her back for longer than that. He needed her. As much as he hated to think like that, he did need her. She was his anchor for so long. It was thoughts of her that always made him come back.
He needed her back for longer than a day.
He knew of only one way to have that.
.............
10
Trunks sighed heavily as he looked at his father leave the room. They had fought again. Not a vicious of a fight as their last one. Neither had to be hospitalized, but still.he had never seen his father this way. He was almost moping. Crystal pulled on his hand and hugged close to him. She was still having crying burst from watching them fight each other.
He rubbed her back and comforted her as best he could.
"I didn't know," she gasped. "I wouldn't have asked." She hiccupped and buried her face into his. "Him to come with me!" She sobbed again. "It's my fault daddy. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," he said. "None of it is your fault."
"He is going to leave!" She said and the tears hit a new level. He hugged her. How could he make her feel better? She was shaking so bad.
He looked down at her and shock took him. How could this be possible?
......
Junior was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home with his fiancé. He had a big romantic dinner in store for them and he had the whole night planned. Marron wasn't home yet but he was waiting. She would be home soon and she would be so surprised. She often accused him of being unromantic; well, this would prove her wrong!
There was a knock at the door and he just thought it was the flowers that he ordered to adorn the table. He was getting worried about them and thought they wouldn't arrive in time.
He almost ran to the door and was shocked to see his nephew looking at him with a bag over his shoulder.
"Benot?"
He looked up and it looked as if he had been fighting tears for a long while because they were starting to leak now and he was not having any luck holding back the tears now. "What happened?" he asked and then the tears came in full force now and he nearly collapsed in the entranceway.
He quickly grabbed his nephew and helped him inside and asked him what happened again.
"Mom," he gasped and rubbed his stomach, was all that he could get out of his mouth before he started to cry again. He felt that familiar panic rise in his stomach as he held his nephew as he let it all out.
Finally Benot got a hold of himself and pulled himself together. He waited anxiously to hear what happened.
"Mom can be such a bitch," Benot finally said.
He just about fell over.
......
"Crystal!" He said and kneeled in front of her and stared at her in total awe. She was still crying but she was trying to stop the tears from coming from her now brilliant green eyes! He ran his hand over her now blond hair; it was so blond that it was almost white.
She wasn't even powered up! At least he couldn't feel anything.
She looked at him and sniffed. "What is it daddy?"
"How did you transform?" he said as he amazed at his shy little girl who didn't train! How could she transform into this, when she didn't even know how to fly or show any interest in fighting! He could hardly breath.
She blinked at him and looked at her hands, as if they would show her transformed state. She looked so much older. She looked almost like a woman. and for once, it wasn't his imagination!
"Transform?" She said and reached to her hair. "Oh. This. I could do it a long time ago, but I don't look good with blond hair."
He blinked at his daughter.
"You.don't. look . good?"
It turned back to purple and her eyes to blue. She still looked older than she should. "Nuh-uh. I look funny. I like my purple hair," she said as swept it away from her face with both hands.
"How long?" he said nearly breathlessly.
"I don't know," she said. "I guess a year or two."
He just blinked at her. He didn't know what to make of it at all! She didn't train or even show an interest in training. How could she transform? He couldn't feel a change in her power level. That is what disturbed in the most. He couldn't feel her changing. He should feel that.
"You will stop grandpa from leaving, right?" she said, looking like a little girl again.
"Yes," he said. "I'll go talk to him. Now, Crystal, why didn't you tell me?"
She looked at him as if he said something stupid. "I'm your daughter. Of course I can do this."
He just stared at her. What was that supposed to mean? She must have seen the look on his face. "Soyna is as strong as anyone else! Why did you think that I would be weaker! I'm your daughter too."
He just about choked on the comment. "Soyna is not my daughter," he said in a rush.
"Well, she sort of is. So why did you think that I would be weaker when I have more strength than she does." Crystal said.
"More. strength?" He stared at his daughter.
