I hit you and you hit me back
We fall to the floor the rest of the day stands still
Fine line between this and that
When things go wrong I pretend that the past isn't real
Now I'm trapped in this memory
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake slow to react
Even though you're close to me
You're still so distant, and I can't bring you back
 -Linkin Park

Trunks walked around in the gravity chamber. He wished his father had never left, but he did, and now Trunks had to deal with it. He wished his father were here to throw a punch or and insult...but he wasn't.

"You're not guarding yourself; do you want me to kill you?"

"I can't event lift my arms, how do you expect me to block your attacks?" said Trunks, growing angry. It was 5:30a.m and he had not seen a bread crumb.

"You must overcome the gravity; you're a Saiyan, not a pitiful human."

"It's all I can do to stand."

"Stop whining!" Vegeta ordered as he sent another attack towards his six year old son. Trunks was thrown backwards and his body was slammed against the chamber wall.

"Get up, or we'll train an extra two hours today." Trunks struggled to obey.

"Watch your left!" Vegeta warned. Trunks attempted to block, but his arms did not work under this gravity.

"You're disgraceful." Vegeta spat.

"I would do better if I had some breakfast." Trunks chose his words carefully. He had to constantly observe his tongue and tone around his father. The last time he had talked back to him had been horrible. The Prince responded with,

"There's a Saiyan cure for that tone of yours. If you use that tongue with me again I'll cut it off and feed it to the animals." Trunks knew he'd do it too. He was not going to risk losing his tongue over training, no matter how much it hurt.

"Stop daydreaming and try to attack me before I punch you again!" snapped Vegeta. Putting out all of his energy Trunks was able to dodge his father's next attack and hit him squarely in the chest.

"Was that an attack?" Vegeta sneered. "I didn't feel it. We're going to keep doing this until you knock me off balance, got it?" Trunks silently cursed his father for breathing and powered up to the SS level. This seemed to get Vegeta's attention. He powered up also.

Trunks woke from his daydream abruptly when he walked into the wall. There was still the dent where he hit it. Then, a horrible though struck his mind and sucked out all surrounding air. What if he was responsible for Vegeta's departure?

Trunks dodged his own energy blast with the equipment his grandfather built. He hated his father for leaving. His mother was dying because of the pain. A shock of guilt coursed through him, causing him to lose concentration and was hit by the blast. His mother was dying, and he had yelled at her. She did not need any more weight to bear. Trunks reset the machines and resumed training. However, something more than guilt itched in the corners of his mind. It was the sentence his mother said.

'He's coming back someday...' The words echoed throughout every fiber of his being. He knew she was correct in stating that he was lying. In truth, he really did want to see his father again. Trunks let off a large Kamehameha wave, neutralizing the machines.

"Why Father? Why did you cause us so much pain?"

Two weeks passed. Trunks barely came out of the chamber. It was partially because he felt guilty for shouting at his dying mother, and because he wanted to defeat his father. However, today was different. Today, Bulma was too weak to get out of bed. Trunks stayed by her side and apologized over and over for shouting at her. As was her nature towards her son she waved it off by saying,

"Sons are supposed to yell at their mothers once in awhile, you didn't do anything wrong." But it made little difference in the guilt Trunks felt. As the day progressed a thunderstorm brewed outside. Weather forecaster warned citizens to stay inside due to a flood warning. The doctor made hourly checks on Bulma. Around mid-day he took Trunks aside.

"She's weak, very weak." He said grimly. "I want to try hooking her to a machine for awhile." Seeing the look on Trunks's face he added,

"It's not your fault sonny; she'll just be on it for a little while. She needs fluids in her body. I'm going to retrieve a machine from the hospital. You try and get her to eat something."

Forty-five minutes later the doctor returned with the machine. Bulma hadn't eaten anything. Trunks watched painfully as IV's and tubes were attached to his mother.

"All done." announced the doctor. Then, as if he had read Trunks's mind, he left.

"I wish you didn't have to be on this." said Trunks mournfully.

