Dragon Ball © Toriyama Akira, Shuheisha, Inc.


Chapter 13: The White Funeral


From up in the sky, one could easily tell which part of the world was mourning because there was the colour white gathered on the eastern part of the world. Gathering near the Dragon's Tear Lake were the villagers whose heart had been touched by Prince Son Gohan of the Fire Mountain, the grandson of the Great Ox King, who had been the village's protector all his life. Though the Son family never lived a fancy life as the royals, the villagers were still knowing and respecting them as one.

The Dragon's Tear Lake had always been the place the villagers shared their moments, be it happy or sad. They spent their time with their loved ones in the lake, then they became part of the lake when they died.

The first time Trunks watched the fire ritual was when Goten died two years ago. He wondered why people would put a candle in a small paper ship then let it float on top of the lake. Tenten told him that it was to let the Dragon God know that someone was about to depart from the world so the Dragon God would come to fetch them, then led their way to the other world. Though they didn't know if they were talking about the same Dragon God that came from the Dragon Balls.

In those two years, it was the third time Tenten float the candle for her family. It was probably her fourth knowing how her father passed away shortly after she was born.

Trunks sat by her side, accompanied her as she bowed at the people who came to express their condolences because it hurt him to see her doing it all alone. He wore a white shirt and white pants to match her white kimono because he didn't have the kind of clothes they had.

Tenten remained silent all the time, shed no tears, and showed no expression in the three days they mourned for Gohan. She only spoke a thing or two regarding the ritual preparation to him and Bulma. And his mother expressed sadness much more than Tenten herself. For Bulma, the loss of Gohan almost equal to losing her own son because she had seen Gohan as her own, so did Trunks. Gohan was the substitute for the father he didn't remember, the brother he never had, and the greatest teacher of all time.

But that was still nothing compared to Tenten, who had lost the last thing that supported her heart.

At the end of the ritual, Tenten poured Gohan's ash from the urn, then knelt beside the lake to bid her goodbye to her brother. Trunks clenched his fists at the thought that none of these had to happened should Gohan never sacrifice his left arm for his life.

He wouldn't think twice about exchanging his life for Gohan's.

After the ritual was done, his mother returned home to continue her research on the time machine, looking even more determined to do so after Gohan's funeral whereas he followed Tenten to her house. She slumped herself on the couch then closed her eyes. He then realised how silent the room was with her being the only person living in the house. Trunks could clearly remember how lively it was before.

Whenever he came, the smell of Chichi's wonderful cooking would welcome him, then the chef herself would be peeking, then warmly smiled at him. "Come in, Trunks! How are you doing lately?" she would say. The noise of Goten and Tenten bickered would follow, then Gohan would be the one to intervene, then the two would defend themselves on being the right one. After that, they would come to him together then tell him what happened, the would put him in an uncomfortable situation where he had to take side with one of them.

All those noises were nothing but a fleeting dream now.

It was easier for him to live on without the memory of his father.

Suddenly, Tenten rose from her seat and went to the kitchen. "Gosh, I'm so sorry, Trunks. I should be serving you something."

"N-no, you don't have to! Really!" he quickly said, "Just rest. You must be tired."

"Just make yourself comfortable," she said as she took the teacup along with the pot. "I'm really grateful for you and your mother's help. What can I do without you both?"

He chuckled. "That's the smallest thing we could do in exchange for your family's help all these times." He glanced at the place where Son's family photographs were. They had almost every moment of their life captured in the frames.

The uppermost was Son Goku and Chichi's wedding photo. Tenten really looked like her mother when she was young. Beside it was Gohan's first day at school photo, featuring him with his parent and grandfather, smiling below the cherry blossom tree. It reminded him that Goten, Tenten, and him—all three of them never had the privilege of going to school formally. Gohan was the one who tutored them altogether.

His eyes flitted to the one with a newer frame. The photo featured Tenten dipping her feet into the lake and smiling brightly towards the camera, which seemed to be recently taken. How he wanted to have the picture for himself, but he wouldn't dare to ask her.

"See any pictures you like?"

He quickly craned his head back to their family picture, hoping that she wouldn't catch him staring at her photo. "Y-your family has a lot of photos together."

"Yeah, unfortunately I don't have the one with my father. The only one I have is this one." Tenten pointed at the one that featured Goku, Gohan, and Chichi who was holding her belly. "This one was taken only a week before the virus had him so we were still inside my mother's belly. How about you?"

