There was a crispness to the late night summer air as Bulma felt the wet grass beneath her slowly swaying feet, gazing up at the nighttime sky, all full of stars. She rested her chin in her hands and sighed, remembering fond times when Trunks was young and so full of joy. Back to a time when he was just her little boy.
She remembered; the two of them sitting on the swing set which he used to love, swinging back and forth with him in her lap as he dozed off to sleep. One of his favorite things to do as child when he couldn't sleep was to be rocked to sleep as he watched the stars sway back and forth.
"Mommy, can you tell me the story about the stars?" He asked in a sleepy voice, his blue eyes only half lidded.
"Of course, sweetie... Once upon a time, there were no stars in the sky. And every night, the moon would shine down on earth and make it all aglow, but the moonlight was too bright, and it made it hard for all the woodland creatures to sleep at night. Every night the moonlight would wash over the woods and make shadows dance in the trees. Until one night, the moon had a great big sneeze! It sneezed so hard, that it shook off millions of tiny little fragments and blasted them all throughout the sky!
These little pieces of moon dust became the stars, and when the stars were created, the moon had to share its light with them, so that they could sparkle. When the stars sparkled, the sky became so beautiful that all who gazed upon it became washed in starlight, and every night, those who had been washed in the starlight would fall to sleep and have the most wonderful dreams, no longer kept awake by the moon's bright moon beams..." Bulma finished her story, and looked down, smiling. Trunks had fallen to sleep probably halfway through the tale. She cradled him closer to her and continued to slowly swing, watching his small smiling face as he slept.
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" Trunks asks, his voice soft and gentle. Bulma was startled out of her reminiscing and turned to see him looking down at her curiously.
"..Oh hi, Trunks, I'm just looking up at the stars." Bulma said with a little surprise, placing one hand on her chest.
"Well, okay, just don't stay out here too late." He says, with a slightly quizzical expression.
"Um, Trunks...?" Bulma says, feeling her voice catch in her throat nervously as she stands up.
"What is it?" He turns back around, with a short sigh.
"Do you want to join me?" Bulma asks, her voice hopeful.
Trunks pauses, glancing up at the sky quickly then back down to the ground. He rubs the back of his neck with his hand and says, "No thanks, I have to get up early tomorrow."
"Oh, come on Trunks, we used to do this all the time when you were little!" Bulma pleaded with him.
Trunks walks up to her, and says sternly,
"Bulma, I'm not a kid any more and those days are long gone."
She sighs and looks down at the dark green grass beneath her shoes. Trunks begins to walk away again, but before he does, he says, "Goodnight Mo-...I mean Bulma." He then walks back into the house and closes the door with a soft click.
Bulma's head quirks up with surprise, and she whispered to herself in a shaking breath, "Wow..." Her eyes find the sky once again, the azure washed in a lavender cast. "He almost called me Mom..."