Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ/GT
Tomorrow waits for Us
Chapter 2
As Trunks flew toward home, his mind drifted back to the events of the last two years. The seven Shadow Dragons had been defeated, and Goku had disappeared as payment for one last wish from Shenron. Many people thought that was the end, but for Trunks, that was the beginning of his life.
Trunks had always had such high expectations to live up to. His mother was a genius, and his father was the uncrowned King of the Saiyans. It seemed like everyone wanted him to be both a genius, and a strong warrior. On top of that, they wanted him to be well behaved and responsible, something his parents were definitely not.
After the Dragonballs disappeared, Trunks felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Li Shenron had been defeated by Goku's amazing spirit bomb, formed from energy donated from almost all of the creatures in the galaxy. Trunks had felt a sense of closure, and he knew he wasn't the only one. His father, with the help of his mother's technical genius, had finally reached the pinnacle level of being a Super-Saiyan. There was a peace in Vegeta's eyes now that had been absent before.
Trunks had gone back to work at Capsule Corp. after the fateful final battle. The earth was in a state of chaos at the time, owing to the rediculous amount of distruction that the evil shenrons had caused. At times, He was sure they wouldn't survive as famine and widespread sickness killed millions.
It was during this time that Trunks remembered the damaged time machine that Cell had abandoned in his Quest for 17 and 18. At that point, he knew it was imperative to to rebuild Capsule Corp and West City, and to repair the time machine in case the restoration efforts proved futile. He'd run into stiff opposition at first, but amazingly with West City functioning again hope seemed to return to the survivors. Unbeknownst to them, Trunks had finally gotten a team working or fixing the time machine.
Marron had come to him soon after, saying that she felt left out of the recovery efforts. She'd been going to college, studying physics and psychology before the incident with Dr. Myuu and Super 17. Trunks didn't quite know what to do with her, since she hadn't taken the higher level classes required for her degree. He'd asked Branford to find a position for her, but hadn't been expecting much. Trunks knew that all of them were contributing in a small way, culminating in a large result.
To the surprise of many, Marron's prodigious skills became readily apparent.She had a different way of looking at the world, and that seemed to lend her a surreal mastery of chaotic and non-linear physics applications. In the first few days, Branford had asked, or rather begged Trunks to allow him to put her to work on restoring the time machine. Trunks had been stunned, but had readily agreed to place her on the top-secret project.
In the year and a half that she'd been there, she helped create the new time machine, a vast improvement on the design of the original. During that time, she'd shown an aptitude for managing people, and had risen to become project manager by the time the prototype had been completed. When even the new time machine had failed to be of use for anything other than travel to the past, the team went into a deep depression. The other Trunks' success with the time machine had seemed to fill them with belief that anything was possible. Hitting the hard wall of reality had been devastating.
Trunks hadn't been as upset as the scientists in R&D had been. They still had a functioning time machine, an unbelievable achievement by anyone's measure. The original time machine was stored at Capsule Corp., safe in the secure basement levels. The prototype was at his house. He had felt at the time that it was enough. They had a way to fix the past if anything went seriously wrong.
Bulma hadn't been convinced, however. She was worried that something else might have gone wrong in the alternate dimension. She'd asked Trunks to get a team working on the problem. For once, her technological genius for didn't have a ready answer to the problem of controlling where the time machine ended up. Trunks had decided that Marron's dispirited team had the best chance of success, and they seemed to regain their former spark when presented with the challenge of making the time machine work the way they wanted it to.
Trunks glanced over at Marron as they flew along. She flew with an enthusiasm that had been lacking the last few months. Her head was thrown back into the wind, and her unbound blonde hair flowed out behind her. The white dress she had changed into at Capsule Corp. brought to mind his earlier impression of her being an angel. I wonder what's been weighing on her mind for so long.
He immediately dismissed her explanation about Babidi. While that was certainly a valid worry, the way she presented her argument suggested that she hadn't really been thinking about it for very long. It's almost like she'd come up with that to cover for something else...
"Hey! Earth to Trunks!" Marron shouted at him.
Trunks was startled out of his thoughts. "What, Marron?" He shouted back.
"You wanna race with me or not!" She said crossly.
He looked at her in puzzlement. "Have you been trying to get my attention?"
"Duh, genius! I'll race you to breakfast!" Her eyes reflected an eagerness to challenge him.
