Dragon Ball © Toriyama Akira, Shuheisha, Inc.


Chapter 14: A Caged Bird


Throughout the night, she couldn't shut her eyes no matter how hard she tried to tire herself out. She was tired, but every time she closed her eyes, the scene of her brother's dying state was being replayed over and over again. She finally gave up sleeping and went to the kitchen to get herself some water. As she walked towards the door, she stopped when she caught the reflection of herself—almost screamed at the sight of a living ghoul.

It had been two weeks since her brother's funeral and she admitted that she wasn't eating right. She just didn't have any appetite and keep practicing to distract her mind from the state of the world.

When she reached the sink to get the water, she couldn't hear her own heartbeat when something black and glistening was there, moving its antenna as if it wanted to confront her. Tenten screamed on top of her lungs out and threw everything her arms could reach in the cockroach's direction. Suddenly, the main door in her house being slammed open and startled her.

"Tenten! What happened?!"

Tenten widened her eyes when she saw Trunks made his way in.

"What are you doing here?!"

"I heard you screaming so I break the door and—"

"That wasn't my point! What are you doing in my house?!" She glanced at her clock. "It's 3AM in the morning!" screamed her even with the knowledge that their home had three hours' time difference.

"Uh, I…" He scratched his head groggily. "I thought that I should check you out to see how are you doing. I couldn't sleep myself so…"

Before Tenten could say anything, she widened her eyes when a sound of fluttering wings near her ears, seeing how the cockroach was flying in her direction. No screams came out of her mouth. She was always losing both her power and defence when the thing started to fly. No matter how stronger she was than average Earthlings, she was just a human in front of insects. Tenten accidentally bumped on the chair behind her and shrieked as she rolled to the floor.

"Tenten!" Trunks didn't spare a second thought when he aimed his hand towards the cockroach while his other hand supported Tenten. She was shouting at him, telling him to stop but it was too late, he had destroyed the cockroach along with the wall in her kitchen.

And that was how she kicked Trunks out of her house that night.

The next morning, Tenten brought the material she needed to fix both her door and the with her brothers, she was used to fixing the wall because according to her mother, the greatest Saiyan had to know how to fix the wall. She always competed with Goten on who was fixing it better whenever they made holes in their poor tiny hut. When she was applying the cement, she groaned at Trunks' Ki presence coming directly to her place. She pretended to be busy with her work and without any words exchanged, he ended up helping her.

She felt annoyed by how Trunks visited her every single day. She never opened the door for him, closing every curtain just so he couldn't check whether she was inside or not, pretending that he wasn't there. But he just stayed there, from day to dusk. If she had an errand to do outside the house, he would follow her, asking how she was doing but she wouldn't answer him.

She did that just so he would hate her and left her. But blood was thicker than water after all. He probably inherited the stubbornness from his parents.

When the wall was fixed, Tenten didn't say anything and just went back into her house without inviting him. It was rude and her mother would break her neck for it, but she deemed it necessary. She could still sense his Ki around noon, meaning that he was still waiting outside. Tenten couldn't deny that she felt bad for it and had the urge to just let him in most of the time but she always shook the thought away.

"Tenten, are you there?" Tenten recognised the voice to be her neighbour, Chai, when she was cooking for lunch.

"Coming!" She opened the door and widened her eyes when she saw Trunks helped Chai bringing boxes of vegetables.

"Oh, Tenten! Good to see you well, Kid!" The bubbly short lady brought Tenten down to hold her. "Oh, dear! You're so skinny! I'm bringing some food for lunch along with vegetables from our neighbours. You should eat it together with your boyfriend!" She then bumped onto Tenten's shoulder and whispered, "Isn't he the boy who played with you as a kid? He turned into such a fine young man!"

"M-my boyfriend?" She glanced at Trunks, who seemed to know nothing about it himself. "W-wait, Chai-san. He's not my boy—"

"Ah! Young people these days! No need to be shy about it. I know how it is to be young!" Chai laughed. "You shouldn't make him staying outside on such a hot day, Tenten! You know how our neighbours are, a hot boy in such a hot day—it will be a hot topic throughout the week!"Tenten glowered at Trunks when he looked away to hide his snigger. "Anyway, eat more, Kid. It's our turn to look after you now!" She patted Tenten on her arm. "Please look after her as well, Son! We're counting on you!" She winked at Trunks.

