I laughed, squirming wildly as Trunks' fingers danced over my ribs. What had started out as a serious training session had morphed into a tickle fight with Trunks being the clear winner since he now sat astride my hips.
"Cheater!" I cried.
"How am I cheating?" he asked.
"You have an unfair advantage!" I exclaimed.
"That's not cheating," he said. "That's just having an advantage." As my breathing became labored from the play, he stopped, grinning down at me.
"I win?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah," I said. He chuckled and stood, helping me to my feet.
"We haven;t done that since we were kids," he mused.
"I know," I said. "It's nice to be able to relax."
"Remember when I was a kid and kept telling you that you would one day be my bride?" he asked. I giggled.
"Yeah, because you didn't really know what it meant," I tittered. "You thought being your bride just meant that we would get to play everyday."
"Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head. "That was an awkward conversation with Gohan."
"Well, you wouldn't listen when I tried to explain it to you!" I said, pushing his shoulder playfully.
"I was eleven!" he said.
"You were adorable," I cooed, reaching up and gently pinching his cheek.
"Remember when I gave you that wedding mark?" he asked with a laugh.
"Yes!" I said with a pout. "That shit hurt! I still have the scar!" I lifted my sleeve to reveal a faded white crescent on my upper arm.
"That's when Gohan decided to explain things to me," Trunks snickered, his eyes landing on the scar. He stared at it for a moment, his expression falling.
"What is it?" I asked.
"What did father say about forming a half bond?" he asked in a whisper. I searched my memory.
"That it involved marking the body with the intent of claiming," I parroted. He grabbed my arm, his thumb tracing the almost invisible scar.
"I put this on you so you would know you were my bride," Trunks said. "I got the idea from Gohan because he had mentioned something about how he thought Saya-jins mated by marking each other." I stared at the scar before looking up at him, my eyes wide.
"And we were kids," I said. "You were eleven and I was nine. We wouldn't have been old enough to fully complete the bond."
I recalled that day when it had been so carelessly placed. Trunks and I were playing, wrestling on the living room floor.
"Someday, you're gonna be my bride!" the boy declared as he pinned me to the ground.
"Trunks," I said looking up at him, "That doesn't mean what you think it means."
"Yes it does," he said with a grin. "We'll be together forever!" I sighed and pushed him off of me, straining the sleeveless dress Mama had put me in.
"I don't want to be your bride," I huffed. Trunks' face fell.
"You don't want to be my friend and sister forever?" he asked.
"Of course!" I said. "But I keep telling you, that's not what a bride is!"
"Sure it is, silly!" he said. I sighed and spun on my bottom so my back was to him.
"No it's not!" I argued. Trunks leaned over, resting his cheek on my shoulder and looking up at me with big blue eyes. He gave me a cheeky grin and pressed his mouth to my upper arm.
"What are you doing?" I asked, arching a brow as I looked down at him.
"You'll see," came his muffled reply. He opened his mouth and I felt a sudden throbbing pain in my arm as he bit down. I screamed and tried to push on his forehead.
"Mama! Trunks bit me!" I cried. Mama came running in the room, looking at the two of us wide-eyed.
"Trunks! Stop!" she cried. Trunks released me, revealing a bloody crescent mark.
"Mama!" I wailed, gripping my bloody arm.
"Trunks! Look what you've done to her!" Mama yelled. "Why did you do that?" Gohan came dashing into the room at the commotion, looking between us.
"Trunks, why did you..." Gohan trailed off, lifting me into his arms as I sobbed.
"I wanted to give her my mark," Trunks said. "So she knows she's gonna be my bride someday!" Gohan cradled me against his chest, rubbing my back as I sobbed.
"That hurt!" I howled. Gohan rubbed my back tenderly while Mama rushed to get the first aid kit.
"But why did you bite her?" the warrior asked.
"You said Saya-jin's mark their brides by biting them," Trunks said, wiping the blood from his lips.
"I said I thought!" Gohan exclaimed. "And that doesn't mean you can bite your sister! You really hurt her!" Mama carefully wrapped my arm while Gohan continued to soothe me. When she was done, he set me on the couch and grabbed Trunks.
"You and me need to talk," he said, escorting the purple haired Saya-jin outside.
I now stared at Trunks as his fingers traced the mark he had so carelessly given me. It was after that that our bond had begun to develop into what it was now. It had been such a slow progression that we barely even noticed the shift at first.
"Father was right," Trunks said, mournfully. "I'm such a fuck up!"
"It was an accident," I said carelessly. "We were kids. Don't fret over it." Trunks looked away from me, his anger at himself marring his features. I watched as he backed away from me, his ki gathering so that he hovered over the ground.
"I need some alone time," he said shortly before blasting off into the training area. I sighed and walked to the kitchen to start dinner. I knew he would be hungry after he was done putting himself through some brutal punishment.