She is so not going to beat me there. I won't even go super. "You're on!" Trunks playfully answered her challenge. Both of them tapped into their deeper power, heat waves of energy suddenly flowing out of their bodies.
"Ready," Marron stated. "Set...GO!"
They both flew off at amazing speed. Marron had the advantage at first because she called the start, but Trunks was right behind her. As they flew over the peaceful country landscape, Trunks' focus narrowed significantly. He saw only what was in their path, and absently noted Marron's position. This tended to happen to him the faster he went. For him, time seemed to slow down when he moved at higher speeds, and his mind relaxed as it took in more and more information. The colors and sounds sharpened, and he fell into the movements of the world around him.
Trunks tapped deeper into his power, and surged ahead. Surprisingly, Marron surged ahead as well, and they were dead even as they blasted over the old Capsule Corp. compound. As it passed below them, they continued at sub-sonic speed, their previous goal forgotten in the need to surpass each other. Trunks glanced over a Marron, and he saw an evil glint in her eye. He was forcefully reminded of 18 at that moment, but he was no pushover, either.
As Marron blasted ahead of Trunks, the young Saiyan tapped his normal maximum and was still losing ground. Fine! If she wants to be serious, then I won't hold back either! He tapped deeper into himself, and felt his skin tingling and his hair crackling with energy. His aura flared into the visible spectrum, giving turning his hair golden and his eyes green. As he tapped his Super-Saiyan power, he was suddenly moving far faster, and his world seemed to contract into a single focused instant.
As he rocketed passed Marron, she seemed to flinch, and then gained even more speed. Much to Trunks surprise, she was right beside him, again. Both glanced out of the corner of their eyes, checking the other other's position.
When he glanced ahead again, he saw the plane flying toward them.
Trunks glanced at Marron, but she didn't seem to have noticed the mid-sized passenger jet as of yet. From his perspective of heightened awareness, it seemed like he had all the time in the world to get out of the way. He knew that wasn't the case for Marron. She had some fighting experience, but he couldn't safely assume that she had reflexes equal to his…
Trunks moved so fast that his image blurred and disappeared, only becoming visible when he ended up right behind Marron. He wrapped his arms around her middle as gently as he could given the time he had, and pulled her sideways as fast as he could.
"Wha...!" Marron shrieked, and then she felt the wind displacement from the jet. Trunks turned her away from the aftershock of the plane's passing.
Trunks carried Marron down to the ground, setting her down gently in a grassy area by a lone tree. She was still shaking like a leaf. "Umm...Marron, I'm really sorry about that..." Trunks began.
Marron took a shuddery breath and sharply interrupted him. "Don't apologize about that!" She almost spat at him. She took a deep breath, and visibly tried to get herself under control. "Trunks, I should be apologizing to you. I should have been paying more attention." She ran her hands through her sweat-soaked hair. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there," Marron said softly.
"Marron, don't worry about it. If I hadn't been here, you probably wouldn't have been flying at several times the speed of sound." Trunks chuckled dryly. "Since I'm the one who got you in trouble, it's only fair that I get you out."
Marron took a couple of steadying breaths, and then looked up at Trunks with wide eyes. "You've been holding back in front of the others, haven't you?" She said in a breathless whisper.
Trunks looked at her, amused. "Pot calling the kettle black, Marron," Trunks said calmly. "You have a power level higher than twenty-five million, don't you?"
Marron looked at him as if he caught her with her hands in the cookie jar. "How long have you known?" She asked in a shaky voice.
"Two minutes ago. You hide your secret well." Trunks said flippantly. "Be careful around my dad. He could just as easily figure it out as I did." Marron glared at him. "I'm serious, Marron. If you want to keep this a secret, don't do anything like that around him." He paused, thinking."Your mom insisted that you train until you could beat someone as powerful as Cell, didn't she?"
Marron gave up her glare. "Yes. I am strong enough for that."
"No, you aren't." Trunks flatly contradicted her.
Marron's eyes blazed with new anger. "What are you talking about! I'm as strong as he was!"
Trunks shook his head gently. "You may be that strong, but you aren't a fighter in your heart." He blew a sigh. "You don't have the obsession that dominates the mind of people like my father or Goku, or even your mom." He looked over at her. "Why do you think my father is always angry with me?"
Marron looked thoughtful. "Because you aren't as powerful as he is?"