"Don't worry, Madame. I will," he politely said, which she silently groaned at.

After Chai left, an awkward silence fell between the two. Trunks had gotten into her house and she had no reason of kicking him out. After some thought, she took the foods Chai brought for her and said, "Do you want to have lunch here? Chai-san seemed to cook for two people—six normal portions, I meant, and I've already cooked for lunch too."

"Of course!" The way he looked so thrilled somewhat made her feel guilty for being so hard on him. However, things weren't the same anymore for them, especially since the kiss they shared that night.

Tenten was pretending she didn't notice every time he glanced at her. The only time Trunks broke the silence was the time he asked for more rice because of the yakiniku she cooked that day. She didn't know what crossed her mind when she decided to cook his favourite food.

"You… don't eat much, Tenten," he suddenly said as he put down his empty bowl. He had finished five bowls in a flash.

"I am on my second bowl," she said.

"That's still little for a Saiyan like us," he said.

"That's fine as long as I'm still eating," she pushed her chair backward as she brought the empty bowls to the sink.

"Let me—"

"Sit," she commanded. She turned on the radio for music just so the atmosphere wouldn't be so awkward. While she was washing the plate, Trunks waited in the living room. He glanced at the house and noticed it was much cleaner than before. It seemed Tenten was keeping herself busy when she wasn't practicing. He didn't want to be a stalker, but his gut was telling him that it was dangerous to let her alone. Suddenly, the music that was playing on the radio stopped.

"Breaking news! Tumeric Village has been attacked by the androids!" Trunks widened his eyes at this. "They are just destroying the major house and—oh no, they're here! Beak-san, behind you!" Came the sound of an explosion, then the radio buzzed. As much as he wanted to go to the place, he knew he was too late and wouldn't do much. However, the sound of breaking glass drove him out from his trail of thought. He quickly went to the kitchen and saw Tenten holding on to the sink like her life was depending on it.

"Tenten, are you o—" Her hands were shaking uncontrollably, her breathing was ragging and her whole body was sweating.

"G-Goten… Okaa-san… Onii-san…" she weakly muttered, shaking her head as her eyes started to welling up with tears.

"Hey, Tenten! Look at me!" He gently patted her cheek. "You're safe in your house. The android is far away from here!"

She covered her mouth with her palm and ran into the toilet to unleash a volley of vomit, each one getting louder after the other. Trunks took a plastic cup and filled it with water, placing it next to her mouth when she quitted down as he rubbed her back.

"I'm sorry you have to see t-that…" she whispered as she took the cup from his hand. She gargled and spat the stuff into the toilet before flushing it down. She looked away, feeling embarrassed to let Trunks saw her like this.

"It's okay." He wiped the side of her lips with a tissue. "Don't do anything else today and just rest, okay?" She was about to protest when he carried her in his arms, bringing her into her room where he gently laid her on her bed.

Tenten's eyes followed him as he took her medicine and prepared a glass of water. He covered her in her blanket, patted her gently before holding her hand as he sat on the floor. The rough pad of his thumb caressed her palm in a way that made her feel like she was in the safest place in the world.

"Sleep. I'll be here until you sleep. Don't think about anything else. Not the world, not the androids. It's just you and me, near the Dragon's Tear Lake… your favourite place," he whispered in such a comforting voice that slowly lulled her to her sleep.


Running in the middle of the Metroplex ruins, Tenten was hoping she would make it in time. She abruptly halted her movement when she saw her brother.

"Onii-san! Thank goodness I made it in time!" she ecstatically said as she approached him.

Gohan widened his eyes when he saw her. "Tenten, stop! Don't come any closer!"

Her heart stopped beating when an energy beam was piercing through her brother's chest. She called his name, but she couldn't even hear her own voice as she extended her arm, hoping she could reach her brother.

"Onii-san! Onii-san!"

"Tenten! Wake up!"

Her eyes fluttered open. She looked around to see that she was in her bedroom. Trunks' face came into her view and only then she realised that he was holding her hand.

"Trunks… you're still here?"