"Well, I only have one with my father as well. It's the one where my mother forced him to give me a piggyback." He took out his wallet and showed it to her.

"Oh, wow." She chuckled. "This is the first time I see him wearing a different expression. He looks the same in all of his photos. It seems that he has a soft spot for you after all."

"I'm not sure about that," he amusedly said. "He never even said 'I love you' to my mother."

"Not everyone expresses their feeling through words, Trunks. I believe that's just not his way to express himself. He died protecting the Earth, right?"

"He just wanted to test his power, I guess," he said. "My mother said that he was living his life wanting to prove himself."

"I'm not sure about that." It was her turn to say it while serving the tea and a plate of cookies. "This is the Earth where his family lives after all."

"I hope so. We'll see that once my mother finishes the time machine. That is if she ever manages to finish it." Trunks sipped his tea. "This whole idea about going back to the past doesn't make any sense for me." There wasn't a day where he argued with his mother about the ridiculous idea. However, his mother still pressed the importance of having his hope high.

"That is too good to be true, right?" She sighed. "But if the machine really does work, it must be nice to see everyone is well and alive, don't you think?"

He nodded. "True. But I'm pretty certain that she's not going to complete it. I guess I'll just train harder. Who knows I can beat the androids before she completes it."

Tenten stared blankly at her cup. He noticed that she clawed her fingers around the cup she was holding and bit her bottom lip.

"You… don't believe in my power?"

She shook her head almost immediately. "I-it's not that. It's just that I…"

He knew that she didn't want him to fight the androids but he didn't have any choice now that they were the only warriors left and no matter how agile and sneaky a fighter Tenten was, she was still below him in term of strength. What made them shared an equal fighting ability was the mysterious power she possessed.

When he craned his head to see her, only then he noticed her collarbones were protruding more than the way they were three days ago. She was getting skinnier, paler as if all the colours of life had left her.

Worried that her health might be declining that way, an idea crossed his mind. He didn't think twice before kneeling before her. He took her cup from her hand and held her hands with his. She glanced at his hand then his face in confusion.

"Tenten, do you want to live with me?"She widened her eyes in surprise while he immediately stuttered as to how similar his question was to a proposal. "No, no, no! I didn't mean it like that! I mean to… live with me and my mother! You know, you're going to live all by yourself from now on and I'm… really worried about you."

The thought of living with her made him feel both thrilled and nervous, not that he had any intention to do anything funny with her. But he was much happier if he could distract her with anything with her mental condition.

"I am… grateful with your offer—I truly am but… I don't want to leave this house, also…" she retracted her hands from him, "…it is best if you don't see me anymore."

His mouth slightly gaped. He was trying to look straight into her eyes but she glanced away every time he tried. His ears couldn't believe what he just heard.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Exactly as what you heard. Don't look for me anymore from now on," she coldly said.

He snorted. "That is the most ridiculous idea ever. How could that cross your mind in the first place? I can't leave you alone like this, not when the androids are still out there! I can protect you—"

"I don't need to be protected, Trunks! I can protect myself just fine!" she mercilessly cut him.

He took a deep breath and exhaled it. "Okay, I didn't mean to underestimate your power. I'm just suggesting that it is better if we stay together so we can watch each other's back."

"My answer remains'no'. I'm the last thing you should worry about. Thank you very much," she said with bitterness lacing her tone.

"Tenten, I—"

"I see that you're done with your tea. Please go home before you're making your mother worry." She collected the teacups and brought them straight into the sink. His eyes were glowing with rage. He tolerated her a lot of times and he had enough.

"Fine. I'll gather your things myself and take you by force." He rose from his seat and climbed the stairs straight to her room.

"W-what?! No, you can't do that!" she snarled while tailing him, trying to match her phase with him. "Stop right there, Trunks!" Trunks had slammed the door to her room open and was about to reach her wardrobe when she intervened and blocked the wardrobe with her body. "I can't believe you! You're trespassing my privacy! What is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing is wrong with me, Tenten! You're the problem!" He walked closer to her and trapped her.

"How am I the problem?! You're the one who's mad just because I refuse your offer!"

"My main problem is you saying that I should keep my distance from you! How did it cross your mind in the first place?!"

Tenten was about to say something, but she kept her mouth shut. "It's just best that way… It's just better to keep your distance away from me!"