"I don't want to be a fighter," she said with a whine. "I don't want to be as angry as she is." She was referring to Soyna. It was a lot to digest in such a sort period of time. He thought he had been good about keeping the fact that Soyna was his OTHER self's daughter away from his children. Obviously, she picked up on it.
"When everyone fights, they get so angry at each other. even when they are training," she said with sad eyes. "I don't want to be like that."
"Not all of us are angry," he said. "I'm not."
"You are when you fight." She said in a certain tone. "You all are like that. You all get sad and mad and turn into mean fighters. Even grandpa Goku."
She sniffed loudly and rubbed her eyes. He reached and comforted her. She accepted the hug. "We have to protect ourselves," Trunks said in a whisper.
She sniffed again. "You didn't see the look on her face dad." She said and buried her face into his chest. "She was so sad and so angry at the same time. She was really scary and you didn't see Grandpa. Grandpa just stood there and blocked her blows. He hardly was even doing that."
"I'll go talk to him. I promise." He said.
.......
"She punched me! She punched my right in the stomach!" Benot said angrily and was still fighting his tears. "She knocked me out! She knocked the wind right out of me. When I woke up, she was in an arm lock from Goku and Vegeta was on the ground with a bloody lip with Bra trying to help him." He rubbed his stomach again.
"They dragged her inside." Benot continued. "Dad dragged me back inside. She hurt me so bad that I couldn't walk yet. Cyrus was crying and puffing on his inhaler. She was so wired and nervous. I have never seen her that way before. Dad and Cyrus were finally able to calm her down." Junior took a minute to realize that he had actually called Goten 'Dad'. That was certainly a first; it was to bad it was happening at such a bad time.
Benot looked at his hands. "It was so horrible," he said.
"Here you go," Marron said and handed Benot a cup of tea. Benot was shaking a bit. "This will make you feel better."
Benot smiled and took the cup. Marron sat beside him and smoothed his hair a bit to comfort him.
"What happened to next?" he asked.
He took a sip of the tea and frowned heavily. He looked into the cup of tea, as if it was going to give him answers. "Well, she calmed down but she made it clear that she didn't want to see him again." His voice shook a bit but he took a sip again to hide it. "She apologized for hitting me, but I got mad at her."
"Mad at her?"
"I told her that she should just quit being so angry," he said, "but not in a nice way. I yelled at her a bit and I was feeling a bit better. Then she said that she couldn't forgive Vegeta for attacking Cyrus. I reminded her that I got hurt too! All she did was smile and say that I can defend myself and told me that I almost became a supersaiyian out there."
He took another sip of the tea. The shaking was increasing a bit. He was still angry. "I told mom, that I never want to become one."
"Why? You have been trying so hard?" Marron said. "I thought it would be a good thing to become a supersaiyian."
"It's not!" He said and splashed some of the cup on his hands. He didn't notice. "I don't want to be a fighter! I would rather become a whale than become a monster. I am never going to train again!" The tears again.
"Did you tell you mom that?" Marron said, smoothing his hair again.
"Yeah, but not as nicely," he said. "I think I called mom a monster."
He drew in a sharp intact of breath. "How did she react?"
He shrugged. "I kind of ran away after that. I don't know what happened after that." He noisily sipped the tea. "It is okay if I stay here. I really don't want to go home." He looked up with wide eyes. "Please."
Marron looked at him with wide concerned eyes and without him even answering. "Of course, you can stay the night. Why don't you go wash up and we will go out for supper and try to forget what happened today for a little while." She said and stood. Benot followed her.
He went to answer the ringing phone.
..............
She hadn't moved from that spot since Benot left. She just walked into the training room and sat down. Cyrus went and sat with her a bit but he left after awhile, but he still watched from time to time.
Goku felt an unfamiliar tightness in his chest as he looked at her. It was pure guilt. It was his entire fault all this was happening and he didn't know how to fix it! She was just sitting there, almost as if she was in meditation, but she wasn't meditating. If only she was so mad at Vegeta. He could always get her to come out of her shell. Goten wasn't having any luck. He was hoping that Junior could help her.