He nodded. "How can I when your nightmare keeps recurring like this?" He caressed the back of her hand with the rough pad of his thumb. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah…" She covered her eyes with the back of her hand. "Just a nightmare…" She glanced at the clock and noticed it was ten in the night. "You should go home, Trunks. Your mother must be worried about you."

He chuckled. "I've called her. She told me to spend as much as I want here as long as I don't do anything funny or she'd turn me into a capsule." He caressed her cheek, putting away the strands of hair that lingered on her face.

She snorted. "That's a good idea. I can easily return you to her that way." She touched the hand he used to caress her, staring at him for a moment before saying, "You should go home and rest."

"How about I sleep with you here?" he teased. Chuckling, she playfully poked his forehead so he feigned a pain by rubbing the very spot. After the cold treatments she gave her, he eventually returned them to the way they were before all those incidents.

"You can use Goten's room if you're too tired to go home." She sprang herself to her feet, straightening her clothes when she stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Preparing your bed. I'll take my brother's clothes for you. Probably it'll be too big though."

"That's okay. I can just sleep on the couch." She glared at him in response. "Okay, thank you so much. I appreciate it," he quickly revised his answer.

After she was done preparing Goten's bed, she told him to wait as she went to Gohan's room for his clothes. Sighing, he sat on Goten's bed while glancing at his room. Years had passed since his death but his scent was still pungent. Unlike Tenten who filled her shelf with books, Goten filled it with robot models.

A photo of them three was sitting on the desk, reminding him of those innocent days where they spent their time doing everything together. Goten made him promise a thing just before he passed away and he would continue his life holding that promise until the end of his time.

The door creaked open, revealing Tenten behind it with Gohan's clothes in her hand. "There you go. I also brought a towel and a toothbrush for you."

"Thanks." When he took the clothes from her hand, his hand accidentally touched hers. He let it lingered there despite the spark that jolted both of them. Tenten blinked several times while staring at their hands, then pushed everything onto him.

"G-go get change and get some rest. Good night!" She quickly turned away and headed towards the door. Trunks haphazardly tossed the clothes to the bed and strode to envelop her in his arms. The contact startled Tenten as she glanced over her shoulder. "T-Trunks? Can you let go of me?"

Trunks shook his head. He could feel her stiffened under his touch. She didn't know how to respond to him in such a situation so she gently stroked the arms that were holding her. He turned her body around and held her as close as he could.

"Trunks? What's wrong?" She tried to push his arms away but his hold on her was fervent. The more she pushed him, the more he tightened his hold.

Grabbing her arms, he stared right into her eyes. It was the moment when she realised how clear and pure his blue eyes were. He lovingly gazed at her and gently stroked her cheeks with his fingers.

"I knew it… I can't give up on you," he said. Tenten felt something bitter on her tongue at this. She didn't hate him but they weren't meant to be together.

"You should. I don't deserve every bit of you…" She broke their eye contact. "I c-can't return your feeling so you're wasting your time on m—" He put his finger on her lips.

"Don't say that." He lifted her chin and rested his forehead on hers. "It doesn't matter to me…"

Her eyelids were heavy when he descended his face to her. She slowly tilted her head to accept his kiss but turned her head away when she recalled the night when they were kissing. Trunks slightly frowned at her rejection but chose to kiss her forehead, letting his lips linger longer on it.

"Good night, Tenten," he said while caressing her cheek.

"Good night to you too…"

He reluctantly released her from his arms, seeing her back as she left the room. Upon returning to her room, Tenten rested her hands on top of her dressing table. She wanted to feel his love and wanted to return it, but she was afraid to feel.

The more she felt, the more it hurt her…

She would never let herself feel…

Because she wouldn't want to be hurt anymore…

And that was how she kept her heart locked in a cage and never let anyone get near to touch it.

She'd rather be a caged bird…

Because she was too afraid to soar to the free sky…


AN: I'm sorry if you find the story flows a little bit slow. Instead of jumping straight into the Cell saga, I really want to emphasise the struggles they face as the only warriors left in their time, that plus the loss and trauma they're having for losing so many people so you can see their development in the future chapters.

Some details are going to be changed, especially regarding Chichi's death. In the previous version, she died because of the depression she has post Goten's death, but I feel like I'm making her character too shallow that way.

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