"You don't know what's best for me!"

"Just go away already! I don't want to see you here! Not now and not forever!"

Trunks had lost it. Before she was about to say something, she was stopped by a firm kiss from him. She pushed his chest to break the kiss but he only held her harder until she slowly returned his kiss. He didn't know for how many nights he had dreamt for this moment. He admitted that the way they did it was very clumsy, but it didn't stop the spark from spreading throughout his body.

Moving her hands to massage his lavender locks, Trunks gained the courage to pulled her up and carried her to her bed. He placed his right hand on the base of her neck and had his fingers tangled with her right one. Her soft lips awaken his need to release all the feeling he had been holding for her. He wished he could freeze the time.

However, upon realising what they were doing, the two broke their kiss at the same time and moved away, both didn't want to look at one another in the eyes. Tenten sat near her bed lamp while Trunks sat far on the edge.

"I… I'm so sorry, Tenten… I shouldn't be doing that…" he muttered while ruffling his hair.

Tenten clenched her fists near her chest, trying to slow its beat after the kiss they shared. For a moment, she used him to feel the emotion he had given through his kiss.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Tenten broke the silence and said, "I know about your feeling…" He darted his eyes back to her. "I always know it… That's why I decided to pull myself away from you…" She hugged herself with her arms. "I can't return your feeling… And I'd only make you suffer if we're together…"

"What do you mean by you'd make me suffer?"

"Many things, Trunks…"

"If it's about your condition, I already knew about it." It was her turn to whip her head in his direction. "Gohan-san had told me about it. I apologise on his behalf, but that doesn't change anything, Tenten." He approached her and knelt before her. "I want to stay by your side exactly because I know it."

She shook her head. "No, Trunks. For your own sake, please stay away from me…" Tenten knew that it wasn't only that. Her brother's death affected not only her but to Trunks as well.

"Listen, Tenten. If you're afraid about losing me to the android, you don't have to. I've been able to control my form. Soon enough I will be strong enough to take them."

"We're never going to win, Trunks!" she finally screamed. "I've given up that hope since my brother died so don't make me hope anymore!"

Trunks frowned deeper but he decided not to push her, not especially at this time. He caressed her cheek with his knuckle very gently.

"It'll take time, but I will return that hope to you." He then kissed her forehead. "I'll come back to check you up tomorrow. Please rest well." Tenten was about to protest him so he quickly said, "I won't give up on you. I never will, Tenten."

She stared at him as he left the room, then finally shed the tears she had been holding all those days. She sobbed subtly, then louder as she tightened her arms around herself.

"I'm sorry, Trunks… I'm s-so sorry…"

Outside her house, Trunks rested his back on the door, then let himself slid until he sat on the ground. He rested his head on his palm, then grabbed his locks as if he wanted to rip them. His chest grew tight as the wave of emotion hit the back of his throat. Silently, he let everything out through his tears.

He had killed Gohan with his weakness…

He made her lost her faith in hope…

He was a failed warrior…

And most importantly, he was broken-hearted…


AN: The death ceremony scene above is non-canon because I like to slip something cultural in my story. XD If you're old readers, you might notice that I do a slight change to the kissing scene because I think Trunks is too OOC in the previous chapter. He supposed to be more shy than bold. XD

Okay, since a reader asked me why did I rewrite this story, I decided to answer it here because some of you might've wondered the same thing.

This fic was the very first story I wrote to practice my writing skill. Yeah, I just started writing three years ago. Then, when I decided to read this again, I cringed a lot! I never know that three years was such a long year until I read this story again. Then I decide that I want to make a story that everyone can enjoy, especially me since I'm the author—because who would enjoy the story if not even the author like it? XD

That aside, since this is my fanfiction, I want to emphasize the roles of the female characters like Bulma and Chichi—especially them. I don't feel like the series emphasized their role as the warriors' wives and mothers, which I think is probably a big might not be able to do anything when it comes to muscle battles, but Bulma created a time machine, and Chichi raises two boys who are far stronger than her by herself without Goku's presence.

I also think of a new concept for my OC. You might notice that I've put up 'The Tales of Dragon's Pearl' on top of the book cover. Yeah, I decided to make this series based on the tales I took from old Chinese legend. The tales will be told in the future so stay tune!

Please follow me, vote for my story, and add the book to your reading list!

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