"Dad?"
He looked over at his son. He looked so worried. He wished he could do something.
"I'm going over to Junior's. Benot is there right now," he said and looked at his wife and sighed deeply. "If you can stay and watch the kids and her for awhile. I don't even know where Flint and Flare are."
He knew that. "They are playing with Gem out in the woods. I was supposed to go bring them in for supper." He shook his head. He had forgotten that Pan had asked him to do that. That was why he left the house and witness the latest attack.
Goten just nodded and rubbed his head. He called out to Soyna. "I'll be back soon."
Nothing. She just sat there.
He wished he knew what he was thinking.
...........
Cyrus chewed his lip and played with his inhaler. He couldn't sit by her anymore. She was just to still for this liking and it was kind of scary to see her like that. Plus, grandpa Goku hadn't moved from the training room door since she walked in there like a zombie.
He never knew his brother could swear so proficiently! He didn't know half the words that he was saying but he knew from the anger and shock on his parent's faces that it was not a good thing. Of course, when he called mom a monster and he was never going to be like her, he had never seen his mother look so pale!
Goten went after him a little bit, but the look of pure horror that crept across her face kept him back. That look slowly left her and an unreadable look came over her face and she went into the training room. She tried to tell her that Benot didn't mean the things that he said, but the problem was, that he did. He meant every word's that he spoke.
He peered in the window to see her silent and still.
"She shouldn't put so much pressure on herself," Grandpa Goku said in a whisper.
He looked up at the sad face of grandpa. Why was he so sad? He sighed at looked back at his mother. Everyone was so sad right now: all leading back to Oma's death. He wished he could tap into the powers of the dragon. He wished he could, but he had no idea how he could even get enough strength to do that. He gave a sad sigh and he felt grandpa Goku put his hand on his head.
"Are you okay?" he said. "You kind of got looked over."
He looked up at his grandpa. "I don't mind. I have been the center of attention for so long, being overlooked is a blessing." Grandpa smiled sadly and looked back into the training room.
He really hoped his family would recover from this.
........
"Dad?"
He turned to see his son looking at him. He had showered and examined the damage that she had done to him. It was just bruises and scratches. She had not been as graceful as she had been in the past fights. He was pretty sure that if she had her tail, he would not be looking at himself in the mirror or seeing the worried look on his son's face, or seeing his granddaughter peering around him. He was not trying very hard to block her attack.
"Are you okay?"
"That's a stupid question," he snorted and turned. Crystal looked at him with a moment of fear. Just like her old self, hiding behind her fathers legs. Not tugging on his hand. Not asking him to go for a walk.
"Soyna will forgive you, in time. It will just take her a little while to get over it." Crystal said and then ducked behind her dad's legs again.
Trunks sighed heavily and looked at his daughter briefly and then back at him. "I just want to know if you are going to be okay and if you need anything."
"I don't need anything," he said and a voice in the back of his head echoed 'except her.' He didn't know if the voice was referring to Soyna or to his lost wife. Didn't matter. They had been the two most important people in the world to him and they were both out of his reach.
"Are you sure dad? I could get."
"Leave me alone," he said harshly. Even looking at his son reminded him of Her. He took after her more than him anyway and he could not go to Bra's. He couldn't handle seeing her.
Trunks eyes grew wide for a moment. "All right dad. I will be here, if you need anything."
He watched his son close the door and felt an old anger rise again. He was the center of pity again. He did not like being the center of pity. He did not want that. He never wanted that! He turned back to the mirror and frowned.
He did not deserve the family he had. What was he thinking when he attacked Cyrus? He could not remember his train of thought. How could he have thought that he could get the dragon out of the boy? The boy just now knew that he was merged with Shelong. He just now knew. And what good would it do for him to have her back for just one more day.
What good would that do?
He needed her back for longer than that. He needed her. As much as he hated to think like that, he did need her. She was his anchor for so long. It was thoughts of her that always made him come back.
He needed her back for longer than a day.
He knew of only one way to have that.
.............