Trunks shook his head again. "No. My father actually hates how easy it is for me to gain power. He thinks of it as cheating…something that lessens the value of what he's accomplished. He's angry because I don't follow the same path that he does."
"He lives, breathes, eats, sleeps and dreams about fighting. That's not to say that he doesn't do other things, but that is primary."
"For me, that's boring. I live, I breathe, I eat, I sleep, I dream. I live in those moments, savoring each instant. New experiences, new knowledge, joys…my parents think I'm drifting in my life, but I'm living it. Even the race we just had." Trunks smiled. "I haven't done anything like that since Goten and I were kids. I was long overdue."
"Marron, you'll never be as strong as the others, because you have other priorities in your life. You're rusty. I bet you lost your edge at college." Trunks smiled at her renewed glare. "Remember at the Tournament when Uub showed up?"
"Yeah, what about it?" Marron bit off the words.
"Pan beat Goten, even though she was only a little kid. Goten had been training with Goku at the time." Trunks gave her a significant glance. "It's all about priorities. Fighting isn't everything."
Marron's glare softened. "Why are you so powerful, then?"
Trunks stared off into space. "My dad is the de-facto protector of the Earth right now. That will be my job, someday."
"Once, I made the mistake of doing that when I wasn't ready. I messed up Earth's only chance for survival, and I didn't listen to Goten when he suggested that we use our full power on Buu right away. Gohan had to bail us out of that mess. He's had to do that enough times. Things are different, now. No more Dragonballs. No more room for mistakes. I'm going to do it right, this time," Trunks said with determination.
Marron looked at him, and then looked away. "I envy you…" She said softly.
Trunks looked at her, astonished. "Marron, I don't envy myself. I have big shoes to fill, and I don't know if I can do it."
"But you have purpose." Marron said, just as softly.
"Marron, weren't you listening? I wish I had a life…a family…time to hang out with my friends…just some time to breathe would be nice." Trunks sighed in frustration. He hadn't had a chance to talk to anyone about this, and here he was dumping his problems on Marron. "I'm sorry, Marron. I shouldn't be inflicting my problems on you. But trust me, it's not fun when destiny taps you."
"It's ok, Trunks. We're friends. That's what friends do." She paused. "You should talk to your mom. You shouldn't be spending so much time at work."
Trunks gave her an incredulous look. "This from you? You've spent more time at work than the furniture, lately."
Marron giggled. "I'm applying for a leave of absence, as of now. There, are you happy?"
Trunks laughed heartily. "Accepted. Paid leave of absence, As long as you like."
Marron's eyes widened to saucers. "Are you serious!"
"Would I lie to you?" Trunks said with false innocence.
Marron sized him up. "You ARE serious, aren't you?" She said softly.
"Yes," Trunks said soberly.
Marron chewed her lower lip. "Ok. Thank you, Trunks."
"C'mon. Breakfast is waiting!" Trunks said to her cheerfully as he offered her a hand. She took the offered hand up. "But no racing this time!" He playfully admonished her.
As Trunks and Marron flew over the old Capsule Corp. building that his family called home, Trunks saw something amazing.
Vegeta and Pan were sparring.
More amazing than that was that they were sparing on a raised platform that bore a distinct resemblance to the fighting arena at the World Martial Arts Tournament. Trunks squinted at the two fighters, and saw the distortions in the light patterns caused by a gravity field. Way to go, mom! Trunks thought to himself.
As he took a moment to watch the fight. Pan and Vegeta were observing the boundaries of the ring, but were being surprisingly ferocious. As he watched, Pan made a lightning fast straight punch, but Vegeta blocked it easily. Vegeta was smirking, but Trunks could tell he was amused despite his seeming contempt. His father had often complained that without "Kakarrot" around, there was no one worthy of sparring with him. Apparently he'd found someone.
The Z warriors had taken Pan under their wing after Goku had disappeared. Goku had been her informal teacher, but he'd never really gained ground against her temper and arrogance. Vegeta had that in spades, so he'd become her new informal mentor. Gohan and Trunks had also helped coach her, and between the three of them, Pan had become an extremely skilled and deadly warrior. She still hadn't reached the level of Super-Saiyan, but all of them were convinced that it was simply a matter of time.
