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I've got to. Today I have to talk to him. I stumble out of bed and into the shower, relaxing back against Vegeta when he joins me. I let him know of my intentions for the day as he massages my back. Smiling softly, I close my eyes and focus on the motions of his hands. "That's…nice," I murmur. Turning me slowly around, he pulls me into a soft embrace, causing me to sigh in pleasure.

"I love you," I whisper in his ear, placing my lips on his neck. He stays silent, only moving to kiss me passionately on the lips. I remember moaning into his mouth before we got out, dried each other off, and got dressed.

"Pancakes for breakfast?" At his response in the affirmative I traipsed downstairs to start on the morning meal. Vegeta followed after a few minutes, and within a half hour I was finished.

"'Geta? Could you get Trunks and Bra down here for breakfast?"

"Sure."

Minutes later we're all seated in silence around the table. Trunks is staring at nothing but his plate, whilst Bra natters on about nothing in particular. Vegeta and I cast furtive glances bck and forth, trying to figure something out. I motion for Vegeta to take Bra and leave. He does so, with only slight hesitation. Now alone, I turn my gaze back to Trunks…

…And struggle to hold back tears when he looks at me, for all the world looking like a caged animal. He makes brief eye contact, distrust filling those beautiful blue eyes. "Trunks, what's wrong?" He continues to stare at me, his eyes focusing and unfocusing as his gaze bores into my eyes.

"I think you know the answer to that," he finally answered, his voice barely audible.

"I know…I know that, but this, there's something else here. This is more than just you not wanting that to happen to you."

"It's nothing, I''ll work it out myself."

"Why won't you let me talk to you? No matter how…unhappy you are, you always need someone to talk to. Please, son, talk to me."

"I can't…It's hard to talk about the problem to the problem, you know?" I blink at him in confusion.

"Trunks if you have a problem with something about me, anything, you need to tell me, and maybe I can fix it."

"If I wanted to talk to someone, it would have to be to someone who cares, like…Bra. And I don't think she really needs to hear a lot of what I'd like to say."

"You think I don't care about you? You know I love you more than anything Trunks, please don't talk like that."

"It's okay, you don't have to lie to me, I've accepted it now, so please, just don't pretend that you love me, we both know it isn't true. And it only makes it worse when you say stuff like that." I shake my head in disbelief, the tears I had tried so hard to quell now coursing down my face. My baby, my Trunks…what happened to him? How could I not have seen this?

"God, Trunks, how can you think that?" I walk over to his side of the table and sit beside him. I place a hand on the sid eof his face, and ever so slightly, he pulls away, but not enough to break contact. "I love you, Trunks. I love you so so much, don't you ever think otherwise, got it?" he looks so hopeful, like he wants to believe me, but he just isn't sure. I can see the emotions whirling in his eyes, and he struggles to stay in control. I wrap my arms around him and pull his head down onto my shoulder, feeling him shudder with the harsh release of pent-up hurt. I lose track of the time that passes as he cries into my shoulder; he hasn't cried in so long, at least as far as I know. I shed my own tears for my baby, my little Trunks. After an hour, I realize that he's leaning more heavily on me, and his crying has stopped. He's probably asleep.

"Trunks-chan," I croon, combing his hair with my fingers. He wakes slowly, pulling away enough to kiss my cheek. "I love you too, Mom." I smile at him and rub his cheek with my fingers to dry them. His eyes smile at me, though it never touches his mouth.

"You have dinner choice for tonight."

"Okay."

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