Within a few hours, the ship was ready to go. Trunks had wanted to stay a while longer to give the Saiyans a few pointers in regards to the Super Saiyan form, but he couldn't exactly disagree with 18's complaints. It'd been three weeks since the ordeal began and it would be another three weeks to get home. The sooner they left, the better.

"What will you do now?" Trunks asked.

"I know I want to become a Super Saiyan like you," Cabba replied. "If we were capable of it, we would never have fallen to Bojack. Our home is in ruin, but I believe we can rebuild."

"Train hard, but don't try to force it. Let it come to you. You'll get there."

Cabba smiled shyly. "I want to thank you on behalf of the Saiyans. You've given Sadal hope for the first time in twenty years. We owe you immensely."

"I was happy to help," Trunks said. "If it's one thing I learnt from my father, it's that Saiyans are a strong and proud race. Remember that and Sadal will always be protected."

Cabba bowed politely and turned to the newly arriving and reclothed 18. "Thank you so much for your help. We are forever grateful."

18 quirked an eyebrow at the beaming Saiyan. Never in her entire life had someone thanked her with such admiration on their face. In fact, no one had ever thanked her, period, not even her own brother. It made her feel uncomfortable to see such…hero-worship on the young Saiyan's face. To be fair, he didn't know about her murderous past and in his eyes, she had saved his entire race so of course he wouldn't have any reason to hate her. Didn't mean he had to look at her like that.

And yet…

Yet at the same time, 18 noticed a tiny bubble of…delight…building up inside. She actually liked that someone looked at her with admiration. It made her feel good about herself and she wondered if it was wrong that she felt that way. She was someone who slaughtered for fun, not save people from slavery and torture.

Or at least, she used to. If she was trying to turn over a new leaf, this was what was going to happen: people thanking her for helping them. It was an unintended side effect of wanting revenge against Bojack, but could she get used to it? Did she even deserve it, after all that she'd done?

"You're…welcome, I guess," 18 finally said and when Cabba beamed, she turned to Trunks. "Can we go now?"

"In a moment," Trunks replied and he looked at Cabba. "What happens if Frost comes back?"

"We'll be ready for him. We have Kale."

Trunks glanced over at the shy female Saiyan, who was letting Caulifla do the talking with Pan. The little girl had been showing off her Super Saiyan form and answering questions as best she could. It looked as though Caulifla was deeply interested in the transformation and Trunks couldn't blame her. If they had the power, they would have been able to defend their home. At least now with the knowledge, they'll be able to do exactly that.

"Pan," Trunks called and the girl perked up at his voice. "Time to go."

"Finally," 18 said and she gave Cabba a final look. "Good luck. Don't die."

Trunks was puzzled by her words and he watched her board the ship, Pan close behind her. Ocarin and 16 were waiting for him inside and he turned to Cabba. "Take care of yourself, Cabba. I'll find a way to communicate with you soon and we can keep in touch."

"I appreciate it," Cabba replied. "Thank you again so much."

With a final wave to the Saiyans that had gathered to farewell them, Trunks stepped onto the ship and 16 fired it up, taking them off the planet and into space for the three-week journey home. Retreating to one of the rooms, Trunks collapsed against the wall with a sigh. His body felt tender from Kale and Bojack's beating and with no senzu beans, he had to wait until he returned home and hoped his body could recover. His right shoulder ached and as he went to massage it, 18 appeared in the doorway. Immediately, Trunks felt tense, his body on alert as he awaited whatever the Android might want.

"Can I come in?" 18 asked.

Trunks shrugged and instantly winced from the action. "I guess."

She came in and sat beside him with enough space between them that it wasn't uncomfortable, but his body refused to relax with her in close proximity, especially since he was injured.

"So…" 18 started after a small pause. "Demigra."

Trunks nodded. "I know. He needs to be dealt with. What do you know about him?"

She shrugged, her fingers fiddling with a loose thread on her skirt. She never fidgeted, Trunks knew and he realised she was nervous. "Not much. He's powerful enough to raise the dead, increase one's power and that's with him locked up. I hate to imagine what he's like if he escapes his prison."

"He tried to get you to use your energy to break the lock on his prison?" he questioned and she nodded in affirmation. "So why would he power up Bojack? How does that help him?"

"He's still seeking to escape. You only destroyed an illusion. Maybe he was using Bojack to try and make himself stronger in order to break free. I don't know. All I know is that Demigra is quite powerful and he should not be freed."

"So I'll train and I'll get stronger," Trunks said confidently. "I'll get strong enough to defeat him if he ever does escape."

"You realise that he is capable of possessing people?" 18 pointed out. "What happens if he possesses Ocarin? Or even Pan? What are you going to do then? What if it's you he possesses?"

Trunks frowned. He hadn't considered that at all and it brought a horrible thought to his mind: the notion that he might have to fight Pan. He swallowed, trying to will the image away. There was no way he would ever allow it to happen, because he knew he could never bring himself to hurt Pan, no matter what.

"What if he possesses you?" Trunks asked, trying to get his mind off the possessed Pan idea.

18 shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure you'll simply destroy me without a second thought. No big deal."

Trunks paused at that. Would he really? It'd be one less hassle in his life, but he could not deny that he needed her. Only for fighting, of course, nothing else. Even though she 'sold' him out to Frost, he recognised her intentions and could understand them, somewhat misguided as they may be. She appeared to have Earth's safety in mind and he wasn't going to hold that against her.

But the past twenty years…Trunks simply couldn't let go of two decades of abuse and trauma so easily, not when he was reminded of it constantly. He had started to move on in the peace he created after Cell's demise, but with 18 thrown back into the picture and now living with him, the anguish had come crashing back. It left him conflicted and he hated that feeling.