"Believe me, I wish I didn't either." Bulma replied cheerfully. It hurt Trunks to see her smile like that.

"Could I ask you a favor Trunks?"

"Of course Mother."

"Would you go down and get some of my sketches?" Trunks contemplated this for a bit then decided,

"No, absolutely not, you need rest Mother, not work. Now, please eat something." He pushed food before her.

"But Trunks, it has to get done! And I'm not hungry."

"Then I'll follow your sketches and I'll do it, but at least eat some toast." Trunks argued. Bulma sighed, defeated, and took some toast.

"You're just like your father sometimes Trunks." said Bulma fondly. Trunks jumped back as if he had been bit.

"I'm nothing like him!" Trunks defended.

"You are." Bulma assured, "You're acting just as he would in this situation."

"If it weren't for him you wouldn't be this situation." Trunks retaliated. Apparently, Bulma couldn't find an argument to this because she didn't respond.

For the rest of the afternoon, Trunks read book and played music for his mother. By early evening, Bulma was asleep.

A bolt of lightening struck close to the house, followed by a loud BANG! Trunks rushed to the door to see what had caused the noise. The door had been opened. Leaves and grass whipped around the familiar silhouette of a man. Trunks's eyes widened as he realized who was standing in the doorway, although he could not yet see his face. The figure was muscular with a highly intimidating stance. Trunks recovered from shock and clenched his fists. He flew toward the figure with astounding speed. The rapid punches had little effect on the man; he blocked the attacks easily. Trunks took a heavy swing and made contact with the man's jaw; followed by a mighty Kamehameha. The figure staggered backwards.

"You've gotten stronger boy, but not enough to match me."

"How can you walk in here after what you did to us?" Trunks asked. The person came into full light.

"It's easy," Vegeta snarled, "I used my legs."

"Don't give me that crap."

"Tsk, tsk, don't you know not to use that language with your father?" Vegeta waggled a finger at him.

"As far as I'm concerned, my father died five years ago." Trunks growled. "My father was kind even if he was a negligent husband and father. You occupy my father's body but you are not him. You are different. You are a cold, heartless monster."

"True, but that's the Saiyan way."

"You left your only son and wife and you don't care?!"

"Why should I care?" Vegeta answered carelessly. Trunks's upper lip curled while he bit his lower one to stop tears from falling out.

"Do you know that Mother is dying because of you?" Trunks bellowed. This seemed to have a temporarily stupefying effect on Vegeta, however he recovered quickly.

"Where is the woman?"

"Upstairs." responded Trunks; satisfied that he had touched a nerve. Vegeta trod up the stairs and into Bulma's room. Vegeta walked to the bed and stared down at his wife.

"Why is she on this machine?" Anger rose in Trunks again.

"Because of you! Ever since you left her heart's been growing weaker!"

"Humans are weak." Vegeta scoffed and turned to leave. A strong chi blast hit him in the back. "You're not leaving again! You're not leaving until she sees you! Can you not imagine the pain you put her through every day? If she sees you she might get better! Don't you care?"

"I wasn't going to leave brat. And no, I don't care." Vegeta answered.

"I'd believe that, but then, why did you come back?" Vegeta was suddenly very interested in the floor.

"Kami you're talkative. Anyway I don't think it's your business kid."

"The hell it's not my business!'" Trunks found it very difficult to keep his voice steady and quiet. "Mother's been predicting your arrival for the past three weeks. I want to know why you did, Vegeta." Vegeta looked shocked.

"I am your father and you will treat me as such!"

"My father's dead! He died five years ago and I don't think even the Eternal Dragon can bring him back. There's a guest room down the hall, stay there. And don't even try to leave; you'd have to kill me to do that." Vegeta left the room quickly. That night, Trunks slept on the door mat to ensure an attempted exit would not go unnoticed.

Vegeta's back and things are about to get interesting. Be sure to read the next chapters to find out exactly how interesting! I decided to post this chapter early because I'm sorry my internet went down ; ...and I'm a very impatient person so from now on I'll post a chapter every day instead of every other day. And I'll be looking for any excuse to post early.