CHAPTER 13

Bulma stood there for a moment, gaping at Ada and Trunks. The latter, fearing he could die of embarrassment at any moment, stood and prepared himself for some kind of explanation. Yet, he had none; there was nothing that needing explaining. Ada, on the other hand, had shrunk into a veritable pile of beet-red shame, rubbing her temples so as not to make eye contact with Bulma and shifting uncomfortably.

"Well…" the older woman began, "I suppose I'll just…go set the table…" Bulma blinked at her son (to whom no witty comments were presenting themselves) and then at Ada before turning to leave the warehouse. She barely made it out the door before exploding in girlish giggles and shouts of glee.

"I should really be going, too," Ada spouted, suddenly standing and collecting herself as best she could. "Mom probably thought I was coming straight home, and I don't want to worry her–"

"Go? But–" Trunks lightly grabbed hold of Ada's wrist. "Don't you want to stay for dinner?" She looked at him, her face twisted with embarrassment, and shook her head.

"I'm sorry…I just…we can talk tomorrow, alright?" She pulled her arm from him.

The young man continued his increasingly futile attempt to salvage the situation, mostly for the sake of his own pride. He was nearly twenty years old, he mused, and his mother's mishaps were still affecting his romantic life. "Ada, it's fine, really…I'm sure Mom understands, and–"

"That's the problem!" Ada replied, unintentionally shouting at him. "I'm sure she more than understands, Trunks! I give it less than a week before she starts asking me what style of wedding dress I want!" She took several very rapid, very deep breaths and then continued. "I just…if we have a chance at something, I don't want…I don't want everyone to find out about it before we've had the opportunity to figure it out ourselves…"

"Well, one person isn't 'everyone', so we should be safe," he reassured her with a small smile. "And I guess I can…talk to her about it, if you want."

"Will you?" Ada asked him calmly, regretting her outburst. "Your mom is one thing, but my mother…it would be a disaster if she found out anything."

"Then she won't. Not until you're ready. Promise," Trunks replied. He stepped toward Ada and planted a kiss on her nose.

"That tickles," she smiled and rubbed the spot where his lips had touched her skin.

"Go get some sleep. It would be a shame if I took you down easily tomorrow because you were too tired to fight," he jested before kissing her sweetly on the lips.

"I beg your pardon, but I'm fairly certain that I could polish you off with no problem no matter what the handicap," Ada affirmed.

"We'll see," Trunks finished before seeing Ada on her way and turning toward the main Capsule Corporation building. Suddenly feeling the exhaustion expected after hours of training, Trunks sighed and walked toward his home and the interrogation that would undoubtedly be awaiting him upon his arrival.

xxx

Trunks spooned another helping of rice into his bowl and then began eating it. The blue-haired woman sitting across the table from him merely sipped her tea in silence, traces of a grin tugging at the edges of her mouth from time to time. She had spent the last half hour looking over blueprints for the machine that had become, for all intents and purposes, her second child. Of course, her real child knew that she was simply faking concentration in a (valiant) effort to act maturely. Trunks was certainly impressed with his mother, but that made the last thirty minutes of thick silence no more settling. He glanced at her furtively and then pushed his utensils and now-empty bowl aside.

Trunks felt almost mournful that Bulma was not forcing a confrontation. He could have stood, told her goodnight, and gone to bed without speaking a word about her intrusion earlier. However, although the idea tempted him terribly, Trunks reminded himself of his promise to Ada. For all Trunks knew, his mother very well could pick up the phone, dial the Son residence, and, if the lines were working again, happily gossip away to Chi Chi about every detail of the moment into which she had stumbled that evening. He simply could not risk it. Besides, Trunks admitted inwardly, Chi Chi scared the hell out of him. He would need considerable mental preparation before having to face her.

Stepping over to the sink to wash the dishes that had been dirtied during dinner, Trunks let out a mental sigh. He turned on the faucet and waited for the water to warm for a few seconds before Bulma piped up.

"No hot water for a while. The community mains are busted, and I don't have the time right now to try to fix the old Capsule Corp. water heater," she informed him gloomily.

"That wouldn't bother me so much if I weren't going to take a shower in a minute," Trunks replied, happy to be conversing about anything other than that afternoon's encounter. He quickly scrubbed at the dishes, rinsed them, dried them, and turned to leave the kitchen.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Trunks!" Bulma spouted shrilly behind him. "I was trying to be reasonable about this and let you have the first word, but if you're just going to walk off and not say a thing about it then I'm taking some initiative!"

Trunks stopped and, grimacing, looked back at his mother from the doorway. "Listen, Mom, I know that you've probably got a million things to say on the subject, but I've got a lot on my plate right now…and it really isn't that imp–"

"Of course it's important!" she cried. "You're my son, and she's my best friend's daughter, and, well, you know!" Bulma could no longer contain her excitement. A radiant smile broke out across her face. "So you can just have a seat, young man."

xxx

Postscript: I promised that I wouldn't abandon you, and so I haven't! I know, I know; this chapter is obscenely, unbelievable short. It's all I have time for at the moment, though, and I wanted to give you a little something to tide you over until around Christmastime. That's right, folks, just a few more weeks, and I'll be free of schoolwork for a while and home for the holidays. You can expect some much longer, much more interesting updates then. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your sticking with me in spite of the sparse updates; you're truly wonderful readers. Thank you for all of your continued support!