I don't own... what, Digimon? Naruto? Gundam Wing? NO! ... and I also don't own Dragon Ball Z xD
A/N: no, you are not mistaken. I have, indeed, updated. May God have mercy upon all of us.
Just... don't start a riot kthxbai o-o; and it doesn't take a year to update a fic, it takes a year for me to get my cute lil' behind to work on a certain fic xD
A Different Future
Chapter 19 – Home Sweet Home
The man stood there, watching the scene with rather mixed feelings. On one hand, he was shocked. So utterly shocked to have just found the boy there, safe and sound at least, apparently... yet on the other hand so horrified... so utterly filled with dread... happiness and relief never had a chance.
In front of him were not one, but two people for whom he had been looking for. The one crying on the other's shoulder was missing for no more than an hour, yet he knew the trouble he would've gotten into had he failed in finding her.
The other, whose appearance shocked him so, was missing for over a month. And to say Gohan was happy was quite a hard thing to say.
"Trunks... Trunks!" Marron wept on and on, Trunks's arms wrapped around her, the two not moving an inch from when they had made physical contact earlier. How long had they been like that? At the very least 15 minutes. That's when Gohan found that like that, following a Ki trail he hadn't let himself hope was Trunks's. Marron had no Ki signature to speak of.
"Sh... ssh... don't cry any more. I'm right here by your side..."
"Even... even after..."
He wiped her tears, smiling in a rather 'holier-than-thou' way. She told herself he had always smiled like that, and that she merely forgot about it over a month.
"I already told you... you've done nothing wrong."
"I betrayed you."
He placed a finger on her lips which then slowly trailed down to her right wrist, where a certain bracelet rested.
"New?"
She nodded wordlessly, the jewel as though a physical embodiment of her guilt and sorrow. Maybe that's why she was unable to bring herself to taking it off...
"I like it."
He said, making Marron look up at him.
"It suits you."
She chuckled bitterly.
"Remind me to get you matching earrings sometime..."
He gently touched her right ear, causing her to blush.
"...or a necklace..."
He gently lifted her face so that she'd look into his eyes.
"...or both."
He concluded, looking rather pleased with the idea. She couldn't help it any longer. The way Trunks was looking at her, and the way he's been smiling at her... touching her... both were wrong. But she couldn't deny those were the baby blue eyes she loved to look at. Those were the lips she loved to see curled up into a smile. That was the boy she learned she could not live without.
The tears came on their own accord as she threw herself at him again.
"Just having you here is fine!"
She felt frightened beyond words as she felt him tense, yet soon received an explanation. It wasn't exactly reassuring, though.
"I do believe staring like that is rude, if not illegal."
Marron pushed herself away and looked around, immediately spotting Gohan. Her face painted bright red as she turned away.
"I would've hated to intrude."
"You could've just left then."
Trunks's voice held such hostility, both others present had to wonder.
"I was just worried. Marron here ran out of school, and..."
"You what?"
the boy's attention returned to the girl who just shook her head and smiled.
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine, see?!"
Trunks nodded slowly and a rather tensed silence fell. It was obvious Trunks wanted Gohan gone, and Marron seemed to share those feelings, though from a different reason.
"Well..."
Gohan began, his adamant will to take both somewhere safe overruled by a sudden sense of relief. Trunks was fine... at least physically... and from what he saw, Marron would be safe as long as she was with Trunks. Therefore...
"...I doubt anyone would mind the two of you skipping school today... I'll drop your stuff at your place, ok Marron?"
"No!"
She yelled, yet neither responded. Gohan did, after all, know about her mother.
"I mean... I'll pick it up later... no need to trouble yourself, Gohan, really!"
The mad nodded, and, looking at them one last time, took his leave.
"I missed you..." Marron whispered, grabbing Trunks's sleeve. He covered her hand with his own, sending another wave of blood to her cheeks.
"And I missed you too... kept thinking about you."
At least the last half of the sentence was true, a part of him thought rather bitterly.
"I'm glad..."
She bit her lip, contemplating her next move. It was a moment she visioned for the past month or so... when she'd meet Trunks, when she'll ask, no, beg for his forgiveness... when she'll tell him... so much more...
"Ne, Trunks..."
"What is it?"
He sounded more like an adult treating a confused child than someone dealing with a childhood friend. And a best one at that.
"I... can we... stop by my house for a while?"
She half expected him to get excited. To explode with questions. To, at the very least, be surprised. He merely blinked at her. She looked away.
"Funny... the last time the issure rose... you kept asking questions and bothered me. Remember?"
"Yeah... I was so happy when I saw you were alright after that truck came our way... can't really remember anything else from then."
"It's ok!"
She shouted suddenly. He was taken aback.
"It's ok... I was just... thinking out loud... thinking... stupid things out loud..."
Her eyes widened as he caressed her cheek.
"You were worried that something happened to me. That's not stupid."
She looked away again.
"I just remembered how much it upset you the last time... didn't see much point in repeating that mistake", He explained.
Marron sighed. It all sounded so good, so right... then why couldn't she look him in the eye?! Why did it all feel so wrong?
"Let's go!"
she chirped as she jumped up, putting on a happy-go-lucky mask. Normally, he wouldn't have bought it, not without a tinge of worry in his eyes.
"I have something I just have to show you. Come on!"
She dragged him up, now paying attention to the weight he lost. For some reason he stayed rather built, though.