Trunks watched Pan move fluidly around the ring, undoubtedly faster than Vegeta as long as he didn't tap into his Super-Saiyan power, but the advantage was his because he had an uncanny knack for anticipating his opponents. His greater experience showed in his every move. Eacha ttack or block was perfectly timed, with no wasted effort or movement.
Pan looked sloppy in comparison, yet she was no longer the clumsy fighter she used to be. Vegeta's style of fighting was very similar to hers, emphasizing power and tactical advantage. Gohan's style revolved around taking and holding the high ground, and pacing yourself. Trunks favored speed and deception in his fights.
Pan integrated each of her teacher's insights into a coherent whole. She was faster, more measured and had a cooler head. Vegeta had encouraged her to harness her temper into a usable weapon. During the infrequent spars that he had seen with the others, she showed a controlled anger that helped her focus, but she was more cautious now than even two years before when she had been challenging the merciless Shadow Dragons.
The results were impressive. Trunks watched as Pan gave Vegeta a run for his money, improvising as she went, even appearing above Vegeta's head.
What a mistake that was.
Vegeta grabbed her leg and threw her hard against the platform. Surprisingly, it held up to her impact. Pan retaliated with a strong energy ball, which forced Vegeta to let go of her to block it. Pan was back on her feet, and wiped some blood from the corner of her mouth. She had a Saiyan smile on her face.
As Trunks landed on the ground, he just stared at his dad. Vegeta was a bit singed from Pan's blast. That's the first time in awhile that I've seen him hurt. Either he wasn't paying attention, or Pan has gotten a lot better.
Vegeta lifted his hand in a pause gesture. Pan nodded and relaxed. Vegeta turned his glare on his eldest child. "WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!" Vegeta shouted at him from the ring.
Trunks wasn't quite expecting his dad's reaction. "What do you mean, Father?" Trunks asked.
Vegeta's normal glare turned into a death glare. "Bulma! Why don't you tell him! You had enough to say on the subject five minutes ago!"
Trunks' lavender-haired mom came running out of one of the buildings. "TRUNKS!" She shouted at him "What on earth were you doing! Your sonic boom shook the whole complex!"
Trunks blushed a bit, but surprisingly Marron spoke up. "It's my fault. I challenged Trunks to a race. It was only supposed to be to here, but I got carried away." Marron was looking at the ground, looking downcast.
Bulma blinked. She looked at the two of them, as if sensing a lie. "Marron! You never do anything irresponsible! Are you covering for Trunks?"
Trunks shot his mom a black look. "Mom! Quit it! It's not like something broke, did it?"
Bulma glared back at him. "His Royal Highness was disturbed by your fly by, and you might have damaged what Branford sent to me!"
Trunks sighed in relief. "Relax, mom. If it's broken, Marron can fix it." His mom looked at him in amazement. "I'll try to talk dad down. Hopefully, he'll forget all about it if I train today."
Bulma huffed. "Alright." She sighed gustily. "You probably want food, too, don't you?"
Trunks smiled a small smile. "That would be nice, mom, if you have something left from brunch."
Bulma glared at Vegeta and Pan, who were taking a water break. "Those two have been at it all morning, so for a surprise there's something left. Bra's off shopping for a new dress for the mid-summer party, so I'm sorry if you were hoping to see her, Marron."
Marron looked a bit disappointed at that news, but Trunks barely noticed as he walked over to the buffet table. The smells were intoxicating. As he was helping himself to several blueberry pancakes, something soft but firm bumped him.
"Look! Mr. 'I don't have time for anything' decided to join us!" Pan chirped. She was dressed in a red fighting Gi, and her hair was drenched with sweat.
"Hey Panny." Trunks said, unsurprised. He smiled at her. "That was pretty impressive."
"Ha!" Pan said sarcastically. "'Pretty impressive?' I'd like to see you do as well against Vegeta."
Trunks smiled in amusement. "You may get to see it. I was going to ask him if he'd spar with me."
Pan's eyes went round. "You're not serious! He'd bury you in less than a minute!"
Trunks assumed an expression of mock hurt. "No faith! No faith!" He smiled at Pan's angry expression. "How much gravity were your guys fighting at?"
Pan looked surprised at his question. "Oh, of course you'd notice. You probably lived in a gravity room when you were younger. One-hundred and fifty."