How could he bring himself to dismissively destroy her when she had actively fought to protect Earth?

"I don't think it'll be that much of a big deal," Trunks said slowly and she looked at him, her large crystal blue eyes boring into him, waiting for an explanation. He released a deep breath. "It's not like how it was before. Regardless of how you went about it, you wanted to protect Earth-"

"I just wanted to eliminate a potential threat," 18 interjected. "It's not really the same thing. To be honest, I don't care much for the humans. Probably never will. I just don't like people like Broly or Bojack threatening me. Is that good enough for you?"

"I…guess," he said, not at all that surprised at her admission. He'd been hoping for a bit more from her, but baby steps. He could deal with the baby steps. Perhaps one day she'll get there.

"Great," 18 said, getting to her feet and smoothing out her skirt. "Now, I'm tired and-"

Trunks frowned. "I thought you never got tired."

"I do need to sleep, you know, but I can go for long periods without if I have to and I've been pushing myself to stay awake for three weeks straight. You're welcome, by the way."

She left the room and Trunks stared into space as he thought about their conversation. It was the most civil they'd been to each other since the truce and if he was going really honest, it had been…nice. Strange to think of a conversation with 18 as nice, but it had been.

Gohan's lifeless body flashed in his mind and Trunks recoiled. It seemed to serve as a reminder that he could never forget what 18 had done and he sighed. The hate was not as strong as it used to be. It didn't burn fiercely anymore, reduced to a smoulder, but Trunks felt like he would always be holding 18 at arm's length, unable to ever trust her. Perhaps he was being unfair to her, but he couldn't let go of the past. Not completely, not when he had lived most of his life in complete fear, losing people around him by the day and especially after Gohan…the future was brighter now with 16, Pan and Ocarin by his side.

Should he continue to blame 18 when it was obvious she was trying to change?

"Gohan, what do I do? If it wasn't for her and 17, you'd still be here. Pan would have her father. Am I holding on too much? How can I let it go? I don't know what to do."

-X-

18 slept for two days straight. On the third day, she rose and ventured into the cockpit, where the only occupant was 16. She crawled into the seat beside him and cast her legs upon the panels.

"Please put your feet down," 16 suggested.

"Worried I might accidentally open a door and have us all sucked out into space?" 18 smiled.

"No, but that is a possibility. Did you sleep well?"

18 stretched her arms and crossed them behind her head. "Like a baby. Anything interesting happen?"

"I saw a comet or two."

"Oh cool. You know, I'm surprised I actually woke up. I was expecting Ocarin to blast me in my sleep."

"He was certainly tempted, but Trunks convinced him it would not be a good idea in the event that Demigra does return. I think Trunks realises that you are a useful asset."

"Useful asset? Is that what he thinks of me?"

"I did not mean that in a bad way."

"I help him kill Broly, I help him destroy Bojack and liberate an entire planet and useful asset is all he sees me as? Where is the respect?"

"What were you hoping he would see you as?"

"Not an asset."

"Trunks is a man of both emotions and logic," 16 said. "When it comes to you, he cannot help but fall back into his old mindset. That is the emotion side of him. The logical part is telling him to move past that and he gets conflicted when the two are combined and he has to figure out which one to follow."

"Humans are stupid," 18 muttered.

"Yes, their emotions make them irrational creatures, but their emotions also give them strength. It is what gave Trunks the power he needed to defeat Demigra the first time."

"And kill my brother. Then again, 17 wouldn't change. He loved killing too much," 18 mused. "It was all a game to him and he revelled in it. Even I was starting to get bored of killing humans. Still, I miss him dearly. If only I could see him again."

"I am sure that Trunks will come around," 16 continued. "Give him time."

"Ah, don't be ridiculous, he will never trust me. The only thing that makes this somewhat bearable is that Trunks is attractive and he's lucky he has that."

There was a wretched cough and both Androids looked over their shoulders to see an embarrassed and confused Trunks, who had no doubt heard 18's words. He also looked like the statement didn't quite sit right with him and that he was going to be sick and he hurried away from the cockpit.

"Oh, well, that was awkward," 18 commented lightly.

-X-

Three weeks passed by relatively quickly, although during the first week, Trunks did his best to avoid 18 after her statement. Even though it was a general passing comment, the thought that 18 thought he was good-looking sent shivers up his spine and definitely not in a feel-good way.

The fact that the being responsible for his miserable childhood saw him as attractive…it didn't sit right with him. It left a bad taste in his mouth. Perhaps he was over-exaggerating and over-thinking the entire thing, reading too much into it, but the words were there in his mind and Kami…it felt disturbing. And completely crazy.

That wasn't to say that she was not attractive in return, but he wasn't attracted to her, not with the destruction she'd caused and the impact it had on his life. He thought about when she kissed his cheek and when he saved her right after Bojack's death and it made him shudder. He knew he could never, ever be attracted to her (right?).

It was wrong.

In the end, Trunks decided it would be best if he simply pretended he never heard it and so whenever he crossed paths with 18, he was polite and cordial with her, refusing to mention it and for her part, 18 seemed content to let it slide as well, an unspoken agreement between them.

Still, Trunks was damn well relieved when the ship finally entered Earth's atmosphere and touched down on the lawn of Capsule Corporation. He was relieved when he fell into his anguished mother's arms, holding her tightly, having missed her for six weeks.

"Thank Kami you're finally home," Bulma cried. "Promise me no more adventures into space."

"I can only do my best," Trunks said and he glanced at 18, who had immediately gone straight to her room without even looking at him. "It's good to finally be home."