"If the lady so wishes..."
She stuck her tongue out, but just as soon as the 'old-Trunks' feeling came, it was gone. Forcing herself to ignore it, she dragged him away, to a place she never really truly called 'home'
–
–
"Mom I'm home!"
Marron called as she opened the front door of her house, letting Trunks in.
"So soon, sweetheart?! What's wrong?!"
Her mother asked worriedly from the kitchen and soon plates being placed in a hurry were heared. The girl pushed her friend to the living room and went to meet her mother out of the visitor's sight.
"Nothing, mom, just... they let us out early..."
"Really?! That's..."
"Oh, and I brought a guest over."
A clap was heared, following by the woman's squeals.
"A guest?! Oh Marron, sweetie, you never ever bring guests lately! Boy or girl? If it's a girl, I could..."
"Boy."
Another squeal. Trunks's eyes softened as he shook his head, yet he quickly returned to the somewhat indifferent pose he had on since he showed up.
"Oh, my Marron... grew up so fast..."
"Mom! Please, he's here, you know!"
Came her voice as she came into Trunks's view, pulling her mother by the hand. Marron's mother was an... average person. That's all Trunks could muster to describe her. Average height; average built and figure; average education. Brown hair and green eyes. She hadn't looked like Marron at all.
"Mom, meet... Trunks Briefs."
There was a slight pause in her talk as she noticed the looks her mother and best friend were giving each other.
"So, something wrong? Mom? Trunks?"
The question was completely worthless. She knew well what was wrong with both. With her mother, the reason she kept everyone out of her house and mostly out of her personal life. Her best friend? She caused it, of course she knew what happened to him.
No one was ever the same after being 'sent away'. It was for their own good at the end, though. It had to be. Resisting the Androids was never good.
"I didn't know you know someone who was 17's friend, Marron... And such a good one, too..."
Marron blinked as she looked at her friend, who was visibly tensed.
"You're... a rebel..."
He hissed, causing the girl in the room to pale. Her mother seemed to be on the verge of bursting into tears.
"I... was... I was! But not anymore! I swear!"
The dangerous look in Trunks's eyes hadn't wavered.
"You're dirty."
The woman sniffed loudly.
"I am... I am! I'll never be able to look at Lord 17 and Mistress 18 again... I can never redeem myself!"
"Traitor!"
"YES!"
The conversation... as it was... came to a bitter conclusion as Marron's hand connected with Trunks's cheek. He blinked, and so did her mother. The woman gasped. The boy turned to look at his friend slowly, a rather confused look in his eyes as he met her tear filled ones.
"Stop it, both of you... Just stop it!"
She cried, shaking. Both other people in the room stared at her with eyes filled with regret.
"I'll... I'll go... make some tea... yes... tea..."
And so her mother disappeared. Trunks bit his lower lip before hugging Marron.
"I'm sorry... I just... lost it. Stupid, with you right there... At least now I see why you never let anyone come over."
He said rather apologetically and scratched the back of his head.
"Please, Marron... don't cry..."
"I'm not crying!"
She yelled and pushed him away.
"No... of course you're not."
A moment of silence passed before Marron suddenly grabbed Trunks's hand and led him upstairs hurriedly. He said nothing, only listened to her chocked sobs.
They reached her room, filled with pink and stuffed animals, a bit pinker than how he always imagined it to be. Correction – Far too pink. He turned his attention back to Marron when she sobbed again, rummaging for something in her drawers.
"I... had it here... where did I put it?!"
For a moment he wondered if it really was purple he saw among all the pink she dug out.
"I put it... right there..."
He placed his hands on her shoulders, giving them a gentle reassuring squeeze.
"Calm down. I'm not in a hurry."
She brushed past him, and he managed to catch a tear in his hand as she passed by him. He stared at the drop, his fist closing instinctively around it when he heard her hiss in triumph.
"Found it."
He turned to her with his fist still clenched to find her holding a note in her hands. It was in a pink envelope, and on it were writings in a dark pink pen.
"I... wrote this... three weeks ago."
Her voice shook, as did her body.
"I... rewrote it... for the first time... exactly two weeks ago."
The shivers got worse, yet she still took a step forward. He hadn't moved a muscle.
"Exactly one week ago I thought I completed it... and have been rewriting it every day since. I... still have some things I want to say..."
"Marron..."
"Let me finish, Trunks!"
She begged, both in her voice and in her eyes, yet remained silence for several moments afterwards. As had he.
"I... don't know why I did it... why I did so many things... but this is just... how I feel about it all. It still doesn't mean I know how to put it into words. I... hope you'll understand."
She offered him the envelope and he accepted, the teardrop still clenched in his other hand.
"I... know you won't right away... understand it, I mean... so please, read it... when you're a bit more like yourself."
He looked at her with confusion, yet she only hand on a sad, knowing smile.
"It's ok... eventually... you'll understand."
The instant Trunks opened his mouth to reply, she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down, pressing her lips against his. For a moment there was no response, but he eventually wrapped his arms around her waists and kissed her back.
It was a warm feeling which filled her, safe and secure and welcoming, but above all, it was true. Warm and true, like his blue eyes she loved so much over a month ago.
She cursed silently as she had no one to blame for its lack but herself.
'You're not gone. Eventually, Trunks... you'll understand... I know you will.'
And he, on his part, pondered the odd sensation that came once the teardrop has slipped from his clenched fist and into the ground.