Trunks filed that information away. It was an amazing accomplishment for Pan, but he'd mastered that level of gravity when he was seven. Pan doesn't have the power of a Super-Saiyan as an advantage, so it's not fair for me to compare the two of us.
Trunks and Goten were both born with the special gift of tapping into their Super-Saiyan abilities without effort. The other Super-Saiyins had to train arduously for years to even reach the first transformation, and even then the transformation was horribly draining. Trunks and Goten transformed effortlessly, and suffered no stamina drain during the transformation. For them, it just seemed more...natural.
Most of the Z warriors expected Pan to have the same power, but it never materialized. She was naturally far stronger than she should be, given the limited amount of training she had, but the transformation seemed to be denied to her. Trunks often wondered whether her strangely mixed bloodline or the odd power-raising ceremony the Elder Kai had performed on Gohan was to blame.
Whatever the case, Pan was not a Super-Saiyan yet. However, the last two years had been years of growth for the fiery tempered little Quarter-Saiyan. She had grown almost a foot, but was still as thin as before. She might have looked lanky, but her constant training toned her muscles perfectly, and she wasn't much inconvenienced by her new longer limbs.
Trunks took a moment to covertly admire her. It's not every day that I get to see a cute girl panting from exertion. Even as he admired her, it was an abstract kind of admiration. Much like observing something that he usually paid no attention to, it was interesting…but in the way a sunset is interesting if you haven't seen one lately. Marron's right. I've got to talk to mom about getting this work thing under control.
Pan, meanwhile, was filling her plate, and Trunks realized that if he didn't do the same, she and his dad would eat everything! He browsed around for several plates more of food, and chose a spot under a tree to eat. Pan bounced along not far behind him, and took a seat next to him leaning against his shoulder.
"This is nice," She sighed as she took her first bite of omelet.
Trunks sighed in pleasure. He'd missed having Pan around. On their trip around the galaxy, there were certainly times that he wanted to kill her, but the little firecracker made life interesting. She burns with life, and she's like an eternal child. I miss Goku, and I miss the way Goten used to be. Maybe I should have been more of a child, myself.
Goku's smiling face popped into his head. "No time like the present!" Goku usually meant "food" when he said that, but he was right about this, too. Who needs responsibility. I need a vacation. He smiled broadly at the thought.
Pan looked over at him. "Hey! I thought you were hungry!"
Trunks blinked and smiled at her. "I missed you, Panny."
Pan blushed. "Hey! Don't call me that!" She snuggled into his shoulder. "Just to show you how nice I am, I won't hit you for it."
Trunks saw his mom giving him the strangest look. Oh, yeah. The food. He couldn't believe it. He'd been so hungry not that long before, but his appetite had vanished. I have to eat. Just because I don't feel hungry doesn't mean I'm not. He took a few bites of the pancakes he had been drooling over, and felt some of his appetite return. He still felt Pan leaning against him, but it was a pleasant sensation.
Trunks was eating slowly, for him. He saw his dad help himself to an enormous quantity of food for himself, but wonder of wonders, he wasn't eating alone. Vegeta and Bulma were eating at an outdoor table, both looking happy. Will wonders never cease, Trunks thought to himself. He never thought he'd see the day when his parents were happy together. It sparked a longing within him for something similar.
Trunks looked to his left, and noticed that Pan had long ago finished eating, and was peacefully sleeping against him. He ate carefully, hoping not to disturb her. She must have gone all out with dadthis morning. She's really something else. After he'd had his fill, he found himself drowsing, too. Enough of this today. I need a nap as badly as she does.
It was too late though. Between work, training and dealing with problems at home, he was more sleep deprived than he thought. As soon as he carefully moved Pan to a more stable position against his chest, the dark well of sleep beckoned him, and his eyes closed against their will.
Bulma looked over at the shade tree, and saw the two of them sleeping. She smiled slightly as she was reminded of the past. I remember when they used to fall asleep like that when Pan was here visiting years ago.
Vegeta had a slightly different expression on his face. Bulma noticed it. "What is it, Vegeta?" She asked the usually bad-tempered Prince.
Vegeta shook his head. "An odd thought, that's all."
Bulma gave him a puzzled look. "Care to elaborate, Mr. Talkative?"
Vegeta looked at her seriously. "I think we both need to have a talk with Trunks."
Bulma was still puzzled. "About what?"
Vegeta looked over at his son. "Freedom."